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2026-07-27 - Autobiographies and Mental Scars

2026-08-03T23:16:33Z

Marr0w: Created page with "{{Logsummary| Title = Autobiographies and Mental Scars |Summary = Liyara and Yoiko reveal their pasts in an effort to finally to quit hiding their secrets. |Who = Li..."

{{Logsummary|
Title = Autobiographies and Mental Scars
|Summary = Liyara and Yoiko reveal their pasts in an effort to finally to quit hiding their secrets.
|Who = [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]]
|Date = July 27th, 2026
|Where = Yoiko's Apartment
|Log=

Yoiko and Liyara are currently sitting in a shuttle built in an apartment inside the Integra's Arms. Outside the shuttle, bits of the original apartment are floating in silence. Power cables, waterlines, and anything else that Yoiko could leach are flowing into the ship as it hums softly in the darkness. In the rear of the shuttle, in a compact quarters, the two are sitting on a couch discussing all the things that the blonde engineer should have probably talked about sooner.

There are reasons for it. Chief among them being the secrecy that her entire race shares over their very private culture, and some questionable decisions that won't be public knowledge to the residents of Trillius Prime for at least another few centuries. Not that Yoiko has any part of that, nor an inkling that it exists.

Right now what she knows is that recent events have made her realize the need for transparency, something that doesn't come easy to her. Luckily she can feel the weight of the importance of this on her shoulders and is using that as motivation.

Leaning her arms on her knees, she rubs at her face and sighs, "Alright. So..."

----

From the beginning Yoiko was fascinated by technology. She was that annoying child that took apart the television to see how all the parts worked, even if in this case it was a view screen. The only thing more interesting was finding out how to build something like that from scratch. Yoiko poured everything she had into the dream of becoming an engineer. Not just to build and repair, but to see the stars. To be important even if she wasn't always the one on an away mission. To make a difference in the universe, even if no one realized it was her turning the screws.

Unfortunately she was never going to get that opportunity on her home planet. Not officially part of the Federation of Planets for a many more decades, and with an entire culture built around keeping their secrets, there was never going to be an opportunity for Yoiko to hone her craft without leaving.

----

"I tried everything before actually leaving Trillius Prime. I even went to the Symbiosis Commission and tried to be joined with a Symbiont thinking it would either give me the knowledge to satisfy my need to travel the stars, or give me some kind of edge that would let me convince them to let me leave."

Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "Needless to say that didn't go over very well. Eventually I said my goodbyes to my friends and family, arranged passage on a cargo ship, and made my way to the Sol system convinced I was never going to be able to go back home."

So far, that draws a raised eyebrow from Liyara. She doesn't know a lot about this, obviously, with Yoiko being the first Trill she's met, but she knows that Yoiko is joined, both from discussion and that brief bit of firsthand observation. "You left without it? That's a twist. Somehow I was under the impression it was this integral part of your people's being..." Liyara waves a hand through the air, loftily indicating in a nebulous sense that she is waxing poetic. "...But then you have told me the selection process is rigorous, for a select few, so I suppose that was foolish of me."

The blonde woman lets out a slight chuckle at that, "I can see where you'd think that but I used to be my own person. I swear. A little quieter, a little less willing to jump in somewhere without looking first." She pulls one leg up on the couch under the other, resting her hands on her lower leg. "I was also a little too young for joining."

There's a frown as she ponders the importance of everything, "The Symbionts are these depositories of so much knowledge and experience. There's so few of them, and even then most of our people aren't compatible. Being put in an incompatible host could be a death sentence. Once you're joined you can't be un-joined again. They have to be extra careful when it comes to getting approved."

Yoiko pauses, placing a hand on her chest, "It eventually worked out, obviously, but it took a bit to get there..."

----

At twenty she was able to start classes at the Star Fleet Academy, dumping all of her studies into Astrophysics, a little Xenobiology, and of course Advanced Warp Theory and System Repair. It was there that she met her eventual captain and close friend, Jonathon Munster. The two weren't exactly top of their class, but when they put their heads together they were able to do amazing things.

Together they started work on a new design for the standard Warp Engine, pushing out a bit more output that paired with a better delivery system could make crossing vastness of space far easier. It didn't change the world, but it made a name for the two of them in the Engineering world.

However, Jonathon went the command route and Yoiko... fell in with an Orion science major named Fiona Habilis, whom Yoiko affectionately nicknamed Flea. While they weren't dating yet, the two where joined at the hip even going so far as to get assigned to the USS Vesuvius together, forcing a reunion with the now Captain Munster.

----

The blonde woman laughs happily as she thinks to her time with Fiona. "Flea was easily my best friend, and let me tell you hanging out with an Orion is a wild ride. Do you know anything about them? They're the ones with green skin you see in all the Star Trek stuff." She has looked into it after one too many comments about the Enterprise.

"A lot of Orions are into some pretty shady stuff. Crime syndicates, drug trafficking, slavery - you name it. Their biggest thing to the rest of the galaxy are the Orion Slave girls. Picture someone very exotic, very versed in every sort of pleasuring you can imagine. They even produce this pheromone that makes men instantly fall in love with them." Yoiko lets out a laugh again, "Except the thing is, they're not slaves. They're in charge. They deliberately have their men 'sell' them to other races and when everyone's guard is down they rob them blind!"

She openly giggles, "Except Flea. Flea wanted to go into counseling. She wanted to be a therapist and help people with all the trauma they're walking around with." Another giggle, "Only if she didn't constantly take a pheromone inhibiter, every male on deck would suddenly be following her around like little sad puppies."

Her voice drops conspiratorially, "There may have been a time or two that she neglected to use it. Accidentally of course."

Liyara sees no reason to doubt Yoiko's recounting of events. Somehow this Mary Sue won't be solving Trillius Prime's bizarre machinations from a couch in a runabout. Shocking. "I caught an episode about them when I was trying to find information on your origins." Liyara casually admits, and then blinks and tucks her chin in, looking a bit defensive. She didn't mean to admit she went looking when Yoiko was gone. That's an awful lot like saying you miss someone. Is that even allowed?

When Yoiko admits that Flea may have once or twice... neglected the use of pheremon suppressants, purely by accident Liyara chuckles. "Somehow, instead of accidentally, I had expected you to say 'For Science'."

Of course that sets off another round of laughter, "Oh, no. Can't dress it up as anything less than it was. It was absolutely deliberate and far more fun than it had any right to be." Yoiko takes a moment to compose herself, "Honestly I'm pretty sure that's why she got assigned to a ship with a permanent skeleton crew."

She pauses again with a frown, "Don't get me wrong, Flea was amazing at what she did, and the people on that ship needed someone to dump all that isolation and overworking onto. But I kiiinda suspect that half the reason she was assigned to the Vesuvius was because there would be less men around for her to 'accidentally' sway."

Yoiko stretches her legs out again before continuing the story.

----

The Vesuvius was originally a training ship that had been rechristened as a test-bed for new technologies and existed with a skeleton crew of engineers and designers paving the way for what would become the Constitution Class Refit Program. Yoiko and Jon worked side by side on a new design for the Nacelles that would take advantage of a newly designed Warp Core, which had exceeded the expectations they'd had back when they were in the Academy.

Following two years of hard work, Yoiko was promoted to the Chief Engineer of the Vesuvius, and another year later Yoiko and Fiona decided to try their hand at a serious relationship - only to be caught off guard by the Trill Symbiosis Commission contacting, and granting Yoiko to be joined with the Hax symbiont.

Becoming joined was the highest honor amongst her people, so after a very awkward explanation, Yoiko went home and returned a new person. Sadly the strain proved to be too much, eventually pushing Fiona away and leaving the newly joined Engineer with nothing left but her work.

----

The blonde woman lets out a heavy sigh as she gets to the end of Fiona's part in this story. "She had the patience of a saint, but I think the new me was a little too much. Every day I could see her getting more and more tired. I should have stayed on Trillius Prime longer. I mean, I would have if I'd known how it was going to affect me."

Her eyes shimmer a little as she thinks back, "Eventually she told me it was over. She was going to ask to be reassigned to another ship and that was the end of it." Yoiko forces a weak smile, "It was for the best in the end, but it still hurts when I think about it too much."

She sighs again, wiping her eyes a second before realizing she should probably reassure Liyara. "I don't miss that relationship. I miss my friend." She smiles again, more genuinely this time. "I'm much happier where I am now." Abruptly she pauses and gestures around herself, "Weird planetoids, gravitational pulls, and not-a-God Gods notwithstanding."

"You can have it both ways, Yoiko." Liyara says, sounding oddly insightful in this specific area. "You can miss how a person made you feel, and not want to return to that at the same time. People are complicated, and their feelings moreso." The dragoness reaches out and gives Yoiko's shoulder a soft squeeze.

"For what it's worth, I understand why losing the Yoiko she knew would have been painful, but she missed out on an incredible person." Her smile could thaw a glacier. "I will agree with her though, proper mental health professionals seem like they would be desperately needed in deep space, with what Starfleet gets up to."

Yoiko actually blushes a bit from the compliment and nods slowly at the assessment of mental health. "Yeah, that's probably more true than anyone would ever give it credit for." She ponders a bit and gives a sigh knowing what comes next in the story.

"After a while it became clear that Jonathon needed a permanent First Officer. The Star Fleet was willing to keep sending out temporary assignments for the position, since the smaller crew number meant there wasn't a lot of resource management for an XO to worry about. But with Outpost 17 being decommissioned -and- the V getting ready for her first big field test of the new engines, Jon was stretched pretty thin." She smiles a little at this part, "To my surprise, but apparently not to anyone else involved, I got the job. I'd run the ship when he was busy and spend the rest of the time either in Engineering or offering guidance - which I was pretty much already doing anyways."

She sighs again, "There we were, working with a team from Leeding Engines Ltd on the prototype FWG-1 nacelles. It's the first major change in about fifty four years. We have the old FWF-1's removed, we have all the new systems online. This was going to be /epic/."

She pauses long enough to chew her thumbnail nervously. "We get the green. Everything's good to go. All this work and effort, all these people involved. We were ready. ...or so we thought." Another soft sigh, "Soon as they start building up power, soon as the warp envelope starts to form around the ship... the struts holding the nacelles crumble."

Yoiko's eyes begin to water as the moment replays vividly in her memory. "There was this awful noise like metal being ripped apart. The Engineering Hull buckled. Coolant, plasma, the main power supply... it all just starts spilling into the lower decks. The forcefields managed to keep oxygen from being sucked out of the ship, but that just made it worse because it helped ignite all those gasses. Warp Engineering went up in flames."

The tears begin flowing freely at this point. Her hands clearly shaking. "Chief Medical Officer Saunders was on standby. We'd kept telling him everything was fine, but he insisted. When the flames got past the main bulkhead he just marches into the room like this was just a normal day. He started grabbing people two at a time, yelling at everyone who wasn't writhing in pain to make a break for it." She pauses to wipe her eyes, but when the tears don't stop, she just stares at her open palms.

"I was in Impulse Engineering. On the saucer section. It's like the main part of the spine in a body, with Warp Engineering being it's belly. I managed to cut off the Warp Engines before everything backed up into the neck of the ship. Saunders got everyone to safety without any lives lost. I remember the sound of the alarms screaming and people shouting. Within a minute the entire ship smelled like burning flesh. We did everything we could to make sure everyone was going to make it, even as the nacelles tore themselves from the secondary hull." She takes a deep breath, "...and that's when the forcefields failed. Everyone had been evacuated from Warp Engineering except for CMO Saunders. We think he'd stayed behind to take one last look to make sure no one was left behind when the vacuum of space just hurled everything through the jagged metal like some kind of cheese grater..."

Yoiko takes one more hitching breath, wiping her eyes again. "We have a plaque in Sickbay for him. When they went through his personal logs there was this one entry that detailed what it should say if anything ever happened to him." She makes an odd sound, almost like choking, but it's a laugh being choked out through the sorrow. "The plaque reads, 'In Memorium. Chief Medical Officer Caliga Saunders. Perished in the line of duty 2266' and under it this stupid quote, '...and I never even got my first paycheck!'"

Liyara makes the appropriate sympathetic faces when Yoiko begins to cry at the memories of what happened to her ship. To her medical officer. What nearly happened to the rest of them if it wasn't for his stalwart composure in that madness. She doesn't know him, and still finds it hard to fully empathize with a loss if she can't relate it to one of her own she's experienced, but she knows it hurt Yoiko, and that is good enough for the sympathy to be genuine. Her hand is on Yoiko's shoulder again, squeezing with reassurance.

"He sounds like he died full of spite and right. Your Starfleet seems to produce a great number of such dedicated officers. Petty Officer Rebane notwithstanding." He's not a petty of-- ah... wordplay.

A laugh rings out again, this time a much more obvious one. Yoiko wipes her eyes and shakes her head. "Petty?" A brief snort. "He's pretty good in his own right, but.... yeah." She chuckles lightly before continuing on with the story. "It took about a year to repair the damages, get everything working properly again, and yes... transferring Dr. Rebane onto the ship as the 'Petty' Chief Medical Officer."

Her eyes are still stinging a bit, but her mood has clearly improved. "We doubled down on reinforcing the nacelles and redesigned half the lower hull to make damn sure nothing like that ever happened again. There where months of testing; jumping here and there, looking for any local anomalies - all that sort of space exporery type of stuff. And that's when we found it. SEH-01, that giant black hole in space that hides Twisted. Some locals had referred to it as the Florpus Hole."

"We'd fired one of our new probes into it and it came back with tons of data about a thriving planetoid slightly out of phase deep inside. Jon assumed it was a fluke, but the match checked out. Furthermore, parts of it where just stable enough to allow transport. We parked the ship over its gaping maw and the Captain and I beamed down along with Lieutenant Galpin, our best pilot. I assumed if nothing else if we could find a shuttle, he'd be able to get us back." She gives a shrug, "Obviously, that didn't quite happen."

She shakes her head, "We beamed down, and only I materialized. I was stuck. I had no idea the ship was locked in a broken chroniton field, or that I'd be stuck here for the next year. Matter of fact the very first person I encountered was that goofy guy from the Devil May Cry commercial."

----

Two days later, the Commander would encounter Mackenzie Mihangle (Kenzie for short), a prisoner who found themselves dumped onto Twisted and for some reason assigned a new gender. It would take months before Yoiko realized that the instability that kept her here was also affecting her Symbiont to give off an effect not unlike being drunk. Sadly that came with a few other questionable decisions, like dating Kenzie and disassembling her apartment - something that made the Telekinetic vanish in the night, leaving Yoiko alone again to obsess over the shuttle she'd eventually build.

----

"...but with that, I finally come to the best part of the story. Meeting you." She smiles happily, both for the memory and to finally be at the end of her story so far. "Now, if you need me to break all this down even further, I could tell you about the first time I stubbed my toe, or the first time I ever kissed someone - but I don't think any of that is vital right now."

Yoiko chuckles softly, "But there you go. I hope all of that helps in some way." She straightens up, sighing away the humor and says seriously, "I don't like talking about all of this, but if you ever feel like I'm not being open with you - please just ask. I'll probably get mad, or embarrassed, but you're worth all that." She adds mischievously, "For now."

A look of satisfaction crosses Liyara's face when Yoiko's mood has improved, and she nods, listening closely. She didn't get a ton of Yoiko's memories - it's not like Yoiko was able to rapid fire off 8 billion specific thoughts in a few seconds like some people. But she got enough that this all rather... coheres. It makes sense. The lizard gets it. Most of it. She doesn't fully understand Starfleet yet, but she's already referred to it with some respect once, which is... frankly more than she does of almost anyone she has spoken of or interacted with.

Liyara is a judgmental creature, and this is not at all hidden from Yoiko. However, other things may have been. Some intentionally so, some not.

"I could feel how difficult some of that was for you. Both now, and ... retroactively. Thank you for sharing your stories with me." The dragoness leans back a ways, looking imperiously across her own form at Yoiko now. "They are now eternal." ... Sure, whatever that means. Sounds very formal.

Those emerald eyes just study Yoiko in silence for a few moments, and then the redhead quirks her lips into something that resembles a smile, but nearly crosses the line into a smirk. "I will reciprocate, but I am no bard. I answer questions." Her eyes glimmer, blaze brighter green than normal, and those slit pupils dilate a bit. "I... will withhold nothing in my answers." She shifts, very slightly, like the sentence made her uncomfortable.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh, "A bard? Like my ramblings where anything more than that?" She shakes her head at the very thought as she rises to her feet, stepping over to a small cooler where she was keeping a few drinks. Opening it up, and frowning at how warm they are now, she plucks a couple of cans out of the tepid water and returns, offering one to Liyara.

"In hindsight I should have picked up a small refrigerator or something." The mostly room temperature can of soda she kept for herself is popped open with a crack and a hiss, and Yoiko takes a few drinks from it, sitting on the bed this time to stare at Liyara more comfortably.

She points at the fire-haired woman on the couch, "You can withhold 'nothing' all you like, but I'll do my best not to ask too many mundane questions before you get to the end. Unless you want me interrupting you every few minutes to ask you how the politics and science works in each passing sentence." She grins and takes another drink before rolling over so she's laying across the bed on her stomach, ready to see what comes next.

Liyara reaches a hand out and takes the can of soda when it is offered. She looks at it for a moment, then sees Yoiko open it, and decides her first instinct, to carve it open with a ~~claw~~ nail, was perhaps excessive. She pops the top in the same way and takes a sip, then looking surprised. "...Ah, sparkling ale, portable. Delightful." She drains the rest of the can immediately and then her hand heats up hot enough to sublimate the can, taking it from solid to gas in a matter of moments, skipping right past that pesky liquid phase. Damn.

"I appreciate your... restraint." She finally says and then gestures regally towards Yoiko, indicating she may ask her questions now. Why thank you, your majesty.

Yoiko simply raises a brow at the evaporating aluminum. "Y'know, we could plug you into a warp core and probably power a whole fleet of ships." She lets her voice drop conspiratorially. "Although I'd still rather keep you for myself. Maybe plug you into this shuttle somehow and use you like my own personal reactor? I bet you'd enjoy it."

Teasing and flirting aside, she is simply distracting what might be an equally long story and knows it. So she takes another drink, setting her can on the floor. "But seriously, go on. I concede the floor to little Miss Furnace."

"Having read a brief synopsis of your warp travel, I am given to understand your anti-matter reactions make my pyrotechnics look quite tame." Liyara says, deflating the compliment, but also being quite visibly pleased by it. Her smile is warm, and it grants permission to overinflate her not-inconsiderable power whenever Yoiko pleases. "...Your civilizations were not stopped by an expanse of highly flammable liquid outside your solar systems, simply more wildspace. Which, I suppose, is dangerous enough for most lifeforms. But my solar system is contained within crystal spheres, surrounded by Phlogiston, a highly reactive material that would destroy your ships the moment they tried to go to impulse. Not because they are weak, but because it is everpresent."

An odd explanation when trying to get to one's life, but Liyara will, perhaps, be forgiven for a slight tangent. "You may compare our solar containment to Dyson spheres; I have read enough since my arrival to understand they are similarly impressive, though the crystal spheres do not harvest energy or sustain life themselves, that is up to the planets within, carefully placed in curated locations to allow life by the ones that call themselves our gods." This explanation... makes sense, actually. "They are, of course, not gods, but sufficiently powerful enough creatures to present as such, even to powerful and educated mages." But not to her, is the obvious implication Liyara is putting out.

"...And so a great skeptic was needed..."

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">In Another World. Another Time. In an Age of Wonder.

A misty rainbow ocean, The Flow, suffused all things, for it was the way of space to be filled, and the way of phlogiston to fill it. You think you know space, that black void you travel through by lashing bulkheads together around a billion billion explosions and calling it a ship. But your space is a dead and empty thing, and it gives you nothing but what you brought with you. Power-hungry CO2 scrubbers and industrial replicators the only thing between your crew and CO2 scrubbers. How crippled must you feel, trapped within the walls you built, knowing that a rend in that thin wall could spell your doom. How cramped and constrained, your hallways and your quarters. How... grey.

How then would you feel, standing on the deck of a mighty ship of the line as it sailed the rainbow sea? Tides the color of your imagination swirling around your ship as you paced the deck, breathing the open air, hoisting the sails and letting the currents take you on your next voyage? A ship's plants constantly breathing oxygen back into your ship's gravitational bubble?

Oh yes, these ships had sails, and their own gravitational field. For all mass has gravity, and all matter cannot help but be attracted. It was not a spell or a technology or a miracle, simply nature. The multi-hued phlogiston permeated all things to be certain, but you'd nothing to fear from it. It was falling overboard that was the danger, and even then, The Flow was kind. You would not suffocate if you fell out of your ship's air bubble. Rather, it would grip you tightly in stasis, until some traveler, perhaps your own crew doubling back for you, could fish you out, and it would release you gently back into life. If there is anything that could truly be said to be divine, it was The Flow.

And within it, hung the crystal spheres. Massive, impossibly large spherical walls that blocked entry to the Phlogiston. Within them, without the flow, planets, stars, and moons spun in formations much like your own, carefully and strategically placed to allow life to bloom without the gentle stasis of The Flow.</div>

---

"The Gods had us believe life was their gift. That they were the answer to why, and how." Liyara says, sighing and gesturing at nothing. "And none sought further. How comforting, an answer one could understand. Gods made it. Easy. Simple." She sounds... dismissive. "...None ever thought to ask how the Phlogiston came to be. Why the Gods could not travel through it. Why their powers diminished rapidly across the barrier of the Crystal Spheres until even their most ardent, powerful priests could not so much as be granted a cantrip. No, the Gods were the answer and they would have you stop looking any further, if they could."

As Liyara began her tale, Yoiko stayed attentive, but her eyes held a bemused expression. Each reference to ships and bulkheads got a dismissive shake of her head and she'd smile. It wasn't until Liyara finally paused that the Engineer finally spoke up. "So, you're making me feel like I should have started with the founding of the Federation and the christening of the Star Fleet."

She laughs, reaching for her can on the floor to finish it off the last little bit. She gestures towards the cooler as she sits the now empty can back down. "There's more if you want it, by the way." She twists onto her side, grabbing a pillow and holding it to her chest giving her the distinct look of a teen girl at a sleepover. "I do appreciate the extra background though. Thank you!"

"It's necessary." Liyara says, tucking her chin in. The redhead looks a little sheepish, but continues, not one to let something like hesitation derail her tale. "To understand who I am. What I am." She shifts, turning about on the couch, then spinning around and bringing a knee up to her chest in that way that looks comfortable and casual, but because of her dress, also looks risque and appealing. It's probably a move she's calculated the angles and ratios on a thousand times over to maximize its impact.

"The Gods are liars. They are no moral authorities. No better or worse than us. I know that to be true..." She pauses for just a moment, furrowing her brows, taking a deep breath, and then looking Yoiko in the eyes and deflating just a little. She can't run from this. It has to happen sooner or later. "...Because my father is one."

Come again?

Liyara steamrolls over the idea of a question here, in spite of her promise to answer questions, perhaps hoping that providing context will satisfy without the pain of true illumination and introspection a smartly worded question might draw. "He wasn't when he and my mother conceived." That's even more confusing - God isn't just some temporary title. Right?

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">Long ago, but also a time achingly close, there was a murder. As is the way of any good and proper murder, it was a death with three parts. A jilted lover, a jealous rival, and the devil. Mystra, the goddess of magic, was loved by Cyric, the God of Lies. This love began before they had ascended to godhood, but as Mystra became enamored with another, Cyric's affection curdled, turning to rage. Unfortunately for Cyric, Mystra was far too powerful to be slain by his hand alone, and so entered our first accomplice.

Shar was the sister of Selune, of whom Mystra was an aspect. She was both Mystra's aunt and sister at once, for divinity is complicated, messy and makes the rules up after it has done what it willed. From the moment of Mystra's birth, Shar desired her complete control over Magic, her structural underpinning to The Weave. But so long as Mystra lived, Shar could do nothing to usurp her place. So long as she lived.

A plan was formed. Shar would help Cyric murder Mystra, and the two of them would split the spoils of her divine spark and domain. Shar, of course, had no intention of sharing ultimate power, but ironically Cyric being the god of lies was blind to them himself. She planned to supplant Mystra's Weave with her own, the Shadow Weave, and become goddess of Magic and Darkness alike. She gave Cyric a cloak of purest shadow, devised to keep him invisible to Mystra's gaze as he glided unseen through her magical domain of Dweomerheart. And so they schemed.

But they were both of them deceived.

For while Shar was told the Staff of Azuth would allow Cyric to unlock Mystra's defenses, and she distracted Azuth so that Cyric could steal it, Cyric was also given a black blade that could deal the final blow. And so it did, as he plunged it into Mystra's heart, but it did not simply kill the goddess. It detonated all the magic within her, rippling through the weave. A thousand different living wards upon Toril struggled valiantly against the surge, and all thousand fell at the exact same time. Coincidentally. Impossibly. Each killed in separate, unrelated events that had nothing to do, absolutely nothing at all, with this murder. An ancient druid burned down with her forest. A wizard that had lived a century longer than expected slipped and fell, cracking his skull. King Nasher of Neverwinter was assassinated in his throne room.

And so the Weave collapsed. Dweomerheart exploded. A spellplague scoured the lands, and sorcerers and wizards alike were suddenly powerless for the first time since humanity's founding. Chaos reigned. Cyric was found guilty of murdering Mystra and imprisoned. Shar had successfully fled and was nowhere near the crime scene. And what of Azuth, the god of wizards, who lived in Dweomerheart? Why, in all the chaos, noone noticed him fall straight into the hells. Noone save one particular devil, who had been waiting to consume his Divine Spark, and did just that.

So Cyric killed Mystra. Shar gave him the cloak and staff. And noone once thought to ask him who gave him the blade.

Just as Asmodeus intended.</div>

"My father is many things. A liar. A cheat. A fiend. But he has never been short-sighted. He gave Cyric that knife twenty years before Shar came up with her plan. Barely a week before I was conceived." Liyara hugs that knee to her a little closer. "...A coincidence, surely."

... What the hell?

Yoiko's eyes widen when Liyara first references her father and her eyes remain locked in from that point forward. When she pauses to hug her knee, Yoiko stands up, walks closer, and gives her a hug. "Hey, it's alright. You can't change where you came from and I'm not judging anything."

When she finally stands up again, she glances around the room a moment before settling on a stack of papers and a pen. She marches over to pick them up and plops down beside Liyara on the couch. Each page is covered with scribbles and notes, mostly diagrams and mathematical formulas. She flips through until she finds a blank page. "If you're gonna keep talking about all these other people, I'm going to start making a flow chart." While she sounds as borderline sarcastic as always, there's no humor in her expression. She's serious.

She jots down a few names, at the top. 'Syric, Mistra, Sharr' and draws lines between them, crossing out Mystra and adding 'Asmodeous' underneath with a dash and then 'Dad.' "Okay. Please go on!"

Liyara just stares at Yoiko as she pulls out diagrams, and then offers the weakest laugh and scoots over on the couch, then leans against Yoiko for comfort even as she corrects the Commander's spelling. "... I found this all out not long before I ended up here. It was the dead end in a long trail of bodies left in my wake. Most of them deserved to perish." She says, with utmost certainty. "...But not all."

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">There are many schools of the arcane in Toril. Schools of evocation, schools of transmutation, and schools of illusion or enchantment. Relatively few schools of necromancy, yet they existed all the same. The Tolarian Academy for the Arcane Arts was general purpose, which you may be forgiven for believing was a varied and diverse curriculum. But that general purpose was god-slaying. This was, of course, not advertised on the syllabus, but its Headmistress directed the content courses almost as surely as if she was teaching them herself.

Her name was Liyara, daughter of Lux, and many other titles besides. Nestled comfortably within the nation of Amn, the Academy was the only place licensed for free practice of magic anywhere in the country. To say that Amn was a mercantile nation is to say that Klingons are obstinate. It is true, but the full scope of the greed is not easily understood.

Practice of unlicensed spellcraft was illegal in Amn, and Liyara had to perform quite a sizable service to gain an exemption for an entire school. However, this was hardly an inconvenience. It just so happened that by the time Amn become aware of Liyara's presence, it also became aware of a Cowled Wizard that ran an extremely illegal child-soldier program, creating expendable mages, under the cover of the Council's blessing. Liyara was able to prove this because she had been one such child-soldier, but no longer. They trained her, Hoshimaru, and the others to destabilize entire governments covertly, and they were very good at it. By the time Liyara made Amn aware it was in her debt, it was not a request for forgiveness for killing a Cowled Wizard. It was an invoice for services rendered.

Under the cover of the Headmistress of the Tolarian Academy, she traveled the continents for her... research. Found people she was looking for, tortured information out of them, and killed them, unless they were more useful to her alive.

Most weren't.

She was seeking those responsible for an attack on Mount Hotenow decades prior. The humans she tracked down first, for they were short lived and she would be damned if any of them would die of natural causes.

She would be damned if they didn't, too.</div>

"When I killed the King of Neverwinter, I had thought I was closing the loop. He had ordered the attack, he had financed everything. But it was worse than I'd feared. He did not order the attacks out of vanity or fear, but duty." Liyara brings her other leg up, hugging both knees together now. "...He had done it to stop my father's plans, believing that Father's corruption could not be allowed to spread. I chastised him as I cut him down, proclaiming that I was more than that monster's twisted schemes. Yet even as I protested, when I struck him down, I felt it. The weave surged. The king fell, and with him, another living ward entrusted to bear the load should anything happen to Mystra." Her eyes start to glass over a bit, and she bites her lip. "Of course... What was one ward? There were thousands. And who could even hurt Mystra in the first place?" Magma wells up slightly where she bit her lip too hard. It's as beautiful as it is dangerous to touch, ruby lips indented only for brilliant orange to glow and pool in that dent. "...I was naive. In my quest for vengeance, I had enabled my father's ascent. He was now forever out of my reach." ... Vengeance?

The blonde woman taps her pencil against the page filled with notes and at least one doodle of a chibi Liyara breathing fire. "Wait, back up. I thought Mystra was already dead? I thought Cyric killed her?" She continues tapping a moment as she thinks, "Or is this one of those 'someone new becomes them'/reincarnation-type situations?"

It takes her a full minute to back out of 'study mode' and go back to addressing the emotions on display. "Crap. I'm sorry, I got a little too into that." She places a hand on Liyara's cheek, being very careful to avoid the searing trickle of heat on her lip, and tilts her face towards her to look into her eyes. "We don't have to do all this right now."

Yoiko glances down at her page of notes and shakes her head, "I'm not going to judge you for things that happened before I met you, and I'm not going to think any less of you if you leave this story unfinished." At that she puts her hands in her own lap because dangit, the urge to wipe that 'blood' away is strong and she enjoys having thumbs.

Liyara looks into Yoiko's eyes like the blonde has just asked her if water is a liquid or a solid. "...I was explaining my part in Mystra's death. This happened concurrently to Cyric stabbing her with the black blade, and is why the weave could not survive her death." She frowns a little, and then tosses a hand off to one side. "You see? I am no bard. I am telling you everything backwards. Let me explain from my beginning. That will be easier." She breaks their locked gaze after a moment, and takes a deep breath, beginning again.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">In Realmspace, for that is what we call the crystal sphere containing Toril, there are many dragons. Chromatic dragons of many hues, Metallic Dragons of many casts, and even Gem dragons of many facets. Now it so happens that Chromatic dragons are evil. This is not a slight or a judgement upon them, it is an inherent magical law of their being in the same way that all Metallic dragons are good. Neither choose this for themselves, it is chosen for them before they are born, and none have ever noticed the yoke, let alone chafed under it.

Red dragons are some of the most evil of all, but for one, an unusual exception. Lux, daughter of Hoondarrh, the Red Rage of Mintarn. Unusually bright for a Red, Lux took in her youth to wearing human shapes and toying with mortals, finding them pleasant company and pleasant snacks. Her mortal guise pretended to be caring and kind, and so it was a great surprise to everyone involved when a trickster placed a Helm of Opposite Alignment upon her head. Such a thing is normally a brainwashing, yet for a Chromatic dragon, it had to be more, for her alignment was decided magically, not by choice like mortals. She became good in every way, the very thing she had merely pretended to be to lure travelers to their demise. Her entire magical structure was re-written, and she became a staunch ally of the righteous, even if she had to do it from the shadows.

If Lux was to sire children, they would likewise turn out as her, kind and virtuous, a true anomaly in the world of Red dragons. But Lux's secret was not so secret; one creature, one devil, had sussed out the truth of her, and had a delicious idea, more of a whim, really. The world's first and only clutch of good Red dragons was all well and fine, but what if they carried the taint of the hells within them? What delicious corruption - what a delightful back and forth as their nature forced them to be one thing, while the darkness in their hearts forced them to be another? This was the kind of thing he lived for, and his name was Asmodeus.

So he appeared to Lux as a handsome and beguiling Red Dragon with a story, a perfect lie. A dragon who had walked amongst humans and grown fond of them, had freed himself from Tiamat's shackles and was becoming something... more. Not Good, necessarily, but neutral, his own dragon. It was the perfect bait. Lux believed she could help him come to the light, and they shared a night of passion before her charming suitor disappeared into the black, never to be seen again. She soon found she was pregnant with a clutch of his children. But she did not know what she truly carried.</div>

"...I never knew any of this part growing up. I would learn it later with scrying magics, legend-lore, spells that let me observe the past as if it was happening in the present." Liyara admits, and shrugs a bit. She reaches up and wipes her own orange-hot blood away from her lip absent-mindedly. There, taken care of. Now she just has this slightly glowing stain across the lips. It's fine.

Yoiko had gone back to furiously scribbling notes as the red haired woman continued. Eventually she holds the page at arm's length, turns it sideways, then slowly shakes her head. "You're not telling it backwards. Not everything can be understood chronologically."

She finally turns the page, starting with a clean slate, and then thoughtfully chews on her pencil. "You know, if nothing else you could probably sell this as a TV series." Looking up with a wide grin, Yoiko then turns to face Liyara, pulling up her knees to angle the paper like an easel. "Okay, so Asmodeus is a bit of a jerk - no offense intended. He manipulates your Mom, plays a long con for power, and you get saddled with being a weapon while you're stuck in Magic Academy because teachers seem to suck in every reality."

There's something scribbled on the new sheet of paper before she looks over the page and asks, "Totally off topic, but did you ever listen to the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin? Earth song, mid-twentieth century? I've got this hunch it'd be up your alley." She grins like this was meant to be funny, but doesn't elaborate further.

"The... immigrant song?" Liyara blinks at that, then shakes her head. She doesn't have to do her 'reading in her memory' thing to know she's never heard that. "No. What is that? Do you have it?" The dragoness actually drops the thread, pulled out of her thoughts. She looks curious, which is better than pensive, probably. Yoiko is very good at that.

The Commander jumps up to her feet, walking over to the desk across from them. She knocks taps a few buttons on the small keyboard there (with keycaps that look like cats playing) and the monitor on the wall above blinks to life. "Old Earth music is kinda my favorite. It's got an edge to it that you don't really hear anywhere else. The Klingons have their big sweeping operas, but the humans.... they have this sound they call 'rock' that I just absolutely love."

She's opening apps as she's speaking, searching through some kind of music player branded with the Canarybox logo. What won't they stream to people? "Here it is!" A loud guitar riff echoed by drums comes out of speakers hidden around the small quarters. The music gallops like a steed charging into battle. "This is something to do with these nomadic people in Earth's past. Vikings, I think they're called? Really doesn't matter." A voice cries out under the music screaming a melodic 'AAAAAA' that shifts pitch.

''We come from the land of the ice and snow/From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow'' 
''The Hammer of the Gods/Will drive our ships to new lands/To fight the horde and sing and cry'' 
''Valhalla, I am coming...'' 
''On we sweep! With threshing oar! Our only goal will be the Western Shore!!"'' 

''We come from the land of the ice and snow/From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow'' 
''How soft your fields, so green/Can whisper tales of gore/Of how we calmed the tides of war'' 
''We are your Overlords...'' 
''On we sweep! With threshing oar! Our only goal will be the Western Shore!!"'' 

''So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins! For peace and trust can win the day, despite of all your losing!!''

The remainder of the song trails off with soft 'ooooo'ing.

Yoiko shrugs as the song slowly comes to a close, "I did say it was totally off-topic." When it finally fades out she turns it off, returning again to the couch. "Sorry, something about the story just made it click and it suddenly felt very you."

Liyara listens to the song intently from the first "Aaaaaaaa", and her slit pupils dilate. She looks kind of enraptured, and then she grins midway through the song, starting to enjoy it. She looks very impressed. But she doesn't speak up until after the song is over.

"...This is very impressive music. The bards who made it should be very proud, and well-rewarded." Well, Yoiko did say it was old earth music, but ... that could mean a lot of things.

"It makes me think of the Eddas from the north." It would.

The blonde woman chuckles at the reaction but insists on apologizing again. "I didn't mean to derail everything, but you know how it goes once an idea pops in there..." She laughs again as she tries to get comfortable. "So, y'know. Now that the theme is set, I guess. Shall we continue?"

"No, it was... good." Liyara admits when Yoiko apologizes, and there's a nod of her head. "Music is one of the things these human worlds have in impossible abundance. Best to partake." The dragoness takes a deep, steadying breath, and then nods a second time, this time giving herself permission to continue.

"Lux was a good mother, not that I have much to compare her to. She was kind, she loved us, and she never let us doubt that." Running a hand slowly through her own hair, Liyara's eyes take on a distant look, remembering. "I would later learn not all mothers could manage that."

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">In the land of Faerun, in the world of Toril, in the sphere of Realmspace, there was a queen. Her name was Lux, and she was powerful, for she was a red dragon, and they are never weak. She was beautiful, for all dragons are beautiful in their own way, but also because of her heart. Unlike other red dragons, she was good and kind. This marked her as unique amongst her kin, and the country that she ruled over was one of magic and adventure. Under her protection, mortal cities flourished, and those that would prey on them withered. Her children were many, having laid nine eggs in total, a number that would have given her pause if she'd had cause to contemplate the reason.

The first to hatch was Liyara, a full three days before the others. To Lux, she was a miracle - bright, earnest, and observant. Her brilliant green eyes took in everything, and she took her first human shape on her first birthday, a full hundred years ahead of schedule. The other eight children were equally brilliant, but Liyara was given to be the favorite. Having the advantage of an early hatching, she was the clear firstborn, and as much as a bunch of unruly children can be said to be "led", Liyara led them. Lux taught them all about the world outside Mount Hotenow, and the mortals that lived there, and after Liyara's first transformation, all of the children were eager to learn more about how mortals lived and what it was like to walk amongst them. Lux urged caution, because mortals, and humans in particular, came in all varieties. Kind, cruel, smart, vapid, pious and covetous.

That was a word she did not have to teach them - covetous. While Lux's nature had been re-written, dragons will still be dragons, and each of them had something they collected and squirreled away to roost on, without really even needing to understand why. For Liyara, it was gold, truly she was the most like the red dragons of old, but for Lisan, it was tomes. He slept on them with care, arranging them just so, for he could not bear the thought of his weight crinkling a single page. He was the smartest of the children, for he was more well read than any of them, and dragons do not forget. Liandrin hoarded swords, and his scales naturally toughened to be able to roost upon even enchanted ones without discomfort. Liyara leaned on him to help teach them all how to fight in their human forms, which all of them managed within a week of their first birthday. It was understood they would one day go amongst the mortals and be ambassadors for their new Dragonflight. For that, Liyara learned much from her sister Lila, who gathered works of mortal art. There was much you could learn about people through their art, she would insist at length, and the firstborn agreed, for the artistic wyrmling espoused insights that surprised even Lux with their veracity.

And Lucian, cunning Lucian with his invisible hoard. He collected debts, favors owed, promises made, because he said what better hoard than the one people cannot see, and cannot take from you? Lux was impressed with his pragmatism. She was far less impressed with Lena's hoard, if only for the difficulties it caused. Lena chose to make her metaphorical nest atop piles of clothing, claiming that garments were the key to identity, and that if one controlled how the world saw them, they controlled who they were in the world. Lux was less certain about this, but Liyara believed her sister was onto something, and would praise Lena while gently prying her own outfits free of the child's hoard. Not so, with Lon, however. Liyara's youngest brother was given to collecting explosives, sleeping on them every night and occasionally waking himself (and everyone else) when an errant snort set them off. He would always be found laughing amidst the smoldering ruins of his room, charred from head to foot but elsewise hardly damaged. He claimed that there was no such thing as too much fire, and Liyara just couldn't make herself see things his way.

Lux, of course, had her favorites beside Liyara, and it was the second and third oldest that held those spots, though she would never tell this to the others. Second born, Landon collected animals. Beasts, magical creatures, prey, predator, it did not matter, he gathered them and he slept in a giant pile with them. He had an incredible knack for taming and befriending the creatures, and he always explained that friends and allies that trusted you, and could be trusted in turn, were more valuable than any gold or art or clothing. While she saw the wisdom in his words, Liyara found she just did not have his easygoing knack for friendship. She got along much better with her own personal favorite, the thirdborn - Luna. Named after Selune and nearly as beautiful, Luna hoarded magical scrolls, artifacts, and tomes, the last of which she generously shared with Lisan, lest he come up short in magical knowledge, which would be a shame. Luna studied magic lustfully and with great passion. Before the age of four, she had already learned how to convince magical items that she was of the appropriate skill, experience, and alignment to use them. Liyara loved her, and if there was one sibling she could have chosen to be, it would have been Luna.</div>

"It was a good family, if perhaps a little unruly. None of us could hold a candle to Mother, but even she could see that in our fields of expertise, we would soon overtake her, and she saw to it that none of us neglected an area of education just because one of us was better at it than the others. She was wise, I think, for a Dragon. It is..." Liyara tucks her chin in, realizing first what she just said, and then that she has to finish it honestly, in spite of her reservations. "...not a common trait for our kind. Wisdom." She gives Yoiko a look that says she will deny that vehemently if it is ever mentioned outside this room.

Yoiko nods her head at the statement about other mothers not being so kind and gives a knowing sigh. She's had a few lifetimes and known a number of people. "A shame kindness isn't quite so universal as it should be..."

As the story carries on Yoiko goes back to her notebook. A few sketches of eggs in a nest with names written across each one. Admittedly she aww's at the idea of baby Liyara. There's a few notes she makes at the bottom of the page to ask when there's a more natural pause in the story.

At the explanations about their various hordes, Yoiko quickly scribbles into the margins, *Buy gold sheets* with several underlines. This does get another question for later though, which she'll ask in just a moment.

When Liyara gives her *the look* Yoiko giggles, deciding this is the time to start with more questions. "Okay, couple of things. When you took your first forms, where they already adult, or did you have to grow into them?" She adds quietly, mostly under her breath, "I kinda wanna see a cute tiny you..."

She'll wait until some sort of answer is given before moving on to the next question. "Alright, secondly: The hordes? Is it the physical presence of the objects, or the knowledge of its existence? Lucian makes it sound like it's more about the existence." There's no mockery in her tone. She's genuinely curious and wanting to learn more about it assuming Liyara is willing to explain.

"The first one I took was who I felt like inside. I believe humans would view it as an eight year old girl. She grew with me." Liyara answers softly, smiling at Yoiko. "...You're looking at a version of her now." So... while her base form is a dragon, this is who Liyara identifies as? Best not to call the dragon form her true form, then.

She stands from the couch, giving Yoiko an affectionate head bop first, and then takes a breath, spinning slowly, just enough for the skirt of her dress to flare out, and it flares out more dramatically than usual, covering her from view completely for a fraction of a second, and then it comes back down, and the dress is different. White, linen, simple, with gold laces in the front that don't really need to be there, and a tiny little redheaded girl with soft, cherubic cheeks and brilliant, piercing green eyes is staring at Yoiko. Short, stubby little horns and wings so tiny they make Adult Liyara's mostly ornamental wings look strong and powerful. She smiles, and it's a devastating, adorable thing that makes a heart ache.

"It's normally..." The tiny voice that comes out is so cute it actually hurts, and the little girl winces. She throws an arm up, and a capelet that she wasn't wearing a moment ago swirls through the air, and when it passes, the form of Liyara that Yoiko is used to appears again, crouched down to make the transition more... geometrically probable. "...it's normally the physical collection. The things you have and therefore noone else can have them. But Lucian was a very special child."

She stands to her full height again, and takes a little breath. She makes a small gesture, and flames flicker to life in the air, resolving into the surprisingly clear shape of a young boy. He wears a smug smile, has eyebrows that are a little too arched, and has the easy bearing of someone that's going to grow up to break every heart. "He was his father's son. Always violating the spirit of the law, never the form."

With a brief nod Yoiko acknowledges Liyara's description, understanding the mental image of one's self better than most. But when she stands and bops her in the head, Yoiko shakes her head in disbelief. She barely manages a "What are you-?" before the transformation takes her breath away.

It makes her heart melt a little at first, but when the little voice speaks up the Trill woman's maternal instincts kick in and it takes all she has not to wrap her up in her arms and vow to protect her forever. Luckily that heavy dose of Linda's influence gets to take a back seat when Liyara shifts back to normal, but it doesn't stop a brief sound of disappointment from being muttered unconsciously.

"...that would be such a dangerous ability with a Symbiont. I don't even want to think what that'd do to me." She takes in the rest of the answers to her question with another nod, but her mind is still reeling from the transformation she'd witnessed. "...does it hurt to do that?"

That question draws an eyebrow arch from Liyara, and then she shakes her head slowly. "No. I can be anyone, as long as they're me." She delivers the statement rote, her bog-standard confession to two dozen close friends and lovers, before she tucks her chin in and looks closer into Yoiko's eyes. "...I must keep one of the wings, the tail, or the horns. And my hair will always be red. Feathers if I turn into a bird, and I have, and it was strangely comfortable and I do not wish to examine that."

The woman looks thoughtful, and then manages to look a little guilty. "...That was a lie. I'm sorry, it's a force of habit. These are rules about who I am, but who I am can be shifted, these rules are not hard and fast, and I have impersonated other specific people that are very much not me."

Yoiko tilts her head to the side and nods at the confession. "Hey... It's okay." She gestures around at everything around them, "Look. I know what it's like. You should see some of the things I've had to say to get out of doing a physical. Think about what other cultures would do if they knew they could have immortality given to them and potentially infinite knowledge just for having a Symbiont inside them?"

She puts a hand to her side where they had to cut her open to allow it to bond with her. "It doesn't matter that only about 10% of our population is even compatible. They'd find out and the Klingons, the Romulans, and who knows what else would descend on Trillius Prime to raid the Caves of Mak'ala. The Symbionts would be taken, dissected, and our history and legacy would be destroyed."

"If it hadn't been for Twisted making me feel like I'm constantly a little drunk, I probably wouldn't have even told you." She sighs, "It's not anything personal, but that's a lot of trust." Yoiko frowns just thinking about everything she's admitted. "I'm not saying that my secrets and yours are any more or less important. But I know the feeling. It becomes an automatic response that never wants to go fade away." She looks up at Liyara and gives a weak smile, "...and I think that means we've come full circle already."

If allowed, she'll reach out and grab Liyara's hand, her own shaking slightly. "Nothing we say leaves this shuttle. I promise."

"Ah..." Liyara looks surprised at Yoiko's declaration about the risk of other races finding out, and then her eyes widen. She understands this threat very well, and she is frankly surprised she didn't consider it. "I... think I understand."

The redhead bites her lip again, and then nods. "...Mother always told us, people's envy is the most dangerous thing. They hate, fear, and desire what they don't understand, sometimes all in equal measure." Well, yes, that's true. But it does seem like perhaps she might have learned that from her own experiences, not just what she was told.

"...I've always understood that. I'm sorry I didn't think of it, but I won't make that mistake again. Noone else will learn it from me." She swears to Yoiko, and she seems... unusually earnest? Genuine. It's a little unlike her, letting the distance evaporate from between her mistakes and her accountability. Maybe that's special for Yoiko.

For no easily explainable reason Yoiko's mind suddenly conjures up the two of them in chibi form fist bumping suddenly, and it unexpectantly causes her to snort and start doodling exactly that. "Sorry, not the best timing." She's blushing a little, but she holds up the sketch a moment later - revealing that Yoiko was never the best artist, but it's clear what she was going for.

She grins, looks at the page, frowns, tries to grin again. It'd be more comical if she wasn't so sure she just ruined a genuine moment between them. She sets the page down and brushes some of her hair out of her face. "I believe you. I trust you. I wouldn't have told you, well, any of this otherwise." She adds after a moment of thought about how Twisted affects her, "...most likely."

Yoiko tries to play that last part off as a joke, but she's actually worried about it now that she's had a moment to think. "Note to self, no more away missions to weird gravitational paradoxes without some sort of inhibiter." She frowns again.

Realizing she's still probably coming off like she's downplaying the moment, Yoiko gives a weak smile, "I'm sorry. I'm going off on a tangent again." She rises up and puts an arm around Liyara's shoulders. "But again, I promise I won't breathe a word of this to anyone." She tilts her head from side to side in an extra moment of thought, "...but if held at gunpoint I'm going to gush about how cute little you was." A sage nod is given. "I'll have to return that favor with some old photos next time I'm back on the station."

There's a tiny laugh at that, Liyara smiling at the idea. "As if I'd let anyone hold you at gunpoint." There's that possessiveness again. She relaxes visibly, and takes a slow, deep breath, straightening out her clothes. It's ritualistic, of course. Her githweave adjusts in any way she wants, no touch needed. But running her hands down her sides fills space in the conversation and draws attention to her silhouette.

Everything always has to be just so.

"Yes, let's avoid jumping into any more black holes unexplored. In my world, we would send a scrying sensor first. Or some other form of remote detection." Well. Her world can't be THAT backward if they actually take safety precautions. That's one thing she and Starfleet often have in common. ... But wait, is she saying they have a protocol, or this is just... something people know to do?

When Yoiko apologizes, Liyara shakes her head. "It's good. Tangents are good. Memories are... hard." Are they? Liyara hasn't really given the impression that anything is hard for her, save perhaps considering other people's feelings. In fact, she routinely denies it.

Hmm.

Yoiko gives a bit of mock offense to the very idea, "We sent sensor probes first! It's not like anyone on the ship would have known to calibrate it to a Trill's Symbiont's physiology before we beamed down." She shrugs playfully, holding up her hands in defeat. "Y'know, 'cause of all the other things we've just talked about."

Sitting back on the couch again, Yoiko curls up against the armrest and lowers her voice a little. "Soooo... speaking of. Federation transporters like the one we used earlier have a filter built into them that identifies any foreign bodies and removes them during transport. It's a safety function to prevent beaming up from a planet where a viral outbreak might contaminate the ship and kill everyone." She gives another light shrug, "It happens, maybe not to that extent, but you get the idea..."

She taps her chest, "...and then we introduce the best kept secret of my race." She lets out a long, slow sigh. "Talking to you about all this is one thing. Having to explain to Jon that the transporter could literally kill me because of a safety measure was not a fun conversation when I hadn't even told him what a Symbiont was." She pauses and counts on her fingers, "So you are the fifth person I've told about the Symbiont, you know. Two where because I had to - because I needed to be able to disable the biofilters without getting court martialed. One because she was there to help me when I was joined, one because she had to teach me about Star Trek because one of the first things she did was ask if I was a Joined Trill..." She adds under her breath, "...stupid Twisted." And then with a smile, "And you. Because I trust you, and I don't want to have to keep secrets from you. Especially those that might hurt you somehow."

Yoiko bites her lip thoughtfully a moment and then taps her notes. "I've derailed everything again, haven't I?" She shoo's Liyara. "Back to your story! Stop letting me ramble!"

"Wouldn't... that have killed you?" Liyara immediately makes the connection about the transporter filter, because of course she does. But then a moment later. "...You have to manually program it to not kill you?!" Aaaand there it is. She's righteously indignant again.

"How did you know I didn't have a magical symbiote that would kill me?" She looks like she's going to get all worked up again, and then she laughs and runs a hand through her hair, sighing. It's already done, isn't it? She didn't die, and now they're back.

"Your derailing is much more entertaining than..." Liyara trails off, her eyes losing focus, glassing over. She shivers, just a little. Easy to miss. And then tiny little magma pearls bead around her tear ducts and her face twists up, unhappy.

"...This." She waves at her face like she make it stop doing this treasonous, leaking thing. She brushes the irridescent, molten tears away and shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm not... it's not like the way you remember." How would she kn-- oh, right, she actually would know how Yoiko remembers, specifically.

"I'm here, with you, but I'm also standing there, five years old, and it's... I don't normally do this." She swallows, and sweat beads on her forehead.

Instinctively Yoiko leaps forward to try and comfort her, but... obviously that might be more dangerous than the unmodified transporter. She hesitates at the last second, remembering hot=bad and decides to try and help in a different direction. "Hey-heeeeey! Listen to my voice. Focus on my words. Liyara, this moment. Right now. Not any of those other ones. You're sitting with me in my little crappy ship that I made in my apartment. We're telling stories and not thinking about all those scary things going on we have no control over yet." Yet is the important thing to remember.

Maybe distracting is the right thing to do? "And I knew you'd be okay because Jon had already made sure my changes were made on the station. Anything larger than a microbe is automatically ignored. We're talking things smaller than a grain of sand." She huffs a bit, "Not like I'm going to let some crappy future tech break my favorite person!" Well, it feels like future tech on Twisted at least, and she knows it. Especially to Liyara.

Not sure if it's working or not, she goes back to her first efforts to get through. "Look, we have to have a whole thing with guided meditations to merge the voices of our past Hosts into the background of our lives, but that said it's still totally possible for an unfocused mind to be taken over by them - especially if they have a very loud and dominate personality. It sounds like that's what you're going through right now. Just ignore all that other stuff and focus on now. This moment is the most important one at the moment. Not your past. Not your future. Those things can come bother you in their own time."

"It wasn't that crappy." Liyara admits in a small voice, almost like she's afraid someone will hear her and never let her live that admission down.

She takes a deep breath, and tries again. There's a moment where her breath is unsteady, and she opens her mouth to speak, and then the tears come again and she wipes them away furiously. She laughs, trying to deflect the embarrassment, but what she's embarrassed for is anyone's guess.

Crying? Everybody cries.

Crying in front of Yoiko maybe?

"It all happens at once. It's not like... I can fully control it." It seems an awful lot like she's skirting around some serious trauma, which... Yeah, people have described PTSD before as being unable to turn a memory off. Is it worse with magical, eidetic memory?

Yoiko has to correct her, make her focus on the now. "It *isn't* that crappy. Not *wasn't* that crappy." She places a hand on Liyara's shoulder and squeezes gently. "Yeah, I completely get it. It's like living the entire lives of three different people. No idea what that's like, babe." She smiles playfully and tries to keep Liyara's eyes focused on her.

"C'mon. If you don't come back to this moment, you're going to miss out on whatever I might do next." She gestures wildly with her free hand. "I've told you all these dark secrets, maybe I'm going to show you where all my spots are next." She wiggles her eyebrows at the idea and smirks.

"Pretty sure you've not seen them under proper lighting, y'know. They actually go down to my little toes." She reaches up and tugs the collar of her shirt. "I can't show that to some five year old, y'know - and I'm not going to show them to someone who I haven't met yet. So get it together, girl." Hey, if nothing else has worked. May as well try this approach.

"Did you know I'm totally going against my people having crawled in a bed with you?" She grins, "We're supposed to be better than that. 'Intimacy is for procreation, not entertainment.' It's all about expanding your mind and becoming a better being." She squeezes Liyara's shoulder again, "I make exceptions for you. But only if you're gonna come back to me in the here and now." She then lowers her head, almost close enough to touch foreheads together but not enough to start burning. "You can do this. I believe in you. Don't make a liar out of me."

"I'll try." Liyara says, and she sniffs and she smiles and she makes another face. "...This is absolutely unacceptable, I look like a troll." No, even when trying to hold in tears and grimacing, she's gorgeous. The lighting always hits right, the dress always sits perfect, and the occasional glowing trail leaking from an eye is like the heavenly ichor.

"I can... Maybe I can show you?" Liyara says, and then she takes some of those tears, gently brushing them onto her fingertips, and begins tracing. Sigil-work. Rituals to make the magic believe it is powered by the weave, and not her elemental essence. She learned this long ago.

"It will likely be easier." Her voice is steadying again, finding her composure. Whether it's the embarrassment or simply to spite her treasonous body, she's locking it down.

A complex mandala of burning sigils bleed off her finger, painted into the air with fire and magic, essence and will. And sure enough, after a moment, she waves a hand at the barest section of bulkhead wall. It almost doesn't matter if it's actually bare. Much like a projector it will display over whatever is there regardless. But it's less distracting if there aren't other things to see at the same time.

The image flickers to life. Brilliant colors that are more vivid than the most brilliant display. The interior of a keep buried in a mountain, which should be drab and brown and gray, but somehow it is vibrant. The browns have more color, and everything has some kind of... Aura?

The Trill woman can't help but laugh at the comment about looking like a troll, barely getting a chance to shake her head in objection before Liyara starts working her craft. She backs up enough to get out of her way, and her eyes go wide as another world suddenly projects itself above her desk.

She's about to comment on the aura when she sniffs the air, realizing that she smells something burning. Something other than Liyara's sweat - or whatever you call it. With a little flailing she dashes out of the room and into the tiny bathroom adjacent the room they came in from. Water can be heard flowing suddenly and a second later Yoiko comes back with her hair wet. One tiny strand of hair is singed above her left eye.

"Shit." She huffs and flops back onto the couch with her arms crossed. "We've gotta work on personal space." This is a joke. A bad one. "Clearly I don't know to keep my distance when you're all hot and bothered like that." And now a pun or two. She huffs a bit and settles in to see whatever the magic has been crafted to share.

"I told you I'm smoking." Liyara says, her voice quietly amused, but at the same time, there's an effort, a strain to it that isn't normally there. She is forcing herself composed. It is a struggle. It is hard.

The image above Yoiko's desk bobs about, the view of someone walking down the gray and brown halls. It's more than just the vivid colors; everything has some sort of faint glow surrounding it. The glows remind vaguely of heat maps; the stronger and more colorful the glow, the more magical the item - this is immediately apparent as the viewer looks from a bare wooden table to an ancient suit of armor standing guard over the hallway. The former has an incredibly faint green glow, barely enchanted at all, whereas the armor has the bright golden nimbus of transmutation magic infusing it.

"I did it." The voice is small, hushed, and awed. It came from Liyara, but it almost sounds like it could have been that tiny version of herself from earlier. "I cast 'Detect Magic'. Luna was right. Of course she was." The voice sounds as unsurprised that Luna was right as it sounds envious.

The image jumps, it blurs. The memory is perfectly clear, probably clearer than it would have seemed to most people while it was happening, but the way her mind winds through it isn't linear, not chronological, it's thought to thought, memory to memory. The image jumps to a new one, with no magical auras displayed, though the colors that are shown remain too-vibrant. There is now a small girl, who looks a little older than that tiny Liyara from before. She has long and lustrous black hair with red streaks running through it, and she is slowly running a brush down the length while looking at a tome in front of her. She is studying the book closely, and not looking at the viewer at all. She is abstractly beautiful in that very specific way that some children can be - clearly hinting at the person they'll become, but still small and evoking the need to be protected.

This girl has no horns, and her wings are folded elegantly down the small of her back. While she appears to be about ten years old, she has none of those awkwardly sized features or nervous tics associated with a child still growing and learning. No, she looks like a woman writ small. Without turning, the girl, Luna probably, tells the viewer in a voice sounding like bells ringing in the new year, that it isn't going to work if she simply tries to force it. The trick is to emulate what the spell gets from the weave. Remember that our blood is stronger than the ambient magic in the air, you have to dilute it, it's about precision. You'll get it soon enough, the girl assures the viewer, and then she finally spares a glance their way, and her expression softens.

The image flickers back to the hallway with the suit of armor, auras jumping back into view, and Liyara takes a deep breath, looking away from the image as if it isn't coming from her own head anyway. With careful control, the image pulls away from the hallways of the keep, showing a montage now of her world.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">There are rules for all things, and while some are flexible, meant to be teased and cajoled, others are rigid and immutable. In the year 1359, the Time of Troubles, every single one of these rules was being tested. Gods fell, and their replacements walked among men. The weave was in turmoil, and paranoia was rampant. Rumors abounded that Asmodeus was growing a small army of corrupted dragons to blight and scour the land, and were believed as a manner of course. For if there was one rule everyone could agree on, it was that Asmodeus is cruel, and his cunning without limit. </div>

Yoiko can't help but snicker at Liyara's joke, but she stays quiet - especially as voices begin to call out from the moving images being displayed. She tilts her head as she watches, trying to figure out the context, but casting an occasional side glance at Liyara worried about how much she seems to be straining.

Still, the fact that she was able to play around is a good sign. Maybe she's not quite as lost as she seemed to have been getting.

There was a moment where Yoiko almost asked what the point of being shown this was, but as the story continues she slides over to her notebook and starts taking notes again. Her eyes constantly flickering back up to the memory being presented.

The images show kingdoms, armies, a whole host of visual effects that don't quite make sense - fiery explosions that don't ignite vegetation - lightning that springs from fingertips rather than arcing from ground to sky - crowds of people. Eventually they settle back on a mountain. A child. A child that Yoiko recognizes because she was just standing in her runabout minutes ago.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">But in spite of the rumors, none knew where to look for these dragons, and for years Lux's anti-scrying magic kept it that way. Noone in Toril could find them.</div>

The images play. Young Liyara playing with her brothers and sisters. It's an easy guess of who's who. And unintuitively, it's also easy to see some elements of Adult Liyara in them. Lena's dress. Lila's capelet. Liandrin's dagger in particular stands out. The dress and capelet share similarities to what Liyara wears, but the dagger... that's the same dagger. That edged guard that curves around the fingers with a notch for catching enemy blades is... rather unique.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">And so in the dormant volcano of Mount Hotenow, a family grew. Exceptional. Brilliant. Happy. Safe. Until the humans came. Until the day I--</div>

Five people in medieval garb, striding down the keep hall. Two women, three men, in silhouette. The auras surrounding them are blinding, incredibly potent and varied, the mix of colors indistinguishable with the amount of magical artifacts they carry. This is an adventuring party. This is the adventuring party.

"--I... Until the day I lost everything." Her register changes, that dramatic high cant narrative collapsing into a first person accounting. Her voice trembles once, then grows still. Interesting, because she won't stop shaking.

"I often dream of that moment."

The room gets colder as Liyara's warmth retreats from it. The dragon's eyes focus somewhere beyond the runabout walls. She's in that mountain, a hundred years ago. It's happening now.

"If I had made a different choice..." A five year old girl is afraid. She is told to get her siblings and run. She hides. She's never *been* afraid before.

It's just until she gets her fear under control.

"...If I'd found you sooner..."

It was only a few minutes.

"...If you had been the ones to survive that day." If she'd done something, anything.

If she'd been brave.

"You would be *far* more impressive than I am now." A small, horned girl counts eight dead children on the ground. She watches a great dragon's head roll slowly towards her. Her mother's gaze finds her as it goes dark.

The girl takes them with her.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">"She still carries them now."</div>

At some point, Yoiko had dropped what was in her hands. The notepad had ended up on the floor and the pen rolling somewhere on the ground beside it. Right now she's watching wide-eyed with her hands clamped over her mouth. It takes her a long moment of silence before she can react and when she does that protective instinct hits her at full force.

Yoiko practically tackles Liyara, wrapping her up in her arms and holding tightly. It doesn't matter that this is an adult woman she's been running around with non-stop for what feels like years. Right now all Yoiko can see is the pain she must be holding inside and she wants to do everything she can to hug it away.

Liyara will likely feel the Trill woman's own tears falling on her as well as hearing an odd, instinctive shushing sound. Unless pushed away, Yoiko will likely continue to hold her like that, rocking her gently for at least a few moments before she'll even realize she's doing it.

When she comes back to her senses, she'll wipe her own eyes and let Liyara mostly go save for an arm kept around her shoulders. "That's too much to deal with at that age. I don't know how you survived it."

When Yoiko tackle-hugs Liyara, there is no give. The skin is soft but the muscles underneath are rigid, unmoving, like they've frozen in place to brace for pain they must've known was coming. Golden scales have crept up around her throat and eyes, her signature invulnerability evocation, inherited from Liandrin, doing absolutely nothing to protect her from this.

The dragon's eyes - Liyara's eyes - shift back from one time to this one, and they fall on Yoiko. The muscles relax, the scales recede, and the room grows warmer once again. Yoiko brought her back. Because of course Yoiko brought her back.

<div style="text-decoration: underline;">The others--</div>

"...The others didn't, so I had to." Her voice is small, quiet, without the imperious sense she usually layers over it. Just a woman, in this moment. Nothing more. "Have to. Present tense." She corrects herself quietly, and then slowly wraps an arm around Yoiko's waist to match the Trill's arm around her shoulders.

There's a soft sigh of relief when the room begins to warm again, and not just because Yoiko is always cold, but because it seems to be working. She squeezes the poor woman's shoulder once more before gently rubbing circles on Liyara's back. She wants to tell her everything will be alright. She wants to give her hope - they are in a very obvious multiverse setting, after all. Infinite worlds, infinite possibilities, so maybe they're all still alive out there somewhere?

But she doesn't, because that would be cruel. Almost more cruel than that original act itself.

Instead Yoiko literally bites her lip and sighs, "If nothing else, I'm here. You can lean on me all you need. I don't plan on going anywhere. I'm not going to judge. I'm not going to belittle you." She tries to give Liyara a warm smile despite the awful things she'd just witnessed. "I'm just here. For you. Right now."

Yoiko leans over and kisses Liyara's temple, just to make damn sure she realizes she's here. She lets the moment hang in the air for a long, quiet while. But now she has to know, what happened to the people who did this to her? Surely they're not still alive somewhere out there? If the information isn't offered she'll eventually ask, but at least she knows better than to do so before Liyara is ready to talk about it again.

Liyara's eyes shimmer as they hold Yoiko's, and Yoiko can see in them something she's never seen on Liyara before. Genuine fear. Not of what she just went through. Of Yoiko. Of what Yoiko will say. Judgement?

Maybe.

"...Thank you." She finally says, and holds Yoiko close, as much for comfort as for that possessive instinct. "For not trying to make it ok." Ah, she knew. That's what she was afraid of. Not the judgement. The kindness. The kind of thoughtless kindness that could kill a woman who can't be hurt.

The dragon is more than content to wait in silence, so when Yoiko finally asks, she nods slowly. "Talbot and Nea Uskevren. I killed them with my bare hands. They were the hardest - Nea was remorseful when she realized who I was. She didn't ask for forgiveness. She just said they were sorry. She apologized while her husband lay dead and she was bleeding to death. She meant it. The other three were..." Liyara tucks in her chin, closing her eyes. "...considerably easier."

After a long moment, she opens those eyes again. "...I found the one who sent them, the Xanathar, a beholder crime-lord that runs the city of Waterdeep. And found that he was simply a middle-man, given the quest by the king of neverwinter himself. Nasher Alagondar. I let the Xanathar... live." That word is doing some impressive lifting in that sentence, as is the pause before it.

True to her word, Yoiko doesn't judge, but she nods knowing that revenge would have been first on her own priority list as well. Yes, her training forces her to remember that these where people with lives, families, and children. But sometimes retribution is just as valid as preserving life.

"I'm not sure how I would react in that situation." Oh, yes she does. Daemon would have slaughtered them without hesitation. Linda would have found a way to crawl through hell if something had happened to her children. Yoiko would probably steal the ship if it meant making things right even if it meant a court-martial. The look in her eyes probably sells that better than her instinctive urge to play dumb.

She hears the description of Xanathar with a raised brow, not quite understanding the term 'beholder' in this context, but definitely understanding the rest of the implication. "So, I imagine the King was the next person you sought out?"

'Sought out' sounded so much better than murdered.

Liyara looks Yoiko over, seeing that look in Yoiko's eyes, and nods slowly. "...It turns out I am very sure how I would react." She closes her eyes again, and takes a deep breath. There's another tremble, but it's calming. The breath is to help work that out.

"He was, and you already know what happened to him. How my killing him played into my father's plans. How it may have been the entire reason my father sired us. I don't know. It is hard to tell how his mind works. For all our strengths, none of us were our father, not even Lucian." She opens her eyes, wondering, not for the first time, if her brother would have been able to figure the plot out.

Or Luna. Or Lisan. Any of the smart ones, and not just... her.

Yoiko grabs the hand around her own waist and guides it from her back onto her knee and holds it tightly, locking their fingers together. She tries to think of the best way to react to that, but decides against tact and goes for lightening the mood instead, "I guess Father's Day is not your favorite holiday?"

Wait, did they even have a 'fathers day' where Liyara comes from? Welp, too late to take it back now.

"I think after all of this we need to put our plans on hold. Trying to bring down everything half-cocked has kinda lost its momentum in light of all of this." She gives a weak smile and sighs, "Let's put the world on hold and find some place to let off some steam. Maybe grab a bite to eat?"

She adds after a moment's thought, "Something positively neutral. No adventures. No drama." She gives a weak grin again, "And no bookstores. I promise."

"Father's day?" Liyara looks aghast at the question - both never having heard of it and finding it repellent in the same moment. Mission accomplished. "Why would anyone?" Right, because... fathers are not historically her favorite, as surmised.

When Yoiko suggests they put their plans on hold, Liyara furrows her brow. "...I'm not afraid of them, Yoiko." Well, no, but that's kind of the problem, isn't it? Liyara doesn't do afraid anymore. Not anywhere except in this room, in this moment, where it's safe and it didn't cost the world entire.

Her stomach rumbles immediately, though, betraying her. "Apparently I am hungry though."

Before Liyara can comment on whether or not she was afraid, Yoiko interrupts to explain. "Father's Day. It's an Earth holiday. There's a Mother's Day too." She shakes her head softly, "Humans like having excuses to have holidays, I guess."

Of course she knows Liyara isn't afraid of anyone. She could see that in everything she's been told. So instead of responding, she raises an eyebrow, ready to argue that no one was calling her afraid.

Until that low grumble distracts them both. "AH-HAH!" As if she knew this somehow. "See? It was a good plan after all. The plan is not to have a plan!" She adds after a moment of thought, "Have you had pizza yet?"

|}}

Rays Occult Books

2026-07-27T04:13:37Z

Marr0w:

Originating from the film Ghostbusters 2, '''Ray's Occult Books''' is your one stop shop for anything book-related you might need to find on Twisted, or at least that's what [[Stantz|Ray]] will tell you. Unlike most of the city, Ray won't let just anyone work here - you have to be approved first.

{{LocationBox|
|LocationName={{PAGENAME}}
|Image=Ray%27s_Occult_Books.png
|Image2=Rays_Occult_Ad.png
|Exits=<center>Available Exits</center>
* [[Higashi Ayase Street]]
||}}
Ray's Occult Books is open until 7:00 P.M. on weekdays, midnight on Saturdays

Normally it's considered taboo to keep media around of the origins to current residents. It's a social feux par that's generally frowned upon. This does not apply to Ray's Occult Books, in fact it's one of it's most successful ventures! Anything in print about the supernatural, paranormal, or just general forbidden knowledge can probably be found there if you know what you're looking for. (Although some OOC clues can sometimes help)

As Ray's [[:Category:Ghostbusters|other job]] keeps him away fairly often, [[Kylie Griffin]] was hired to manage the location in his absence. Luckily she has a better knowledge for books than he does, which is impressive to consider if you've ever shopped here. Ray still keeps the final say on new hires.

===Grid Descriptions===
[[File:Ray%27s_Occult_Books-Ray.png|250px|left]]
<blockquote style="width: 700px;">

'''Ray's Occult Books (2746R)''' 
Walking in the door you are immediately assaulted by the smell of stale patchouli oil and incense. Is this the smell of knowledge? Ray's Occult is a densely cluttered second hand bookstore with stacks of books anywhere there isn't room to place them nicely on shelves. A glass display case makes up the counter which the register rests upon. Inside the case are random "cursed" objects (which look suspiciously like things bought in a yard sale) mixed in between old 1980's Ghostbusters memorabilia.

The view of the street outside is obscured by several rotating racks of comic books lined up in front of the window. No human would order comic books like this. Titles featuring most of the citizens of Twisted are the most prominent including everything from Batman to Gundam with a few indie titles like I Feel Sick in the mix. Either someone is deliberately ordering these books from somewhere because of who's who on Twisted, or Ray's Occult just has the most ironic random collection ever.

Speaking of obscured, in the back of the room behind a wall-mounted television, is a dusty and hard to read sign that states "Any book can be purchased here. Challenge us!"
</blockquote>

<blockquote style="width: 700px;">

[[File:Ray_Sketch.png|thumb|200px|left]]'''Picture Frame''' 
Tucked away in a corner of the room is a well preserved sketch of the store owner dressed in a jumpsuit with a fancy blaster in his hands zapping energy from a connected backpack. In other words he's dressed as a Ghostbuster, just like all the memorabilia in the case by the door. The sketch is incredibly well done and the likeness is unmistakable. It's even signed, "TO RAY - ALL THE BEST! - FRANK BANCROFT!"
</blockquote>

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{{Navbox/City of Mabase}}
[[Category:City of Mabase/Buildings]]
[[Category:Locations]]

Rystan

2026-07-27T04:01:40Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Rystan.png
|Name=Rystan Aster
|Series=Final Fantasy X
|Class=Thief
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Threat= City Smasher
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human (Al Bhed)
|Age=17 (Appearance)
|Height=5' 6"
|Weight=140 lbs.
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Short=The world's most successful thief, and least successful escape artist. 
'''Miscellaneous''': Rystan is annoying by default. Be forewarned.
|Desc=A punk. That's the first impression most anyone would get at seeing this young man. It's not his light brown hair, which is cut fairly short, only coming about halfway down his neck in typical bishonen style. It's not even his clothes which, while not particularly old looking, still look like they've seen better days... No, even with the ragged pair of black jeans, the shoddily stitched black leather coat, and worn black boots with dull white faceplates that look like they'd laugh in the face of shoe polish, what makes this young man look like a punk is 100% his attitude.

He's often grinning, and if/when you catch his brown eyes, Rystan usually looks at you as if you're his own personal amusement. Then again, maybe it's something else that's making him smile. Regardless, the smile, while easily interpreted as friendly, has that certain look of smugness to it. The way he handles himself doesn't help matters much either. Rystan's always sliding around, as if he's trying to be sneaky and failing miserably. And the strange, almost hyper way he talks, is he making fun of you, or himself? Around the middle and ring fingers of his right hand are two black rings, that look like they're joined together whenever his fingers are touching. All in all, Rystan looks like a young guy that needed a lot more discipline as a child.

|Skills= Primary Skills:

== Teleportation ==

Rystan appears to be capable of dagger-based teleportation, with very limited range but almost impossibly fine control of the position and momentum he ends up in. If he throws a dagger at someone, he can appear anywhere along the dagger's path, or adjacent to that path, and in any position with any inertia he desires. Rystan has been known to use this to appear in mid-attack within extremely intimate proximity to his enemies. Or to steal things no human could possibly steal.

Both his white and black dagger are also capable of teleporting to him, and to each other. Rystan's extremely fine control of teleportation extends to the daggers as well, and they can emerge from a teleport in any angle and direction he wishes.

== Magic ==

Like most characters in the world of Spira, Rystan can use magic. Unlike most characters, Rystan has enough experience fighting and being fought, that he can use ALL magic. This firmly puts him in Final Fantasy Protagonist levels of threatening, especially when he can teleport two inches from someone and drop Ultima.

== Fast Hands ==

Rystan is one of the most dexterous human beings conceivable, at least where his hands are concerned. He can cut the top off of a coke bottle before anyone has even observed him reach for his dagger, and have the dagger away again before the carbonation releases. As a pickpocket, Rystan is nigh undetectable, even to creatures with blindsense. He likes to joke that his tongue is just as quick as his hands, but noone believes him.

== Flaw: Inattentiveness ==

Rystan has ADHD. There is no need to mince words here; did you do something clever? He didn't notice. There is just too much going on that's interesting right now.

In fact, Rystan has been observed not to notice when someone who killed him and attempted to kill his wife entered the room, because other things were happening at the time. It was not a large room. And the person was not subtle.

|Stats=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:Pre-Unification]]
[[Category:Active]]

The Usual Restaurant

2026-07-27T03:59:44Z

Marr0w: Added Canarybox Advertisement

One of the great universal constants across the multiverse, [[The Usual Restaurant]] exists simultaneously across all parallel worlds sometimes leading to people being deposited on a different world than the one they entered from.

{{LocationBox|
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|Image2=The_UR.png
|Image2Text=View of the UR from the [[:Category:City of Mabase|Simplified Map of Mabase]].
|Exits=<center>Available Exits</center>
* [[The Twisted Street]]
||}}
__TOC__

It is well established that on nearly every world the Usual Restaurant was owned and operated by a version of [[Dragonmaster Cale|Dragonmaster Cale Charis]]. However, the version on Twisted is not. It was constructed as the first building on Twisted along with [[The Twisted Street]] and as such the two are nearly inseparable. Across all worlds the Usual generally has an identical layout caused by an overlap between dimensions. As Twisted's version differs in several ways from the standard Restaurant it has become a bit of an anomaly and will attempt to pull random patrons into it's branch even if they entered a totally different version of it. This has led to situations where a group of people enter the UR only to have one of it's group dropped unexpectedly on Twisted as they attempt to leave the establishment. Luckily this only seems to affect people who have personally visited Twisted meaning at worst they just need to find a way back home. It also means it's highly possible to randomly see people from other worlds come into the Twisted branch unexpectedly and only for the duration of that single visit.

{{note|To put it another way, all versions of the UR on TwistedMUCK and the connected worlds located on the Grid are actually the same version of the restaurant. Feel free to use this as a means of returning to Twisted. However, this means characters from any connected world may also enter the UR. If a player brings characters from a connected world with them as NPCs they will be alone when they leave with the assumption that the NPCs went back to their own worlds. This is a deliberate decision. Please adhere to it.}}

While inaccessible by any normal means, the Usual Restaurant has many floors beneath it filled with treasures collected from lifetimes of adventures. Included down there are the equipment that maintains the nanobots responsible for repairing the Restaurant and equipment that generates replica costumes of patrons of the establishment. At one time these where used to help people who arrived needing clothing as well as food but as access to the lower levels of the UR have been completely forgotten, so too has this equipment and the costumes it created.

===Unique differences of the UR on Twisted===
* Ownership was claimed by a gargoyle girl named [[Aquariu]] instead of Dragonmaster Cale. This ownership was recently transferred to one of it's more prominent employees, [[Yoiko|Yoiko Hibiki]].
* A second floor exists to the main area of the building which contains several tables and a deck that overlooks the establishment.
* Robotic beings known as [[skutters]] work in the restaurant after becoming stranded on Twisted. When not acting as a type of waitstaff, they can generally be found playing poker in the kitchen or gathered watching westerns.
* The replica costumes mentioned above have been known to be systematically stolen and resold by the the ideological organization ACROSS via an unknown access point.

===The UR Menu and Pricing===
Due to the unique way that it's built, virtually anything can be ordered. In fact finding something that can't is nearly impossible. Ingredients have a way of simply being on the shelves when people go looking for them. Recipes have a way of being in the right place when they're needed. It's not magic in this case but science in a process not entirely unlike what one would see on sci-fi shows like Star Trek. The staff still has to prepare everything, however.

Because of all this the menu items are generally free with any cost being for the labor involved in preparing it. That's why anything paid is considered a tip. You don't have to tip, but you should. Always be nice to the people who prepare what you eat or drink.

===Employment===
The Usual has a long standing reputation of allowing anyone to work part time and keep any tips they earn, because of this there are very few people who are actually considered full time employees. Traditionally there is a large cabinet near the entrance of the kitchen which is filled with various sailor fukus with the initials 'UR' embroidered on the backs of the collars.

===Uniforms===
While the colors are not mandatory, the uniforms are. Male and female uniforms are pictured below.
<gallery>
Fuku.jpg
Suspenders.jpg
</gallery>

===Thursdays===
On Thursday nights one of the random television stations in Mabase shows a John Wayne marathon which the skutters watch habitually. Trying to prevent this will likely get you hogtied in the kitchen where you'll be forced to watch it with them. (They even make little costumes, it's disturbingly cute.) As such Thursday is considered the 'slow' day. If you insist on going in on that day, you might want to accept you'll have to serve yourself.

===Karaoke===
Sitting beside the stage, covered in dust, is an often-ignored karaoke machine in addition to the ones accessible in the Dance Club. Being a multi-verse setting, they seem to have every song imaginable in its digital catalog, assuming anyone is willing to waste the time to try and browse through it. This includes theme songs to the very same anime some characters on the game have come from. Like much of the Usual Restaurant, it's better not to ask too many questions about this.

===Regular NPCs===
The following is a listing of NPCs people are free to use and abuse in scenes. At this point they've been around long enough to become permanent fixtures.
* [[George]] - Always sits in the back, knows everyone
* [[Prinnies]] - Exploding penguins often found in the rafters
* [[Skutters]] - Claw-headed robots who help around the UR
* [[Steve the Bartender]] - It's Steve, he's a bartender.

===Regular Employees===
Below is a listing of semi-permanent employees who currently work in the UR. Need your character to know everyone who comes and goes? Be sure to include these names as well.
* [[Yoiko|Yoiko Hibiki]] - Current owner, sleeps in the back room because she can't find her way out the door
* [[Hinoken]] - Head Chef
* [[Harley Quinn|Harleen Quinzel]] - Frequent part-timer

===Grid Descriptions===
<blockquote style="width: 700px;">

'''The Usual Restaurant(#1836R)''' 
You walk into a very large restaurant with high ceilings that leave the rafters exposed. Fluorescent lamps hang from the ceiling, adding light to the floor and tables. Windows adorn the sides of the place, looking out onto the chaos that is Twisted. On some of the walls are paintings, photographs, and holograms of different movies, and a number of people who tend to visit the UR - caught as they're singing karaoke. The hardwood bar rests at the back of the restaurant, surface polished and shiny and all-together spotless (most of the time). Behind the bar are the various beverages that are serveed, and a giant mirror. There seem to be an inordinate amount of different drinks. A large stage rests in one of the corners of the restaurant, with an amazing sound system and a few microphones strung around it. Multiple round wooden tables are in the room, and a swing door leads into the kitchen. Another door leads to the dance club, and another to the gym. And of course, there's an exit. A large fireplace nestles in one of the walls, with a beautiful stone chimney that flows up and out. A long spiral staircase rests near the entrance to the kitchen, leading to a second-floor balcony that overlooks the UR itself. The lights up there are a bit dimmer than those down below.

'''UR: Kitchen(#1845R)''' 
This is a nice clean kitchen, the stoves and ovens spotless, and well-maintained. There is a big storage unit, freezer, and refrigerator containing all kinds of food and drink for meals. There is also a small table with a few chairs in the middle of the room, and in the corner is a set of stairs leading up to a small hatch - allowing you access to the roof.

'''UR: Staff Quarters(#1849RLA)''' 
This is a nice room, with a small entertainment center and a couch and chairs set up around it. It has been redone slightly, and now there are multiple soft, comfy, and large bunkbeds along the wall allowing multiple resting areas.

'''UR: Roof(#1852R)''' 
You climb out the window and on top of the roof of the UR. It's an ordinary roof - although you notice lots of makeshift repair holes spread about in many different places. It slopes down on both sides, as would a normal roof, but not too steeply; so that you can sit and look out across a great view of the city, and even the ocean beyond.

'''The UR: Boys Bathroom(#4376R)''' 
It's a typical male bathroom. Nothing fancy at all. Stalls, urinals, sinks, and a single open shower to wash yourself off with.

'''The UR: Girls Bathroom(#2831R)''' 
The girls side of the bathrooms is lavish and lovely. Beautiful marble tile decorate the floor and sinks, and there's a ridiculous amount of stalls and there is always a gentle smell of strawberry's hanging about in the air. It's quite, quite nice! There's even a closed off section where one could shower if desired!

'''UR: Dance Club(#1842R)''' 
A subdivision of the UR's main restaurant, built after one of the many times the UR has been damaged. Most obvious is a large hardwood floor, perfect for dancing upon, and empty of all hazards that would trip or injure budding dancers. It has been built to accomodate most everyone found in Twisted, with a high vaulted ceiling for those of more than normal height, and also for any fancy flips, leaps, etc. that the more ambitious dancers might attempt. Also, the rafters have been left showing so you can just hang out or dance upon them! There is a stage against the left side of the wall with stairs going up along both sides, microphones resting upon it for anyone who might want to attempt some karaoke. In the back right corner is a small circular platform upon which is a DJ station with all kinds of CDs waiting to be played. The four corners of the room hold giant speakers for giving that powerful surround sound experience. A small padded bench runs along the walls so that one can sit and take a breather in between songs.

'''UR: Gym(#1838R)''' 
This is not your average gym, as the ceiling expands well above the normal height of the main UR. The walls seem to be lined with an odd material that's practically indestructible. Equipment of every kind is spread around the sides of the gym, from weights - ranging from 'wimpy' to those even a Saiyan might have trouble lifting - to jump-ropes. In the middle of the room is a large pad that could adequately fit ten people fighting at once; ideal for those big training sessions. Numerous other pads rest here and there with some even fixed to the walls. There is a small table-like object in the corner that lets you change the gravity of the room ranging from 1-100, along with tons of warning labels preventing you from sueing the UR if you get hurt. Near the back right corner is a large trunk filled with all kinds of weaponry. The rafters of the roof have been left exposed to practice those overhead aerial attacks, and also against one wall is a large panel where you can generate a holographic opponent.

'''Holographic Opponent Generator(#1841)''' 
Embedded into the wall of the gym is the Holographic Opponent Generator, or H.O.G. for short. In it is a large control panel with a screen in the middle, and various buttons in the front. There is a small display on the panel that reads, "Please enter your opponents' power levels." Looking down at the keypad you'll find you can make virtually any kind of opponent from strong to weak, magic-user to powerhouse. It's fairly easy and the directions are simple to understand. A small blinking button that says "generate" lies to the side of the machine, just waiting to be pressed.
</blockquote>

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{{Navbox/City_of_Mabase}}
{{Navbox/City of Twisted}}
[[Category:City_of_Mabase/Buildings]]
[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:City of Twisted/Buildings]]

Vergil Madox

2026-07-27T03:48:26Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=Information Seeker
|Series=Original
|Threat=
|Alignment=Neutral
|Gender=
|Species=Ochazis
|Short=likely either a gaunt thin human resembling Steven Merchant, or a large orange blob. Highly intelegent and looking for more info
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=354 years
|Birthdate=with this many birthdays
|Height=5'9 human, 2' blob
|Weight=163 lbs
|Desc=In blob form, a 156 pound orange sludge that has no big discernable features.

Human form: in this common form he implements he stands about 5'9" his form and face are gaunt and pale, his features don't seem worn by age or stress, usually adorned with a smile and hazel eyes, his dark black hair flows nicely as he can usually be found in a variety of rather standard looking clothing from jeans and a T-shirt to shorts and a tank top and everything in between.

His voice has the twinge of the British background that he has had for his entire life. male-sounding, and a tiny bit higher than average, his voice is the one thing he cannot change. no matter what form he takes, his voice will always be the same.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
While highly intelligent, his people skills can be lacking, and desperate for information or friendship, can be gullible enough to be swayed to do bad things believing himself to be doing good.

Water, Vergil's cellular structure is unstable, while Bullets, swords, and most physical weaponry is completely ineffective, severe heat, or even run of the mill water will dissolve him like the wicked witch of the west, he can reform after being dissolved like this, but it will possibly take days, and depending on the amount of water, weeks or months to get back together. drop him in the ocean, you will likely never see him again. the only way the water weakness can be countered is to be bonded to another creature.
|Background=Vergil is a sentient being made of unspecialized cells. His race is one of many in his world, known in the English language as the Ochaziss. this race of similar gelatinous beings live for centuries as well as have the ability to confer memories and thoughts between each other by touch, their history not being written in books but vivid memories in each individual. these creatures have no tools of their own due to their ability to turn themselves into creatures able to do the job needed. this is offset by their time near humans in which they know of tools but are unsure of why some are needed.

The Ochaziss have been around humans since neanderthals roamed the earth but have kept hidden until just after the first world war. He along with his friend to which he now derives his name, was drafted during the second world war as the battle of Brittan began. during those 6 long years Vergil only killed once to protect his friend and fellow soldiers. That memory still occasionally haunts him. Virgil, like many of his kind spend a lot of time alive, spending exactly 1000 years before they bond with another in their mating ritual, to which they give their lives to give life to the next generation. all this time allows them to collect as much knowledge as possible. Vergil is rather peace-loving, self-defense and eating being the only reasons it is acceptable to kill anything in his mind. he attempts politeness and understanding toward others whenever possible. He is looking for information but hopes to find companions along the way.
|Skills=Perfect Memory: Vergil has an immense memory pool to work off of and he can remember every moment down to the bird chirps from out the window. he likewise can help others do the same using his bond ability.

Bonding: The Ochaziss are symbiotes and can share a body with a host, this 'bond' is temporary and can only be done with a willing host. any unwilling participant will eject Vergil near immediately, this goes for once willing subjects that change their mind. the bond ability allowing for the shapeshifting and modification of physical form of the host(conservation of matter), this can also be conferred as healing unto the host for the price of leaving behind some of his own mass. Access to perfect memories, as stated above. and access to a dream-like state called the "Journey" which acts like an extraordinarily vivid dream for both participants, while "anything is possible" within this imaginative state, it is merely in their heads and their bodies appear to be in a coma.

Shapeshifting, Vergil himself has chosen a natural human form for his average meetings however, that is not to say that he does not contain and occasionally use the ability to shapeshift like his brethren. conservation of mass is again used, becoming larger than a human makes him less dense while smaller forms are denser. he can gain mass by eating organic materials (leaves and such) but prefers not to because it then interferes with his human-like facade. Vergil Also has the ability to split his mass up into several pieces and use them equally, a technical workaround for smaller forms is to split up the mass and have multiples of them, or it be a single detachment from his larger whole.
|Gallery=
|MusicEmbed=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=



|}}

Urus

2026-07-27T03:48:12Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=THE%20DIFINITAVE%20URUS%20PIC.png
|Name=Urus Deravin
|Series=Original
|Class=Mercenary
|Alignment=Neutral
|Gender=Male
|Species=Hyena-Human hybrid
|Age=32
|Birthdate=August 13, 2106
|Height=6'1"
|Weight=187lbs
|Short=A walking talking hyena with a sick sense of humor.
|Desc=The creature before you is what happens when science allows man to mix human DNA with animals. It seems the example before you comes from hyena stock. At 6’1” he’s taller than your average person, mostly due to his long digitigrade legs which seem too thin near the ground to hold up the rest of it up, but gets bigger and more natural looking near the thighs. The legs end in large paws, falling slightly short but much wider than a human’s foot. From each of his four toes sprouts sharp obsidian black claws. A dewclaw extends a few inches up on the inside each leg. His body seems neither overly muscular, nor does it seem thin, bringing minor bulk and no extra definition. Similarly built arms end in normal five fingered hands with the exception of more obsidian black claws on the ends of each of the fingers. A short tail grows out from the waistline. the other portion of his extended height is a mildly elongated neck. A hyena’s head caps the figure, two brown eyes staring back. Vicious looking pointed teeth fill the large mouth. A thin, long scar runs down from His nose to its cheekbone. Meanwhile two pointed ears stand atop the head, the right one appearing to have a sizable chunk torn from it.a strange hand shaped white mark in the fur seems to go over the muzzle. The entire mass is covered top to bottom in course, dirty, brown fur. Medium sized black spots randomly spatter the brown canvas.

As for clothing it seems sparse, the outfit looking more at home at an NRA meeting than for actual combat. Snow camo cargo pants are worn just below the waistline seeming to be dropped that far for the reason of baring the tail. It fits loosely around the legs, stopping at the ankle. Its several velcroed pouches seem full, two are placed on the outside of each lower leg, one on either side, large enough to fit an entire hand in. two thin pouches are positioned on the upper left leg, parallel, one right next to the other. A black leather bandolier hangs from his left shoulder, the bottom most portion of it laying at the opposite hip. It is lined all the way around with small 9mm pistol ammunition. His weapon of choice is draped by a sling on his right shoulder, the weapon itself settling where his left hand naturally lies. The weapon itself is an MP5SD-N1, an internally silenced version of the Venerable MP5 German 9mm submachinegun. A solid titanium stock hangs out behind him like a second tail. The entire matte black weapon is covered in silver scratches from front to back due to wear and tear. If one looks closely the letters L and D are etched in, the silver metal showing through. The lettering superimposed upon one another, just above the chamber.

|Skills=Abilities:

Savage Bite: hyenas have an extremely strong bite force up to 1100 psi (the force to crack a human skull is around 400 psi)

Side effects to a recipiant can include but is not limited to bruises, internal and/or external bleeding, pain at the application site, broken bones, and in serious cases death. Call your doctor if side effects persist.

Unretractable claws: Urus like his natural bretheren have sizeable sharp claws on the hands and feet.

Skills:

Marksmanship: Urus is well trained with ranged weapons, being able to use most ranged weapons effectively such as rifles or pistols, and to a lesser extent objects such as crossbows, any weapon with a trigger mechanism that is point and shoot.

Hand to hand combat: Urus has extensice knowledge and experience with grappling and disarming techniques used by modern military forces.

Survival: Between his animal instincts and training, living off the grid in the middle of nowhere for extended periods of time is a cakewalk for him.

Language training: Originaly speaking Russian from a young age he has also learned english moderatly well as to be able to speak with the majority of the other space faring humans.

First aid: he has knowledge of how to heal light wounds and set broken bones in the feild. he does not however have a medical license of any kind nor does he have the knowlege to heal anything else really.

|Stats=PHYSICAL ABILITY: 6

KNOWLEDGE: 5

MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE: 0

SUPERHUMAN ABILITY: 0

|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==
The year is 2138 (at least on earth). The human race has learned the art of advanced space travel and has inhabited several different worlds, and with the expansion of "Civilization", the law has been unable to keep up. In the outer worlds the rule of thumb is "Anything can be aquired, For the right price". Many loners, unscrupulus individuals, and people who are looking for a quick buck have made this their profession of choice. Because of the dangers posed by transporting such material, escorts or esseentialy armed guards were needed to keep both the cargo and the smugglers safe.

The problem being that there are a lot of these people who are looking to make a quick buck, and not enough jobs to go around. Urus Deravin was one of those people. Born in a primarily russian off world colony, manners were never his strong suit. He specialized in close combat and was usualy hired on as an escort for the smugglers in case of complications. After years of work he was phased out by better geared and and younger escorts. Down on his luck he searched furiously to find some way to get his life back.

He came across the Zouhtech genetics lab, who were known for having strange experiments being tested every day of the year. They told Urus that they would pay him for a test. By using hyena DNA they said it would make him stronger, smarter and more instictual. seeing the possibility of aquireing an edge in the escort market again as well as being paid, he agreed to go along with the test. The test did what is was meant to do, with unforseen side effects he was stronger but his body morphed and changed becoming a hybrid of both man and hyena. The test also warped his mind, as he started to act more like the creature he now resembled.

his new form, despite being strange for some people got him noticed for larger and more risky jobs. As of late his last job was an armored ship that was said to have a prince's inheritance in wealth aboard, and that half would be his if he was able to secure it. what he didn't know was that the guards aboard were ready for that type of situation. They were armed with ion disruptors, which were said to destroy objects so completely that there is no discernible trace that the object even existed. The law of matter is that matter cannot be created or destroyed, so where does it go? Hazard a guess on where!?
==Notes==
<references />

Theo

2026-07-27T03:47:57Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
|Name=Theodore Rabanne
|Pronunciation=(THEE-ə-dawr rah-BAHN)
|Alias=Theo
|Occupation=Busker
|Series=JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Neutral Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Lanky blond teenage guy
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Theodore Rabanne -- "Theo" to his friends -- might look like an average kid. And to all outward appearances, he is. But Theo is a Stand-user -- he is able to manifest a part of his psyche as a swarm of golden metal spiders that spin golden threads. He refers to them collectively as "Spin Doctors". Though he is part of the legacy of the insidious vampire DIO, who both himself and his minions have made repeated attempts to take over his world, to install DIO as its true god. But here in Twisted, that's not important, because he's away from all that... Or is he...?
|Age=17
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Height=6'
|Weight=~150lbs
|Desc=        A slim fellow who seems to be all legs! He is of a light complexion, and his hair is blond and straight, worn just long enough to pull into a short, punky ponytail at the nape of his neck. The bangs fall over large-set amber eyes, obscuring them at times. His upper body has some muscle tone, particularly in the shoulders, but is still rather slim, particularly his legs. Those legs, though, are quite long. But there's strength in them, usually visible unless his attire is particularly loose. 
        He wears a threadbare green shirt with a denim vest over it, faded blue jeans, and battered hiking boots. The shirt is a short-sleeved t-shirt, with a heart made of black pixel-like squares on the front. His vest and jeans actually do not match, the vest being a darker color of denim than his jeans. On each lapel of the vest is a silver pin; the right side is a skull with an open mouth that sports fangs and seems to be threatening the viewer, while on the left is a heart with a lightning bolt shaped groove cut in the middle that gives the suggestion of a broken heart. 
        The jeans are faded but still look to be in relatively good condition. He wears a belt made of braided-together leather strings; most of the strings are black, but there are a few bright crimson ones woven into the overall design. The belt is far too long, so it's been tucked into two belt loops on the other side. Yet it still reaches to mid-thigh. The hiking boots are ankle-length, a brown dark brown padded section around his ankle atop a lighter, dirt-brown rest of the shoe. The soles are thick, probably adding an inch or so to his height, and are a light, sandy brown.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>"Spin Doctors" has no direct way to harm an opponent. They rely on Theo applying the strings in clever ways to be effective. In addition, Theo himself has no combat training, and is himself fairly weak when engaged in direct combat.</li><li>Theo's unable to use his Stand if his mouth is covered or he is somehow prevented from opening his mouth to release it.</li><li>Theo uses his life energy to create the strings that "Spin Doctors" creates. If he uses too much energy, he could injure or kill himself.</li><li>When his Stand is attacked, Theo takes damage relative to the percentage of spiders that are destroyed. Additionally, the spiders individually are not difficult to destroy; a normal person can stomp hard enough to destroy one.</li><li>"Spin Doctors" is a manifestation of his psyche, which means it's basically a reflection of his inner self. Because of this, it may manifest in response to suppressing his emotions. It may manifest to emote in various ways at someone that evokes an emotion within him, or to grab small items Theo wants but is denying himself for whatever reason, to accomplish small tasks that Theo wants to do but doesn't -- or shouldn't -- for whatever reason.</li></ul> 
|Background='''Background:'''         In 1986, Theodore Rabanne's mother Olympia, on vacation in Aswan, Egypt, was merely one of the many women that caught the fancy of a vampire by the name of Dio. Though she didn't know it at the time, Olympia was lucky to escape with her life -- many such women caught by Dio's charms ended up as his next meal. Olympia escaped with more than her life, though; she found out later she was with child. When he was born she named him Theodore (ironic for a number of reasons). He decided as he grew older that he wanted "Theo" as a nickname, since "Teddy" was too childish for his tastes, and he thought "Ted" made him sound like an accountant.
        Olympia raised the child as best a single mother could. It was a typical childhood for the most part. Until Theo witnessed a car accident shortly after turning 17. It was a typical hit-and-run; a pedestrian was crossing and a car ran a stop sign, hitting the pedestrian and didn't stop. Theo tried to render aid, but his Stand manifested. Which was a little freaky for him, since "Spin Doctors" comes out of his mouth. Imagine if you will, a seventeen year old boy freaking out over someone getting possibly killed right in front of him, only to suddenly have golden spiders start coming out of his mouth. He did fix the person's injuries. And then he ran. Not back home -- he couldn't tell his mother that spiders just came out of his mouth and fixed a person's injuries. She'd never believe him -- not only because it was IMPOSSIBLE, but because he was about the right age for "eighth-grader syndrome" anyway. He just ran away. 
        He stayed gone for about six months, before the Speedwagon Foundation located him. They had quite a chase trying to catch him, since he thought they were police, and had to employ a Stand-user of their own to track him down. But once he'd been "caught", things were explained to him. On the bright side, they said, the golden spiders were called a "Stand", and he wasn't the only one that had them. SPW had a plethora of information about Stands, since they'd been cataloguing weird things for so long. 
        On the down side, they had to break the news about his father -- Dio, an insidious vampire that had attempted twice to take over the world. They weren't automatically placing him on lockdown, but they'd be keeping an eye on him. Not only because they didn't want Theo to follow suit with his father's treachery, but because the minions of Dio were everywhere, and might just try to kidnap him for his connection with Dio. So he'd need to go into protective custody. 
        A week later, exactly that happened. One of those minions did indeed kidnap Theo. Though he didn't need much in the way of rescuing. However, in the ensuing chaos, something exploded, and through some means, Theo found himself dropping into Twisted. 

'''Personality:''' 
        Theo is very much not what one migh expect from the son of a powerful vampire. First off, he's completely human, not a half-vampire (none of Dio's many children are; this is probably because Dio was using someone else's body, which he had hijacked by attaching his own head to). He is quite the opposite of his father in personality -- Dio was a controlling and domineering man who would suffer the company of almost none save those who agreed to serve him, and had designs on taking over the world. Theo wants nothing to do with this "leadership" garbage. He doesn't tend to do well in command, as it makes him nervous. In a crisis, he would rather have someone to look to for leadership and orders. Though if he doesn't have to lead/command others in a crisis, he does tend to keep his head if he knows what to do. Otherwise he kind of loses it and panics. 
        Overall, though, there are some similarities between himself and Dio. Theo is generally unfailingly polite when approached non-aggressively, but tends to appear detached and a little aloof under normal circumstances. Though unlike Dio, it's not because Theo places himself above others. It's because he knows he isn't like them, thanks to his Stand. He doesn't make friends lightly, but Twisted may be the place where he can. Here, where a teenage boy with a mouth full of metal spiders that spin healing strings isn't the weirdest thing out there, is probably going to do WONDERS for fixing this problem of being a little distant.
|Skills=        Theo is in possession of a "Stand", a manifestation of his psyche made from psychokinetic energy. His takes the form of a swarm of small, quarter-sized golden spiders that look as though they're made from twisted-together cutlery. They have no power and are not venomous; their 'bites' do little more damage than a strong pinch. However, Theo can see through their eyes, they can travel several city blocks before they lose the ability to manifest. They move in ways that spiders can -- up walls, across ceilings, etc. -- they are small and flat enough to squeeze into small spaces easily, and can accomplish small utilitarian tasks (flipping light switches, turning on small appliances, etc.) easily. They are collectively called "Spin Doctors" (and if anybody cares, it's probably categorized as a long-range swarm/colony support Stand). 
        However, their true usefulness comes from the golden strings that they produce from their mouths. These strings are made of an organic compound that can fuse with living tissue when so directed. This means that they are able to "stitch up" wounds and injuries, replace lost tissue, and even reattach severed limbs (provided the limb does not die completely first). They can do little for illness or blood loss, however. Other uses for these strings: they can be spun across a person or object to reinforce it or act as armor; they can be spun over an area of floor or walls to detect when someone has stepped on or touched it; they can act as a communication medium when placed in the mouth and around the ear. 
        A Stand is usually invisible to people without some sort of ability that makes them open to psychic phenomena -- though this means magic users, other psychics, and any sort of ability that counts as "paranormal" can qualify for this. However, even people who can't see them can generally "perceive" them. Psychokinetic energy, which makes up Stands, is very much like electromagnetic energy. Thus it can give people nearby feelings of being nervous, or being "watched". People near to a Stand's activation or manifestation may smell a slight scent of ozone, like the electric scent of a thunderstorm. People with particularly sensitive senses of touch may even be able to feel the air currents in an area disturbed by a Stand's presence.         While himself not a great combatant, Theo is flexible and agile, and also has fairly good stamina for a human being. This is, of course, well within human capabilities, but noted here because it's significantly above human "average". He's also a talented dancer, and has a fairly decent singing voice.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:SpinDoctors1.jpg
File:SpinDoctors2.jpg
File:SpinDoctorsParameters.png
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|Warker=

{{wark|Sample post #1}}
{{wark|Sample post #2}}
{{wark|Sample post #3}}
|}}

Tank Girl

2026-07-27T03:47:41Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=tankgirl.jpg
|Name=Rebecca <s>Buck</s> Fuck
|Series=Tank Girl
|Threat=Block Buster
|Class=None whatsoever!
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Age=23
|Birthdate=August 4th
|Height=As a kite!
|Weight=66125lbs (29994kg)
|Short=A former mercenary in the employ of the Australian military, Tank Girl is a bounty hunter, fugitive, and party animal ''par excellence''. With an illustrious gift for violence, she's carved her way through the unlikely an<s>n</s>als of history and now arrives in Twisted City with a bad attitude and a worse hangover. She's not the worst person ever, but there have been a few who'd beg to differ... and she's more inclined to have a good time than an opinion.
|Desc=[[File:tankgirl_c.jpg]] A/S/L?
|Skills=Ultra-Violence - Rebecca has a quite marvellous gift for all things violent. Though she seems to have no actual training, per se, she's certainly had a lot of practice - and a sane person might imagine there's something else going on underneath the hood! A horny person wouldn't wonder, and would just check. She can remove heads with a well-placed jackboot, punch, stab, and headbutt her way through just about any solid object, and fashion all manner of highly-destructive weaponry from the environment. The less it makes sense, and the more unnecessary it is, the more likely she is to be able to do it; to call her 'chaotic' would be to miss the point entirely. She IS chaos, and it's probably best to stay clear of her if you've got a weak stomach. At best, she'll puke on you.

Weapons Aptitude - Yes. All of them. Don't ask why. Really. She'll have to kill you.

Tanks - Not just able to pilot this particular vehicle, TG also apparently shares some elements of her biology with it. Their kinship is a burning flame, their forbidden love resonating throughout the ages... what we're trying to say is, she's really bloody good when it comes to tanks. And unlike most soldiers, she's not compensating for anything.

Durability - There's a reason Tank Girl hasn't been buried in a tank-shaped coffin and dropped in the ocean. She's very, very hard to cause any actual damage to. Though constantly in situations that should leave her mangled, she just seems to keep on ticking - finding just the right bit of leverage, a weapon perfectly suiting the situation, or simply barrelling through on sheer stubbornness and blind luck. Perhaps it's the booze or the smokes that do it, but every time Rebecca ought to snuff it she comes back with a cocksure smirk and a hunger to get drunk, laid, or both.

Brain the Size of a Planet - It's approximately the size of Pluto.
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==Background==
A popular legend amongst the aboriginals of the Australian Outback tells of an avenging angel named Tanicha - the Spirit of Life and Youth and Wisdom. When the white man came to enslave the indigenous population, he was haunted and brutally-slaughtered by Tanicha, who capped off her violent retribution by giving birth to her new avatar from the stomach of their overweight leader.

This avatar may just be Rebecca Buck. Or it could be a load of skanky horse diarrhoea.

The woman later to be known as 'Tank Girl' certainly remembers a few things about her childhood, like her collection of novelty pencil sharpeners later enshrined for eternity in the National Museum of Modern Pencil Sharpeners, Sydney. Her first words were "cauliflower" and "penis", in that order. For her fifteenth birthday she received, from her mother, a sentient stuffed koala called Camp Koala (R.I.P.) and was taken to a fortune teller where she was told her name means 'The Rule Breaker' and she would break all the established laws of life. This makes an unhealthy amount of sense.

In any case, she certainly 'grew up' in Australia, getting to know later co-conspirators Jet Girl and Sub Girl as a teenager. For no particular reason she fails to remember the two girls' actual names, though she only picked up her own moniker when she was given her trademark heavy assault vehicle.

[[File:tankgirl_a.png]] "Well. That escalated quickly."

As a mercenary in the employ of the Aussie military, Rebecca was tasked with committing violent acts in the name of the Man. Despite this dream gig, she worked on the side as a bounty hunter apprehending often less-violent criminals and occasionally having wild sex with them. Tragedy came (hard) when she murdered a high-ranking officer and failed to deliver an urgent supply of colostomy bags to Australia's incontinent head of state, President Hogan. This caused a national outcry, and Tank Girl was branded an outlaw - and bestowed with a multi-million dollar bounty. Woe betode (?!) those who tried to claim it, and she'd off numerous fortune hunters as she sleazed her way through the Outback. She also managed to witness the Second Coming of Christ, which was nice.

After devastating her former superior officer Sergeant Small Unit's Nightmare Squad (thanks to her developing gigantic breasts at just the right moment), Tank Girl went on to meet 'love of her life' (she's probably forgotten him already) and 'mutant kangaroo' (wait, that part's real!) Booga and shag his bonce off before accidentally procuring God's Dressing Gown. After fashioning it into a makeshift boob-tube to cover her (lack of) shame, Rebecca was accosted by none other than Satan himself. After shooting the dissenting angel on her right shoulder, she donated the holy relic to the fallen angel in return for three wishes. Making these was one of the hardest things she's ever done, which means it took approximately 0.2 seconds of thought for each spectacular wish.

Wish 1: An appearance as a guest on the Dame Edna Show.
 Wish 2: That God's Dressing Gown turn anyone who wears it into a right Jimmy Saville.
 Wish 3: A shitload of lager.

With the Devil now running charity marathons, Tank Girl proceeded to get absolutely and completely trashed. Which is approximately when things started to go downhill. The following things occurred, probably in this order though she was QUITE drunk and can't be sure:

- TG accrues a small fortune coaching her marsupial boyfriend to lose at boxing.
 - Camp Koala is slaughtered in untimely fashion during a freak baseball accident.
 - An evil corporation replaces all the lager in Australia with Spunk.
 - Earth is destroyed by a meteor.
 - TG gives birth to a baby tank after a one night stand with... well, her tank, obviously.
 - Some asshole makes a horrible biopic all about her life and times.
 - Homer writes 'The Odyssey', in which Tank Girl travels the ancient kingdom in order to return home, and save her beautiful wife from a bevy of unsuitable suitors.

...or did that last one really happen? Screw this writing nonsense. It's beer time. Nothing can ever go wrong with beer! It's not as though our heroine is going to get Abo-girl trashed and wake up in a crashed tank in a strange dimension without any clothes on...

[[File:tankgirl_b.jpg]] "Oh... oh, FUCK..."

Takashi Shirogane

2026-07-27T03:47:27Z

Marr0w:

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|Name=Takashi Shirogane
|Pronunciation=(Tah-KAH-shee Shee-roh-gah-nay)
|Alias=Shiro
|Occupation=Ex-pilot, Ex-Space Explorer, Ex-Paladin, Ex-Spaceship Captain, Current-????
|Series=Voltron: Legendary Defender
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Lawful Good
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|MusicEmbed= [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkkKcwF7Z64 Danganronpa 3 OST (English Cover by Jenny) - Dead or Lie] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c0ks2NeXlk Mika - Heroes] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kiFLlEyo0E YuYuHakusho OST - Nightmare] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ULoaA8IEGw Babymetal and Dragonforce - Road of Resistance] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gyzuy5cFWg Wild Arms 2 OST - Resistance Line] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeZne1wVyl0 Always Been but Never Dreamed - Metamorphis]
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SilverSight

2026-07-27T03:47:09Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
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|Background=Personality and background information goes here. To use citations to reference specific logs mark them like this: <pre>[[link to page|short name]]</pre> For an examples look up the pages for [[Johnny_C]] or [[Tabitha]]. These will auto-populate in the notes section below.
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Shirou

2026-07-27T03:46:54Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=emiyashirou.jpg
|Name=Emiya Shirou
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=sword fighter, archer, and subpar magus
|Series=Fate/Stay Night
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment= idiotic good
|Gender= male
|Species= human magus
|Age= 24
|Birthdate=
|Height= 5'10"
|Weight= 170lbs
|Short=A mundane looking guy with red hair and ember eyes, generally wearing a raglan shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
|Extra1=
|Desc=
|Extra2=== '''Tracings''' ==
This is a List of any notable tracings Shirou currently has access to as much as his player doesn't imagine them seeing much use.

-EXCALIBUR - The ultimate weapon of fantasy forged by the planet from humanity's collective dreams of glory, Excalibur is the blade to end all blades and also called The Sword of Promised Victory. Shirou's copy of the unmatched legendary weapon ranks A+ among Noble Phantasms. Unlike the original, while its holy edge does not dull, it will eventually break. Its main ability converts Shirou's mana into divine light to enhance his strikes. When its powers are fully unleashed by calling out its name, Excalibur can launch a titanic wave of holy light so immense that it's known for carving through armies, obliterating fortresses, and vaporizing everything else caught in its wake. However Excalibur is '''RARELY USED''' due to the large amount of mana it would require from Shirou. He is also incapable of using it to Saber's level so his attacks wouldn't be as destructive.

-AVALON - Excalibur's true strength comes not from the blade, but from its scabbard, ranked EX among Noble Phantasms. Avalon's holder enjoys immortality and speedy regeneration and can fend off and reflect even the fiercest energy attacks. Activating it by name dissolves the scabbard into energy particles that immerse the owner in a 'mobile utopia' which safeguards from any and all harm, even metaphysical— at least, originally. Its defensive powers lessened post-Unification, but harming Shirou's still no easy feat with Avalon activated. (When this was represented codewise elsewhere, activating Avalon was represented by completely halting any enemy's missed attack, shifting to fully defense-oriented stats, or with a consented armor-shift to top level defense stats and epic defense buff to himself before shifting back to his normal stats at the end of the turn round. Foes were allowed to make highest level attacks in turn without asking consent.) It is due to the fact that the sheath has been stored within Shirou's body since he was 7 that he has an intimate understanding and flawless memory of it. Thus Avalon is the only item he can forge a perfect copy of.

-CALIBURN - Saber's sword from the stone. The original of this sword is only a step below the original of Excalibur. However, since Shirou's copies are another step down, that leaves his copy of Caliburn at an A rating. This sword is basically like a weaker version of Excalibur.

-KANSHOU AND BAKUYA - Twin swords created by the future Shirou, Archer. Shirou's copies rank at a D-. With these yinyang designed swords equipped, one gains improved magical and physical resistance. These swords are claimed to return back to their owner no matter how they are lost as well.

-CALADBLOG II - This is a Noble Phantasm that was used by Gilgamesh. Shirou eventually Traced and improved upon it. The original was the demonic sword possessed by the hero of Ireland, Fergus mac Roich. The improved copy is used as a Broken Phantasm, which Shirou shoots as an explosive arrow rather than using as a sword. Upon being fired, Shirou's copy ranks as a B.

-THE COW KING's COW BELL - The original of this weapon can output sound waves powerful enough to cause disruptions in the Earth on an epic scale. However, very few can wield the cow bell as well as the king, and like all other weapons Shirou traces, it's a step below the original. As such, using this weapon, Shirou can use a sound based area attack, causing small very local earth quake like reactions.

-JEWELED SWORD OF ZELRETCH - An artifact created by Zelretch. The original of this sword, although its size is far closer to a knife or dagger than a sword, was actually hand-made by Rin herself following the plans of the original. When activated, the jeweled center of the blade uses extremely powerful Kaleidoscope magic to pull mana from other dimensions and planes and store it inside the weapon for the wielder's use, providing a supply of mana that is in theory infinite. Although it can be unleashed as a blast not unlike Saber's Excalibur, the mana can also serve almost any other purpose (making spellcasting a breeze) and can even be transfered into someone else, giving a temporary boost in power. This is another weapon that will see '''EXTREMELY RARE''' use as using it in mutliversal areas has at times proven to have extremely unpredictable results.

-RULE BREAKER - This is a tracing of the dagger that had belonged to Caster. However, Shirou only actually traced it after being given a copy of it by Emiya. It is an iridescent and jagged dagger without any special offensive abilities. It does, however, possess the ability of dispelling any sorcery that's been cast on a pierced target. The knife reduces enchantments, sorcerous contracts, and spiritual bodies to their component materials. Rule Breaker is ineffective against other Noble Phantasms and Shirou's tracing is reduced to a D ranking.

-RHO AIAS - The rank of this support type tracing is unknown. It is originally an extremely powerful spiritual aegis. It is a defensive Noble Phantasm that had been a huge, bronze shield coated with seven layers of tanned ox hide. What it became as a Noble Phantasm is the materialization of seven energy constructs that appear like the petals of a flower. Each petal emulates the protective strength of a fortress. It is most known for having great, unsurpassed resistance against spears. It used to be the property of Telamonian Ajax, a hero from the Iliad that matched Hector of Troy in battle.

-UNKNOWN KNIFE - A knife given no name that was used by Gilgamesh. Its rank is unknown. The original had a strong ice enchantment on it that allowed its user to do things like cause literally freezing gusts of wind with a slash through the air.

-GAE BOLG - This trace ranks at a B ranking and is an anti-fort weapon. Cu Chulainn's legendary spear was used as Lancer's noble phantasm. And it stabbed Shirou in the heart on two separate occasions. The cursed spear is sharply tipped, but would more oft' be used for it's mythical abilities. There are two notable attacks the Gae Bolg can perform with enough mana. 1) By invoking the name of the spear, the weapon responds by releasing mana. If the hit is successful, the pierce of the tip of the spear, most usually into the heart of the opponent is felt before Lancer initiates his strike. When the strike comes, the weapon will go for the heart, even if it has to change its form to do so. However, due to multi-versal balancing and the fact Shirou's weapons are a step down in quality, the traced Gae Bolg is not so likely to hit the mark as the original, leaving it to strike else where or fail to leave the damage it really should. 2) Shirou can use reinforcemtn to leap high into the air above his opponent. Mana is charged through the spear and it's hurled downward, in this state it can break through as much as buildings as it hones in on its target's position. This causes the weapon to impact the ground much like a comet. The curse upon Gae Bolg is ineffective in the case of Shirou's trace.

-VERWICKELNETZE KETTE - Originally this was a kusarigama (chain + sickle) gifted to Krezentia by Field Marshal Alice Maestra for her efforts during the betrayal of Victor Von Doom during Shirou's time in one of the other multiverses. The Verwickelnetze Kette, literally Entangling Chain, has the unique property to adjust its chain's length as the user desires and automatically try to wrap around its victims when swung, making it very accurate even if its user is not skilled with such a weapon. Finely crafted and enchanted, it is hard to break even by Elite standards. Of course Shirou's version is easier to break.

-NINE LIVES BLADE WORKS - Originally the swords of Hercules in the berserker form that Shirou'd seen him in. This ability is an '''ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT''', more so than his reality marble, unlimited blade works, is treated as one. This ability requires so much mana that it's rather dangerous for Shirou to use /without/ having done any other mana use. With these giant axe swords, Shirou is capable of slashing the enemy 9 times in one attack. Given the power behind each separate swing by Shirou's version alone is enough to kill Berserker Hercules once, this is a much more dangerous ability than it might sound.

== '''Equipment''' ==

non-traced items Shirou owns thus far

-Magical Cell Phone - Shirou got this for Christmas years ago due to the combined efforts of Black Mage and Tohsaka Rin. This item is only made to look like an old cell phone, it does not actually function as one. Instead it uses a specific set of clothing and some magical rubies that have outfits saved within them. The rubies to into the phone and the cell phone will morph the clothing into which ever available outfit he has chosen. This way he can transform into his battle outfit or his Kaleido Garnet outfit, among other useful clothing sets, rather than having to ruin his normal clothing in unexpected fights…when most his battles tend to be unexpected ones.

-Judgement Scythe - Shirou has a non traced scythe that was once used by Magus (yes, amusingly THAT Magus, given this place's past) and given to him as a gift of parting. It has has the chance to paralyze enemies with the stop status effect.

-Holy Empire Sword - A non traced sword of the holy empire, it has no known special properties. This was given to Shirou by a friend in the past named Iris Sepperin.

-Obscure Prophecy - A rather metal-y sword given to Shirou by Eddie Riggs. This also has no known special properties, but it looks awesome anyway.

-Ember Accord - A pair of elvish swords enchanted with magic that allows them to lock together and form a bow, as well as being toughened against physical blows made to them and resistant to flames. This was given to him by his boss Frey when he lived in Metropolis Universals.
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|Skills=Archery and Swordsmanship: Shirou is skilled at both of these basic fighting abilities due to having been one of the most prolific members of the Archery team when he was in highschool, as well as the woman who takes care of him training with him often in the dojo using kendo. On top of those things, he was then even more formally trained at swordsmanship and the battle field in general by his summoned version of King Arthur.

Engineering and Domestics: Oddly enough for being a sword swinging, super hero wanna be, magi (when magi typically abhor technology) Shirou is both skilled in the art of using and fixing all sorts of technology, often repairing and even at least once building things like motorcycles. He's also very good with things like sewing and cooking.

Reinforcement: A very basic ability that most magi can perform. It's used to heighten the attributes of a specific item for a very limited time. This can do things like allow a magi to improve strength in their legs for a burst of speed or making an inhumanly high leap. Another example would be making a telescope have a longer range of view, The ability is extremely short lived, so it's not the easiest thing to abuse despite how useful it may sound.

Alteration: This is even more rarely used than reinforcement and tends to be used along side of it. This allows a mage totake an existing object and alter it to something related to it. For instance, a stick can become a mop, a lump of steal can become a sword.

Tracing:
-Projection:Another very basic magi skill, and one that most magi ignore for it's general uselessness. This allows a magi to create a copy of an object. However, this object's ability to exist for any notable amount of time depends on the combination of the creator's understanding of it's components and their strength of imagination. Items made subparly will very quickly disperse into mana particles, having been crushed by the weight of reality. Magi can use projection to see a blue print of an object they understand as it's supposed to be. This allows Shirou to do things like instantly see what's broken on a physically busted computer so he knows what parts to replace.

-Why This Ability Gets Subfields: Shirou is skilled specifically at projection, when it's a skill most magi ignore. On top of it being where his practice and skills lie, he has further help from things like a time paradox, another ability of his strengthening this one, and his selfless disposition causing him to offer something most magi won't. (more clarity on those in other fields). Due to all of these things, Shirou uses projection at a much higher level with much different attributes than other magi and he refers to it as 'Tracing'.

-Extended Time: While projection for most magi leads to a VERY short lasting object, Shirou has been noted to have objects he's traced last for a long time, even without him paying any real concentration to them. This has lead to rather useless objects like cored out seeming refrigerators that hang in his tool shed. In the much more useful sense it leads to weapons that can take a strong amount of damage before shattering.

-Swords: Shirou has the unique element of sword rather than something most magi have like fire, wind, water, ect. Due to this Shirou has an especially strong ability with bladed weapons and other things closely related to them. This allows him to make copies of weapons that are slightly inferior to their real version. However, his understanding and experience with an item also strengthens or weakens the quality of his copy. As such, with an item he's dealt with prolongedly over many years, his trace is practically perfect, but an item he's barely even seen is going to be lower quality than his usual work.

-Imagination: Due to Shirou's strength of imagination he can also customize weapons he's traced into something brand new. This generally leads to something known as a 'broken phantasm' meaning he can use a weapon's ability, but tweak it to do something else, or basically brute force his way into doing a weaker version of something that takes too much mana for him to be able to do.

-Sacrifice: One of Shirou's unexpected advantages over other magi are how he handles the 'equivalent exchange' (aka the thing most magic users follow of having to give something to get something). By all the usual reasoning of how magi function, Shirou is on the bottom of the food chain. However, unlike most magi, Shirou gives part of himself instead of sacrificing something else every time he uses mana, due to this the return he gets is much greater than a magi typically gets. It allows him to go a lot farther with what should be extremely uselessly lacking mana reserves and magical circuits. This all isn't to say he's some super powered unstopable force. In fact, he's still hampered by several short falls and set backs due to his crappy circuits and mana, but it allows him to be a force to be reckoned with when he should be /far/ below anyone's notice.

-Computer Like Memory: Due to another ability, Shirou can literally pull up blue print memory of any weapon he's encountered closely enough to understand, giving him a deep well of weapons he can chose between at a moment's notice, though he can only use so much of the possibilities available to him, thanks to his limitations.

-Reading History: In tracing a weapon Shirou can also read it's past, thus learning some of what's happened to it over time and ultimately gaining the knowledge of how to use it.

-Limitations: Shirou can only trace weapons that are made of materials he can comprehend. Weapons made from things not found on earth aren't possible. Shirou also, aside from RARE occasions, has to have at least gotten a good , close view of a weapon (Which usually happens in the form of it being used ON him) before he can make a worthwhile tracing of it. Due to damaged magical circuits that supply the flow of magical energies he can use and the amount of multi tasking he can do with it, his amount of mana is small compared to most and it reduces the amount of abilities he can use to their full extent drastically, as well as making it so he can do a lot less things before he's out of mana than a typical magi.

Reality Marble: The other ability that effects Shirou's tracing and causes the 'Computer Like Memory' effect of tracing. This ability is a rare one in Shirou's reality that gives a magi the ability to replace the local area of reality with a place existing in their mind. This isn't a place they make up on the fly, but something that somehow symbolizes their being. When this is enacted, the magi has some level of control of their surrounding and is entirely unhampered by their mana reserves. HOWEVER, it takes a GREAT amount of mana to even bring into effect in the first place, so this is far from a simple cheat on getting around mana supply. Not only is it a high end spell, but it is typically too high end for Shirou to perform at all without some form of boost in his mana reserves. Even without ability to call it forward, however, it rests somewhere in his brain, giving Shirou access to all those weapons he's dealt with. This specific marble is usually called by Unlimited Blade Works and is to be a '''RARELY USED''' ability due to the amount of mana it requires.

Avalon: Due to his adoptive father having put the magical scabbard Avalon inside of Shirou as a young boy, he has gained some level of unnatural healing. When he has King Arthur as a summoned servant, he can do things like heal from nearly being ripped in half just over night. Normally, the healing is MUCH less effective, however. Without King Arthur functioning as his servant, he still heals at an odd rate, but not so heavily that it's alarmingly obvious.
|MusicEmbed= [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKnOFRLs9hU Sugiyama Noriaki - Kogane no Hikari (Shirou's image song)] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTjuAPFySdw Yoshiki Fukuyama - Makka na Chikai] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5boNqPH9vv8 Goldfinger - Superman] 
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The beginning of Shirou's life was completely mundane and normal. However, when he was seven years old, a horrible fire happened due to the events of the fourth version of something called a Holy Grail War. The section of the city he'd lived in had been completely destroyed and everyone but himself died. The fire was bad enough the children outside of that part of the city had even lost parents and gotten injured. As a result of this fire Shirou's sense of self broke and he figuratively died for a time.

Having come face to face with death and loss and accepting it at such a young age, Shirou's well being became something Shirou was not so concerned about. After being saved by the magus Kiritsugu, and more so after hearing Kiritsugu's final words upon his death 5 years later, Shirou had put the well being of others above himself. As such, when the 5th Holy Grail War came to pass he involved himself for the sake of keeping another incident like that fire from happening. The grail wars being battles fought between 7 magi called masters, each with a summoned spirit that is generally a being of history, mythology, or literature and called Servants for the sake of winning a wish granting grail. He'd become a Master, as he had some small amount of magic after Kiritsugu hesitantly taught him. However, the 5th Holy Grail War was a highly difficult struggle because Shirou was a highly inexperienced Magus at the time.

Due to Kiritsugu's death Shirou had been being cared for by his neighbor and English teacher Taiga Fujimaura. She became like his big sister, but between her usual irresponsible, scatterbrained sort of attitude and the fact that Kiritsugu was gone a lot when he was alive, Shirou had become very used to doing things like cleaning and cooking for himself. Also, a year before the fifth Holy Grail War, his friend's sister, Sakura started coming over to his house to help him, due to an injury he'd sustained. It became habit and she simply kept coming.

Durring the Holy Grail War Shirou became close friends with his class mate, Tohsaka Rin. However, he'd also fallen in love with his Servant, known as Saber. Saber, who had been King Authur in life, was summoned as Shirou's Servant by a sort of accident. Kiritsugu had somehow put Saber's sheath, Avalon, into Shirou's body. This caused Saber to appear before him without specific attempts to summon her. Yes, in this case, King Authur was a her. She'd hidden her identity as a woman in her actual life.

When the Holy Grail War ended, Saber and Shirou were victorious. However, Saber was forced to return to her own time and, from what Shirou had thought, finally died for good, no longer to become a servant. However, three years after this Shirou found himself in some alternate reality that was stuck in a large war between two large factions known as the union and the confederacy. Here Rin and Sakura greeted him, having arrived not long before him.
Over time he eventually found himself master of Saber once again and fought in yet another grail war, causing him to form relationships with Rin and Sakura over time on top of the relationship he already had with Saber. This grail war also caused him to learn that Archer Emiya was his future self, and has made him a little torn and confused about if his approach to everything really IS the right one or not. On top of those things it lead Shirou to have an awkward meeting with Mordred, who became like a hesitant step daughter to the respected love interest of her disliked mother/father figure. While Archer and Shirou hate eachother's guts, and Saber and Mordred were usually at each other's throats too, Mordred and Shirou got along better than most people in their awkward position could ever be expected to.

The grail war was long and chaotic this time, with several twists and turns, but eventually it was finished much like the one before, with Shirou and others destroying the grail to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. After this Shirou got another several year break from Grail Wars, but kept finding himself caught in other incidents due to the unending war between the Union and Confederacy. He'd almost immediately made himself an ally of the union since, for all appearances they were definitely the good guys. Doing that put him into a few fights with members of the confederate army, as well as giving him even more room to go out of his way to help people...and making even more people worry over his penchant for putting himself at risk.

Most notably in his time with the union Shirou played part in defending a place called the Holy Empire from invasion, went to help a repair team for a space mining expedition (only for it to turn out horribly wrong as this lead them to the necromorph riddled ship called the Ishimura, from the game series Dead Space), helped with resistance against the organization known as Shocker, went to the grand opening of a space hotel only to temporarily become mutated by the force of some corrupted fake philosopher's stones, and just generally end up in battles and unexpected situations that got him all breed of friends and enemies.

Eventually, after spending years involved with that war, Shirou found himself in a strange land yet again. This time things were vastly more peaceful, even though things STILL happened. Yet another grail war occurred and ended in a like manner again. Aside from that, however, most of Shirou's new life in this new location consisted of being able to peacefully work as an employee at a magic shop when he wasn't doing the odd repair jobs here and there in town. The only other real adventures he had in this new land after the grail war were generally misadventures involving the shop somehow. In all, it's now been 7 years since Shirou finished his original encounter with the Grail War.
|}}

Russell Anders

2026-07-27T03:45:12Z

Marr0w:

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|Alias=
|Occupation=
|Series=Original
|Threat=
|Alignment=Lawful Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=
|Extra1=
|Age=39
|Birthdate=December 11th, 2025
|Height=5'9" (174cm)
|Weight=220 llbs (100kg)
|Desc=5'9" light-skinned human male with brown hair and blue eyes. He shows his age, but still looks to be quite healthy, even if he's a bit past his prime.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
He is incredulous of anything claimed to be supernatural, to a fault. Given how often bona-fide supernatural things occur in the universe he comes from, this can occasionally pose a problem.

He has some psychological trauma from years of combat. It's not so extreme as to cause daily flashbacks, but the sort of thing one aught to be seeing a professional for. Maverick from Top Gun is the closest example that comes to mind, though Russ won't shut down during combat, it bites him after.

It wouldn't normally be considered a flaw, and I personally wouldn't consider it one, but Russell is human. He is as fragile and squishy as humans are. without a mech or fighter (which he wouldn't presumably have), he's not going to last long if superheros start throwing punches.
|Background=Russell is a quiet man. One wouldn't call him meek, but he prefers to keep his sentences short and to the point while letting his actions do most of the talking. Once he gets to know someone, the more lighthearted joking side makes itself known. Russell can be quite the prankster, and prides himself on his moments of sharp wit. His age does show itself from time to time as an 'I'm too old for this' attitude rearing it's head once things get too ridiculous. He has a rural upbringing, and it translates into a love of the outdoors and working with his hands. His first love is arguably aviation however: He's collected books on aeronautics, aviation history, aerial combat, scale and R/C models, and flying actual aircraft when he can.

He grew up in a rural community in what would have been called the United States before the Unification wars. He had no interest in aircraft at all, let alone fighters, until he by chance got to ride in the back of a 'Valkyrie' variable fighter. This experience was life-changing, and led the man to enlist in the UN Spacy to be able to experience it again. He was older then most of his peers, but he earned his wings, and passed his qualifications for the VF-11 C Thunderbolt III. He served for several years as an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence/Intercept) where he got the nickname "Frisbee" from the round Radome VFs in his role use, and his tendency to have them blown off or otherwise lost. He later qualified on the RVF25 Messiah, as the VF-11 was already outdated while his unit was still flying them.
|Skills=Russell is a naval (Aerospace Navy) fighter pilot, and has the skills expected of such: He has basic tactical survival training, weapons training, can fly an aircraft he's been trained on, as well as smaller spacecraft (As the RVF25 in particular is capable in both theaters). In addition to this, he has the Math and Science background also required of the position. His ELINT experience gives him some aptitude with electronic surveillance and penetration, but not nearly to the extent that a professional hacker would have-the ELINT kit has it's own software written by the pros after all.

Outside his military training, he knows how to operate farm equipment, tend crops and raise livestock. He's not particularly good at it, but he can play a few chords on the Guitar (a hobby picked up while on deployment). Some would say he has a good poker face as well-likely from being able to do math in his head, but Russ himself would disagree.
|Gallery=
|MusicEmbed=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=



|}}

Rayne

2026-07-27T03:44:52Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Rayne.png
|Name=Rayne Hurris
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=
|Series=Lethumi
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Phoenix
|Short=A woman with rainbow colored hair, usually armed with a pair of swords and a quiver of arrows.
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=Roughly 400, though she looks to be in her very late teens.
|Birthdate=May 19 2031
|Height=5'4"
|Weight=
|Desc=Probably the first thing that attracts your attention to the woman you're looking at is her hair; a full rainbow of color from red on her left to a deep violet on her right cascades down to her shoulders. Once you stop looking at her hair, you might next notice the odd color of her eyes, a violet color. Currently she is wearing what seems to be brown leather armor of utilitarian build. The shirt covers her torso well, but not her upper arms. Under the chest armor is a green tunic whose sleeves are tucked into her bracers. The collar of the tunic also pokes up over the armor, rising most of the way up her neck. Below, her tunic flares out almost like a short skirt, though her legs are well covered by the pants of her armor, with a holstered blaster on a thigh holster on her right. A pair of sturdy looking boots rise halfway up to her knees. Attached to a pair of crossing belts are a pair of sheaths holding lightly curved short swords on each hip, and a quiver of arrows is held almost horizontally at the small of her back. Oddly enough, there doesn't seem to be a bow to go with those arrows.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
|Background=
Rayne was born the daughter of Maniko Hurris and Gonfei Thri. Maniko herself was an adopted daughter into House Hurris, the second most powerful family on the planet of Avia, as well as the captain of the dragonship ''Wings of the Dragon''. As such, Rayne grew up primarily being raised by the noble house's nannies and servants, despite being born out of wedlock. Rayne grew to chafe at the rules stuffiness of the official family home, and by age ten she was regularly causing trouble throughout the huge mansion. In exasperation, Maniko finally introduced Rayne to her father Gonfei, who was known as an infamous bounty hunter at the time. Prior to this, Gonfei was unaware of Rayne's existence. Rayne, having been a fan of Gonthri Fei (Gonfei's pseudonym) prior to the meeting, was star struck. On her 14th birthday, Rayne managed to escape the Hurris family compound and find her way across half the galaxy to find her father.

While Gonfei did take his daughter in, though while doing so he retired from being an active bounty hunter to make sure his child was cared for. Rayne bonded with her father much more than she ever did with her mother, primarily on account of his always being there, as opposed to Maniko usually having been away with the Second Avian Fleet. During this time, Gonfei revealed to Rayne her heritage as a phoenix, instilling in her a sense that she was more than just some spoiled rich kid who would likely just coast through life. Gonfei did not spoil Rayne, instead enforcing that she properly get a normal high school and later college education.

Now on her own, Rayne would go through most of her life going through various jobs and learning various skills as her hobbies change through the next few centuries. At one point, she attempted to mend her relationship with her mother, at which point she learned of her draconic heritage on that side of her bloodline. As to awaken as a dragon takes a moment of extreme duress, Rayne remains happy to not have awakened in that regard.

In the past 30 years, Rayne's wanderlust had taken her to a system where the inhabitable planet, Cevernal, is known for having such extreme high atmospheric electromagnetic storms that it knocks out almost any electrical device on the surface, and is only considered inhabitable because of a strong magic user presence with individuals capable of sending craft into orbit. There she dabbled in learning magic, though as usual, she didn't really come close to mastering that ability. There she did pick up an enchanted set of short swords that, when combined, form a short bow. And it is from there that she somehow managed to find herself on Twisted.

==In Twisted==

Rayne has been very active in Twisted since her arrival. She joined with DMC/TASK shortly after [[Kotal_Kahn|Kotal]] received control from Dante, and after a few months of service, Kotal decided that she should be his Second in command. After a few months of this new status quo, Rayne had begun pondering a new branch to be more welcoming rather than threatening to newer arrivals, and with the announcement of a possible new Council with her as a member, she began working on this idea in earnest, recruiting both [[Sunset]] Shimmer and [[Serenity]] to this new Welcome Center project. This was initially intended to eventually be a separate organization from TASK, but due to lack of staff, it has remained a part of TASK, including being housed in what was a large storage room on the bottom floor of TASK Headquarters. Initially Rayne was Second in TASK as well as operating this new group, but more recent events, including the disappearance of Kotal Kahn and several of those close to him, have resulted in Rayne fully taking over as Director of TASK, leaving the Welcome Center manned primarily by Sunset Shimmer. Rayne has recently adopted a pair of cats, Yin and Yang, to keep her company in her apartment.

==Notes==

Rayne's mother, Maniko Hurris, is the same Maniko that was on NeoTokyo long ago. As such, [http://marrowproductions.com/neotokyo/index.php?title=Violet Violet at NeoTokyo]is her half-sister.

|Skills=In the past 4 centuries, Rayne has picked up a number of hobbies and taken up a number of jobs. As such, she has become a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none. She has had dozens of careers, none of which require a specialized degree. She knows her way around general mechanical and electrical repair work fairly well, though she's far from being able to create new or improved devices.

She knows how to pilot light airplanes and spacecraft, though isn't familiar with fighter combat beyond what she's seen in video games. She also would need a navigation system even if she was in a world she was familiar with.

She has learned numerable combat styles from various dojos, but has mastered none of them. She shows her best combat skills with a pair of short swords and/or a bow, as that was her most recent focus, though she definitely knows what she's doing in unarmed combat, as well. She'd get knocked out in the first round of a Street Fighter tournament, but she knows what she's doing. She knows how to handle a firearm, but considers that a past hobby that she's not as much into anymore.

Rayne has learned a limited amount of magic. She's far from an expert and generally only uses it for small tricks to make her life easier, such as spells that help with personal hygiene, help her locate personal possessions, that sort of thing. If put into Dungeons and Dragons terms, she'd barely be considered a first level wizard, and basically only knows cantrips, with the exception of some minor fire spells. We're talking little fire bolt spells, not something like a fireball. This is primarily because being a phoenix gives her an affinity with fire.

As a phoenix, her abilities are less than some might think. The most important ability this gives her is her limited immortality, of sorts. While she never ages, the more dramatic form of this is that she can effectively raise herself from death. Upon death, if it is possible for her body to be consumed in flames, it will spontaneous combust, and Rayne will emerge from it in the form of a flaming bird. If her body isn't able to catch fire(most simply done by depriving it of oxygen, be it underwater, an atmosphere with no oxygen, or in a vacuum), then she will not be able to resurrect herself. It takes Rayne about a month to recover her life force sufficiently to resurrect herself, so if she were killed again in that period she would be dead dead. Outside of resurrection, being on fire doesn't really do significant damage to Rayne, but she does find it extremely unpleasant(it still hurts as much as it would to a normal person), and that lack of damage wouldn't extend to her clothing.

Rayne is capable of transforming herself into a flaming bird form, with all the abilities one would expect of a large eagle, including flight. In this form, fire doesn't hurt her at all, and she can in fact control flames within about a foot of her, including causing her fire aura to nearly die out. She does not, however, typically enjoy this form, and generally will only take the form only when she is reborn after a death.

Rayne's draconic heritage is currently effectively locked from her, though if an item were somehow (presumably magically) locked so only a dragon could use it, she would be able to. In the event that she were to unlock her draconic heritage, she would be able to take a hybrid form and a full dragon form. In hybrid form, she would have draconic wings and marks on her face that match the color her draconic form. In this form, she would have significantly increased strength, and with practice would be able to use the wings to fly. She would also have resistance to damage from and minor manipulation in her elemental affinity in the form of small blasts. In draconic form, which would be roughly the size of a small car, she would have the expected abilities of a dragon, including a breath weapon and immunities tied to her draconic elemental affinity, as well as flight would come more naturally than it would in hybrid form. Unlocking her draconic heritage would take a major event, however, as it requires extreme emotional duress. The emotion she is under when she unlocks it would determine her elemental affinity that she would permanently have as a dragon. For example, if she's seeking vengeance or justice, she would have fire; protectiveness or possessiveness would align her with earth(and thus a resistance and breath weapon involving acid); desperation or determination would attune her to wind and lightning, and paranoia or faith would attune her to water and ice. It would usually take a life or death situation for a dragon to be awakened like this, making it less likely for Rayne as her phoenix heritage makes a life or death situation typically less stressful.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/469175 Flying'n'Stuff - F-777]

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQcWEzw2h0 It's My Turn - RWBY], from the viewpoint of Rayne talking to herself.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|Warker=
|}} 

{{Navbox/Twisted_Council}}
[[Category:TASK]]
[[Category:Twisted_Council]]
[[Category:MCPD]]

Pride The Arrogant

2026-07-27T03:44:25Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image= PrideArrogant1.png
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Alias=Selim Bradley, Selim Bradford
|Occupation=None Currently
|Series=Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
|Threat=City Smasher
|Alignment=Neutral Evil
|Gender=Male
|Species=Humonculus
|Short=A kindergartner of dark hair, and eye
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=350+ '''Physical Age:''' 6
|Birthdate=May 17th
|Height=3'7"
|Weight=35lb
|Desc= A small, fair-skinned boy of about six years old, maybe older, maybe younger. His small size makes it hard to distinguish just how old he might actually be, and his short cut hair only serves to embellish upon his youthful features. His hair is cut in a rather stylized, standard little boy's cut, something a mother might decide force upon a child against their will.

It's an oily black color reaching down his neck, that appears to suffer from a perpetual ruffle, or cow-lick with bangs that come just past his eyebrows and no further. His eyes are big, and wide, inquisitive and full of youth, they hold deep dark color that actually appears purple in some lights. His nose is small, button-like, indicating his youth with pair of thin lips beneath it.

His thin neck tapers into his small, scrappy shoulders, with small limbs that still got a ways to grow yet. His build otherwise, is fairly lean, healthy, and as active as a boy of his few years might be. Overall, he's a small, scrappy little boy, with a bright glow in his features.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 

'''Philosopher's Stone''': As much as strength as it is a weakness. The core of his being, should it ever be destroyed or weakened, so would he. It contains several thousand souls of innocent people he's either devoured, or granted by Father. As long as one soul still remains intact, so will Pride.

'''Container Body''': His body is as real as it can be, but doesn't function like his brethren. It's weaker, being smaller, and more fragile. It also doesn't bleed. Should it ever be shattered, he would be rendered into an minuscule infantile form and be required to 'grow up' unless a suitable replacement is found.

'''Youthful Appearance''': He looks young. Very young. This causes some people not to take him completely seriously.

'''Apathy''': He is Pride incarnate. He sees all non-humonculus as inferior creatures, and functions on a level of apathy in regards to most of them.

'''Light and Dark''': Complete darkness will render his powers inert, as shadows cannot exist in complete darkness. The same can be said about light, and too much bright light is known to even harm his shadows.

'''Carbon Fiber''': He cannot cut through it with his shadows. They just bounce off.

|Background=Amestris. The Alchemical Capital of the world, or so the propaganda would have you believe. A country that exists in a universe in which humans have developed a sort of magical science called Alchemy. The world itself is early 20th Century, with semi-steampunk advancements, specifically in the area of prosthetic replacements and automobiles. Though the study of Alchemy overshadows the regular sciences.

Having been formed over 350 years ago, Amestris stands in the very center of conflict with several outlying countries such as Drachma, Creta, and Aerugo. Skirmish fights are common along the borders, but otherwise Amestris keeps to itself and for very good reason. Those 350 years ago a man with golden hair arrived from the Eastern Desert to teach the people Alchemy.

That man was later revealed to be Father, a humonculus created by a former Xerxes Slave, who eventually went on to be known as Van Hohenheim. Father consolidated the primitive peoples of early Amestris, and formed them into a government. Then he focused their sights on expansion, until the country itself was nice and round, eventually growing to consist of 5 major cities in each cardinal direction.

This is where Pride begins. Created in an experiment by Father to separate his sins from himself, Pride was the first humonculus. For a long time it was just the two of them, controlling the budding government of Amestris, Pride was put in charge if making sure the humans did what Father wanted them. He was given a container body, and tasked with acting as the adopted son of many former government officials, or high ranking military personnel. Where ever he was needed, he was put into place. Eventually there were more, next came Lust, then Greed. Eventually Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, and then finally Wrath.

Pride was in charge of them all. As time went on, his duties became more and more focused on preparing the country for the Promised Day. He slipped from the eyes of his siblings and began working covertly with Father, and Sloth in order to set the stage for the future and build the country-wide transmutation circle. He was eventually partnered with Wrath, to pose as the son of the Fuhrer, Selim Bradley, where for the next couple of years he'd be posted. At least, until the Elric Brothers began to snoop.

At first, they were barely a blip on Pride's radar, but they were sacrifices the moment they attempted human transmutation. However, it wasn't until Edward Elric received his certification as a State Alchemist did things begin to... get interesting. The youngest alchemist, who managed to get their certification? Unheard of since Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. What drew the attention of the State was his ability to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle.

That day it became clear he would be a sacrifice. His brother followed soon after it became apparent of his... condition as a soul trapped inside a suit of armor. Their track record followed with disarray all across the country, disrupting on-going operations in mining towns, Leore, even Ishvallan slums, all in their quest to find a means to retrieving their lost bodies. They even ruined the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker, who's research into Chimera creation lead him to transmute his daughter and dog just to save his career. Chimera were weak constructs, made through the joining of animal DNA through transmutation. Many experiments even lead to combining human and animal DNA to create a generation of soldiers during the Ishvallan War. Most of them are dead, while some had joined in Greed's little attempt at rebellion in Dublith. They too, died.

It was all in futile attempt, anyway. As they, like many others, will be destroyed when the Promised Day comes. And a new era of Humonculus Superiority will begin. Or that's what Pride thought, that Father would take upon the power of God and usher in a new era, but as time went on the persistent Elrics would not give up their goal. They kept digging, deeper, and deeper. Until Father had to get involved, after the death of Greed. Greed failed in his duty, and was reintegrated into Father as a result.

Greed would be reborn later, within the Xingese Prince Ling Yao, who proved himself yet another thorn in the Plan. Each passing moment lead to further disruptions, until Pride himself, had to step in. The plan was supposed to be simple. Kidnap the younger Elric, by manipulating his soul seal, and use him to lure Edward back to Central City. The tenacity of the older Elric was unexpected, causing a blackout as he did on an overcast night. Pride simply decided to bide his time, until that Lion/Human Chimera attacked. It was quite shocking to see how quickly the creature resorted to attacking the form of a small child.

The rest is blurry, as the next thing he knew he was waking up in Nowhereto Park to the sound of children on a nearby playground...

'''Personality''':
Pride is the physical embodiment of Father's pride. He is by every definition of the word, arrogant, prideful, and considers himself the most superior creature in the room at all times. As an active member of the Humonculus, Pride's sole duty is the execution of Father's plan. Which means he is the second in command, after Father. He's ruthless, conniving, cunning, and mocking. He will seek out any, and all advantage he can find to better combat his enemies and keep himself alive. This leads him to be reckless, in that he considers all other forms of life as vastly inferior to him. Which causes him to underestimate his opponents at times, but his vast amount power with his shadows make him a formidable fighter despite this.

When not acting as Pride, but putting on the guise of his alter identity, Selim Bradley, Pride is a much different person. He's polite, and thoughtful, inquisitive, and excitable in the subject of his particular interests: Military Service, and Alchemy. He'll speak for many hours on just how cool Alchemists are, as well as show a deep familial loyalty to his Father and Mother. He's also incredibly friendly, and easy to get along with, always looking to make friends where ever he goes.
|Skills='''Shadow Control:''' Pride is a living shadow. He exists as a shadow, contained within a physical body that appears to be a child. He can use his shadows to attack, spy, and defend himself. He's also capable of using them to force people to perform a task. They appear mostly as tendrils, but can expand and retract to cover wide surfaces. He can also communicate, and spy through them. They can cut through any substance besides carbon-based metals.

'''Philosopher's Stone:''' The core of his being. This blood red gemstone contains thousands of human souls, and renders him nearly indestructible, and effectively immortal. It is everything that allows him to exist and use his powers.

'''Amestrian Military Training:''' Being recognized as the son of the Fuhrer, and many other government officials in Amestris's past, Pride has mastered many Amestrian military tactics. Including the use of Morse Code, Tactical Information Gathering, and other military and political protocols. In the absence of the Fuhrer, and Father, he is effectively the leader of the Amestrian government.

'''Absorption:''' One of his less dignifying powers is the ability to devour others and gain their knowledge, and powers. For example: If he devours another humonculus of Father, he takes on some of their personality traits, but also their powers and weaknesses. Their souls become part of his Philosopher's Stone.

'''Second Identity:''' He is Pride, but he is also Selim Bradley, son of the Fuhrer King Bradley. A happy-go-lucky youngster who dreams of one day serving in the military like his Father. This is the face he puts on in public. He's also adept at hiding his malevolence from most types of sensor. This may not be so easy on the Twisted Road.

|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}}

Pola

2026-07-27T03:44:10Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Pola_and_Pinky.jpg
|Name=Pola Abdul
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=Pink
|Occupation=Bounty Hunter
|Series=Battle Circuit
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Short=Pola is a teenage girl with reddish-brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and bright green eyes. Her partner is an ostrich with pink feathers, a yellow beak full of teeth, peach-colored legs and feet with white claws, and a golden ruby necklace around the base of her neck.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Pinky is generally surprisingly gentle and well tempered when not on a job. As long as Pola is happy generally she is also, and she generally likes people, especially ones that pet her and offer food or shiny things. However, Pola and Pinky are fiercely protective of each other, so anyone perceived as a threat is going to be watched very closely at best, and more likely met with hostility.
|Age=16
|Birthdate=March 19
|Height=5' 4"
|Weight=110 pounds.
|Desc=Pola looks like a pretty unremarkable teenage girl with a slender figure who is clearly a tomboy at first glance. She has a cute face with a lightly tanned complexion, a small nose, warm brown eyes and wears no makeup. Her burgundy hair pulled back in a ponytail with a tuft of hair still left to form her bangs. Her standard outfit consists of an orange jacket with white sleeves, khaki cargo shorts, and white mid-calf boots with golden yellow soles.

Pola is almost never without her closest companion, a female ostrich with bright rose-pink feathers, a yellow hooked beak which hides a set of teeth, saffron-colored eyes, buff-colored scaley legs with large taloned feet, a pair of powerful wings and a large tuft of tail feathers which are a lighter shade of pink, along with the primary flight feathers of her wings, and around her head, neck, and breast. She wears a black eyepatch on her left eye, a golden ruby necklace around the base of her neck, a light blue collar just a bit further up, a spiked anklet on her right leg and a golden cuff on her left.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
'''Nothing Can Stop Me''': Like most teenagers, Pola seems to think that she’s invincible, not appearing to be at all phased by the danger posed by their line of work to both herself and Pinky and continued success has only served to boost her confidence further.

'''No Matter How Much I Have, It’s Never Enough''': Pola is also rather addicted to her work and the life it allows her. After losing pretty much everything at the tender age of eight, she now has the wealth to not want for anything, and it seems like she’s afraid that if she doesn’t keep chasing the next bounty, she’ll lose it all again somehow.

'''United We Stand, Divided We Fall''': Pola and Pinky owe much of their success to how well they work as a team. Without Pinky, Pola would probably be dead or just scraping by as a street urchin, scrounging for scraps to keep herself going. Without Pola, Pinky would either be back with her spoiled and abusive original owner or worse, in some sketchy lab being poked and prodded, then discarded when she’s no longer useful. When it comes to a fight, they look after each other and help cover each other’s weaknesses. Separate them and they will be much easier to defeat.
|Background= Pola is a sixteen-year-old orphan girl from a dangerous futuristic world of aliens, dangerous criminals, and genocidal computer programs. When she was nine years old, her parents were killed by a colleague who went rogue while helping them work on a secret project called the Shiva System. With no family offering to take her in, she is placed in an orphanage, but soon runs away and ends up living on the street. At age ten she sees a jewelry adorned pink ostrich running from some men in black uniforms. Feeling sorry for the bird, she follows the ostrich, gains its trust with an offering of food, and together the pair evade the squad of hunters trying to recapture the genetically engineered ostrich which had escaped from its rather wealthy owner.

Pola finds it rather amusing that the ostrich has the most original name of Pinky, and they promptly form a bond with each other. Before long Pola realizes that Pinky’s bright pink plumage is just the beginning of what makes her special, as she is also able to fly, strangely has teeth hidden in her beak, and also seems to be able to understand when people are speaking to her. Initially Pinky can’t speak back, but Pola slowly becomes better at translating her rather expressive gestures and eventually, Pinky is gifted with an enchanted collar that allows her to speak. The pair stop a robbery, and after collecting the reward for capturing a wanted member of the Delete Gang, mutually decide to become bounty hunters in order to earn money to support themselves.

Pola is now sixteen, and still working bounties along with Pinky, the pair having become rather inseparable after all they’ve been through over the years. They’ve helped capture several high-profile criminals, with their finest moment being when they helped to stop the activation of an orbital superweapon that would have caused worldwide genocide if it was activated. They have also spent about four years in Neo Tokyo after the same man who killed Pola’s parents used his new experimental portal gun to send them to another dimension, having failed multiple attempts to kill them with some of his other creations. Now she’s made her way to Twisted City, hoping to find Katherine Lebedev, the woman who after a rocky start, eventually ended up being Pola’s adoptive mother in Neo Tokyo before suddenly disappearing from the city several months later.

Pola and Pinky have a similar personality, which is probably why they both get along so well. They are both very independent, rather enjoying the life of a free spirit and resisting anything or anyone who tries to tie them down. This is what made their connection with Katherine work so well, as she struck a balance of providing motherly support while still letting Pola and her feathered friend do their own thing for the most part. While Pola resents any figure of authority trying to tell her what to do unless it aligns with her interests, she does have a strong moral compass and will fight with Pinky at her side, for what she thinks is right, not really caring if she has to bend a few laws along the way. Pola and Pinky are both very social and enjoy meeting other people, though they are also very protective of each other and will react poorly to any perceived aggressive or deceitful advances.

Pola also has the typical teenager invincibility complex, not seeming to properly appreciate how much danger she and Pinky put themselves in by working as bounty hunters, and past success has only served to compound this. Lastly, while Pinky was rather pampered pet before they met, Pola went from stealing food so she wouldn’t starve, to pretty much being able to buy anything she wanted once the bounty work was flowing nicely. Now it’s like nothing is ever enough for her, as she’s always chasing a bigger job with a more lucrative payout even though by her twelfth birthday, she had more money than most kids her age could picture in their wildest dreams. At this point, she could put her wealth into various investments, retire and be set for life. But, she’s far too addicted to the thrill of the hunt and ever-increasing rewards to stop now.
|Skills='''Skilled Archer''': Pola took up archery when she was eight. When she started working bounties, what was once a hobby became a valuable skill, and is pretty much the only combat ability Pola has that isn’t overshadowed by her partner. She carries a crossbow for the balance between ease of firing and power, and If the situation calls for it, in addition to normal arrows both sharp and rubber-tipped, she also carries a small supply of burning and explosive arrows.

'''Fighting Fowl''': In the wild ostriches have been known to kill a lion with their kicks. Pinky has the benefit of increased intelligence, years of combat practice, and the ability to fly. She is surprisingly nimble on the ground for such a large bird, often stringing together kicks and pecks from her beak, even spinning on one foot for a sort of spinning heel kick. She can also attack from the air as she leaps or even flies. She’s been known to fly overhead of an enemy and rain down a flurry of kicks as she lands on her target. She can also grab an opponent with her feet and lift them into the air if they aren’t too heavy before suddenly dropping and driving them back into the ground with her powerful legs.

'''Flight''': Through genetic engineering, Pinky is the only known ostrich that is capable of flight. Impressively she is even able to leap into the air with Pola on her back, and hover briefly before coming back down to the ground. She is not able to achieve sustained flight for extended time or distance however, as her wing muscles tire quickly from the rapid flapping. Instead, she opts for shorter bursts of flight with a brief rest in-between.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
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|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}

|}}

Poison Ivy

2026-07-27T03:43:55Z

Marr0w:

{{DCAMProfile|
|Image=PoisonIvy1.jpg
|Name=Pamela Isley
|Codename=Poison Ivy
|Pronunciation=(red)
|Alias=Ivy
|Occupation=Eco-Terror-Feminist
|Series=Batman: The Animated Series
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Gender=Very Female
|Species=Mutated Human
|Short=Green skin, red hair, graceful, stylish, sarcastic, and hates you. Also known as seductive, insane, and terrifying. Likes sunlight, plenty of water, and walks in the park.

Not available for parties.
|Age=30
|Birthdate= April 19th
|Height=5'8" (172cm)
|Weight=115lbs (52kg)
|Desc=
|Tier=Tier 2
|Flaws=Beneath the cool-and-green-as-a-cucumber surface she's (quite literally) cultivated, Poison Ivy is nothing but a bundle of arguable flaws. Fiercely intelligent, she also had the kind of upbringing that lends itself equally to insecurity and ego, and the events of her life since have created a paranoid, distrustful woman for the most part. Her horrendous racism against human beings is a problem anywhere she goes, leading her to either risk attracting the ire of bigger fish - should she act out on her deepest desire to just eradicate the species - or consign her to acting the detached, sarcastic outsider. As a result, there's just not many people who'd risk anything for Ivy, and she is often left to fend for herself. Though strong in her own right, she mostly despises direct physical violence, her disgust at her own vestigial humanity manifesting in what can be seen as a hypocritical tendency to fight her battles using anything but her own body. A mess of neuroses, she's in control only because she maintains it - and it's a constant effort.

Should she lose control, Ivy is angry to the point of recklessness, her ambition exceeding - all too often - even the mysterious limits of her powers. If she can be baited into a direct fight, unable to scheme or prepare plant-based surprises, she's certainly not a match for many of her peers, or the people forming opposition to super-powered eco-terrorists. In this way her post-Harleen empowerment has become a crutch she relies upon to remain stable and grounded. Which highlights perhaps her greatest weakness, in Harley Quinn. Never was there a love more pure, a friendship more devout than that Ivy maintains with Joker's liberated henchwoman. Though she prefers to remain distant from the affairs of others, news of Harley in trouble will drag Ivy to the bubbly blonde's side with no more query than an arched brow and a cynical comment. The woman who takes few risks will risk everything.

It's plants, however, that are Ivy's biggest weakness. She cares more for them than she does herself, or anybody, with the sole and gut-wrenching exception of Quinn. But they're everywhere, and easy for anybody to harm. The fastest route to turning calm, calculated Ivy into a bugfuck-insane super-bitch is to not keep off the grass. She lives her life in a perpetual state of annoyance, suppressing an infinite rage at humanity's disregard for their planet. It's not particularly hard to pick at that seam. 
|Background=There's two truths in this world: people suck, and people need plants. They need them to breathe. Breathing is important.

Why, then, do they insist on destroying their own, awful lives by taking others with them? Selfish, murderous, greedy, and unkind, even from a young age Pamela Isley had a low opinion of her fellow man. It's a bleak miracle, to her, that anyone makes it through their childhood without feeling the same way. Watching others through the lens of innocence, a child sees only people that care for it - and people who don't. Those that do care about nothing else. Their worldview is insular. One might deign to call them merely ignorant, but ignorance is no excuse for the pain and destruction they wreak in the name of living another day on this damaged Earth.

Breathing... is not that important. But we digress.

Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Pamela's path was never going to be a difficult one to find or maintain. Her parents provided more than adequately, in material terms, but were emotionally-unavailable to the point - some might say - of being abusive by default. Ultimately emerging grateful for their callous behavior, the bitter redhead went on to study for a degree in advanced botanical chemistry at Seattle University. For all her burgeoning misanthropy, Isley was a gifted pupil, and was selected by her professors to partake in experiments that necessitated the injection of samples into a living subject. With science foremost in her mind, she allowed the experiments to proceed.

After-effects were swift, and painful. Teetering on the lip of death, young Pamela began a transformation, her complexion paling and then turning great, toxins erupting through her bloodstream and bubbling past her lips. The effect on her mind was worse still, driving her to insanity. Abandoned by her treachorous professor, she was hospitalized for six months, emerging physically stable but under the thrall of violent mood swings. She disappeared overnight, leaving a dead boyfriend behind her...

Enter, Poison Ivy.

No longer feeling any sentiment toward humanity but hatred and rage, a criminal career began that needs not be expanded upon; because humans are lazy, greedy creatures, and nobody wants to read a recounting of far too many comics, cartoons, and video games. Suffice to say, like any warm body that relocates to Gotham City and takes up a life of crime, Ivy suffered the inevitable setback of incarceration in Arkham at the hands of the goddamn Batman. An established eco-terrorist with blood all over her thorns, Ivy was treated as an especially dangerous patient from the first innings, locked away from sunlight and contact with the people she loathed. Thank Gaia for small mercies, in the case of the latter... but with her altered biochemistry, suffering without the sun only drove the green-skinned woman deeper into madness.

Her shining beacon proved to be eager psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel, who - before her own seams cracked - bestowed simple kindnesses on the former Miss Isley that broke through the dense foliage of her bitterness. Dr. Quinzel's therapies, and humanities, caused a slow shift in Ivy. Her fury dimmed, boiling away beneath the surface but ceasing to erupt with the regularity it once did, and with clearer thoughts came better decisions. A little meditation, a little yoga, some deep breaths...

And Ivy broke out of Arkham, resuming her career with more subtlety and less (intentional) murder. Meanwhile, not far removed from Ivy's epiphany, Harleen Quinzel had been seduced by the Joker into becoming Harley Quinn, undergoing her own chemical burns and personal transformation into a much less acceptable human. On the occasion their paths crossed within the criminal underworld, or the frantic and all too public overworld, the bond between them persisted. From Ivy's perspective, Harley was the same pure-hearted creature who'd helped her - saved her, to be terribly melodramatic about it. And the less said about the Joker, the better. Satisfied with using men for her own means, Ivy's feelings about other humans generally remained the same as they'd always been; albeit with the wisdom of experience, and damn good therapy, she could hold herself back from being their Earthly judgement. None of which bade well for her opinion of Harley's 'Puddin'. Over the years, she's tried again and again to keep her one friend away from her own obsession with a very shitty man...

That fight is still ongoing. Like the fight to save the planet, it never ends. Ivy's not done with a life of crime, and she's far from done with her errant bestie - whose current insistence that she's breaking free from Joker's shadow seems to be holding, for now. Mostly satisfied of her own volition to make her money more safely, with elaborated schemes and clever financing, and spend downtime caring for her plants, it's ultimately her devout care for Harley that's liable to drag her back into chaos. It's a life debt, based on a sincere love that the mad clownette doesn't share with anybody else. She's BETTER than anybody else, after all. Perhaps even Ivy herself, whose genuine concern has not prevented her from staying home and making her nettles tea while she instead dispatches a plant-based simulacrum to track down and help the wildly-marauding Harls.

She accepts there'll be more trouble to come, with Harley, and alongside her own quest to bring humanity to its respectful knees in reverence for Mother Nature. But, baby steps.

The woman who exists now is a calmer, more centred Poison Ivy. A renaissance villainess, who's honestly done with ALL your bullshit, but knows you can't help it.

Just don't step on the daisies. You... do like breathing, right?
|Skills=Natural Pheromones - Ivy's body naturally secretes powerful pheromones capable of overwhelming the affected with a form of mind control, or knocking them unconscious. Best communicated through sharing her saliva, she can administer these powers with a kiss, but also specializes in using her scientific background to blend her own secretions into potent toxins, including truth serums and deadly love potions that eventually mutate her victims into nightmarish human-plant hybrids. For incredibly scientific reasons that are nothing to do with titillating teenage boys, Ivy's saliva remains a critical catalyst for activating these serums, though other delivery methods are possible with sufficient preparation.

Plant Control - The reason Ivy is a heavy-hitter. Simplistically, she is able to exert telepathic control over plants, causing them to change their shape and scale, grow at a rapid rate, or assault her chosen targets. This represents not just a 'brute force' supernatural ability, but a deep affinity and mutual affection for anything that photosynthesizes. Her babies WANT to help her, and will serve also as the conduit for communication over long distances. The theoretical limit on these abilities seems as dependent on Ivy's mental state as anything - if sufficiently aroused and within a short distance of literally any plant, she can connect via root systems and shared soil to uproot a forest on her quest for vengeance. Close work with Swamp Thing has revealed she shares the same connection to the pseudo-mythic Green that he does, but on the average day she's restricted to such minor and unremarkable feats as summoning vast, thorny tentacles to bind entire buildings, save her allies, and entangle and even kill opponents. There's only so much even the likes of Batman can do against a sentient forest guided by a highly-intelligent, vengeful psychotic.

Post-Human Strength - In a world of superheroes, Ivy's pure physical acumen is nothing to write home about. However, her hybridity bestows on her a resilience and natural athleticism far in advance of a normal human. This at least allows to survive against greater threats, and makes her all the more terrifying to mere civilians. However, in contrast to her favorite partner-in-crime, she prefers to avoid full contact sports, opting to use her wits and plants to fight battles wherever possible.

Toxic Resistance - You can't fight fire with fire. Even before becoming Poison Ivy, Isley was a genius botanist and biochemist who could likely synthesize antidotes with ease, but in her altered state she's outright immune to natural toxins. Many of the nastier tricks and improvised weapons that work on others simply don't work on her. Hybrid toxins and anything produced in a lab without any elements of naturally-occurring plant life will prove exceptional, and provide an alternative approach for chemical warfare specialists.
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|MusicEmbed=
|Logs={{Template:Logs-Pre-U}}
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|WarkerName=EasyGreen

|}}
{{Navbox/DCAU}}
[[Category:DC_Animated_Universe]]

Nathan Xeos

2026-07-27T03:43:36Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Nathan_Xeos.PNG
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=Agent
|Series=The Secret World
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Templar
|Gender=male
|Species=Human (Bee)
|Short=Dressed like a slacker, armed like a knight
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=25
|Birthdate=
|Height=6'1"
|Weight=
|Desc=Stands at 6'1" he looks rather plain, with fair skin, green eyes and brown hair. His hair is messy, medium length and unstyled, his only facial hair is a simple goatee. Over his eyes he wears a basic pair of wire rimmed glasses. On his ear he wears a (totally not stolen) Orochi tactical ear-piece. Around his neck he has a silver hatchet necklace. He wears a red open zip up hoodie over a black t-shirt, black jeans and brown hiking boots. His forearms, if exposed, are often covered in bandages, hiding the burns and runic scars. Finally he has a leather belt with an iron cross belt buckle over his right shoulder, holding the sheathe for his claymore sword.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
|Background=TRANSMIT - initiate the anima signal - RECEIVE - initiate the hidden frequencies - DARK DAYS ARE COMING - we know you hear us, we can hear you too - WITNESS - the secret world.

It all started when I swallowed a bee. Okay, it was more of a bee shaped bio-mechanical symbiote created by a techno-organic tree computer in the center of the earth, but still a bee. As it turns out symbiote bees can do some mighty interesting things. Eye beams into the ceiling, general destruction of an apartment, phenomenal cosmic power... The kind of things that attract a lot of attention if you don't know what your doing. Which is what it did, I had no idea what happened, just woke up one morning, tried to make breakfast and blew up half my apartment. The other half was systematically blown up over the next 3 days.

What a beautiful cacophony we hear. Times - places - things that did not happen - will not happen. Mere fancies put to pen - paper - screen. They all flow through the well. The etchings of madmen and visionaries put on equal footing in a display of life. All of them singing such different tunes - all coming together into the liveliest of noise - but what brought them here? For what purpose?

On the third day is when I found out I'd been less discreet than I thought, and yes, you can 'discreetly' blow things up with magic. A 'representative' appeared at my door, claiming to be of the Templars, said they could train me and my new powers and that I didn't want to stick around. Well they were right on not sticking around. As I found out later, one of the Illuminati were prowling around and one of the Dragon's silent monks was in the city. Well, I had an appointment in a few days in London England, might as well get going...

WITNESS - our sweetling. One of many in these dark days - he heard the enochian - responded - tasted the sweetness of our wisdom. We gave him a gift - he took it - used it as a shield against the dark days coming - only for it to become his sword when the dark days arrived. 
Initiate the grail keeper protocol - to kill a demon one must sometimes burn down a village. The crossed ones believed this - but is it still true? Must those who seek monsters become them?

They weren't lying, once I'd become less of a threat to property values I started to take to the magical arts like a fish to water. It helped that I was something of a massive nerd at the time, still am, but now all the pouring over tiny details has a purpose. They had the facilities and know-how to turn me from walking explosion to full on battlemage, or close enough. Then after training it was field duty, going around, assisting people in the middle of supernatural crisis all across the globe. The bees seem less willing to let me die than than the things trying to kill me, but if there's one thing you can say about dark horrors hidden from public eye, it's that they are stupid persistent. Doesn't matter where they come from either, New England coast, Egypt, Transylvania... They will rip you to pieces as many times as it takes. None of it stuck, thankfully, no matter how many times I got torn apart messily, it was just a simple trip back to the nearest Anima well and I was back among the living. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell still. Apparently it's impossible to catch a break in the secret world.

In the grim blackness our sweetlings buzz - running mazes of cement and glass - stone and wood - mind and thought. Working to brighten an ever darkening world - for those that take them in - for themselves - as they slowly plumb deeper into the secrets and hidden places. 
Time moves not in lines, but circles. 
Initiate the secret histories.
|Skills=
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
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|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}

|}}

Mimi Valroon

2026-07-27T03:43:08Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Mimi Valroon.jpg
|Name=Mimi Valroon
|Pronunciation=
|Series=Original
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Class=Pilot
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Uh... Human?
|Age=22
|Birthdate=October 5th, 1915
|Height=5'6" (1.67m)
|Weight=130lbs (59kg)
|Short=Mimi is a blonde woman in her early twenties. She's usually wearing clothing that identifies her as either a pilot or an engineer of some sort.
|Desc=Mimi is a blonde woman in her early twenties. One lock of hair falls to the right side of her face down to her chin, but the rest of what frames her green eyes is shorter, reaching reaching only to said eyes. Most of her hair, however, is pulled back into a messy ponytail. She wears a white blouse, usually, short sleeved, under soft leather overalls that stop just below her bust. Instead of suspenders, the overalls are held up by some thicker leather paneling and the two black belts are strapped around her waist. She wears a pair of mismatched gloves, her right made of the same material as her overalls and reaching halfway up her forearm, but not passing the first knuckle of her fingers. It has a black band around the wrist much like the belts around her waist. Her right, however, is a thicker black affair that looks more substantial than the left. This one fully covers her fingers and ends at the same place on her forearm as the left, but has further leather straps making their way to her elbow. Finally at her feet are a pair of thick leather boots, reaching nearly to her knees and held in place by four black belts rising up her calves. Oh, and we can't forget the goggles. They're usually on her head somewhere, be it on her face or on her forehead.
|Skills=
'''Piloting''': Mimi is an expert pilot. She's been flying planes since before she should have legally been able to.

'''Engineering''': Before her grand adventures, Mimi needed to make sure she knew how to keep her plane in working order. As such, she worked and worked and... found herself getting as much into that process as she was into flying! By now, Halberd's many customizations were designed and implemented by Mimi herself.

'''Survival''': Being stranded without fuel can lead one to pick up essential survival skills fairly quickly. But even before that, she was already excellent at navigation and orienteering.

'''Gunfighting''': Mimi is a fairly good shot with a rifle and handles a pistol quite easily

'''Knifefighting''': Things tended to go bad quickly in her adventures. Mimi has learned to knifefight by necessity, and has done so the hard way. This extends into swordfighting, as well, as she's learned to use her trusty machete as a weapon. Still, she'd not win any swordfights with a dedicated swordsman.

'''Acrobatics''': It started with the trouble she got into in the Amazon, but she's slowly found, again the hard way, that one needs to be limber and agile on an adventure, as well as a good climber and jumper.
|MusicEmbed= Hear the roar of the Twin Engines![https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j21m-lNW2Mg&t=56s]
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==
Mimi comes from an alternate Earth. In this other world, history was completely altered by the presence of a mineral crystal that, when electrified, has anti-gravity properties. While in the past it was a fun but ultimately useless trinket powered by static electricity for perhaps toys, with the proper harnessing of electricity it became much, much more. By the time of the Great War, everything changed. The war raged on for far longer, with perhaps just a lull in the 20s before going all out again in the 30s. Massive fleets floated not just on the oceans, but in the air as well. Alliances broke, reformed, betrayals happened. Nations fell, reformed, and rejoined the war later. In the end, however, the Allies still won, largely on the back of American Industry.
Mimi was too young to fight, but after the war, this daughter of a general was quick to pick up a surplus night fighter and head off on her own adventures, exploring into the Amazon and across the south Pacific to the east indies. Before her adventures, she was already an excellent pilot and mechanic and a decent shot with pistol and rifle. She raced Russian spies to find the fabled City of Gold in the Amazon(it turned out to be mostly iron pyrite, unfortunately), survived months stranded without fuel in the Pitcairns, foiled a British aristocrat's plan to set himself up as a deity in Melanesia, fended off pirates near the coast of Australia, and narrowly avoided being captured by Japanese spies on Java. After that, she returned to America, where she decided she should have a nice vacation in Bermuda... Of course she flew there, and in the process crossed into the Bermuda Triangle... And then she found herself in Twisted.

==Halberd==
[[File:Halberd the P-65b.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P-65b night Fighter from the Great War]]Based on the B-170 Roundel medium Bomber, the P-65 Crossguard is a night fighter. Compared to the B-170, the cockpit was pushed back to accommodate the radar and heavier forward facing gun, while the reduced interior space means the bomb bay is almost vestigial, now reduced to only having a bomb capacity of 1000 lbs down from 4000. In practice the bomb bay typically had a removable fuel tank instead of actual ordinance. The B-170 also typically held two wing-mounted bombs which the P-65 was also capable of carrying, but typically didn't in order to save weight. The B-170 airframe was chosen to create the P-65 due to its already exceptional agility for a medium bomber, in large part due to its cruciform wings. Other modifications included removing the tail and waist guns, though the dorsal turret remained in place. The resulting overall lighter weight of the aircraft, along with updated, more powerful engines, resulted in an exceptional night fighter during the Great War. While a B-170 had a crew of five(Pilot, Navigator/bombardier, Turret gunner/Engineer, waist gunner/radio operator, and tail gunner), the P-65 only had three(Pilot, radar/radio operator, gunner). The radar operator remained sitting beside the pilot in a tandem operation, and could take over as a co-pilot in a pinch.

Of course, the Great War eventually ended, and all that military hardware quickly became surplus. Surplus ripe for the picking by explorers, adventure seekers, and mercenaries alike. One of these was the young Mimi Valroon. Herself the daughter of a General in the American Air Corps, Mimi was too young to enlist herself in the WASP program during the war. Her personal surplus P-65b Crossguard is called 'Halberd', and has updated equipment to enable it to be flown by a single person if needed. The bulky military radar has been replaced by a significantly smaller civilian model useful for spotting landmasses and heavy rainfall, the freed up space now housing additional personal storage space easily accessible when landed. Other equipment has been miniaturized in the post-war years, allowing for additional free space within the cabin to the point where a bunk has been set up under the turret, which can be remotely controlled (with ''very'' poor accuracy) from the pilot's seat. Usually the turret is simply set to face rearward.

===Varytitite===
There are crystals from Mimi's Earth known as Varytitite crystals that, when exposed to electricity, counteract gravity and float into the air. This has been known of from lightning strikes for all of history, and small toys have been made of them using static electricity... but this world's industrial revolution brought forth powered flight. Generators, first steam, then diesel, create constant enough power to float entire vehicles into the air. At first, such vehicles were sailed the same as sailing vessels, but then propellers were invented to move them forward far more easily. This motion eventually evolved into airplanes, though most planes still use their engines to generate power to a Varytitite crystal for takeoffs and landings.

==Notes==
<references />

Mileena

2026-07-27T03:42:51Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Mileena_Render_PNG.png
|Name=Mileena
|Series=Mortal Kombat
|Class=Hell Stripper
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Neutral Evil
|Gender=Female
|Species=Genetic Experiment - Tarkatan & Edenian
|Age=25
|Birthdate=Nope. :(
|Height=5'9" (175cm)
|Weight=128lbs (58kg)
|Short=An abomination created in the Flesh Pits of Outworld by the sorcerer Shang Tsung, Mileena boasts the mixed ancestry of the graceful, powerful Edenians and the brutish, demonic Tarkatans. Her body represents the arguable peak of feminine beauty, blending dangerous curves with incredible athleticism, but amongst otherwise attractive facial features she boasts feral eyes and a mouth that no mother could love. Fortunately, she doesn't have one. Cannibalistic and violent, on her homeworld Mileena was the obvious candidate to take the throne from her 'father', Emperor Shao Kahn, after he was slain by the kombatants of Earthrealm. However, her stranglehold on the title of Empress was released following a successful coup by the Osh-Tekk Ko'atal. Executed in stomach-churning fashion, the over-ambitious clone was thought removed from the arena of Kombat; a pity that on Twisted, those rules no longer apply... 
'''Informal Title''': Empress Mileenapants the Bitey, First of Her Name 
'''Theme Song''': [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWnZV4flFc4 Freak Kitchen - One Last Dance]
|Desc=There's an immediate impression of something primal when beholding this alarming woman. Her body is as close to an approximation of 'perfect' as one is likely to find; smooth, feminine curves accentuated by honed, flexible muscle. Her breasts are a pleasing double-handful, the generous swell of her rear serving as both titillation and containment for further power. To call her a 'specimen' would be a vast and ironic understatement.

Mileena's head is where it all goes wrong. Her hair hangs as an old, unkempt mop, black enough to border on purple as it catches the light. Those inclined to lust might view it more favourably, as bedhair, but this woman's detractors see carelessness and dirt. Her features are severe, though aggressively attractive, a sunken and broad-boned brow framing slit amber eyes that hold a predator's instinctive and alien confidence. With wild fronds tumbling past her shoulders, framing sharp bones and pale skin, there's an unshamedness to her blunt, savage beauty.

Her attire flatters the whole, violently-sexual package. On her deliciously robust torso, a scandalously short purple half-toga does nothing to conceal barbaric lingerie, bound by a black sash and offset with a segmented upper chest plate. Elaborate, ornamental armguards of a dense, purple-dyed fibrous material restrain the corded muscles of her limbs, culminating at top and bottom with stylized plates of bone - decorated in a ghastly skull motif. Her hands, guarded on the back, are wrapped to the fore with fingers left bare, tipped at the apex with sharpened, painted nails.

The abomination's thighs are mostly visible courtesy of coarse black chaps, which disappear into chitinous knee pads also carved to resemble alien skulls. Beneath these, her lower legs are tightly bound in purple-stained bandages, and esconced from the calves down by what can best be described as battle-armored stripper heels, rear calves and feet protected by dark metal. The heels themselves are jagged, down-sweeping daggers, which clearly require unearthly grace to move around upon. More direct armament comes from the pair of leather-bound sai strapped to Mileena's upper spine. 
<gallery>
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|Skills= 
'''Martial Arts''': Mileena is trained in a variety of styles, familiar with diverse forms but preferring to utilise simple, brutish techniques derived from her animalistic origin. She is no less deadly for it, possessed of incredible speed and strength rivalling Kombatants two or three times her size. Beside her fists, feet and maw, she favours paired sai in battle. Her technique, such as it is, is nigh flawless - she is a masterful and unpredictable warrior.

'''Genetic Advantage''': Vat-born and created from carefully-selected DNA, Mileena is a genetic super-soldier. Her strength and speed are both naturally-boosted as part of her artifical origin, and the sorceries of Shang Tsung have gifted her with a coherent understanding of these gifts. Impeccably agile, she is also obscenely tough; she can take blows that would mulch lesser fighters, and recovers at an astounding rate from physical damage.

'''Chi Manipulation''': Mileena has the ability to bolster her techniques and her movements with bright, jagged bursts of energy tied to whatever plane she currently inhabits. Able to quite literally teleport at will, she can use this power seemingly indefinitely and at a split-second's warning. It only works within close, sighted range - however, she can also form an ethereal link with her weapons, and use these as conduits through which to move her physical form.

'''Natural Magic''': Created partly by magecraft, Mileena is sensitive to the magical arts. She can instinctively use and understand sorcerous objects, and if given the means to use a magic-based power deriving from evil and darkness, is positively prodigious. There is a theoretical limit on this talent, which may grow in time with exposure. Currently, the act of performing even artificial magic is tiring and a threat to her already fractured sanity.

'''Clone Empathy''': Though she has to discover this ability, Mileena is - at this point in her evolution - able to communicate telepathically with her own clones, commanding them as a Hive Queen through strong mental suggestion. They share the same link, allowing her to effectively coordinate with as many 'other selves' as are available. Currently she is separated from the Flesh Pits, but good things come to she who waits...
|Stats= 
* KNOWLEDGE: 4

* MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE: 4

* PHYSICAL ABILITY: 8

* SUPERHUMAN ABILITY: 8
----
* THREAT RATING: 6
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==
A creature of Outworld, Mileena is a magically-imbued genetic experiment created by the sorcerer Shang Tsung, whose Flesh Pits are well-stocked with creations made for the Emperor Shao Kahn. Of these, Mileena herself is the first success, cloned from the blended DNA of the captured Edenian, Princess Kitana, and the demonic Tarkatan race. Resembling her father's adopted daughter almost entirely, she has inherited too a hellish maw by grace of her barbaric half. A deadly mix of beauty and beast, she quickly became the favoured 'offspring' of the Emperor, and her loyalty came naturally. So, too, did a venemous hatred of Kitana, and much of Mileena's early life was spent in violent pursuit of the princess - whose betrayal of Shao Kahn's court marked her for execution.

Following the untimely demise of her 'father', it was Mileena who inherited the throne of Outworld by questionable right of birth. Her time as Kahnum earned her a yet greater reputation for bloody displays of violence, and her subjugation of her people earned her the nickname 'The Mad Empress'. Fortunately for many, her reign ended relatively quickly with a successful coup by one Kotal Kahn. The sole survivor of a race slaughtered by Mileena's father and predecessor, Kotal gained enough support and proved powerful enough to force the Empress into exile with a few of her closest advisors. Thus began a long and fierce rebellion - a civil war for Shao Kahn's throne.

During this time, Mileena would obtain the amulet of Shinnok; a fallen Elder God and one of the most potent denizens of Outworld. This would provide her the leverage to launch a counter-assault upon Kotal Kahn and drain his life force in order to reclaim the throne. This plan would backfire, in large part because Shinnok's power came at a deadly price; weakening the would-be Kahnum along with her victims, and she was all too easily dismantled by combination of Kotal Kahn, and his 'First Minister' D'Vorah. A former subordinate of Mileena's, the insectoid woman was gleeful in carrying out her order for execution, murdering Mileena in sickening fashion.

But Mileena's is far from a normal existence. With many more identical clones within the Flesh Pits of Shang Tsung, she may effectively be proven immortal with the right actions - here and now, it has been far simpler for the dark goddess Christabella to pull her through the stuff of nightmares and give her shape, mind and flesh. The Mad Empress stalks once more, and has herself a chance at redemption - by killing Kotal Kahn, now rightful ruler as ordained by the Elder Gods themselves, she can restore her lost glory and perhaps rise to take a new throne.

==Notes==
<references />

Lucy Lacemaker

2026-07-27T03:42:36Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Lucy_Lacemaker.jpg
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=Lucy
|Occupation=Alcoholic
|Series=Satellite City
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Orange
|Gender=Female
|Species=Kivouachian
|Short=Small, crazy catferret alien.
|Extra1=
|Age=Over 7 billion years
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Height=89 cm, 2.9 feet
|Weight=Heavier than she looks
|Desc=A small creature, about three feet tall when standing on her hind legs, Lucy resembles some kind of white and red-furred cat or ferret with long, floppy ears and a grin with far too many teeth, not to mention the strangely raptor-like claws on her hands and feet.
|Extra2=
|Background='''Basic Overview'''

Lucy is not of Earthly origin, instead coming from a highly-compressed universe that existed before ours called the Kivouack. Having been raised in unimaginably harsh conditions in a heavily Darwinist society where violence and murder were considered social norms, Lucy is still trying to grasp concepts of Earthling culture often taken for granted. She would be considered insane or psychopathic by human standards, but takes pride in living up to ancient Kivouachian ideals of using violence and cunning to dominate others... or used to, as her murderous ways have softened since coming to live at the Croft Estate.

A combination of a deep depression and a strange relationship with the first half-Kivouachian hybrid called Hyzenthlay have dulled the fierce edge of Lucy's bloodlust, making her more prone to terrifying yet ultimately harmless pranks over actual murder attempts. She can still be thought of as a bit of a bully for enjoying the intimidation of weaker creatures, and will still express her more violent tendencies on those of less fragile constitution (i.e. other Kivouachians, people with similar regenerative capabilities). However, she can be surprisingly helpful or even friendly to those who display enough spine to stand up to her, taking on a mentor-like role for those who show potential for great strength or intellect. She is also known for her spectacularly heavy drinking habits, putting away enough alcohol to kill a normal human a dozen times over, which helps her forget how little meaning her life has now.

'''Full Backstory'''

When she was born, Lucy killed her littermates and ate her father, instantly marking her as someone with a bright future in Kivouachian society. She spent her younger years in the Kasino, a slum located at the edge of the Kivouack capital city, the Underbirth, where the misfits and downtrodden of her kind lived in constant fear of being rounded up and served as a delicacy to those of the higher classes. Her keen intellect soon saw her befriending another youth named Ludwig, who shared her endless thirst for knowledge as they killed their peers and illegally sold their body parts on the underground market in exchange for both status and information.

Eventually, they caught the attention of Fontaine, the man who had created this equivalent of the black market, and he eagerly took the two of them on as apprentices. While Ludwig worked directly under Fontaine, Lucy was sent to Sombra, the oldest living Kivouachian and one of the Kivouack's highest ruling class. It was from Sombra that Lucy learned of law and order, the art of balance, and the meaning of justice, and eventually became a highly respected political figure in her own right. She was placed in charge of handling legal cases, acting as judge, jury, and executioner for all crimes committed under her watch, and became famous for her thorough consideration of each case and brutal efficiency in carrying out punishments.

Furthermore, Lucy was the Voice of the Court, and it was her duty to ensure that every politician wishing to debate laws and legislation be heard fairly and to prevent undue disruption under threat of decapitation and humiliation. During this time, Lucy also took many lovers, the most notable of which being Celia, a member of the Kivouack military force called the Yolsh. Celia was the first person Lucy failed to dominate, thus learning humility and submissiveness in a relationship that lasted thousands of years. However, their love ended during the Mandus Conflict.

Who exactly Mandus was is unclear, but he was not a Kivouachian, rather something much more powerful and seeking to bring an end to the Kivouack. The battles with Mandus were never made public knowledge in order to prevent the spread of panic, but Celia was killed on the front lines, and Lucy's capacity for love died with her. In a boldly controversial move, Lucy sought out Mandus herself, disappearing into the anarchic wilderness of the Madness Frontier outside the protection of the city. When she eventually returned, her left eye had been severely damaged beyond regeneration, but the most surprising thing was that she declared her loyalty to Mandus, claiming he was a beautiful creature devoid of cruelty or evil.

At some point after this, Mandus destroyed the Kivouac, causing the event that we know as the Big Bang which created the Universe. The stars, galaxies, and nebulas that fill the void are but shattered remnants of the Kivouac, eternally scattering. Miraculously, Lucy and a number of other Kivouachians survived this event, and after a few billion years, many of them settled on the planet that would eventually come to be known as Earth. Although they were not many, their presence constantly helped shape human history, providing the basis for countless myths and legends. Lucy herself became known as Loki in Norse culture, and was responsible for such incidents as the Great London Fire (caused by accidentally igniting some rum she was brewing in a bakery) and collaborating with Ludwig to orchestrate World War I, though she tried (and failed) to stop World War II from occurring.

Eventually, while helping Ludwig in his efforts to gene splice Kivouachian DNA with native Earth animals, Lucy and several other Kivouachians both from ancient times and born on Earth came to live with a human named Sullivan Croft, who owned a large estate which became sort of a small settlement for their kind. It isn't exactly clear why this decision was made, though some theorize that Sullivan is the descendant of a human woman Ludwig once shared an intimate relationship with, thus making him tolerated as a sort of liaison with modern human society, allowing them to keep tabs without having to risk direct contact with the outside world.

After all this, Lucy felt directionless. She had lived for billions of years, seen the fall of one universe and the rise of another, helped shape the history of an entire sapient species, but what was the point of it all? To paraphrase her words, when someone only has ninety years to live, every word on the page of their life is golden and meaningful, but when that page is neverending, stretching into infinity, those same words mean less and less. She had no drive to work toward any particular goal, because her clock will never run out... or that's what she thought.

One of Lucy's most important contributions to the attempted rebuilding of her society was discovering the genetic formula that led to the first successful hybridization experiment, creating a half-Kivouachian red squirrel named Hyzenthlay. Although Lucy at first expressed a desire to kill and eat the creature for her weakness, their relationship slowly developed into a cat-and-mouse game of intimidation and dominance. However, it took a sharp turn once Hyzenthlay discovered her purpose from Ludwig, growing enough of a backbone (metaphorically) to not only stand up to Lucy verbally, but even strike at her. Despite angrily clawing Hyzenthlay's face in response, Lucy was impressed enough by the step the squirrel had taken to begin treating her more as an apprentice than a toy, seeking to help her grow stronger still.

Of course, that was all shot in the foot once Lucy fell into a wormhole and found herself in Twisted. It doesn't much matter here that she looks like a demonic catferret, so why bother hiding anymore? She can just indulge herself a little, while away the time with all these interesting new faces and maybe find some new scratching posts or drinking buddies. It's not like she doesn't have time to kill, and hell, this whole "mentor" business doesn't seem so bad after all.
|Skills=Immortality: Kivouachians have a unique cellular structure that gives them the ability to control the length of their telomeres, meaning they cannot die of old age, or indeed most conventional methods. Fire, strong acids, and other things that can damage their DNA are effective methods of dealing with them, as long as they aren't allowed to escape and recover. Destroying their brain is the simplest and most reliable method of killing a Kivouachian, though their body will remain alive but inactive until destroyed by one of the previously mentioned methods. Electricity has also proven an effective method of incapacitating them, as their regenerative capabilities offer no resistance to attacks on their nervous systems.

Regeneration: As further elaboration on the above, Kivouachians possess natural regenerative abilities that allow them to heal ordinary wounds in a matter of minutes, even things like severed limbs or decapitation. Simply reattaching lost body parts is as simple as popping them back onto the body where they belong, though fully regrowing them can take hours or even days. Decapitation, specifically, is non-lethal to their kind unless the brain itself is destroyed, and is more akin to knocking them unconscious as their mind loses connection to their body. Lucy in particular is known for having especially strong regenerative powers, able to stay conscious even while decapitated and thus reunite her head and body under her own power. The one thing her regeneration can't seem to fix is her damaged eye for reasons unknown, which causes her to have difficulty focusing her vision.

Transformation: Kivouachians' unique genetic structure allows them to rewrite their own DNA on the fly, allowing them to re-create parts of their body. For example, it can be anything from simply lengthening their claws or teeth, to something as complex as breaking down their body into a small swarm of insects, though the latter is something semi-unique to Lucy. However, as mentioned above, things like fire and strong acids can damage their DNA on a cellular level, thus weakening or negating these transformational advantages altogether.

Inexhaustible: Though they still eat and drink like any other living organism, Kivouachians do not require sleep or suffer from fatigue. The only time they need to rest is when they have suffered extensive bodily damage and need to conserve energy for recovery. They are also practically immune to toxins and diseases, which allows for the infamous drinking habits practiced by Lucy and her friend Shuck.

Natural Weapons: In her default form, which she rarely deviates from, Lucy possesses numerous sharp needle-like fangs and claws like small daggers on her hands and feet, easily able to rend the flesh from any hapless victims. She also has a fondness for opening up her chest cavity like a large, second mouth, using her ribs as teeth and innards like grappling tentacles.

Brilliance: Lucy's main advantage that allowed her to survive and flourish in the Kivouack was her genius intellect, serving her unending thirst for knowledge well. She picks up on new concepts incredibly quickly and has what might be considered a photographic or encyclopedic memory, demonstrated by such feats as her perfect recollection of the contents of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and William Shakespeare's entire library of works.

Omniglot: Having existed since long before the dawn of humankind, Lucy has had ample time to study and become fluent in all forms of human language.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>File:Lucy1.png|derp
File:Lucy2.jpg|ohai
File:Lucy3.jpg|derp again
File:Lucythicc.png|thicc
File:LucyHyzenthlay.jpg|Art by Trailing Feathers
File:Lucyween.jpg|Art by Trailing Feathers
File:Littledove.jpg|Art by Trailing Feathers
File:Naughtylanguage.jpg|Art by WhatTheFlup
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8p-rt_2tgY NIVIRO - The Return]
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=VoiceoftheCourt

|}}

Kazuki

2026-07-27T03:42:07Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Kazuki.jpg
|Name=Kazuki Wakahisa
|Pronunciation=(kaz-oo-key wa-ka-hi-sa)
|Alias=Kazuki
|Occupation=Aidoru ♥♥♥
|Series=Macross
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Thin but tall, rather effeminate man.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' Kazuki Wakahisa has been on quite the journey -- struggling singer, Sound Force member, part-time Anti-UN terrorist, and now it's come full circle back to civilian. That journey taught him just how unpleasant life could be, and gave him what he would call a "healthy paranoia" of trusting others with his heart. Though scarred by the betrayal that ended his time with the AUN, he managed to keep himself reasonably sane along the way. Now he's just trying to get by as well as he can, bubble of youthful energy and vigor thoroughly burst by a tragedy of errors that would read like a bad soap opera plot if he were to tell the story.
<h3>Trivia</h3>
* Kazuki has Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where there's an extra X chromosome in some percentage of the body's cells, resulting in an XXY arrangement. Severity tends to differ based on the percentage of cells that have this XXY arrangement. Kazuki's percentage is low. He is physically male, but some of his body's systems act as they would in a female body. This causes a number of issues, but none severe enough to impact his life in an appreciable way.
* Due to the former, his voice never actually deepened when he went through puberty. The baritone voice that he speaks with is him pitching his voice down.
|Age=26
|Birthdate=March 3
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=149lb
|Desc=        Pale, slim, and delicate of features. It might even be hard to tell at first what gender this person is at a single glance. But a second look at the face will reveal a squareness that one doesn't often see in a woman, and thinner lips than a woman's. Still, though...it's a safe bet he gets a lot of teasing over it.

       He has auburn hair that's been cut short in the back, but he's kept his bangs long around his face. These "tails" of hair reach to about his chest.

       His face is delicate and feminine-looking, but there's enough masculinity there to at least tell he's male with not too much trouble unless one isn't paying attention. His eyes are a lavender color, and seem somewhat narrowed. In fact, his features in general seem slim and angular, his fingers slightly too long, and slightly too thin. But perhaps good for fine detail work.

       He's wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that fits him loosely, a pair of dark blue pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. Pretty simple attire, but its darkness makes him seem even paler. Under normal circumstances he walks in a slouch, his back bent and his hands in his pockets. There will, of course, be situatons where that is not possible. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Kazuki's light build makes him vulnerable to strong attacks. Thus he relies on just not being where an enemy's attack lands. Mobility-arresting measures are thus pretty devastating during battle.</li><li>The story of what he's been through in his home world really does read like a bad soap opera plot. However, it's also responsible for a lot of his emotional problems at current. Besides that, it's often said that the creative mind is already plagued with ills. Whether natural or from what he's been through, Kazuki's anxiety and depression remains untreated.</ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Kazuki was a regular kid in a world with space travel. At least, he thought he was normal. As it turned out, he had Klinefelter's syndrome, a condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome. Treatments wre costly, and it wasn't a life-threatening disease, so his parents opted not to have it dealt with when he hit his teens.         That was fine, since Kazuki had another plan for his life -- he was going to go into space aboard the colony ship ''Horizon'' -- they would need civilians and entertainers too, particularly as favorably as the military saw singers. Kazuki himself had a decent singing voice. And one bit of splurging that he allowed himself was a voice coach, so that, as he grew into his teen years, he could at least '''pretend''' to be a normal male. Once he'd hit his adult years, he had both a good understanding of how to change his voice -- both up AND down -- and the opportunity to apply for citizenship on the Horizon. And he made it! It was the chance of his dreams...!         One that turned into a nightmare...         It didn't take long before Sound Force picked him up, since he was determined to be in possession of the talent for manipulating Spiritia, a unique spiritual energy that's attached to both music and the soul. Now, this Sound Force had learned from the mistakes of the former, and put everyone in it through basic training. Unfortunately, the rest of the force wasn't aware of this. Even more unfortunate, Kazuki was the only member of Sound Force that had no family in the military. So, while Kazuki was taking verbal abuse from the UN Spacy '''outside''' Sound Force for, well... being in Sound Force, he was also taking verbal abuse from '''inside''' Sound Force because he had no military connections.         Soon this did enough damage to his mental state that the UN Spacy forcibly retired him. With no benefits, of course. So he went back to singing for his supper. And for a while that was working out. But then an Anti-UN attack on the Horizon colony ship that saw the ship being temporarily taken over by the AUN had him retreating into a network of large pipes. Two weeks later, he was discovered by Anti-UN member Zhorein Raynes, on a mission to deal with a rogue Sound Force member hiding on the ship. He was too weak to fight back, and was only saved by the timely interference of Ayame Bright, the then-leader of the UN.         Rather than kill him, she decided to make the recruitment pitch. Feeling that he had no choice, Kazuki agreed to join them. But something surprising happened... he started to make friends with the AUN forces. Soon he was a dedicated member of the AUN himself, learning how to fly a Valkyrie and using his unque vocal talents for their cause. It was the happiest he had ever been -- he wasn't expected to be anything he wasn't capable of, only to do what he could. They respected his need to learn slowly, under their tutelage and care, he blossomed into a confident and happy individual.         But this is where the bad soap opera plot starts. A battle with the UN turned into a high-ranking member of General Galaxy killing most of the AUN members and threatening to destroy an entire planet. The AUN had no choice but to join forces with the UN to defeat General Galaxy and end the bomb threat, and then then remnants of the AUN fled before they could be captured. However, one of the surviving AUN members -- someone that Kazuki had romantic feelings for (they were of course, unrequited; this fellow was straight) -- told them that Ayame Bright had been captured and needed to be rescued. They set up the jailbreak, made the plans, and set off to rescue their leader.         Unfortunately, it turned out that this AUN member that Kazuki loved so much... was really a double-agent for the UN. And so, when the group was too far into the facility to easily escape, he turned them all over to the UN. Kazuki spent a little time in jail -- not much, between the AUN's assistance with the planet bomb threat and the fact that the double-agent led them into the commission of the crime of breaking and entering a government facility (entrapment, which is illegal), plea bargains and negotiations happened.         Kazuki came out of jail bitter and jaded, and a change in his music reflected that. He turned to darker genres -- like metal and screamo -- leaving behind the happy, upbeat songs of his youth. And his Spiritia abilities moved fully from healing to damaging the psyche of others. For five years after he was let out of jail, he just lingered, withdrawing more and more from the public eye. Then one day, he just... disappeared, without a trace.         He didn't kill himself, no. He'd been pulled into Twisted! At first he didn't care, and only did what he needed to in order to survive, only because he couldn't '''not''' do that. They say time heals all wounds, and gradually Kazuki started to come out of his shell. He's never going to be the man he was before that bad soap opera story of a past happened, but he's at least gotten through it enough to get by. Currently he lives as well as he can in Twisted, doing the occasional concert and/or album for an influx of cash.
<h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Almost nothing of Kazuki's personality before his life fell apart with the destruction of the AUN remains. He's bitter, jaded, cynical, and broken, with very little good to say about anything. Though to be fair, he doesn't have much bad to say about much either. He's lax and flippant most of the time, and if he has a single f**k to give about propriety, he has hidden it very well. However, it is worth pointing out that his time in Twisted has allowed him to heal a little from the fallout of it all. He's still not the same man he was, but he's not the utterly broken and despairing man he was immediately after the incident.         It's also worth noting that his moping doesn't ever really get out of hand -- for better or worse, he's learned how deeply true is the old adage that when you cry, you cry alone. Though of course that also means that he doesn't talk to people when he has a problem; his time in Sound Force and the betrayal of someone he loved so much taught him to know better than to share his pain with others. If people can see the tender parts of his psyche, they can stab at them, either literally or with words. And he's about done with having people hurt him.         His ability to create a "mask" of sorts over his true face is about the only thing that survives of his original personality. More often than not, he's covering up his real face with one of these "masks" for the crowd, or just for the general populus. He can '''pretend''' to be the same happy, chipper, silly fellow that he was before it all happened of course. That's easy -- easier than letting on that he's not like that at all.         Another thing that remains is the fear that a look at the real Kazuki -- the Kazuki underneath all the pretending and flair, the deeply broken and cobbled-together man underneath it all -- would send people running. He once thrived by covering up his true self, and it was only when he let someone in that he was hurt. So he's not about to stop covering up anytime soon.         But overall, his time away from all the reminders of his failures has done him well. He no longer blames himself for being "not good enough" for anyone back home; a goldfish can hardly be blamed if it can't climb up a tree with all the other monkeys, can it? Freeing himself of this guilt has done wonders in gluing together the broken pieces of who he was. Like a broken porcelain doll, no amount of glue is going to hide the cracks, but at least he can hold himself together reasonably well now, and that's all that really matters. Now he just wants to make music and make a few people happy.

|Skills=<ul><li>'''Spiritia Manipulation:''' Spiritia is an energy force generated by living things (yes, just like the Force). In his world, manipulation of this energy source is the closest thing to magic that exists. Manipulation of others' spiritia is done via musical talent, either singing or playing an instrument. A musician needs to "play with soul" in order to do this. By doing this, he can sway the emotions of a crowd of people, evoking emotions in those who chose to give themselves over to it. He can "aim" this for a stronger effect on unwilling targets, however.</li><li>'''Anima Spiritia Generation:''' Beyond the normal spiritia produced by living things, some people produce the so-termed "Anima Spiritia", an even purer form of this energy. By generating and directing it similar to a magic spell (in the way as normal spiritia, by singing or playing music), he can accomplish a variety of effects within other living beings. Plants and nonsapient life will react based on the emotions he's singing with. Sapient life will either find their abilities and/or morale improving or deteriorating, again depending on the emotion in his music. Most devastating of all, he can act on an opponent's morale, in Kazuki's case ATTACK it, wearing down his or her will to continue to fight. Opponents defeated in this way physically suffer no damage, but appear emotionally spent. They will recover easily enough, however.</li><li>'''Agile:''' Given his light physique, and the fact that he's used the muscle mass he does have to become a dancer, it's no wonder that Kazuki's agility is pretty high. Dodging is generally how he keeps himself alive when things go pear-shaped around him, he's quite good at escaping from bindings and small spaces, and can fold himself up into extremely small hiding places.</li><li>'''Driving:''' Kazuki's good at driving land vehicles. If it has two or more tires, he's likely to be able to figure it out. Large vehicles don't seem to intimidate him like they do some people, and he maintains an awareness of where all parts of the vehicle are at all times.</li><li>'''Various Bits of Military Training:''' Throughout his journey, Kazuki was in both the UN Spacy and the Anti-UN, both military-class forces, though on opposite sides of a conflict. While he hasn't been meticulously trained like the rest, he can use a gun with some competence, and he knows a decent amount of barehanded fighting techniques. He really shines with a single dagger, though -- his slender frame is perfect for the quick movements that are needed to attack quickly with a dagger.</li><li>'''Performer:''' Kazuki is a skilled performer, having been singing, dancing, and playing the keyboard for most of his life. In his early days he went to a voice coach that taught him to sing, as well as to pitch his voice how he needed it. His keyboard skills are mostly self-taught, and he had to learn stage presence through experience.</li><li>'''Disguise:''' He didn't just learn to manipulate his voice. Learning how to carry himself, both onstage and in real life, has taught him to change himself totally to fit a given situation. He creates a persona, crafts a personality, decides on mannerisms, etc. This isn't limited to gender, as he's been able to successfully pass himself off as a female on more than one occasion. Which naturally leads to...</li><li>'''"Nadine":''' "Nadine" is Kazuki's female persona, and he's really good at playing this character. He effectively ceases to be "Kazuki Wakahisa" in this guise and is, effectively "Nadine". It isn't quite a second personality, but it's close. Enough to fool all but the closest observers. The biggest thing that gives him away? His height. He's still 6'2", even as Nadine. Surrounded by female Zentradi (Meltrans), who could be over six feet easily, it wasn't a big deal. But in Twisted, that could trip him -- or rather, "her" -- up.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery></gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5gQ_ze3sY Boys Don't Cry] - cillia ft. Gakupo V3 (original by fatmanP ft. Luka Megurine) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBT7l2hVd0 Suicide Parade] - ShiKai ft. Gakupo V5 (original by YurryCannon ft. GUMI) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfEnWvVJEzc Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)] - Jethro Tull
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=♥Kazuki♥
|}}

Katherine

2026-07-27T03:41:50Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
|Name=Katherine Lebedev
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=Major in GRU/EDC Director
|Series=Themis Files Book 3, Only Human
|Threat=
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human, A1
|Short=A bright eyed woman dressed in a suit that's all business, with a personality that's all smiles...and sometimes possibly, just possibly the teeniest, tiniest dash of murder - maiming at the very least. Katherine is currently serving as a Lt. Commander in the NTSDF and heads their Research and Development division. - On Earth (as she knew it), Katherine was a Major in the GRU, The First Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. There she headed a small division focused on alien technology and weaponry. In particular, she and the Russian government were very interested in obtaining Themis, a large "mecha" built by the aliens known as the Ekt. Later, Katherine took a position with the UN's highly specialized Earth Defence Corps commanding a strike force and developing weapons using cutting edge, experimental technologies. Katherine is exceedingly friendly and, by appearances, a bit scattered but don't let that fool you. She hasn't gotten to the top by sheer dumb luck. There's a method to her madness. Approach with caution.
|Extra1=
|Age=Early to mid 40s
|Birthdate=Classified
|Height=Classified
|Weight=Classified
|Desc=Wearing a NTSDF uniform, Katherine Lebedev is the very picture of professionalism. The crisp, straight lines of the fitted jacket and knee length skirt make a sharp, no-nonsense first impression but those hard edges are softened by the way the ensemble hugs her slender body creating a sleek, feminine silhouette. As Katherine heads the R&D department, her gear is in the deep shades of blue that represent it with the notable exceptions being her red and gold epaulettes and the markings on her sleeves and breast which denote her senior rank to be that of Lieutenant Commander. She carries with her at all times a small side-arm, a PSS silent pistol, which is holstered at her belt. Katherine is the smaller side of average height and weight, though not quite petite. Her posture is effortlessly impeccable, no doubt from years of military service. She always seems at attention- alert. She is approximately somewhere in her late 30s or early 40s, though one could easily mistake her for several years younger than that, especially given her bubbly personality and chatty nature. Still, keen observers might note the barest hint of crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, though they are very subtle. Katherine has large, bright blue eyes which convey mirth and amusement as readily as they do shrewdness and acuity. If eyes are the windows to the soul, it's safe to say that Katherine's may be tinted for it's not always easy to read the woman this way. Is she joking? Is she serious? Katherine wears her disposition cheerfully, but she keeps her cards close to the vest and trying to read the truth from her expression is likely an exercise in frustration thanks to years of work in government intelligence which has trained her to give away nothing...unless it serves your purpose. Katherine's blonde shoulder-length hair is smartly cut- layered at the bottom and parted to the side. At all times - in and out of uniform - Katherine's appearance can best be described as neat, tidy, and perfectly presentable.
|Extra2=
|Background=
|Skills=
|Gallery=
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Johann

2026-07-27T03:41:29Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Johann.jpg
|Name=Johann van Windhoek
|Pronunciation=(Yo-hahn van Vint-hook)
|Alias=Jan (pronounced "Yuhn")
|Occupation=Head Doctor at the Twisted Clinic
|Series=Team Fortress 2 AU
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Neutral Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=A kindly medic of German descent.
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=~40
|Birthdate=Sometime in the 1920s
|Height=6'1"
|Weight=133 lbs
|Desc=Johann van Windhoek, or Jan to his friends, appears as an adult caucasian male in his early forties, physically fit and healthy with reasonable grooming. He has chocolate hair and blue eyes, and a seemingly permanent, welcoming smile. His hair is cut short and seems to be receding at his forehead, the rest of it combed to one side, and it is noticeably graying at the edges. He has a large forehead, high cheekbones, and a prominent chin. On his head, he wears a dark gray beret with the shield insignia of the United States Army's 1st Special Forces Group displayed on the front, though in his world it seems to be more of a mercenary insignia. He can also be typically found wearing a pair of spectacles to aid his failing eyesight, and smoking an old-fashioned pipe when not busy in the operating room.

Johann also wears a light blue labcoat with prominent lapels and a large cowl-like collar, using golden trim and a pair of similarly colored epaulettes to show his station as head medic of the Teufort General Hospital. Under this is a white waistcoat with golden buttons, which is in turn worn over a darker blue undershirt. Around the upper arm portion of his labcoat's sleeves, he wears a pair of navy blue armbands with patches that show the red cross symbol of his profession, and over his hands are a pair of rubber gloves of the same color. At the side of his waist, he wears a gray satchel that he uses to store anesthetics, syringes, and other small, portable medical items, with a clipboard attached to the satchel for taking field notes. His legs are covered by a pair of dark blue pants, which are tucked into a pair of black combat boots.

What one might also notice is the unusual device strapped to his right arm. It is a small, gray metal box attached to his arm with three vials of some unknown liquid inserted into it; one purple, one blue, and one green. From the upper end, a tube emerges and connects to a circular piece of metal attached to his upper arm, over the insignia on his armband. On his back is a metal backpack, painted with the same cross insignia, which has two tanks of mysterious purpose attached to either side. It's unknown how, exactly, this device works, but it and the backpack give him several extraordinary abilities that aid him in his chosen profession.
|Extra2='''Flaws:

Johann strictly follows the Hippocratic Oath, meaning he will never intentionally bring harm to another living being, and will always attempt to render aid to anyone who needs it, even if he knows them to be an enemy.''' 
|Background=Despite being of German descent, Johann was born and raised in Windhoek, the capital of the Republic of Namibia in South Africa. He proved exceptionally brilliant in school and received top marks in the medical and engineering classes at the University of Cape Town. After receiving doctorates in Medical Science and Engineering, he moved to America, where he believed he could put his skills to good use. Soon after his arrival, he was called to Teufort General Hospital, located somewhere in the Midwestern United States, where he helped deal with the quickly rising mercenary casualties caused by the Gravel Wars and, more recently, the conflicts over the rare and immeasurably valuable metal called Australium. Within a year of his arrival, his status was elevated to head doctor.

After some time, he ended up getting involved directly in the ongoing war between Cyborneer and CyborSpy. It started with his attempting to revive a wounded Soldier Drone, and then he was drawn further in when he responded to a distress call from a kung fu temple, where he saved the Drunk Monk from death following a disastrous attempt to defend the temple from CyborMedic. Later, his position as the unofficial field medic of Cyborneer's team was established when he was brought to the hideout of a former Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU) agent, codename Major Scout Guy, to heal his wounds. At some point after, he found himself transported to Twisted, where he continues his work healing anyone in need, regardless of social status or affiliation.

Johann is a kindhearted man who has wanted to help others since his childhood, and found a way to do so through medicine. He believes strongly in the Hippocratic Oath and thus has taken up a policy of total pacifism, refusing to cause anyone harm even in self defense. He is notably distrusting and even somewhat hateful toward doctors who violate the oath to do no harm, but regrets that he cannot do anything except heal those they hurt. Despite his brilliance and knowing the risks, he will often go out into the battlefield to render medical assistance to wounded warriors, even if he knows them to be hostile. This, more than anything, is his greatest fault, but one that he will forever refuse to change.

Back in his home world, Johann had a small team of medics studying under him. Although similarly intelligent and skilled in their own right, they had difficulties working as a team and had a tendency to argue with one another, and at least one was overly cynical and tried to give up on most patients. Despite being frequently disappointed by them, Johann still had hope that they would one day be the best medics Teufort ever saw. He still holds that hope, but now applies it to whoever chooses to come to him for training on Twisted, while trying not to think of how badly his students are probably screwing up without him.
|Skills=Johann is a highly intelligent man with doctorates in Medical Science and Engineering, which he used to build the device he wears on his arm (more details on that in a bit). He is fully trained for medical work, particularly surgery, and has all the knowledge and skills that come with it. He is also quite handy with advanced machinery, though not to the same extent as a dedicated engineer, and can create devices with useful (non-lethal) effects from time to time, if given prior notice of their necessity and time to prepare and gather the resources he needs to build them.

The device on Johann's arm is essentially a compact version of the standard medigun used by most medics employed by Mann Co. Despite its relatively small size, the beam it generates can still greatly acclerate the natural healing process of the body, even allowing it to perform otherwise impossible feats of recovery, such as from disembowelment or dismemberment, if all the necessary body parts are present and in place, and the patient has not suffered brain death or cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions. In fact, it is actually more powerful than standard in this regard, though it lacks the ability to utilize the standard medigun's Ubercharge effect, and prevents Johann from using other mediguns.

The arm-mounted medigun also has a number of defensive powers to help Johann survive encounters with hostile elements. The first among these is a telekinetic stun, which can stop an aggressor in place as long as Johann is able to focus on them, and will last for up to two seconds of waning power after he breaks his focus. The stun does not stop the target's metabolic functions or prevent them from thinking, speaking, or making minor gestures; it only binds their limbs so that they cannot move from one spot or take hostile (physical) action. Those of psychic inclination, or capable of magic that does not require grandiose gestures, are still perfectly capable of using those powers while stunned, and most dedicated telekinesis users can override Johann's fairly easily. The stun also drains energy from Johann's medigun very quickly, especially against exceptionally strong targets, and thus has a maximum holding time of approximately six seconds before it runs out entirely. The second defensive feature is a simple flash of extremely bright light, which is used to blind aggressors who are not protected against it, such as by wearing high quality sunglasses or simply lacking eyes to begin with.

The medigun's third feature is an energy shield, which can be deployed up to about twenty feet in diameter, and is able to stop most projectiles (bullets, weak energy blasts) that make contact with it. If a larger mass makes contact, such as a rocket or charging enemy, it causes molecular destabilization as they pass through it, which can have very harmful effects on living beings with prolonged contact (something Johann himself will actively stop if it happens, which can be taken advantage of if one knows of his adherence to the Hippocratic Oath). The shield consumes a lot of energy, and will disappear on its own after about five seconds of continual use.

Finally, the last and arguably most potent ability of his medigun is the "blink" effect. Johann can point to any location within his line of sight and instantaneously teleport to that spot, which he usually uses to escape from patients who suddenly turn hostile. He can also use this ability to pass through walls and doors, but this is a risky maneuver if he doesn't know exactly what's on the other side. He might end up in a more dangerous situation than what he left behind, or worse yet, accidentally splice his molecules with something in the same spot as his "exit" point. In the latter case, the best he can hope for is that it will simply complicate his recovery, instead of being instantly fatal.

Also, because of his multicultural upbringing, Johann is fluent in three languages: English, German, and Afrikaans.
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Jack Hawksmoor

2026-07-27T03:41:14Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Jack_Hawksmoor.jpg
|Name=John Cooper “Jack” Hawksmoor
|Pronunciation=
|Series=WildStorm Comics
|Threat=City Smasher
|Class=
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Enhanced Human
|Age=29
|Birthdate=July 8
|Height=5'9"
|Weight=180 lbs
|Short=A nondescript white guy with black hair, not particularly large. No shoes.
Miscellaneous: Private investigator, vigilante, weird guy who talks to cities
|Desc=Not overly tall, nor particularly bulky, this man would tend to go unnoticed most of the time. His dark hair is cropped short, coming to a widow's peak in front. It has a bit of a tendency to be untidy. He has thick, slightly angular brows, a large nose, and thin lips. Most of the time, his eyes are a dark, reddish brown, but occasionally they glint red, a light behind them that may not quite appear to be human. His form is that of somebody who is extremely fit, with abs that are slightly visible and powerful arms and legs. It is not a bodybuilder's physique, but much more functional in its appearance. However, he does have one immediate, distinguishing feature: He is not wearing any shoes. His bare feet, when lifted, show a mechanical pattern to them, something which looks somewhere between metal crocodile skin and the surface of a tire. This appears to be integral to his feet rather than anything that is fastened or glued on. As if to accommodate this, he wears trousers that appear to be about a size too short.

His clothes are relatively simple. He wears black dress slacks, a white shirt (no buttons, seeming to be more like a plain t-shirt and, when it is cooler, a black blazer. All the time. If the man has a wardrobe, it is made up of many of the same items.
|Skills=Urban symbiosis: Although Jack still considers himself to be human (except on his bad days), he really isn’t. He’s closer to a highly altered cyborg, his internal organs having been replaced with a mix of cybernetic implants and biological organs of non-human origin. The downside is that he can only survive in cities. If removed from an urban environment, he can only survive outside it for more than a few minutes unless sustained by drugs (of which he has a very limited supply, but which can keep him alive for as long as an hour. If he can get more it would help in an emergency). Within the city, however, he has superpowers that have led him to be nicknamed “The God of Cities.” Additionally, Jack has no pulse (which has caused him some problems in the past), as his heart was replaced with a magnetic pump. He does not need to sleep or eat, but draws everything he needs from the city’s waste products, as it were. His eyes flicker red when his powers are active and the red glint is also visible in the back of his pupils if somebody looks real closely. If cut, he does not bleed blood, but rather a silver liquid that is part organic, part nanotech. He never wears shoes, allowing him to always be in contact with the city. His powers fall into four basic areas:

Physical enhancements: Because of his enhancements, Jack has some level of resistance to damage. His density is somewhat flexible, and is normally at a high level that makes him resistant to damage. He can take small arms fire, but will be damaged by, say, a grenade launcher. Also, as long as he is in the city, he heals at an accelerated pace. Flesh wounds will heal in a matter of minutes, broken bones in hours. Breaking his bones is also harder because of their density. However, he has no particular resistance to pain.

Communication: Jack’s ability to communicate with the city is essentially an attunement to a resonant field. He generally views cities as female, although there are exceptions. (Cities, to Jack, have distinct character and personality). Most of the time, this link is subconscious, but it allows him to sense everything that is happening in the city…most of which he, of course, tunes out. Generally, he only notices things that are important, although sneaking up on him is nearly impossible. A superhero fight going on on the other side of the city, though? He’ll notice, and he might well show up to help. He actually feels damage to the city he is in as physical pain, which is more intense if the damage is more severe or closer. His senses are slightly beyond human, with better than 20/20 vision, a sense of touch that can pick up on vibrations of moving objects, and a sense of smell that can determine what objects are made of. With concentration, he can go further. Things he has been known to do include literally “watching” events in a room he is in which, while generally not admissable evidence, is highly useful to an investigator. Generally, this is much easier with a reflective surface and he often has to touch something. Finally, Jack can always speak and understand the most commonly spoken language (or sometimes two or three) spoken in the city he is in…but only that city. For example, if he is in Tokyo, he can speak Japanese, but he “forgets” it if he goes to New York.

Transportation: Jack moves through cities as if he was part of them. This allows him to:
* Teleport from one part of the city to another, using a reflective surface.
* Teleport between cities that are on the same planet and plane of existence. This takes at least an hour, longer if the cities are smaller (meaning less energy). He emerges from a transit womb, a kind of concrete cocoon
* Phase into the ground or through walls. He can take his clothing and small items with him. If he phases other living beings, they experience significant pain, an experience he generally reserves for enemies who piss him off.
* He can stick to any surface, as long as his feet and hands are not covered.
* He can leap beyond normal ability, including from rooftop to rooftop across wide roads and the like. He always lands on his feet.

Command: Jack can command cities, much as a man orders a dog. This is his most dangerous power, and fortunately it comes with a limitation: He feels any damage that is done as a result. If he overuses his powers, he gets headaches and nosebleeds and can easily be incapacitated for a time. This means he is capable of:
* Repairing buildings, streets, etc, by touching them. It appears that his powers give the city itself the temporary ability to heal. Although he can technically reconstruct entire neighborhoods by this means, he generally only repairs damage rather than doing anything that would add to or alter it. He respects the city too much. This “healing” is not instant and can take anything from a few minutes for a cracked window to many hours for major damage.
* Drop buildings on people or cause the street to swallow them. As Jack tries to avoid killing, he only does this when pissed off or when he needs to slow down a superpowered foe, mecha, or whatever.
* Cause parts of the street to erupt, creating barriers to block his enemies or using the ground to throw them around.
* Command lamp posts, benches, and other street furniture, using them as animated constructs.

Jack cannot command objects that are not integral to the city, nor can he alter actual living beings, such as trees. Generally, he reserves high levels of power for situations in which they are truly warranted. If he can solve the problem by punching it…or even better talking to it…then he’s much happier.

Skills:
Parkour: Okay, so he cheats, but even if he didn’t have his powers, Jack would be an expert traceuse. He would never enter a competition, of course, but he enjoys nothing more than a good run through the city.
Investigation: Jack is a trained detective, familiar with both mundane means of investigation and using his powers and abilities. He has worked with the police before, and while he has no desire to become a cop (too many rules), he generally respects them and knows the protocols to work with them without pissing them off.
Combat: Jack is not a martial artist. However, he is a competent street level fighter. He generally fights in an acrobatic style, making much use of the environment and terrain against his foes, and seldom stands up and fights.
Construction and Architecture: Needless to say, Jack has a both instinctive and learned understanding of how cities and buildings work. He has a brilliant ability to analyze a building and knows exactly how to make it collapse…or quickly keep it from doing so if he does not have time, ensuring that civilians can evacuate. He also understands the jargon construction workers use and has been known to hang out with them just to talk buildings.

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==Background==
John Cooper Hawksmoor was born to an ordinary middle class family in Brooklyn, New York. Sadly, they were not a functional family. Essentially a latchkey kid to his career-minded parents, he was ignored by them. Nobody believed him about the aliens. Had they taken him to the doctor, they would have, but he seemed a healthy child and they were not people who thought…well. To be honest, it would have been too much work. He has long suspected they produced him only because having children was expected. His abductors put him through an agonizing transformation, slowly replacing almost all of his internal organs with alien technology, instilling him with nanotech that responded to the unique psychometric field of cities. He was designed as a symbiote of sorts, a walking interface that communicates with the “pattern” formed by cities. All of which they more or less left him to work out on his own. In his mid teens, he ran away from home (and his uncaring parents appear to have only felt relief) and began to explore the world. Able to teleport between cities, he traveled. Then he did the thing he was designed to do - defeating an evil time traveling city from the future. No, he hasn’t done anything like it since, and perhaps never will. (Giant Mecha Tokyo. It’s a thing. But not outside a plot, I *promise*).

Afterwards, he slipped away and tried to stay below the radar of his world’s superhero community, many of the members of which were unpleasant. He returned to New York, where he took courses in criminal justice and eventually gained his license as a private investigator. Then StormWatch, the world’s elite super force, came calling. Henry Bendix managed to convince him to join Jenny Sparks’ team, and the two became fast friends (and occasional lovers). However, he never fit in. Unable to live on Skywatch, their station, because of his unique needs, he was always a little bit on the outside. His disillusionment increased after he was forced to work with a psychopathic killer known as “Rose Tattoo,” a being so disturbed that she was locked up and chained in a closet between missions. He was forced to kill her to prevent her from crossing every line…which made him very keenly aware of what his lines were.

And Stormwatch is now in danger. Jack…finds himself in another place right, perhaps, when his world needs him the most. Or perhaps this is more about what he needs.
==Notes==
<references />

Hinoken

2026-07-27T03:40:58Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Hinoken.jpg
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=Hino "Mr. Match" Kenichi
|Occupation=Usual Chef
|Series=Mega Man Battle Network
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Reformed Villain
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=A fiery red-haired man.
|Extra1=Hinoken is a former net terrorist who worked for the World 3 organization under the pseudonym of Mr. Match. After several failed attempts to restart the organization, he gave up on evil thanks to the kindness of Netto "Lan" Hikari and MegaMan.EXE. He is currently trying to find his place in the world.
|Age=Prime of his life!
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Unknown
|Desc=Hino Kenichi, alias Mr. Match and Hinoken to those close to him, is a tall, lean Japanese man in his early thirties. He carries himself with pride and confidence, and a hint of arrogance. His long, fiery red hair falls in waves down to his shoulders, with two locks parted in front to frame either side of his square-jawed face, and a pointy red beard juts sharply out several inches from his chin. His physique is reasonably muscular, showing evidence of a physical lifestyle and perhaps a martial arts background. His clothing, while hardly the same each outing, typically consists of warm colors and black, often with a flame motif on some article of clothing.
|Extra2=
|Background=While Hinoken's history before joining the terrorist organization World 3 (WWW) is never elaborated upon, it is clear that he has held a passion for fire all his life, as it comes as naturally as breathing to him. He also appears to have a background in electrical engineering, given his knack for repairing electronic devices, as well as a background in programming due to his ability to create three distinct Net Navis (short for Internet Navigator, sentient or semi-sentient digital beings that traverse the internet and can hack into digital interfaces). If he does have a martial arts background, he does not appear to use those skills often, so it is likely that they have atrophied.

Regardless, given his repeated support of WWW and at least one attempt to restart the organization after its second defeat at the hands of Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE, it is quite obvious that Hinoken feels most at home with them, likely due to the opportunity to put his skills to use freely and with purpose. In WWW's first attempt to destroy net society, Hinoken caused numerous fires by hacking kitchen appliances and causing them to overheat, until he attempted the same at Lan Hikari's home. This was his first meeting with, and defeat by, Lan and MegaMan. At the time, he was using FireMan.EXE, whom he considered his finest work and something akin to a brother. Despite this setback, Hinoken was able to retrieve what he was looking for: An elemental super program needed for Lord Wily's (leader of WWW) plan to hack into the missile platforms of countries around the globe.

It's uncertain how Hinoken avoided arrest, or if he was incarcerated and released for good behavior, but during the Netmafia Gospel incident, he encountered Lan and MegaMan again at the local airport of Lan's hometown, where he convinced the two that he had changed his ways. After a few rematches for old time's sake, now with HeatMan.EXE (FireMan reborn), they parted ways.

Having built up trust with Lan and his family, Hinoken used it to get a job at Sci Lab, where Lan's father worked. To further cement his supposed trustworthiness, he used his third and final Navi, FlameMan.EXE, to help Lan and MegaMan defeat several low-level WWW operatives who were trying to infiltrate Sci Lab's systems (and were actually sent by Hinoken himself). He convinced Lan to install a series of malicious programs in the Sci Lab computer systems, which caused the entire building to heat up to near-fatal temperatures. After a harrowing venture into the depths of the Undernet (a dark and dangerous place on the internet, filled with thugs and monstrously strong viruses), Lan and MegaMan fought FlameMan and were defeated, but saved by Bass.EXE, who was secretly the target of WWW's most recent plot.

Though FlameMan was deleted and the fires on both the internet and at Sci Lab were quelled, Hinoken escaped with the information he needed. He and Anetta, another WWW operative, later used Full Synchro (100% synchronization with one's Navi, eliminates response time between sending orders and executing them, at the cost of feeling the Navi's pain) to try to halt Lan and MegaMan's advance into Lord Wily's fortress, Castle Wily, but were defeated despite their advantage.

Due to injuries sustained in this most recent battle, Hinoken and the other WWW operatives were hospitalized after being taken into Official (basically Interpol) custody. As before, it's unclear how, but Hinoken was released sometime after. Still unable to turn away from a life of crime, he gathered a couple of thugs and began running protection rackets around the Den City area. During this time, he fixed a hot dog cooker for a stand outside the Den Dome and befriended the vendor in charge of the stand, a young woman. Finding that he especially enjoyed her hot dogs (and her company), he began making frequent visits, unaware that his thugs were extorting her for protection money.

When the Den Battle Tournament was announced, Hinoken joined for the opportunity to revive WWW one last time, planning to spread terror by setting the stadium ablaze. When he discovered that he would be fighting Lan and MegaMan, it seemed like fate had smiled upon him. Meeting them before their match at the hot dog stand, Lan was immediately skeptical of Hinoken's intentions, but the vendor assured the boy that Hinoken had saved her business. He was further vindicated when his thugs came by to collect their money, and he drove them away, furious that they had been extorting her.

Later, just before the match started, Hinoken revealed to Lan that he was planning to destroy the Den Dome, but after realizing that the hot dog vendor was in the audience, he ordered his thugs to call off the operation. Believing their boss had gone soft, they instead betrayed him and announced over the PA system that they would be using concealed igniters to burn the place down, and would give one person the chance to find and deactivate the igniters and save everyone. Fearing that the thugs would go through with it anyway if he tried anything himself, Hinoken told Lan and MegaMan what to look for and entrusted them with his- and the vendor's- life.

After the Den Dome and its audience were saved, they finally had their match, FireMan against MegaMan, and Hinoken and FireMan were defeated once again. However, instead of being taken into police custody, Hinoken was surprised to find that Lan was vouching for his innocence. He was so deeply touched by Lan's kindness that their souls resonated in that moment, allowing MegaMan to call on FireMan's power with his Double Soul ability.

Later, during the Hawk tournament, Hinoken visited the tournament grounds again, but this time as a spectator. He was investigating Atsuki Homura and BurnerMan.EXE, whom he believed didn't possess a hot enough 'burning spirit' to properly wield the power of fire. Lan and MegaMan, as it so happens, were Atsuki and BurnerMan's opponents in the tournament, and they ran into Hinoken and Atsuki as the two fiery Operators began quarreling, finally deciding to settle who had the hotter spirit with a Netbattle (a duel between Navis). The duel between FireMan and BurnerMan blazed across the internet, leaving a roaring inferno in their wake, while MegaMan and Lan struggled to put out the flames.

Finally, they were able to break up the battle by pointing out that they'd defeated Hinoken and FireMan before, which embarrassed the two as Atsuki began mocking them. Later, during the match between MegaMan and BurnerMan, Hinoken watched from the spectator stands, cheering Lan and MegaMan on by asserting that they'd better not make him look bad by losing. They of course won, and Hinoken probably had a smug grin when Atsuki's attempt to burn down the stadium ended with catching himself on fire.

Afterwards, Hinoken was one of the many people who cheered Lan and MegaMan on as they saved Earth from Duo.EXE, an intergalactic peacekeeper intent on destroying the planet. Such a large resonance between souls was what gave them the power needed to turn Duo's asteroid away from Earth, saving it from a deadly collision. After this, it can be assumed that Hinoken took time to rethink his life, which may be why he was absent during the Nebula crisis. Or, it could also have something to do with him getting transported to Twisted.
|Skills=Hinoken's main skill lies in his understanding of fire. From a young age, the formless freedom of a flame has captivated him, and he has dedicated his entire life to mastering all there is to know about heat and fire. He understands it on even more than an academic level, as his passion for fire burns down to his very soul, sharing a spiritual connection to the element like no other.

Other skills that Hinoken has picked up over the years involve electrical engineering and computer programming, showing excellent knowledge and ability in both fields. He is able to repair and maintain many household appliances and other electronic devices, and he has shown the ability to create not one, but three separate Net Navis with distinct abilities and personalities, a feat outmatched only by Mr. Famous. Naturally, he is also quite the hacker, with or without his Navis. To date, Hinoken has used these skills for the sake of terrorism, seeking to burn down a system he saw as weak and useless to let a new society rise from the ashes, led by WWW. But, thanks to Lan and MegaMan, he has begun looking for other, more constructive uses of his abilities.

Because of the years he spent in the criminal underworld, Hinoken also has an intimate understanding of the inner workings and functions of criminal organizations and the way they think. He knows the ins and outs of dealing with the black market, where and how terrorists are likely to strike, and he can pass convincingly as one himself, despite walking the straight and narrow now. Needless to say, this can be quite the boon in law enforcement investigations.

As for his Navis, the only one he currently has is FireMan. A tall red Navi with a head shaped like a smokestack, FireMan has two 'Fire Arm' cannons in place of hands, which true to their name launch flames hot enough to melt steel. When he fires them at the ground, he can cause bursts of flame to erupt from beneath his enemies, or in simple patterns around an area as needed (Fire Tower). He can also launch bombs from his head, which detonate on impact and scatter a substance that catches fire immediately and burns for several seconds after. He can also surround himself in a fiery aura to deter close range attacks.

When desperate, FireMan can overload his own internal fires to surround himself in a column of flame, which can cause severe damage to even heavily armored opponents if they stand too close to him. Despite his impressive offensive capabilities, FireMan is not especially tough, relying on his flames to keep his enemies pinned down. If his opponent can get past them, however, he can be taken down with a few strong blows. Flame- and heat-resistant material is effective in mitigating the damage he causes, and he is particularly vulnerable to water-based attacks.

All of Hinoken's Navis reside in his PET (PErsonal Terminal), a handheld device that acts as a combination mobile phone, portable computer, and a way to 'jack in' to electronic devices that have computerized systems, whether to fix or cause problems. However, HeatMan and FlameMan do not currently exist except as 'ghost data' within FireMan's programming. They can be awakened later, but only FireMan is currently present. Hinoken can also send and receive e-mails with his PET, and in battle, he can insert up to five Battle Chips (weapon data) into a slot in the PET for his Navis to use.

While he does not usually need to use Battle Chips, Hinoken does sometimes like to give his Navis fire-based ones such as Fire Sword (a fire-elemental sword which extends from the forearm) or Heat Shot (a fast fireball projectile that causes a small area-of-effect explosion on impact). Other basic Battle Chips can include Barrier (projects an energy barrier that can block a single attack) and Recovery (heals minor to moderate amounts of damage). However, only five can be loaded at a time, all Battle Chips can only be used once per battle, and they can only be used in tandem if they are of a similar type. Fire Sword, thus, cannot be used with Recovery or Barrier, and FireMan must deactivate one before using the others. Additionally, without a readily available internet connection between himself and his Navis, Hinoken can only load his chosen Battle Chips /before/ summoning his Navis into the physical world.

Also, because of the strange dimensional effects of Twisted, Hinoken is able to manifest FireMan in the real world for combat purposes. FireMan is still able to use all of his abilities as normal, including Battle Chips, Full Synchro, Double Soul, and Cross Fusion. The latter three are explained below:

Full Synchro, as the name suggests, is a state of complete, 100% synchronization between Operator and Navi, completely eliminating reaction time between orders and execution. In this state, Hinoken and his Navis are effectively one will as they act in perfect unison with one another, and in fact grants a significant boost to their parameters, but at the cost of Hinoken suffering all the pain that his Navis do when they are hit. This makes it a risky thing to use, as Hinoken can be knocked unconscious from wounds that his Navis suffer, leaving him in danger.

Double Soul is a strange and still not fully understood ability that some Navis and Operators have, particularly those who have fully embraced what is in their hearts. When they form a strong bond with someone, their soul can resonate with that person's, allowing both parties to call upon the other's power for a short time. Their appearance and abilities will change temporarily to resemble each other's, while also exchanging physical weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They need not necessarily perform this 'Soul Unison' simultaneously; for instance, FireMan does not need to use it when MegaMan does, nor vice versa. However, again, the effects are temporary, only lasting about thirty seconds before they wear off, but the change in abilities and tactics can turn the tide in a tough battle.

Finally, Cross Fusion is an ability that can only be used in areas of strong dimensional crossover, such as Twisted. When Operator and Navi share a strong, harmonious bond, they can physically merge in the real world, giving the Operator all of their Navi's powers and a protective suit that resembles their Navi, while the Navi resides in the emblem on the Operator's chest. This allows the Operator to fight directly while the Navi provides assistance, as they physically exist as one but possess two consciousnesses. The Operator can freely use Battle Chips at will in such a state, but a direct hit to their emblem risks deletion of their Navi, which will cancel the Cross Fusion immediately and leave the Operator defenseless. Also, if the Operator and Navi are not in harmony with each other, the Cross Fusion can be broken or fail entirely to begin with.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>File:Hinoken.jpg
File:Hinoken2.png
File:Hinoken3.jpg
File:Hinokenfireman.jpg|Art by Hitoshi Ariga
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt01YBiWmhA Mega Man Network Transmission - Blazing Internet] 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cplRj1b2b9c Mega Man Battle Network - Fire Field] 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CGcpGT3Q4I RockMan.EXE 4.5 - Theme of FireMan.EXE]
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}

|}}

Hekit

2026-07-27T03:40:41Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Hekit.png
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=(HEK-it)
|Alias=
|Occupation=Assistant to [[Senor Diablo|Señor Diablo]]
|Series=Original
|Threat=Civilian
|Alignment=Neutral Evil
|Gender=Female
|Species=Nephilim/Fiend
|Short=A young lady who tends to dress in all black with little upside down cross accents. Despite her fiery red hair she somehow manages to blend into any crowd and can rarely be noticed unless she wants to be.
|Extra1=
|Age=Appears 16
|Birthdate=January 1st
|Height=5'4" (163cm)
|Weight=120 lbs (55kg)
|Desc=A fire-haired girl wearing all black, her face caked with white makeup highlighted by black lipstick and black eyeliner. There are inverted crosses hanging from her ears, another on a necklace, and one of the sides of her knee-length boots. Even the painted black nails on her fingers have little crosses which look inverted when she flips people off. Hekit isn't a very nice person, and a smell of brimstone seems to faintly follow her wherever she goes. Perhaps that's why she smokes heavily to try and hide the smell. Despite a grin that suggests she could rip the head off an animal in a single chomp, Hekit can somehow vanish into almost any crowd. But don't worry, she'll find you in your nightmares...
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
The half-demon Hekit's lack of care for the living is a major source of conflict for her, especially as [[Senor Diablo|Señor Diablo]] likes to use her to keep tabs on Twisted for him. It's the primary reason she comes off as angry and snarky to pretty much everyone. She's really not, and it offends her when she's called on it to the point of not only dropping her guard but sometimes losing all motivation to continue whatever task she's trying to accomplish.

Her makeup choices aren't purely cosmetic and she typically has white powder caked on to disguise her naturally bright red skin. This means every time she has to draw her unholy weapon or use any form of demonic ability, she has to stop and re-apply everything. Whether or not this affects her ability to vanish into obscurity is not currently known.

Being dammed and being guilty of the sin of pride, Hekit can't help but answer questions truthfully when she's asked. It causes her obvious discomfort not to respond. Her employer might enjoy giving out information but she, however, does not. It's possible this was a direct punishment for something she did, but that information hasn't been revealed just yet.
|Background=Hekit is a [[:Category:Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking]]-style demon who works as [[Senor Diablo|Diablo's]] assistant. She has little regard for the living and is the type to drop bricks into oncoming traffic just to watch the chaos. In fact, she usually has a brick in her purse at most times just for this purpose. Unlike the demons of her home universe, this one enjoys breaking the rules as much as following them. Her innate ability is to transform her bra into a gold etched black bow which fires unholy energy as projectiles. Beneath her makeup she actually has red skin to match her bright red hair and a pointed devil tail exactly like the one you probably saw in your mind when you read that. When she's extremely mad her hair actually begins to burn as living flames. This rarely happens as she rarely stops smiling.
|Skills=In addition to being able to fire unholy magic arrows from her bow with terrifying accuracy, Hekit can act as a temporary body for [[Senor Diablo|Señor Diablo]] since signing a contract with the Devil. This allows him to get into places he has no business being in, assuming it's possible for Hekit to get inside them herself of course. Her aforementioned ability to blend into a crowd is actually quite literal. She can cast a type of darkness around her that makes her vanish from the sight of those who aren't attuned to it. Typically she uses this to steal when she can. After all, she's a demon. Why should she use money?
|Gallery=
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Harley Quinn

2026-07-27T03:40:23Z

Marr0w:

{{DCAMProfile|
|Image=Harley_2019.png
|Name=Dr. Harleen Francis Quinzel
|Codename=Harley Quinn
|Affiliation=[[Joker|The Joker]], [[Poison Ivy]]
|Occupation=Criminal Psychologist
|Series=Batman: The Animated Series
|Tier=Tier 2
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Short=A hyperactive jester and semi-permanent attachment of the criminal mastermind, the Joker. 

'''Misc''': Harley is one of the few villains who have seen Batman laugh or smile; which terrifies her more every time he does it. 

'''Note''': While this version of Harley is intended to hold strictly to the original Batman Animated Series and it's related media, elements of the 2019 Harley Quinn cartoon have been incorporated as most of it (ignoring the plot of season 2) is compatible.
|Age=27
|Birthdate=July 20
|Height=5'7"
|Weight=115 lbs.
|Desc=There are always two sides to the same coin. A good and a bad. A person and a mask. It's only when the two can't discern which is real and which is false that the line begins to blur. Dr Harleen Quinzel is normally very formal. Her blonde hair tied back, a simple pair of glasses over her eyes, and something professional looking beneath a white lab-coat. Nothing worth mentioning Harley Quinn, however is your traditional harlequin. Her face painted white with a black mask over her eyes. A full body latex jester costume painted in red and black with diamond designs going down her legs, black boots and white gloves. One is a professional, and one is a certified lunatic. You'd think with such differences telling the difference between them would be a simple one, but then maybe there's less of a difference than her appearance would suggest...

[[File:Harley_Quinn_02.gif]]

|Flaws=A deep rooted obsession with the Joker that overrides most of her actions, violent mood swings, and fits of daydreaming that leave her in a trance-like state.

'''The Joker''' - Harley's obsession with the Joker is all consuming. Not only is she willing to throw anything in her life away for what she believes is his love, but she is also prone to frequent daydreams about him leaving her in a comatose state from anywhere between a few minutes to several hours - this becomes worse when she is incarcerated forcing her to be placed on medication to prevent this.

'''Overly Possessive''' - Extremely overprotective of the things she cares about. This includes friends, pets, trophies, and sometimes even adversaries.

'''Easily Distracted''' - Self explanatory. Small things will distract her at the worst moments. Possibly the reason she makes random lists when she's nervous.

'''Frequently Daydreams''' - See '[[Joker|The Joker]]'

|Skills=Harley has a natural aptitude for acrobatics stemming from her training in gymnastics, and an uncanny (although rarely used) ability to manipulate people from her PhDs in psychology and neurological disorders. She has also shown, on more than one occasion, to have an impressive acting ability; disguising not only her voice but her body language as well. However after befriending Pamela Isley she was given a strong dose of the same anti-toxins that Poison Ivy used for herself, leaving Harley immune to almost any poison - a useful talent for someone who tries to spend most of her time attached to the Joker's arm. The anti-toxin injection also boosted Harley's acrobatic ability allowing her to go toe-to-toe with some of Gotham's heroes.

[[File:Harley_Quinn_01.gif]]

More specifically Harley boasts the following:

'''Psychological Training''' - Regardless of how she's decided to live her life, Harley is a trained criminal psychologist with diplomas and everything. She can quickly asses someone's mental state when she's being serious and tends to offer good advice that she needs to learn to listen to. There was only one mistake in her five years working at Arkham Asylum, two if you count the Joker, but she tends to forget about that first one so it's alright. It's worth noting that this path in her life was a sudden decision brought about by the idea of making a name for herself working at Arkham Asylum. Exactly how much training Harley has had, and remembers, may be questionable but she does know enough about the mind to be very manipulative when she sets her own mind to it. This is rare, however.

'''Writing''' - During her brief time as a psychologist, Harleen somehow found the time to write and publish two books: "Psycho Killers and the Women What Love Them Too Much" and "I'm Okay You're Okay He's Kind of Weird." After being declared legally sane she almost wrote a fall up novel for Columbine Press billed as a tell-all about her years with the Joker and her encounters with Batman. In reality "Masks of Love" turned out to be a fictional romance story about a master criminal who falls in love with a caped crimefighter named Owlman. This book was never published.

'''Toxin Immunity''' - Thanks to a cocktail created by Poison Ivy, Harley now has a natural immunity to all known forms of toxins and an incredibly high recovery time. That said, Ivy can - and has - still poisoned Harley when her rage has gotten the better of her.

'''Enhanced Gymnastic Ability''' - Originally trying to be a professional gymnast, Harley has been trained well and often shows this through her cartwheels and jumping ability. Another side effect of Poison Ivy's influence was a boost to that natural ability allowing her to leap incredibly high and not hurt herself on the way back down. It doesn't hurt her ability to fight at all either.

'''Trained by the Joker''' - Whether good ol' Mistah J is around or not, Harley knows his secrets and can deduce his plans even when she's not a part of them. She also knows how to fully recreate his arsenal of weapons and explosives making her extremely dangerous in the right situations.

'''Acting''' - While not formerly trained to be an actress, she actually is quite an experienced actor. In fact her Harley Quinn persona is so dramatically different in voice and body language that she has actually fooled professional reporters into believing she was someone she's not simply by acting how she did before meeting the Joker. Unfortunately doing so requires extra effort these days as she's been Harley for too long to outright quit now.

'''Home Economics''' - While the basics of 'how to keep yourself alive' may not be needed it is worth mentioning Harley's skills which have thus far managed to keep her escaping the Joker's murderous tendencies somehow. She cooks, she cleans, she tends his wounds, she fixes his costumes, cleans his clothes, feeds his hyenas (well, her hyenas now), she even repairs his toys and sets up traps for him. Maybe he just keeps her around for that. He couldn't possibly LIKE her... could he?

'''Underworld Connections''' - Being a former criminal psychologist at Arkham Asylum, Harley has many contacts both in the criminal world as well as the medical field - although most would rather not associate with her due to her close ties with the Joker. She's also on a first name basis with many of her Arkham cell-mates, particularly those who also share medical degrees like Dr. Jonathon Crane (Scarecrow).

|Gallery=<gallery>
File:Harley_Quinn_005.jpg
File:HQ_BT_2.jpg
File:Joker_Harley_003.jpg
File:Batgirlharley.jpg
File:Harley-Secretorigin01.jpg
File:Harley-Secretorigin02.jpg
File:Harley.jpg
File:Harley_Cosplay_Cropped.png
File:Harley02.png
File:Harley-2018.png
File:PoisonIvy2.jpg
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|Logs={{Template:Logs-Pre-U}}
{{Template:Logs-Twisted}}
|Background=
[[File:Harley-Ivy_01.png|left|150px|thumb|Mugshot provided by GCPD]] Where it not for her obsession with [[Joker|the Joker]], Harley could be a normal member of the community. However, her deeply rooted fascination with him overrides not only her better judgement but basically every motive in her life. Formerly a fame-hungry student, bending the rules to become a doctor and get hired on at Arkham to make a name for herself; Harley indeed created a name, costume, and persona to match. Now a criminal and convinced that she will one day be the wife of one of Gotham's most notorious madmen - whether he likes it or not. Still, she's willing to do anything and everything for her "puddin'" so long as he returns her affections with a smile.

Occasionally her better judgement will prevail and she'll turn her back on the lunatic madman of her dreams, however this usually this just ends up with Harley following [[Poison Ivy]] around Gotham doing the same sort of things she does in the company of the Joker. Her attempts to fly solo are actually usually very successful (as long as she's not robbing anyone), but in the end she always seems to trade it all to return to Arkham so she can be in the same building with ol' "Mistah J".

<center>[[File:Harley_Quinn_03.gif]]</center>

Since discovering a way to go back and forth between Twisted and Gotham,<ref>[[2019-11-03_-_Observational_Skills|Observational Skills]]</ref> Harley's been using it as a learning experience getting information that she otherwise shouldn't have.<ref>[[2014-04-16_(PostU)_Same_Bat-time...|Same Bat-time...]]</ref> Yet, somehow despite having a Ph.D. no one ever believes her when she says something really out of place like calling that reporter from the Daily Planet Superman or telling people that [[Batman]] is a billionaire playboy.

Previously Harley took residence at the Akira Institute in [[:Category:Neo-Edo|Neo-Edo]] where she was employed by [[Luna]] to help out the [[:Category:1000_Wives_of_Luna|inmates]] as Dr. Harleen Quinzel.<ref>[[2016-07-19_(PostU)_Sanity_Check|Sanity Check]]</ref> However due to Luna leaving Twisted and taking all the wives along with her, Harleen was once more out of work and went back to Gotham again to reflect on her next course of action.<ref>[[2018-05-18_(PostU)_The_Walk_Home|The Walk Home]]</ref>

Recently she's returned to Twisted to discover it's state after the shattering of Twisted Street. It's unclear at this time what she plans to do from here, but at least she has friends with her now.<ref>[[2020-01-05_-_Budding_Reunion|Budding Reunion]]</ref>
|WarkerName=OuttaPatients
|Warker=
|}}
{{Navbox/DCAU}}
[[Category:DC_Animated_Universe]]

Gonta Gokuhara

2026-07-27T03:40:02Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Gonta_Gokuhara.jpg
|Name=Gonta Gokuhara
|Pronunciation= (GON-ta Go-KOO-hah-RAH)
|Alias=Gonta, Big Guy, Bug Boy
|Occupation=Entomologist
|Series=Danganronpa
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Lawful Good
|Gender= Male
|Species=Human
|Short=What looks like a large young man with wild, long, greenish brown hair and red eyes. He's wearing a pair of glasses and a brown suit, strangely lacking in shoes, and carries a beetle cage and a large bug net.
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=15
|Birthdate= Jan 23rd
|Height=6'6"
|Weight=207 lbs
|Desc=You see nothing special.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' Muscle Head: While he is not stupid as his trouble with grasping some human concepts, his naivety, and his own insistence to the fact might make him appear, it can very much come off that way to some. He can often be ignored or not taken seriously thanks to this. His having been gone from humanity for 10 years of the formative part of his life means he doesn't get a lot of things. Some he doesn't get after already having had it explained to him, and some just being things no one thought to explain because it was such common knowledge to them. For instance he'd likely have a lot of trouble with grasping even the most basic of complex social issues. It's almost impossible for him to wrap his head around higher tech things like computers as well. Trying to explain as such is sometimes quick to lead to annoyance and headaches for both parties. To make matters worse he's a bit insecure because of these shortcomings and can can grind others' patients more so by assuming wrong doing on his own part and apologizing or fretting more oft than needed. Naivety and Trust: Gonta wants so badly to get along with people and believes in the best from most people. Unless he actually sees someone as evil, he will most likely want to give them second chances over and over and over again even though they've burned him personally, making him look very forgetful and stupid to those that don't understand his motivations and drive to help and protect others. Berserker Button: Depending on the severity, sometimes just saying you don't like bugs is enough to start making Gonta irritated. Actually hurting bugs without very good reason is likely to cause MUCH worse with his temper. Gentleman Code: Gonta tries his hardest to follow everything he's learned of how gentlemen are supposed to act. As he feels part of being a gentleman is doing the right things, he probably would also be EXTREMELY unlikely to ever be talked out of these beliefs. This means there are several things he tries to severely adhere to that might strongly inconvenience him at times. For instance he must not strike women unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to do so(such as if they are being a clear and obvious threat to his friends). He's not supposed to look at naked people. He should help people in need. He should always treat women nicely and with respect. He shouldn't be rude. He shouldn't lie. So on and so forth for whatever he is convincingly enough lead to believe a gentleman should do. This also causes him to mostly try and default to handling things with pacifism, should it not be important to do otherwise. Sensitive Soul: It's very easy for Gonta to fall into his emotions a bit too hard and, despite his generally happy and positive temperament, fly into the kind of aforementioned moments of being overly excited or angry, or one of the other alternatives is that he just breaks out sobbing over something seemingly small. This, in turn, tends to lead to him feeling self conscious of how he'd overreacted, often causing him to apologize or worry overly much.

|Background=Gonta, on first sighting, is considered a scary looking figure by the vast majority from his world. However, his large, muscular frame and serious case of resting murder face are generally extremely misleading. Having gotten lost as a very young boy, he was raised in the wild by Reptites (though he uses a cover story of wolves) and grew able to speak with all animal kind. After being found, he has been striving to become a great gentleman so his high class, rich, human parents will be more accepting of his wilderness family. He was to be the Ultimate Entomologist among Hope's Peak Academy students due to having already been titled a doctor of Entomology (bugs) in his mid teens. Despite this, he very much tends to give an outward appearance of being rather slim in brain power between oft still struggling with human concepts and obviously having plenty of brawn. While he is greatly capable of handling himself in a fight, he would rather not and is far more known for his kind, gentle nature and his stupidly high level of trusting naivety.
|Skills= Sharp Eyesight: Gonta has ridiculous level of sight (20/.625) to the point that, while he can't see them well enough to tell what they are or discern any details about them, he can see down to the size of nanites. One of the results of this is that he can draw well due to having such increased awareness of detail. Strength: Gonta has, at a minimum, proved capable of lifting a manhole (usually weighing between 90 and 150 pounds, but sometimes they weigh up to 250 pounds) effortlessly just between two fingers, and throwing it like a frisbee just as effortlessly, despite the fact this is all supposed to be strength he has naturally. He is also stated to have strength enough that, when he was still in the wild, traveling warriors sometimes tracked him down to test themselves. Animal Speak: Gonta's adapted to the whole of animal kind enough that somehow he can speak with them either at what seems like a mental level where he is seemingly not talking at all, or just talking normally like a human and they will understand and 'speak' back to him to a point he can communicate better on the animal level than the human level. This is to human level detail, to the point that he can talk to another human, who most people have trouble understanding, by way of that human's pet hamster translating it's master's words into a simplified form that Gonta understands. Wilderness Survival: Gonta's very quick, good at pinpointing scents he recognizes, and flexible on top of the aforementioned crazy strength and eyesight. He has a high endurance for temperatures, and is also more than capable of surviving outside of a civilized location, knowing his stuff about nature as well as being able to hunt. Having lived in the wilderness for ten years, he knows all about things like what to do for shelter, how to track things, general alertness, and safety (in regards to dealing with animals, forests, caves, and mountain terrain). Generally everything for when you are trapped in the woodsy mountains for years on end and trying not to die. Due to being a human trying to survive along side creatures with more useful body parts than his own, Gonta eventually learned how to make tools from the things around him in nature. Mostly this was for things like when he needed something sharp (sharpening a stone to be able to cut something, for instance) or needed to get around better. Living in not just woods, but /mountainous/ woods, Gonta has had to account for things like mountain climbing as well as sometimes just needing to get upper ground up in the trees. He's become skilled with rope knowledge due to this, knowing what to make them with, how to tie them, getting them strong and anchored down enough to hold his weight, and using them to swing between high places. Due to having to use this kind of travel he's not entirely inexperienced in the act of parkouring around when needed, but he can still have a tendency to be over excitable and miss his aim on things due to things like moving with too much force. Ultimate Entomologist: While Gonta likes all animals, he especially loves bugs and he has studied them quite thoroughly. He can name basically any type of bug you throw at him (only one really shouldn't do that, one might upset him by being mean to the bugs) knows them all down to the tiniest of details, and has been able to do things like discover different diseases and cures effective for humans that were in insects. This is one of those rare things that Gonta will cast aside his general difficulty in communication and lack of self confidence to talk about when he feels he should. Unless one honestly wants to learn about bugs, they should avoid making him go into one of his doctor of entomology style teaching rambles at them. He likes bugs enough even, that he has done things like used his own hair as a nest and summoned swarms of bugs on command.

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|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT3VS9OPlfE Mandopony - Train Wreck] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PmwSgkHUI Poets of the Fall - Can You Hear Me] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4L399kgd1I Koji Wada - Butterfly]
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=

|}}

Gemma Doyle

2026-07-27T03:39:45Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Gemma.jpg
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Series=Gemma Doyle Trilogy
|Threat=
|Class=Priestess
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Age=21
|Birthdate=June 21st 1879
|Height=5'8"
|Weight=I'd rather not say
|Short=A tall and lanky young woman with red gold hair and startling green eyes turned up at the corners. She has fair skin sprinkled with too many freckles to her taste. Her hair may be pulled up in a messy bun or cascading down to her mid back depending on her mood of the moment and she wears a somewhat gunge chic attire, usually a skirt, leggings and a loose top/jacket with Converse. The finishing touch is a peculiar silver amulet depicting the crescent eye.
|Desc=The tall and lanky young woman ahead is, unlike her own assumptions, far from unnoticeable. Her fair and freckled skin, mane of fiery hair and startling green eyes have sometimes gotten her unpleasant attention in her Victorian era and so she can carry herself a bit awkwardly, her shoulders slightly stooped as a way of making up for being more often than not taller than other girls her age. She is by no means a femme fatale type, but boasts a decent profile, straight nose and good jaw. On most days, a silver amulet hangs around her neck depicting a moon crescent topped with an eye. The rest of her attire is somewhat grunge chic and often comprising of dark leggings, a skirt, a t-shirt and a loose plaid shirt or a jacket along with a pair of Converse or ankle boots. She wears her hair either down or pulled up in a messy bun depending on her feeling of the moment, changing at times throughout the day. There is something in Gemma's gaze which suggests that she is an independent thinker wise beyond her years though the upturned corners of her eyes betray a hint of playfulness and an ability to hold her own in pettier exchanges. She is often seen looking rather serious, but her features light up around those she cares about and her warm smile gives away the depth of affection she is capable of.
|Skills=
|MusicEmbed=Please see [[Theme Music]] for instructions.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==
Born in the late 1800s and raised in India until her 16th birthday, Gemma first idealized England and its depictions in her grandmother’s letters while she grew up. During her early teens, her relationship with her mother with whom she was always close soured and she resented her for not allowing her to go to England as her older brother Tom had been allowed to do when he came of age. Everything changed when she turned sixteen as that very day her mother took her own life under strange circumstances. It was also the day that Gemma first came to know she had powers, having witnessed the traumatic event in a vision as it was happening.

Shortly after, Gemma finally gets her wish to see England and is sent to attend the Spence Academy, a finishing school for young ladies where she befriends her roommate Ann, an orphan and scholarship student sponsored by distant relatives who intend to make her their governess once she graduates, and eventually [[Felicity]] and Pippa, although begrudgingly. Together, and with the use of Gemma’s powers, they discover The Realms, a world inhabited by fantastical creatures and where the magic is alive. However, over time they also discover a much darker side of it, and the story behind The Order’s demise, a secret society of sorceresses that were eventually forced into hiding after one of their own, Circe, betrayed them by offering a blood sacrifice to the evil creatures within The Realms.

Through their adventures in The Realms, the girls come to learn about good and evil, power, choice and loss. Gemma must carry the great responsibilities that falls upon her shoulders, being the only one who can access The Realms and restore the peace as well as decide if and how to share the magic with its inhabitants. Though she postpones any decision making on the matter as long as she can, angering some of the creatures that could be her allies as well as giving plenty if time to the dark spirits to endanger both worlds in the process, in the end she makes good on her promises and gives back the magic to the lands so that anyone in The Realms may draw on it, although it still flows in her veins.

Shortly after things settle in The Realms, Gemma and Felicity graduate Spence and officially become young ladies. Ann manages to secure employment as an actress and follow her own path instead of the one that was laid out for her and Felicity follows her mother to Paris, a place where she feels she may be able to escape her demons as well as allow herself to explore her sexuality in a place that is reputed to be less judgmental than Victorian England. Gemma decides to cut her season short and move to the United States to attend university and learn to fend for herself.

Four years later, Gemma more or less accidentally makes her way to Twisted. Ever since her friend Felicity disappeared, she has been relentlessly looking for her, traveling different worlds in the hopes of finding her. The mischievous creatures of The Realms responsible for Felicity’s disappearance having been no help, the past three years has involved a lot of trial and error, but Gemma is not one to give up so easily, especially without knowing the kind of predicament her friend might be in.
==Notes==
<references />

Felicity

2026-07-27T03:39:27Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Felicity.png
|Name=Felicity Worthington
|Pronunciation=
|Series=Gemma Doyle Trilogy
|Class=Victorian Heiress/Adventurer
|Alignment=Rather Self-Aligned
|Gender=Female
|Species=Quite human, thank you!
|Age=22
|Birthdate=March 1878
|Height=5ft4
|Weight=115lbs
|Short=Misplaced from late 1800s London, England
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Desc=A striking and alluring young lady, roughly in her early 20's. Her white-blonde hair is pulled back in messy but chic low ponytail, her long bangs framing either side of her pale face. Here, Felicity has traded her Victorian corsets and fineries for a more practical and modern ensemble, but never at the expense of fashion! Oh, Heaven forbid. Today Felicity sports a tailored jacket with 3/4's sleeve fashioned in the likeness of the classic redcoats worn by the British army. It is fitted and comes down just past the waist, and clearly boasts a more feminine silhouette than the original uniform ever did. She contrasts this rather posh jacket with pair of skinny, distressed jeans tucked into a pair of pristine black riding boots. Underneath, she wears a low-cut rich black top of a flowy fabric. Over all, the ensemble is typical of Felicity's taste - which is to say the height of fashion and money, but with a modern and cheeky edge. To be sure, anything Felicity wears will be sure to showcase her stunning physique, highlighting her slim figure and feminine curves for the world to see. Yet, for all of her imperiousness, something in the way Felicity carries herself...perhaps it is a glint of mischief in her sharp, cool grey eyes or perhaps it is in her charismatic smile....but something belies a rather brash and unruly nature. She is no fragile china doll. She is fierce, and gone a little wild. It would seem Ms. Worthington remains a creature untamed, which lends an air of unpredictability to her commanding presence. It can be quite a volatile combination, to be sure. In any case, despite her displacement, Felicity carries herself with a cool, confident air and is always ready for a bit of fun and excitement to help satisfy her restless spirit. She usually comes armed with either her silver bow strapped to her back or rapier at her side - often times both.
|Skills=
|Stats=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:Pre-Unification]]

Emi

2026-07-27T03:39:01Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=emi_edit.jpg
|Name=Emi Goodman
|Pronunciation=(em-ee gud-muhn)
|Alias=Em
|Occupation=Aeon Sophia
|Series=Original
|Alignment=Neutral
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Age=Early 20s
|Birthdate=It's complicated.
|Height=5'1" (154cm)
|Weight=99lbs (45kg)
|Short=A short, skinny young woman with no immediately-discernable talents, but beautiful amber eyes. 
'''Formerly Known as''': Diaduin Emepherea
|Extra1=
|Desc=This young woman has a curiously ageless quality, giving the impression she's anywhere within a half-decade of twenty. She's tiny, which helps, with a slender and willowy body easily-lost within her clothing. Her features are desperately cute, a heart-shaped face playing host to a dainty button nose and a small but expressive mouth. The most striking feature of all is her eyes; wide and curious, they're coloured a most unusual shade of amber, seeming almost golden against her alabaster skin, and hold an equally-strange sense of weight and wisdom beyond her years. Her hair is thick and healthy, shining black waves habitually pulled into loose twin pigtails that trail down past her waist. 
 
Emi's rarely seen without her favourite coat, white with black trim and styled in gothic fashion, flaring out at the cuffs and below the waist, and rising at the neck into a broad, open hood, revealing her narrow shoulders beneath. These are left bare, the girl wearing a white, off the shoulder peasant blouse beneath. Here and there, the gold, silky lining of her coat is visible, matching not only her eyes but the accents on her favourite headphones - seen around her neck when she's not lost in the music. The wire trails away into pockets so expansive she could probably clamber into them. 
 
Her legs are left bare or covered with white leggings as befits the weather, with skirts and belts of various design generally providing thi's fashion choice. Even if she's not wearing them, she usually keeps on her person a pair of white, fur-lined fingerless gloves. Coz they're cosy.
|Extra2=
|Gallery=[[Image:Duckling.jpg|200px|Click here for DuckZilla, Destroyer of Worlds!]]

Quack.
|Skills='''Cooking''' - She sucks at this.

'''Dancing''' - She's not really tried this.

'''Fighting''' - She has the physical power of a three-ply tissue.

'''Talking''' - She's pretty good at this. She is also kind of adorable. Boom! Superpower located.

Oh, you want more? Really? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you!

'''Sympathetic Godhood''' - Neither a skill nor an ability, arguably a 'power' of sorts, and yet it may be the only thing truly worth mentioning about Emi Goodman. As a former Goddess of Balance who's relinquished her nigh-ultimate power and doesn't bear any (accessible) memory of doing so, she remains spiritually-connected to the plane of Twisted and the multiverse beyond. It's the former that is most concerning, for in passing her impossible might to another, the Diaduin Emepherea has placed Setsuna Meioh in great peril should she, herself, be endangered. Now fully mortal, Emi holds in her unwitting hand the potential to cause a cataclysm. Though she can wield no control herself, it's entirely probable that fate - or the Guardian of Time - may intervene to provide her some means to survive at all costs...

|Stats=
|Threat=Civilian
|MusicEmbed=<center><websiteFrame>
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|Logs={{Template:Logs-Metropolis}}
{{Template:Logs-Chrono}}
{{Template:Logs-Pre-U}}
{{Template:Logs-Twisted}}
|Background=
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

She started as an idea, the blazing spark at the soul of a fire that had roared for aeons. The denizens of a world torn apart by the machinations of warring gods - celestial spouses - cried out for balance, in their idolatry raising up a young girl to the heavens. Whether this warrior on the cusp of adulthood were a sacrifice or a willing martyr, none can be sure, but what's known is that as the collective breath of a world was held and caught... that balance was found. The world continued to turn, and it began to heal. Nobody knows what transpired in the kingdom of the gods, however.

Far above, in the shadow of an eternal night, the tiny, nigh-inconsequential being responsible for this turn of the wheel stole away in search of a better life. A humble life. Leaving in her wake the shadow of delirious power, cloaked about the shoulders of the fallen, the creature soon to be known as 'Emi' wound her way through the stars until she reached a gaping chasm within the cosmos; a place where worlds met in a great cataclysm, defying all the laws of nature. This, the blazing spark decided, would be her home. That very night, she wandered barefoot and playful into a bar...

NeoTokyo, it was called, and the 'human' child was quick to befriend a few of the inhabitants. Drawn despite her desire to wield the power bestowed upon her by right of lineage, she fought the most subtle war against order and chaos both, making unlikely friends (and unwitting wards) in the form of a fallen angel and a very human murderer. Much of what passed is known only to those that witnessed it, and the theme continues throughout her existence. Regardless, this world was soon to fall, and the dimunitive goddess - known on her own plane as the Diaduin Emepherea - did what she could to preserve the lives most precious to her. A maniac, and a perpetually-lost girl. Her chosen.

One world fell, and then another, and Emi's quiet machinations served to create - from the ashes of her own love - a third. She placed as protector the maniac redeemed, acting as his sometime friend and omnipresent guardian even in her seeming absence, guiding this virgin plane through the epochs of its evolution. Her hand would be played time and again, the subtlety of her station beginning to fail her further each time. In her desperation and love she even took as scion one of the magically-imbued mortals of this place - the tragic heroine Schala, Princess of Zeal.

It's Setsuna, the Guardian of Time, who now owns the greatest part of Emepherea's power. Her mistake in taking Schala's body was in part redeemed by her more 'humble' station as one of Hell's Councillors, though in thwarting the destruction of Twisted by the terribly-corrupted Guarlesia she overstepped her mark once more. Abusing her power quite visibly and destructively, she had a direct hand in the end of an era, and once more picked a pawn to sacrifice in her own stead.

...so it was that a goddess' heart was found to be brittle, and too well broken. No longer the most abject vanguard of the ineffable Balance, Emepherea fled into hiding, her location known to precisely none. Not even her celestial daughter, the Guardian of Time Setsuna Meioh, who was - at the least - the first to welcome the goddess back to her realm, and the last to ever interact with her. Tired and old, by exertion of her own profound will to fade away, the Diaduin Emepherea committed one last sin in her own eyes, and gifted the greatest portion of her power - and responsibility - to her child.

But, at the last, she also offered up a mother's love.

She'd have ceased to exist but for this, finding her own forgiveness in a fall of crystal tears. Emepherea is, in truth, no more, but in her place the girl she once created, now full-grown and human in more than just image... Emi Goodman was born, mere months ago, on the roof of the Usual Restaurant. Terrified and alone in her humanity, she fled into the night, leaving her duties behind.

They're no longer hers, after all. In the end, she is no more than she ever wanted to be.

==Pre-Unification Background==
Once seen only as a quirky child stepped out of her proper space and time, this errant goddess has had a long time to grow up. She has fostered an entire world, seen hope live and die a thousand times, and even been banished into the infinite void herself. Now, she has been called upon by her apparent daughter and the Devil himself to fight on the side of Balance once more.

The armies of Hell gather against the Twisted Council, and the Diaduin Emepherea stands in their midst...

|WarkerName=Duckbringer

|}}
{{Navbox/Hell_Council}}
[[Category:Hell_Council]]
[[Category:Pre-Unification‏‎]]
[[Category:Chronos‏‎]]
[[Category:Hell]]

Deis

2026-07-27T03:38:40Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Deis.jpg
|Name=Deis
|Pronunciation=(DAY-iss)
|Alias=Bleu, The Devil, That Naked Chick In the Ruins
|Occupation=The Laziest Goddess
|Series=Breath of Fire III
|Threat=City Smasher
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Endless
|Short=Statuesque blue-haired woman with purple eyes
|Extra1='''Misc:''' First summoned with her sister Myria by the humans of her world, Deis served as a goddess of magic and secrets. But when Myria's "children", the people of Caer Xhan, wiped themselves out through infighting, Myria decided that she'd need to eradicate anything that could possibly pose a threat to her people. This included a race of mostly-peaceful Dragons called "The Brood". Deis began to openly work against her sister then; it didn't take long for Myria to send her faithful to imprison Deis. Centuries later, one of the surviving Brood freed her and she assisted him in defeating Myria. She expected to be sent back to their original world when she and her sister fell... but she woke up in Twisted!
|Age=Ageless
|Birthdate=Unknown
|Height=5'11" (180cm)
|Weight=♥ ♥ ♥
|Desc=        Deis looks just slightly different depending on what form she's in. In whatever form she's in she has long blue hair and purple eyes. She wears a pair of golden bracers, golden bangles around her upper arms, a golden necklace around her neck, and golden drop earrings. A sleeveless purple tunic with a large keyhole at the center leaves her arms uncovered; the garment is closed at her waist with an ornate golden belt.         If she's in human form, she looks like... a human. A shapely human female with long blue hair, her legs covered by a flowing skirt. In her true form however, her lower half... is a green serpent! The scales are a pale green where they join to her body, but darken as they travel down to the end of her tail. Her snake half has an underbelly, too; it's a uniform pale cream color. Her join is covered by the bottom hem of her tunic. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:'''         For all her age and great power, Deis is remarkably lazy. She tends to use the least amount of effort to accomplish whatever it is she needs to do, and to put off taking care of problems until she physically cannot ignore them anymore. Additionally, Deis has been known to fall asleep -- on her own, with no sealing-up or curse to blame -- for centuries at a time. While she's asleep and not paying attention, things can get incredibly bad. And when she wakes up, she may find herself in a seriously bad situation!         Being that she was summoned to the world she came to Twisted from to be a goddess of magic and secrets, Deis has a lot of power at her disposal. The problem with this is that it means the atmosphere around her tends to be rather creepy. Her jovial attitude, ironically, tends to strike an 'uncanny valley' kind of juxtaposition to it, thus making things worse. It's not really enough to actively put people off, but it makes it dang near impossible to hide.         Deis is biologically part-serpent, and thus, she tends to dislike the cold. She won't willingly go where it's sub-zero temperatures unless she has a very good reason (i.e., someone she cares about it lost in the snow), and she will not willingly fight an opponent with ice abilities unless she has no choice.
|Background=        Deis, along with her "sister" Myria, are extra-dimensional beings summoned to the world of humans to serve as gods. They were summoned by desert dwellers, dying in the parched lands and unable to spread beyond the oases, who wished to be able to advance as well as survive. Over the centuries after their summoning, Deis and Myria settled into the roles that had rather been thrust upon them. Deis wanted to let humans advance through hard work and achievement, but Myria disagreed. They were already in the middle of a desert and humans had struggled this long. Weren't they summoned to make life easier for humans, she countered?         Over Deis's objections, Myria soon built an orbital station with the technology from the two goddess's world, and gave her people a sprawling, advanced machine city where no one had to work. She had given her people a utopia. But, as Deis cautioned Myria they would do, her people squandered it. They began to fight amongst themselves for the blessings of Myria rather than work together. And so the city, Caer Xhan, fell into disrepair and the desert swallowed it up.         After this, Myria took what few humans survived and brought them to the other side of the world, where life overflowed. But on this side of the world was Yggdrasil. He too was an Endless, summoned to keep the world green and protect it from the encroaching desert from the other side. He took the form of a massive tree. However, he refused to allow Myria to take over the green part of the world. Deis cautioned Myria to leave Yggdrasil be. But Myria ignored her.         When Myria made her desire to take control at all costs known, Yggdrasil did not fight her, fearing for the world if their power were to be unleashed. And so she separated Yggdrasil's essence into six trees, placing five all around the green world and one on the barren side of the world. This kept him forever unable to consolidate his power again.         With Yggdrasil out of the way, Myria created a huge ocean, later called the Outer Sea, to separate the desert from the green part of the world. Then she wiped the memories of the remaining humans from the barren side of the world and placed them into the green world to live. This too was done over Deis's objections -- if they didn't remember their mistakes, she said, they would repeat them.         With Deis always criticizing Myria's actions, and Myria unwilling to listen to her sister goddess, a rift began to grow between the two. This eventually led to Deis leaving the orbital station. Deis made herself a lair in Mt. Zublo, an active volcano, and from there she watched Myria's vision for the world take shape.         A handful of people Myria had once granted wishes to far back had not disappeared from the world, though. They used the power granted to them to become Dragons, and their descendents, the Brood, still existed. Convinced that humans would destroy her now tiny world if they were allowed to keep this power, Myria decided to destroy the Brood. She chose four of her most loyal Urkan warriors and embued them with draconic powers. Then she sent them on a crusade to destroy the Dragons.         By and large Deis had stayed out of her sister's business; these were her mistakes to make. But when Myria's warriors began to destroy the Brood, she emerged from her lair and tried to speak reason. She tried to explain to the Guardians, Myria's dragon warriors, that they were doing wrong, but they took her words as blasphemy. And then they used their own powers to seal Deis in an underground room in Angel Tower. There she slept away the rest of the Great War against the Brood. Much as Yggdrasil had done, the Dragons didn't fight back, for fear that the world would be harmed. And so the Brood were mostly destroyed.         Five hundred years passed, and the Brood were mostly forgotten. In that time, history was rewritten by the Urkan people, and the Brood were cast as devils that tried to destroy the world, but were vanquished through the might of the Guardians. Deis was cast as an evil witch that had assisted the Brood, but she too had been vanquished by Myria's holy power.         But not all of the Brood had been destroyed. Some of the Brood had given up their powers and fled to the barren side of the world. Those who kept their powers conceived children and went into a deep sleep underground. Some of these children were destroyed, but one survived. His name was Ryu. he went on a journey to discover the truth about his people, the Brood, and what had really happened to them.         Along the way, Ryu awakened Deis. Deis was shocked to see Guardian Garr, and struck him several times before she found out that Garr was /helping/ Ryu rather than trying to kill him, so she decided to help. Now freed, she went back to her lair at Mt. Zublo, where a slab of stone with ancient inscriptions had been erected. There she waited for Ryu, and when he arrived, gave him the ability to sense Myria's general location. Before she was imprisoned she would have been able to take them right to where Myria was, she said, but this would have to do for now.         Deis continued to serve as occasional advisor and teacher to Ryu throughout his journey. Deis didn't show herself again until Ryu and his friends had defeated Myria. As she descended into the bowels of her orbital station, myria called out for guidance. And Deis appeared before her. She said again that Myria had gone too far with things in her attempt to destroy the Brood. But that she was sure humans would be able to figure things out themselves. That said, Deis took her place beside her sister as they descended.         However, something separated them. Deis wasn't sure what it was, but she was suddenly in another place. A city that had all kinds of people in it! Not just people, either. She had ended up in Twisted somehow. And she had no idea if her sister had come here as well...
|Skills=        Deis is essentially a goddess of magic. She possesses some of the strongest magic in her world, and is actually one of the sources from which magic originate in her world. After a five-hundred year sleep, she's a little weaker than she was back before the Great War, but she's still no slouch. Magic comes as naturally to her as breathing.         Her physical capabilities are nothing to be ashamed of either. Even in her weakest form, right after waking up from a five-hundred year imprisonment, she's strong enough to uppercut a six-hundred pound creature about fifteen feet away from her. In her true form she possesses the lower half of a serpent, and her strength only increases. She can easily crush a full-grown human with her serpent half. Not just suffocate, the way a real-life constrictor does. But literally CRUSH a man to death in her coils.         She's also been alive for longer than human civilization has existed in her world. Several thousand years at least. The technology that Myria used to create her orbital station came from their world, so it's reasonable to assume her technology is pretty advanced. However, that also means that she's unable to figure out simpler technology. So while her command of a super-advanced, magitech-powered supercomputer might be second to none, she'd struggle with things like modern personal computers, cellular phones, and vehicles.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:Deis2.jpg
File:Deis3.png
File:Deis4.png
File:Deis5.jpg
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmjDWx1VfMo Breath of Fire III OST - Deep Purple ~Deis' Theme~]
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|Warker=

{{wark| Sample post #1 (mobile)}}
{{wark2|Sample post #2 (desktop)}}
{{wark3|Sample post #3 (unknown)}}
|}}

==Notes==
<references />

Constantine

2026-07-27T03:38:19Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Constantine.png
|Name=John Constantine
|Pronunciation=
|Series=Constantine/Legends of Tomorrow
|Threat=
|Class=Hellblazer
|Alignment=Chaotic Neutral
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Age=35
|Birthdate=May 10th
|Height=5'11"
|Weight=175 lbs
|Short=A scruffy blonde guy in a trench coat. 
'''Miscellaneous:''' Master of the Dark Arts. Supernatural troubleshooter. Sometimes just trouble.
|Desc=A distinctly scruffy Englishman. His dirty blonde hair looks like he hasn't spend that much time with a comb, and his facial hair has gone past a five o'clock shadow without ever approaching anything resembling a beard. He has heavy brows, dark eyes, and a slightly large nose. His skin is reasonably fair, although not nearly as pale as some. He stands just, slightly under six feet tall, but often looks a little shorter, thanks to a very slight tendency to slouch. An intensity to his gaze is a near constant, his eyes deep set and very focused. In build, he is slender, and although he looks fit, he does not carry a huge amount of visible muscle on his frame.

He is generally to be found wearing plain slacks, a shirt, and a tie that is pretty much never fastened all the way. When it is a little colder, a beige trenchcoat is added to the ensemble. He has a strong Liverpool accent.
|Skills=
|MusicEmbed=Please see [[Theme Music]] for instructions.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==

==Notes==
<references />
[[Category:Arrowverse]]

Colossus

2026-07-27T03:37:59Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Missing.jpg
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=(Co-law-sus)
|Alias=Pete, Peter, Colossus
|Occupation=Hero
|Series=X-Men
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Neutral Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Mutant
|Short=
|Extra1='''Misc:'''
|Age=35
|Birthdate=Every year!
|Height=7'4"
|Weight=500lbs.
|Desc=You see nothing special.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
|Background=Personality and background information goes here. To use citations to reference specific logs mark them like this: <pre>[[link to page|short name]]</pre> For an examples look up the pages for [[Johnny_C]] or [[Tabitha]]. These will auto-populate in the notes section below.
|Skills=
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:Missing.jpg
File:Missing.jpg
File:Missing.jpg
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=

|}}

Chiffon

2026-07-27T03:37:46Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Chiffon.png
|Name=Chiffon Deloume
|Series=Final Fantasy
|Class=Blue Mage
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Threat= Unknown
|Gender=Male
|Species=Sanuye
|Age=38
|Height=4' 6"
|Weight=520
|Birthdate=June 23rd
|Short= A reddish lionwolf looking fellow in a dapper blue cape. 
'''Miscellaneous''': Chiffon is a mild mannered creature, akin to a half lion, half wolf, all dope lug. A strange creature raised by stranger creatures, one man's lost is another man's adventure and that's about where he is. Of note, he operates as a freelance wilderness guide, helping people find resources and providing protection for expeditions. This is largely a biproduct of his own research, which in this age could be known as a form of cryptozoology. Whether his own supernatural abilities are responsible for this interest, it is difficult to tell. As a Blue Mage, after being exposed to supernatural abilities and innate magic, Chiffon can learn and recreate the effects. More than this, though, he's fascinated with strange beings in the cosmos and enjoys encouraging these encounters--if occasionally to the dismay of his company. Despite his bestial nature, he's very mild-mannered, speaks fluently, and has a fair sense of humor.
|Desc=Oh no, who broke out of the zoo! Chiffon's lanky lionwolf gait might give unknown passers-by a bit of a spook at first glance. 4.5 feet at the shoulder and over 9 long, coated in rusty red fur and a sweep of chocolate black mane spilling between his ears and down his shoulders like a proper set of hair. His tail is long, feline, and tipped in thick bristles that possess a fire-like glow.

Not to worry, he is kept modest and dapper with an indigo cloak. The hood rests between his shoulders, a neat pile while the swoop of fabric rimed in frost-white trim makes its way back towards his tail. The clasp is two leaves over a Kupo nut.

He walks, runs, wags and waves on four thick paws. Umber colored claws poke out and soft pads quiet his step. His snoot is a darker patch, his eyes warm amber colored, and his demeanor friendly.
|Skills=

|Stats=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==

==Notes==
<references />

Calamity

2026-07-27T03:37:19Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Calamity.png
|Name=Chalchiutlicue
|Pronunciation=(Chalk-hyoo-tlee-kway, roughly)
|Alias=Calamity Jane/Jade, Calamity for short
|Occupation=Fisherwoman, Guardian Spirit
|Series=No Evil
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Basilisk Lizard Spirit
|Short=A tall, slender basilisk lizard in green clothes.
|Extra1='''Misc:''' She speaks in a strange accent that's like a mix of Canadian and midwest American. It's weird.
|Age=19
|Birthdate=
|Height=Pretty Tall
|Weight=Pretty Light
|Desc=A tall, slender, anthropomorphic basilisk lizard with light blue skin, a very long tail which fades to yellow at the tip, and a drooping head fin that starts yellow at the base and fades to turquoise at the outer edges. Always wears a wide-brimmed moss green hat with a pink flower pinned to it, and prefers loose-fitting clothing in varying shades of green with a skirt of some manner, generally made of waterproof materials. Never wears shoes, both because they're awkward with her webbed flipper feet and because they tend to be uncomfortable when wet. She also wears a ring in her left nostril.
|Background=Calamity is a magical spirit born from a star on the planet Scourosi, though her real name is Chalchiutlicue. Like other spirits, her purpose is to protect and guide the mortals of the planet, though her young age and lackadaisical attitude have put a bit of a damper on that. In a bit of irony, she was found and raised by a pair of human parents in the capital city of Hollow, predominantly run by an industrial people who came from far away lands. While they accepted magic as a fact of life, the existence of guardian spirits was seen as superstitious hogwash, as the scientific community of Hollow believed spirits to simply be magical humans who discovered how to shapeshift.

Calamity's parents were of course from the "industrial" part of town, and very stuck in their ways despite having two adopted spirit children. Her older brother, a crane spirit named Ichabod, was often chided for his interest in supersitions and astrology, and both siblings had to go in human form at all times, as it was considered a rude flaunting of power to show their true forms. While Ichabod dutifully followed the rules (mostly), Calamity was a rambunctious child who earned her nickname with a notorious rebellious streak. If there was a rule, she would break it, which led to a few run-ins with the law and a strained relationship with her mother later in life (though we're getting ahead of ourselves there), not to mention plenty of fights with other kids. The only place she really felt she fit in was with the "traditional" people, a community of natives who lived in the lower-class part of town.

When she was about five years old, Calamity bore witness to the spread of a sleeping sickness by a magical artifact called the Black Tezcatlipoca, or the Black Ick more colloquially. Her parents fell victim to it, and she barely escaped with Ichabod, who had been studying the four Tezcatlipoca artifacts at the request of a trio of shamans. As they fled, they ran into a pair of canine spirits, Huey and Amaroq, who were fighting over who was responsible for the Black Ick taking their home towns. Ichabod and Calamity managed to break up the fight, but they were attacked by the Black Ick in a strange bestial form. In an effort to protect her brother, Calamity attacked the beast, but was infected with its sleeping sickness. Because of this, she wasn't there to witness the eventual sealing of the Black Tezcatlipoca, though she was one of its many victims who woke up immediately after its defeat.

Life went on as normal for Calamity after that point, trying and failing to get along in a community where the nature of her very existence was treated with disdain. She found a friend in Huey, one of the spirits she'd met during the Black Ick crisis, and the two of them became partners in mischief. They would often set up pranks for other spirits or the people in their respective towns, which typically involved petty theft and generally being public nuisances, while Ichabod frequently got caught up in their schemes as the lone voice of reason. As stated previously, this got Calamity in trouble with the law on a regular basis and led to more than a few alleyway brawls, which put a heavy strain on her relationship with her mother (her father, however, has never been elaborated upon).

When Ichabod graduated from school, he moved away from Hollow to live in the country, where he could be closer to other spirits and continue his studies on magical artifacts. Calamity went with him, eager to leave Hollow behind, and made her home on the river near his treehouse, making a living as a fisherwoman. One day, while accompanying Ichabod to the desert south of Hollow for his studies, the two of them came across a water pump in the middle of nowhere with instructions and a glass jar of water nearby, just enough to prime the pump. Despite Ichabod's insistence that it was a pointless endeavor, Calamity followed the instructions to the letter and tried pumping out some water for them to drink, only to break the handle off... and discover it was actually the tuning fork of Tlaloc, a legendary spirit. Striking the pump with the fork caused it to shoot water into the sky, which became a light rain storm, and Calamity was delighted to discover she could control the water around her using the fork.

Despite Ichabod's notes stating that there were four spells that could be used with the fork, Calamity was only ever able to get the one to work. They eventually set it aside for later pondering and went about their lives again, and one day, Calamity woke up in a place that definitely wasn't her riverboat. Much to her confusion, she found a sign that simply read, "Welcome to Twisted."

As for her personality at present, Calamity is very relaxed under normal circumstances, preferring to just let things go as they will. The life of a fisher suits her well because of this, though when it comes to directly interacting with others, she tends to take to sarcasm even with people she likes. She's uncomfortable in formal settings and dislikes using her human form, and has no problem just walking out if she doesn't feel like being there. Ironically, she's impatient when it comes to other people, preferring to handle things herself than wait on someone else. However, this impatience can be placated by playing to her mischievous side, such as when she was convinced to lead a gang of bandits to a well and trap them inside for stealing a village's food instead of just charging in and cracking skulls.

However, that isn't to say Calamity is violent. While she will raise a fist to people she feels deserve it, she measures her responses carefully. A minor inconvenience may prompt a harmless splash of water, while a good brawl, skin on skin, can sort out a gang of thieves in her eyes. She actually takes her role as a guardian spirit quite seriously when something greater than petty crime is afoot, and will promptly (and bluntly) confront anyone who plans to bring harm to others, regardless of their affiliation. This makes her somewhat of a vigilante at times, though such a concept wouldn't even occur to her. Thankfully, she doesn't use lethal force except in very rare and very personal cases.

To touch upon her mischievous side again, Calamity is actually pretty well-behaved if left to her own devices. Should she feel stifled, as in her younger days in Hollow, that is when she begins to rebel against the system and fight the power and down with the man... and things of that sort. Her respect for authority isn't exactly nonexistent, though she sometimes gets up to some petty theft or the like if she feels she needs something that isn't going to be missed much. She calls it "borrowing", a habit that was unfortunately encouraged by Huey in her teenage years.

She also likes sports. Challenge her to a game of sportsball sometime.
|Skills=As a guardian spirit, Calamity possesses natural physical abilities beyond ordinary human capability. Despite her lanky proportions, she has enough strength to overpower a grown man and a long, prehensile tail which can grab and lift objects about the size and weight of... an adult male human. Her speed and agility are her strongest point though, as she is able to run at Olympic-level speeds and jump several meters into the air with little effort. She also seems to have heightened awareness to some degree, able to pick out small details in her surroundings that even other spirits missed. In terms of durability, she doesn't feel pain very strongly and doesn't bleed nearly as much as a human, but is otherwise only as tough as an amphibious lizard would normally be.

She can take human form as well, an instantaneous transformation which seals her magical abilities until she returns to her normal form. Sealing her magic or otherwise weakening her enough will also force her into human form to prevent her from dying.

Her primary weapon of choice is Tlaloc's tuning fork, a magical artifact that, when struck against a solid surface, produces a constant musical tone which allows Calamity to control any open body of water in a radius of what seems to be several dozen meters. While she typically uses gestures with the tuning fork to direct the water's movement, this does not seem to be a necessary component to the spell. She can seemingly make the effects more powerful by singing in tune with the fork's tone, from summoning rain to gathering water from a nearby river to carry a group of adult men down a well. She can also direct streams of water to carry her and others as a form of transportation. The fork also has three other spells, but Calamity is incapable of using them, and it is simply a mundane oversized tuning fork in anyone else's hands.

Finally, Calamity is shown to have some skill with knife-fighting, though it's rare to see her actually use it in combat. When she does pull out her boot knife in a fight, it's to kill and all pretenses of doing otherwise are dropped. It takes a pretty major and immediate threat to drive her this far, however, or a ''very'' personal grudge.
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
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|MusicEmbed=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwz7yF_KF2E The Kingston Trio - Desert Pete](video depicts Calamity and Ichabod discovering Tlaloc's tuning fork) 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AS7OspyPUg Brother Claude Ely - Ain't No Grave](once sung by Calamity herself in-series) 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQZxtRuWGA8 Irving Berlin - Play a Simple Melody](here sung by series creator Betsy Lee providing the voices of both Calamity and Kitty)
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}

|}}

Boom-Boom

2026-07-27T03:37:02Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Boom-Boom.jpg
|Name=Tabitha Smith
|Pronunciation=(Like, really?)
|Alias=Boom-Boom
|Occupation=Special Operative
|Series=Marvel Comics
|Threat=Block Buster
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Homo Superior
|Short=An athletic blonde bombshell whose style usually lies somewhere between bargain basement superhero and your typical 80s mall rat. Has a penchant for long coats and tinted shades. Totally cool, in her own mind. Sort of an embarrassing, trashy throwback as far as anybody with better taste is concerned.
|Extra1='''Misc: Boom, baby!'''
|Age=22
|Birthdate=November 30th
|Height=5'5" (165cm)
|Weight=122lbs (55kg)
|Desc=
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' Yes. 
|Background=ZOMG. I just started writing this and I'm already bored! Where does a bitching badass blonde bomber begin? So I'm a mutant, duh. My super awesome power is that I look great in everything, and also I can blow your entire face up with plasmatic time bombs. Small ones, big ones, long ones, girthy ones... just balls of all shapes and sizes, tbh. I've been able to do this since I was a kid, which was NOT my parents' favorite thing ever. They made a bad time of it. I had a bad time. It was a bad time. So I ditched them, obvs. What the frick else was a girl to do?

Runaway Tabby took her licks on the road, made some friends and some enemies, took what she needed to survive, and eventually ended up kicking self-righteous ass on a special ops team. Several of them, in fact. Ever hear of X-Factor, X-Force, the X-Terminators, the ol' X-Kabong? Alright, I made the last one up. Sue me. Just the three Xs! XXX, for a good time call--

Well. That's where it gets kinda complicated. Some people protest too freaking much, and think I've had too many codenames. Time Bomb, Meltdown, Boomer, Boom-Boom. I even ran without one for a while. Shit got weird. If I like you, you can call me Tab, Tabs, Tabby, T-Girl, T-Money, and Boom-Boom is just peachy either way. Don't wear it out or I'll go back to Doctor Madame McSplode.

J/K THAT WAS NEVER A REAL ONE, LOL (She'd ruin your day, though. Fear her.)

People think I'm a joke, but I am super, duper cereal. I've been snooping about and scrapping since I was thirteen years old, blowing up bad guys and supporting my friends... and a bunch of other ungrateful losers who don't even deserve that name! Sure I know how to have a good time, but I've saved more lives than I've blown up cars - and that's a fuckton of cars, let me tell you. Since my mutant brohams and brominas founded a paradise on Krakoa it's been a bit of a rough ride, but anyone who says I can't hold it together and get results is just a no-goodnik hater scumbag.

Yeah, you heard me. Come @ me.

Now it seems like we've got to jump across dimensions or something, something, blah blah. I dunno. "Go save the world, Tabitha", "liberate your fellow mutants, Tabitha", "stop blowing everything up, Tabitha". Another day, another dollar. Another night, another After Hours Shake 'n' Bake with Tabby Von Boom. See you on the flipside, lovers and haters. Peace o-u-t!
|Skills='''Drinking''' - A dab hand with a whiskey bottle, Boom-Boom can put it away with the best of them, and fall over well before the rest. Don't sweat it, she'll get up again. Probably.

'''Explosions''' - One of the more aggressively-chaotic amongst the undisputed 'good guys', Boomer is explosive enough in her own right, but her particular genetic mutation allows her to create and control orbs of plasma that can subsequently be triggered to unleash physical explosions. These vary in size and impact based on both her intent and current ability to exercise restraint, from tiny, near-harmless firecrackers to substantial payloads capable of leveling walls and turning large vehicles into junk and shrapnel. She's also quite adept with the energy consumed in this process, able to put out blasts with sustained effort when necessary.

'''Fighting''' - Mutant gift aside, it's all too easy to write Boom-Boom off at first - or even second - glance. She has her 'dumb blonde' act down to a tee, and writes checks with her mouth that few asses could reliably cash. To her credit, though, she's been working on various clandestine special ops teams since she was barely out of her tweens. She's trained with, and fought alongside, some of the heavier hitters Earth-616 has to offer, and has the corresponding skills tucked into her slender waistband. Subverting all reasonable expectations, she's kind of a well-rounded badass.

'''Yakking''' - In case she really needed a fourth estimable talent, Tabitha is skilled in the art of running her damn mouth. The astute may note that she uses sarcasm and trollish humor to cover for a thousand glaring insecurities, but the astutely tactical can go one further - as part of a butt-kicking team, she makes for a valuable distraction. Go on, let her take that brick to the face so you don't have to. Who said snarky one-liners don't serve a practical purpose? Assholes, that's who.
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|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
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|}}

Ash Tenou

2026-07-27T03:36:23Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Ash_Tenou.png
|Name=Ash Tenou
|Pronunciation=(Haw too pruh-nawns yor neim)
|Alias=
|Occupation=Monk
|Series=Warframe
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Chaotic Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=A slender red haired teenager.
|Extra1=
|Age=Older than he Looks
|Birthdate=No Idea. Celibates on April 8th
|Height=5'5
|Weight=125lbs
|Desc=You see nothing special.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
'''Meddlesome Nature:'''
Ash can't leave well enough alone; he has to see what's over the next hill and poke the proverbial hornet's nest with a stick. He is often too curious for his own good if left to his own devices not just with the location, but also with social situations.

'''Attention Grabbing:'''
Even in a place where fashion is up in the air, hair can be any color, and paranormal abilities are semi-common, Ash has a habit of doing things his own way. Be it either the contradiction of looking as young as he does while having the body language of a seasoned fighter, or radiating the sort of mystical energy to cause magic users to take notice, or who he associates with. Ash either intentionally, or perhaps only seemingly intentionally, does things in a way that draws attention to himself.

'''Child Soldier:'''
Peace is weird for Ash. It's a good kind of weird, since he's fought often enough to see not-fighting as a novelty. Unfortunately while he greatly values peace, and is often someone that will seek a peaceful solution, if it appears that fighting is the only answer, Ash will shed no tears over ending a problem with violence if need be. The larger problem is that, having grown up in war and experimentation in labs, Ash has the occasional problem when coping with gentler societies. Many social norms that would be easy to pick up by observation would be easy to mimick, but he will often be the one to chase after a thief, or resort to personal honor duels that may or may not resort in injury or death, rather than involve a wider response, and isn't really all that against bending or breaking laws that go against either his personal sense of honor or to help a friend.

'''Honor Bound:'''
Ash is used to taking contracts from people he doesn't like for reasons ranging from 'They have tried to have him killed' to 'They make people's lives miserable.' However, when under a contract for even those sorts, he will execute what is agreed upon to the absolute best of his ability. With that said, he does not blindly follow a set of instructions and is apt to find creative interpretations that will sit better with his morals. However, if a more palatable solution cannot be found Ash will compromise his morals to follow through on his obligations unless prevented by some outside force.
|Background=Ash is a Tenno: a child soldier that commands the Warframes, suits of armor that allow the wearer to perform superhuman feats on the battlefield, which for Ash tends to favor classical ninja-like stealth and misdirection with a dash of flash step and stabbings thrown in. As a survivor of the Zariman Ten-Zero, Ash has been through a lot; be it saving his home system from an external threat that turns out to have really been made by the ruling class, to killing the ruling class themselves for being hedonistic to the point of sociopathy. He knows what war is, knows what war does to people, and has never regretted using his power to keep others safe. Unfortunately, his memory of things not-war are at best fragmentary, and only recently has he been in contact with peaceful settlements in ways that aren't strictly concerned with fighting. He wants to grow beyond the weapon he's become, and thanks to time spent wandering the multiverse he has.

He's made friends and started to grow used to the idea that not everywhere is all fighting all the time. Yet even when he was in his home 'verse, ash found thigns that interested him outside of fighting; fishing, and fashion. This isn't uncommon since while all tenno are soldiers (some more eager than others.) they all in their own way try figuring life out in their own ways. some are painters and craftsmen, others builders. Ash enjoys fashion. Then when he crossed over? He met Miwa and while he's not a GREAT singer, he can carry a tune paccably well and enjoys the more theatrical bits of setting her shows up.

Personality-wise: Ash is VERY much 'my word is my bond and I rarely give promises because of that.' Eager to explore, generally willing to give new peopel the benefit of the doubt since he is well aware that everything is its own shade of grey. Laws to him are more suggestions than hard 'rules that must be abided by.' He'll obey them, but usually will discard if they're inconvenient or outright seem designed to tie hands to prop up unjust acts.

In a perfect world? He would explore, poke about to see what there is to see, fish, swim, maybe see what other hobbies suited him. However the world is not perfect, so he seeks to train both his mind and body, and even if he will now try to avoid killing, he wants to be ready in case that call has to be made and won't hesitate or in general feel bad if that call has to be made. Until then? Enjoy life for what it is, laugh, love, and feel. For tomorrow we die.
|Skills='''Tenno:'''
Ash is still largely human, so still hurts, bleeds, and needs air, but being a Tenno marks him as a member of a relatively small group that are survivors of the Zariman Ten Zero and gained a connection to an otherworldly dimension known as The Void. This life experience as well as those that followed taught Ash the art of fighting as well as how to endure physical and psychological trauma that would debilitate normal humans.

'''The Void:'''
Ash can tap into a dimension of exotic energy that both contains every type of power, and at the same time 'none.' This power is used to passively toughen and strengthen his body, and allows; short-ranged blunt-force shockwaves, momentary bursts to rapidly propel himself along straight-line paths, and chargeable narrowly focused energy beams. These beams can be blocked with armor, or energy barriers, however for a barrier to be effective it must block the entirety of an attack's energy since otherwise a set portion will always penetrate, even if that portion is rendered 'harmless' in the transition.

Other than passive physical augmentation Ash's use of this energy is dependent on both his body's ability to gather and hold Void energy as well as his mind's ability to focus so that energy can be put to use. While he can safely handle only so much at any given time, he is able to draw more than what is safe to handle at risk of physical injury, mental fatigue, or at the more extreme cases, risk his body detonating if it cannot be properly harnessed.

'''Focus Schools:'''
While Ash's training is ongoing he has taken bits and pieces from the differing schools of Void Useage and incorporated them into a personal methodology. These bits and pieces range from empowering whatever weapon he wields with void energies, to focusing his mind to heal himself or anyone he can physically touch. Additionally there are less combat oriented 'just because I think it would be neat' effects Ash can create such as changing the color of the energy he can emit, amplify his or another person's voice, or even creating a flame-like 'aura' as a personal light. On a less combative but more practical scale with focus he can charge any small device by holding it, or even power larger constructs if he focuses. All this is dependent on his ability to focus and his connection to the void. If either are disrupted his ability to perform is removed.

'''Gun and Blade:'''
Ash is able to use with the same degree of skill as trained soldiers almost any gun, sword, or other weapon that is realistically useable by someone that is his size. It is worth noting that his skills vary and he has preferences in what he will carry; bow, ballistic type gun, throwing knives, swords, or a throwing bladed disc that can return to the wielder's hand unless it is embedded or otherwise held with more force than Ash would be able to exert if it were attempting to physically remove it.

While Ash is often content with normal weaponry, some items in his Arsenal defy conventional explanation or are otherwise specialty gear. Ash can choose to either add any single of the following effects to an existing weapon by way of special ammunition or coating as appropriate to the weapon type.

The following effects can be applied to most non-unique weapons Ash wields if he has time to prepare: Acids strong enough to eat through many types of material, toxic gas that can range from mildly irritating to fatal, a slow field that also subjects targets to extreme cold, explosive, electrical, or extreme heat either by way of open fire or more technological means such as microwaves.

'''Mobility:'''
Ash can sprint, slide, and climb as well as can be expected from a reasonably athletic young man. This allows him to find and exploit gaps in crowds or other obstacles that normal people would either miss or be unable to squeeze through.
|Gallery=
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|WarkerName=



|}}

Alissa Bailey

2026-07-27T03:35:49Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Alissa_Bailey.png
|Name={{PAGENAME}}
|Pronunciation=
|Alias=
|Occupation=Priestess
|Series=Original
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Neutral Good
|Gender=Female
|Species=Homosarien
|Short=A tall teenage girl with golden blonde hair
|Extra1=
|Age=16
|Birthdate=April 29th
|Height=5'7
|Weight=140 lbs
|Desc=This young girl is best described as a girl of contrasts. It's fairly clear that she has the bearings of a common girl that grew up with a life of lots of labour, with callused hands. She is tall for her age, standing at five foot seven, with sturdy shoulders and lithe arms. Her physique from there is girlish, growing and maturing into that of a generally attractive young woman. Where the contrast comes from, is from her brilliant, golden blonde hair and teal green eyes and countenance, there is always a warm and welcoming presence to this young woman, supernatural in nature. The youth is rarely seen without a smile. Presently she wears very simple clothes of cheaper, tough fabrics and clearly not modern, modest in fit tailoring, with a dark red cloak. She carries a staff and greatsword tucked under her cloak, both with runes on them.
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' 
Alissa is very reckless in the face of evil acts and is often going to put herself at risk. Her incredible courage can be a downside here if she ever bites off more than she can chew.

Prepares to settle things with as little violence as possible, and while she understands that won't always happen, she has no true passion for violence or fighting.

Alissa is rather Naive, and unobservant at times. She is an idealistic girl who has her heads in the clouds and always thinks the best of people at first. She is very oblivious to romantic approaches simply due to her lifestyle growing up.

'''Vulnerable to corruption:''' This is a thing that plagues all people like her from her homeland, Arcadia. With the right pushes, the right approach, a priestess of Arcadia can be perhaps corrupted to a darker power or another kind of worship. The reason they are vulnerable is that the lifestyle of a priest of a priestess of Arcadia is a very strict one, with many rules and oaths one imposes upon oneself as being part of it, and the freedom that is often felt once sworn away from it is immense.

'''Going 'Gray':''' In Alissa's world, those who wield mana attain it from a source, normally. With her arrival in twisted, her link to her god is being slowly cut off, and active use of her mana may speed the process up. She has maybe six months to find a way to create her own mana, or find another source, be it a deity, a device, or anything in between. 'Going Gray' is the term used in Alissa's world for this problem, and is considered sacrilegious among her people, as normally the only way to be going gray is to have wronged God in some extreme form. The worse yet, is arching, going from light to dark.
|Background=Alissa was born in a world known as Grandeur. It is much like earth, with many different cultures, and many different peoples. But in this world, there was one concrete fact: Gods are real, and Alissa was living proof of this fact, as she was a homosarien, a variant of human in the world of Grandeur that was created by the gods, in this case, in particular. Arcadia's god: The one true god. A homosarien, or light-bearer, took 'mana', through their gate, provided by God himself. The gate was an actual physical and spiritual part of a Homosarien's body, nestled deep within the brain. Beyond that, Homosariens were the same as Homosapiens, but homo-sapiens of her world could wield 'essence', and with it, the elements of the world.

Arcadia is a land of knights, chivalry, and had many elements connecting it to similar Arthurian legends of Earth, and light-bearers such as herself, regardless of their lifestyle or social class normally, were held in high regard. They were the bearers of the lords light, all chosen to wield the light to protect their land and guide the populace. Alissa herself had a hero, a childhood hero that never met, but in her idealistic mind, she was inspired by the tales told.

V Vermillion. The woman who chased the demons away kept them away for Years and Years. A kind soul, and protective soul that cared for all of Arcadia. Those stories resonated with a young Alissa, and she was determined to be like her hero. "Just you wait! I'm going to chase away all those demons that are coming, just like V did!"

it was true, demons were coming, with V Vermillion's death, there was no one left to keep the demons of hell sealed away, and in time, they would come. Crusaders were sent out to stop them before they arrived.. but the location of the demon's portal had been lost to history, and the crusaders were lost at sea

Alissa trained her light in the arts of a cleric and light mage, even from a young age, a cleric's healing capabilities were untold of said even to bring back the eyes of a man who lost them in battle. A cleric made oaths to pursue paths of peace and to spread the touch of light to all one can, to promise kindness and acceptance. The merciful and compassionate side of her lord.

And then in the arts of a light mage, bending the very light mana into a weapon, creating small lasers, or protective barriers, to great, incredible feats of calling down her Gods might in a limited capacity, one, as a youth, she could not come close to.

Try, try as she might, a young, eleven-year-old Alissa could not combat the forces of darkness like she thought she could. Her homeland had gotten overwhelmed in a day, as most of the army had left on the crusade. People were forced to abandon their homes, and live among the castle. Alissa was included in that, having abandoned her farm alongside her family, her father having been seriously crippled by goblins in the escape, an injury he would never recover from, as at this time, Alissa's healing abilities very limited, by her experience, limited training, and age.

But sometimes. Heart, courage, and a determined mindset were enough to change the course of battles, Alissa tried. She joined the knights defending the land at every chance she could. She fought with everything she had. She had to be clever and smart, as even a goblin was too much for her directly.

But she'd still try. She had to try, her home was in danger, and those still stuck outside the walls of Arcadia were suffering. The goblins pillage, torture.. and who knows what else.

And through her efforts, she was able to make a difference, even saving the lives of a knight of the round table on two occasions, one time using her light to step through a billowing pillow of fire created by a chimera without being burnt, and pulled the burnt Knight, Ser Tristan, back, away from the battle to heal him. A youth that should never have to be on a field of battle faced the challenges of such head-on, knowing that even weak as she was, she had to try.

Soon enough, supplies at the castle were dwindling, and the threats became more clear, as vampires showed up, and one even tried to turn one of Alissa's role models, Iris Astraea, the Cardinal of fortitude, chosen by the archbishop himself. This left Iris in a half-vampiric state, the cardinal's blessing and spirit protecting her from full corruption into a vampiric creature.

It was also the time that Alissa had to make the decision on if she'd see Iris as a demon, or still as Iris. She prayed at length about it, meditating upon an answer.. and decided to trust her role model, who had begun to also teach her the arts of a knight, learning swordplay, and while Alissa never truly excelled in it, it gave her the much-needed edge to help her survive.

A climatic encounter with a creature only known as a Behemoth was a defining moment of Alissa's courage, as landed from a leap, hundreds of feet away, right before her, and proclaimed its presence with a roar that nearly stopped Alissa's heart and knocked her unconscious. Many fell unconscious, but Alissa steeled herself, and pressed on, pulling away from an injured knight, Ezekiel hawk, who had been injured by a giant prior, unable to move at all, due to his wounds, and would likely have died to the behemoth after.

There were few battles after that, with the king and his army returning, having fought their own battles in a foreign land of darkness, but not the land they had thought it was. The king chased away the demon threat with his armies and had a climactic battle with the behemoth, slaying it in the end.

it wasn't over just yet, however. Vladimir, the third lord of pride and an incredibly powerful vampire was pushed into action by the killing of his Behemoth, and a duel between the vampire and king happened. The vampire was sent running, and the king critically injured, and Ser Lancelot was slain.

Alissa, in a sudden bout of energy, put everything she could into her healing to save the king's life. Every bit, it was a reckless, dangerous thing to do. While a person like herself does not suffer physical fatigue from using their mana, it eventually can have a toll on the mind, the mana is drawn from the gate in their brain.

She pushed herself too hard, temporarily damaging her gate and brain, and leaving her in a coma for a month. She had, however, saved the king's life. While she was in a coma, Vladimir returned again, and this time, Rayner killed him.

That ended the first siege upon Arcadia, and lead to another five years of peace for Arcadia. Alissa recovered from her coma in a month and was heralded as many by a child hero who had been an inspiration for many throughout the time the king was away. When the King asked what Alissa wanted, she just said "I just want my family farm back. I don't need any special reward, I just miss my home."

She got it back, and for the next five years, she grew, she trained, and she worked the farm, but then Arcadia had to face the world: They had made first contact with outside nations five years ago, and now word, of another land cropping up with darkness, enslaving others, and lead by Lycanus, a species that were believed to be demons by Arcadia, and its teachings.

Alissa was selected to go. Now, sixteen years old, a full-fledged priestess, she was determined to try and save these people from an encroaching darkness. She never arrives, as the boat, she was on capsized, and in it, she made a desperate bid to save herself, and others. Magic distorted, and through some happenstance, be it luck, good, or bad, or done on purpose, she now finds herself in the world of twisted, in the strange, foreign city of Mabase.

This, however, is a timeline shift.

In the true timeline, Alissa had been captured by the forces of the enemy, and put through great torments, until she succumbed to the torments, and fell to darkness, becoming a priestess of darkness, of worship to the Demon prince of lust of her world - Asmodeus. She had taken the identity Lascif, and cast aside her past.

-----
Personality quirks:
Alissa is a kind, and caring individual. She puts others before herself and will also face off against evil when it is presented before her. She will fight, and she will fight lethally if its against demons or monsters. But against people? Humans, or what she perceives as human? She will refuse to kill them, no matter how many times they may try to harm her.

She believes there is good in even the darkest hearts of humanity. She would rather nurture that good then feed any darkness. Humble, patient, kind, Alissa doesn't strive to be a light in the darkness wherever she goes - its simply in her nature to be.
|Skills='''Light Magic:''' Bending Light and photons into lasers, mirror-like barriers and other forms of attack and defence, including exploding varieties or even hand-held swords of blade or light, for more complex works, incantations are usually included. Sometimes, it takes on the form of holy lightning or fire, borrowed from the seraphic nature of her magic.

'''Clerical arts:''' Learned as part of her training as a cleric, clerical arts are blessings of light magic or healing arts. A blessing can make an individual stronger, faster, protect their mind from intrusion, or a great number of things. A clerics healing arts, at their peak, are considered to be nothing short of a miracle, as with great focus and prayer, a cleric can restore a lost individual's limbs or organs if done soon enough. This is often enough to bring someone who recently died within a moment back from the dead, as it works on the concept of neogenesis, rebirth, and effectively turns time back on the event that caused the damage to occur.

'''Spirit arts:''' Techniques taught to her by the archbishop himself, and a technique she came up with on her own, these don't fall under the above categories as they usually involve empowering oneself in one way or another with the use of Mana, which in Alissa's world is entirely spiritual, which makes them unusual.

'''Swordsmanship:''' Not her strongest point, but she was taught the ways of knightly swordsmanship with sword, shield, and longsword.

'''Cooking:''' Alissa loves to cook, and if she's making food - someone hungry is going to be having a good day, as her passion for it has allowed her to become a very talented cook.

'''Attunement to Light''': Alissa is highly attuned to light and holy energies, and can innately sense them, it affects her appearance and is the reason she has the blonde hair and teal-green eyes that almost glow, it gives her that warm and welcoming presence as well. Said presence might instead be irritating, annoying, or downright repulsive to those that wield opposing energies.

'''Sensing:''' Alissa can sense dark energies in a limited capacity and a short-range around her, she can't discern the type of darkness or know its exact direction, but simply know its nearby.
|Gallery=
|MusicEmbed=
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=



|}}

Alden

2026-07-27T03:35:31Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Alden.jpg
|Name=Alden (or Toy agumon also works)
|Pronunciation=
|Series=Digimon Tamers
|Threat= Unknown
|Class= Unknown
|Alignment= Unknown
|Gender= Unknown
|Species=Toy Agumon/Digimon
|Age= 3
|Birthdate= Unknown
|Height= Unknown
|Weight= Unknown
|Short= A short 'dinosaur' made of very large, colorful toy bricks/legos.
Miscellaneous: Friendly and kinda silly!
|Desc=Toy Agumon (or Alden) looks like something a kid would make, if said kid had access to a large pile of legos (and based on digimon lore, that seems to be the case!) A simple bipedal 'dinosaur' made of colourful plastic blocks (of clashing colors), that seems just as nimble and alive as anything else, despite the 'material' it seems to be made of.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|}} 
==Background==

==Notes==
<references />

Adam Weissman

2026-07-27T03:35:14Z

Marr0w:

{{2019Profile|
|Image=Adam.jpg
|Name=Adam Weissman
|Pronunciation=(AD-əm VIES-mən)
|Alias=Adam
|Occupation=Ace Pilot
|Series=Voltron: Legendary Defender
|Threat=Street Sweeper
|Alignment=Lawful Good
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human
|Short=Sandy brown hair, brown skin, heterochromia, and burnmarks
|Extra1='''Misc:''' When a hostile alien species called the Galra attacked (his) Earth, Adam Weissman's superior, Admiral Sanda, did not initially meet the attack with the full brunt of the new fighters that had been built out of Earth technology fused with Altean (a peaceful race that had been almost eradicated by the Galra). Instead she sent a normal squad of fighters, with Adam, ace pilot and officer of the Galaxy Garrison, leading them. Though they were massacred, Adam survived against the superior Galra craft the longest. But at the last second, something plucked him from the seat of his exploding craft and dropped him here in Twisted -- injured, but alive.
|Age=23
|Birthdate=''Unknown''
|Height=5'9"
|Weight=150-ish
|Desc=        About average height and average build for a human male in his 20s. His hair is short and a light, sandy brown color; his skin is a warm, earthy brown. His eyes are also brown... at least, one eye is. The other is a bleached sort of beige color.

        Of course, the reason for the strange eye color is located directly below the beige eye -- a scarred burnmark across the bridge of his nose that becomes wider as it moves to the left. If one looks, one can see the rest of the burnmark on the left side of his neck.

        He's generally wearing something that covers at least the left side of his body well. If it's a short-sleeved shirt, there will be a tightly-fitting, longer "sleeve" underneath... perhaps something reminiscent of a pressure garment?

        It's generally the same below the waist too, except he doesn't tend towards shorter pants lengths. When he does, again, there's a longer, more tightly fitting thing underneath. Again, much like a pressure garment.

        At least his shoes are normal -- generally a pair of hiking boots with good ankle support. On dressy occasions he'll go with loafers, and if he's trying to be more casual... well, the hiking boots. He seems to need the ankle support, since they're laced quite tightly. 
|Extra2='''Flaws:''' <ul><li>Adam is very pragmatic and logical, to the point of seeming cold or aloof to those that don't know him. He can also nag or come off as passive aggressive when he is arguing for a point he deeply believes to be true.</li><li>Due to the trauma inflicted during the destruction of his craft, the vision in his left eye is often temperamental. He's not completely blind in that eye, but he finds it difficult to distinguish colors with his left eye. The vision continues to deteriorate, despite surgery. Eventually he will need to either face blindness in that eye or find a replacement.</li><li>Between having essentially "fallen at the first charge" against the Galra in his world, and now being a completely normal human being in a world of super-powered people, Adam is beginning to develop an inferiority complex. It can lead him to be reckless on rare occasions -- or, more likely, fail to act when he could have done something to help, because "there are more effective people".</li></ul> 
|Background=<h3>'''Background'''</h3>        Little is known about Adam's childhood (he's a background character that's seen twice). His actual last name has never even been given. But it is known that Adam and Takashi Shirogane -- who would later pilot the Black Lion of Voltron -- were cadets in the Garrison, and grew close. By the time they were junior officers, the pair had engaged to marry.

        However, Shiro's muscular disease would rear its ugly head, both in Shiro's life and in their conversations. Adam wanted Shiro to take it easy so he wouldn't strain his condition; Shiro felt that if he didn't get into space NOW, his condition would make it impossible later on. Adam pointed out that he had stood by Shiro for every one of these missions where Shiro pushed himself, worrying each time that it would be the mission that killed Shiro. But there, in their last official conversation, Adam made a decision -- "I can't keep doing this", he said. And he punctated it by offering the following parting words as he left the room: "If you go, don't expect me to be here when you get back".

        His words would be morbidly prophetic, as it turned out.

        Shiro went on the mission, was captured by the Galra, and declared dead... due to "pilot error". Adam did not believe this, but couldn't risk anyone else digging; if the Garrison was closing the case this early, something was fishy. He did search for what information he could, but alone there wasn't much to go on. He and Keith Kogane, the young teen that Shiro took in after his mother disappeared and his father died, grew apart due to Keith's resentment towards him.

        Some time later, Sendak, the commander of the Galran military, attacked Earth. Admiral Sanda refused to immediately deploy their brand new hybrid Earth/alien fighters (they had been built with Altean technology, the tech of Princess Allura's home), but instead deployed Adam's squad in normal Earth fighter planes.

        They were almost instantly slaughtered, to the man. They simply could not stand against the Galran's much superior fighters. Adam, to his credit, was the last of his squad to be shot down. He realized with horror that he was the last one alive. A moment later, light filled his vision, and his plane exploded.

        But that wasn't the end for Adam. Maybe it was the reaction of the Galra fighter's ion beams with the engines of his own plane. But as the craft exploded, he was pulled away from his world and dropped -- quite literally -- into Twisted. He was injured, bleeding, burnt, and confused... but he was alive, which is more than he would have expected. The only question now was... would he survive his injuries...? <h3>'''Personality'''</h3>

        Adam was the grounded logic to Shiro's impulsive drive, reminding him of the reality of a situation before Shiro could jump feet-first into trouble. This gave the appearance of Adam being "team mom", in a way, since he did that to his whole squad. But those who knew him, knew he only did it because he cared. He could also fall into nagging if allowed, and could definitely be a Debbie Downer, even to himself at times. Conversely, Shiro taught him to be a bit spontaneous and to enjoy himself a little.

        He was pragmatic and clever, and often read between the lines of conversation, paying attention to what was ACTUALLY being said, and extrapolating (generally correctly) that which was NOT said. He didn't like to act or make decisions until he had all the facts, and this made him seem indecisive to those who were more willing and/or able to make snap decisions based on "gut feeling". To say nothing of seeming cold and passive-aggressive due to refusing to let his emotions get the better of him.

        Despite how different the two of them were, he and Shiro are alike in at least one way -- they are both unwilling to show it when they're experiencing negative feelings. Adam is unfailingly calm and collected, and the thing that would make him lose his precious cool, at least visibly, would be a serious thing indeed. Like Shiro, Adam tends to do his screaming on the inside.

|Skills=<ul><li>Graduated from a military school, and at the time of his "death" was a commander in the Galaxy Garrison, as such he's more than competent in a variety of weapon and close-quarter combat techniques.</li><li>Despite his poor vision (he wears corrective glasses), Adam is also apparently a good enough pilot that the garrison was willing to allow him to do so. It's worth noting that he survives against the Galra's first wave of attack the longest.</li><li>Another defiance of his poor (unaided) vision, Adam is a crack shot and one of the best snipers in the Garrison.</li></ul>
|Gallery=<center><gallery>
File:Adam2.png
File:Adam3.png
File:Adam4.png
File:Adam5.png
</gallery></center>
|MusicEmbed=See [[Theme_Music]] for help with this section.
|Logs={{Template:Logs}}
|WarkerName=
|}}
[[Category:Kohoku_Staff]]

Crux

2026-07-27T03:34:41Z

Marr0w:

{{2014Profile|
|Image=Crux.png
|Name=Crux Caedon
|Series=Original
|Threat=Cosmic Force
|Class=Advent
|Alignment=Neutral
|Gender=Male
|Species=Human+
|Age=484
|Birthdate=
|Height=5'9"
|Weight=87 kg
|Short=Silvery white hair, and vaguely asian features. Stands out, but isn't that impressive looking.
|Desc=:No matter how you look at it, the man standing before you is not particularly impressive. With silvery white hair, hazel eyes, and refined, vaguely asian facial features, Crux Caedon might stand out in a crowd, but one would unlikely think twice of his presence. Dark circles under his eyes make him appear almost anemic, and appear to have set into his face permanently, if such a thing is possible. Dressed in a drab brown jacket that's seen a lot of use, and black slacks that look like they've seen a repair job or two, Crux's manner of dress doesn't exactly command respect either. His jacket hangs open, a plain white shirt worn underneath to cover his chest. Of course, looks are often deceiving, and one might suspect this to be the case with Crux Caedon, since something about him hints at more than just another face on the street. At his side hangs a long black cylindrical sheath, strangely locked around the hilt of what would appear to be a katana. Not exactly fitting with his style of dress, but then, his style of dress isn't exactly fitting with his identity, so it's nothing new. What is new, however, is the black wrap around his left hand, standing out in contrast to the fingerless glove on his right. Additionally, the magatama necklace with a green crystal set in it seems rather new. Updating his look? ... Not exactly a drastic change.

|Skills=Primary Skills:

== Jikuu ==

As an Advent, Crux has the somewhat limited ability to look and/or travel through space and time, going almost anywhere and anywhen he pleases. Additionally, the more flexible rules of physics, such as gravity, are fluid for him. These rules need not apply to him if he does not wish them to, and even the more inviolate rules of physics, such as two objects existing in the same space and time, are a bit more flexible for him than for most people. This ability alone caused many Advents of the past to categorize themselves as deities, and is responsible for the arrogance that contributed to their downfall.

== Advent Domain: Light ==

Crux is the Advent of Light, and can create, manipulate, and read light in all its various forms. As such, he can be a very difficult enemy to fight for those who rely on their sense of sight, and is often able to 'see' much more than what is in front of his eyes.

In addition, he has the ability to convert his being into one of pure light, rendering him immaterial and incredibly difficult to harm. This ability allows him to pass through any objects that light may pass through, and his movement speed becomes roughly equivalent to the speed of light as well, though affecting the physical world becomes quite the chore.

== Advent Talent: Portals ==

Crux's talent could be considered to be from both the Space and Time domains, and it is the ability to create portals from one location in space-time to another. Most Advents can do this with enough practice and effort, but Crux's mastery over portals is absolute, and even the Advent of Space was only able to compete with him in this area, not outshine him.

Because portals come so easily to him, they are Crux's most used ability, and are enough to make him a force to be reckoned with all on their own. He has shown virtually no limit to the distance in either time or space that he can join two portals, and has on more than one occasion opened a portal into the heart of a nearby star.

== Advent Instinct: Human ==

Crux is the near pinnacle of mankind, with experience in almost every field imaginable. While he lived life as a doctor and a war veteran, Crux's other lives spanned virtually the entire gamut of human potential, and as such, while he is not quite as strong or bright as many other Advents, he is just plain good at everything. Except magic. Hey, noone's perfect.

== Advent Artifact: Unknown (Lucern?) ==

Every Advent will construct an artifact of immense power some time before their death. Clever Advents will create artifacts that only they can use, but there are legends of such artifacts that even a simple mortal can wield effectively. It is unknown if Crux has created such an artifact, but it is almost certain that the sword he wields was created by an Advent of some variety or another. It was handed down through his wife's family for generations, but it was only when she died and he was the last of their family line that he realized the potential the blade had.

Forged in the heart of a star as it went nova, honed to the molecular edge, and granted the ability to consume the essence of whatever it struck, the blade known as Lucern was perhaps the greatest masterpiece of a sword ever forged. The blade was shattered in a fierce battle, but Crux doesn't like to talk about it. He still carries the hilt, along with the partial blade and many of its fragments. Given Advents' ability to time travel, it is entirely possible that Crux created the sword and gave it to his wife's ancestors, but he staunchly denies this when questioned about it.

== Exaltation ==

Crux is one of the only two Advents to have gone through the Exaltation process. As a result of his attempts to escape throughout, he has only erratic control over both his Advent and Exalt abilities, with the latter being almost impossible to use without draining another Exalt of their own powers.

In the event that Crux is actually able to drain another Exalt of their strength, he is able to temporarily transform himself into a crystalline being, jet-black in color, with significantly enhanced durability and speed. This ability is so uncommonly used that noone alive can estimate the extent of the powers and abilities Crux has in this form, save that they are purely physical in nature.

Whilst in this form, Crux is unable to use his Advent abilities, save minor feats of his Domain. The cause of this is unknown.

== Skill: Swordplay ==

Crux has mastered the swordplay of his wife's family, the Caedon Ryu single-sword style. Using it as a basis, he has created a newer version of the style that mixes in the clever use of light manipulation to make an opponent see multiple strikes where there is only one, or to hide a single strike from an opponent with a trick of the light.

== Skill: Medicine ==

Spending a large part of his pre-awakening life as a doctor, Crux is well versed in medicine, and even knows a few mystical techniques that have not survived to modern day.

== Flaw: Narcolepsy ==

During the early stages of his life as an Advent, Crux Caedon pushed himself much harder and further than any Advent should have. It is a wonder that he did not simply burn himself out, but he still falls asleep at random (often inconvenient) moments, almost as if paying off a sleep debt that borders on infinite. As an additional result, he always has dark circles under his eyes.

== Flaw: Wordiness ==

Crux suffers from the classic super villain flaw, despite not considering himself a villain. He often has the chance to defeat an enemy, but what does he do? He starts ''monologuing!''

Always going on about how wrong his enemies are, or how inevitable their defeat is, Crux's penchant for talking when he should be fighting developed somewhere around the same time that he realized he's really difficult to kill, and is rivaled only by his over-inflated ego.

== Flaw: Overconfidence ==

While Crux is clever and powerful, he has a subconscious tendency to act as though he were nearly all powerful and all knowing. This doesn't quite reach the realm of arrogance, but it leads him to underestimate the dangers he faces, and is often interpreted as a powerful death wish on his part.

== Weakness: Suicidal Tendencies ==

Killing Crux Caedon is a task that has been attempted by an ungodly number of people in his four or five centuries of life, and it has only ever been achieved once - by Crux himself. Whether it's dabbling in powers and struggles that are too far above his level to survive, or burning himself out because he just ''has'' to defeat an enemy no matter what, the easiest way to 'kill' Crux is to get him to do it for you. It is wise to be a good distance away at the time, though. Just to be safe.

|Stats=* PHYSICAL ABILITY: 7
* KNOWLEDGE: 6
* MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE: 2
* SUPERHUMAN ABILITY: 9
* THREAT LEVEL: 6 + 1* = 7

*Consider Crux one full threat level higher for being himself.
|MusicEmbed=[http://marrowproductions.com/Twisted/wiki/images/9/9a/Raven.jpg Ravenous.]
|Logs={{Template:Logs-Neo_Tokyo}}
{{Template:Logs-Chrono}}
{{Template:Logs-Pre-U}}
{{Template:Logs-Twisted}}
|}} 
==Background==
Crux Caedon was born during the 18th century in the highlands of Okinawa, in a shard of the multiverse significantly forked off from the main timeline. He was abandoned at birth by his mother, who sought to protect him from his father, the High Oracle Gensai. Raised in an orphanage, Crux grew up with several friends, and was an unusually well-adjusted child for an orphan.

After being drafted, and becoming a war hero of some repute, Crux settled down with a woman, took her surname for his own, and had a child. Their untimely deaths began his slow process of awakening to his role as the Advent of Light, and without anything to tie him to one place, he began to wander. He hasn't stopped since.

Crux disappeared at the breaking of Twisted, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, hasn't been seen since. Perhaps he died, though that seems tremendously unlikely.

==Class: Advent==
Crux is one of the six Advents that remains active in the multiverse, and he has all the powers afforded to him by that status. Each Advent has a domain that they are associated with, an aspect of reality that they exert anywhere from moderate to total control over. In addition to their domain, each Advent has a singular talent they are skilled in, usually independent of their main area of expertise. This can (and usually does) synergize with their domain quite well.

Advents are living beings that have existed in every possible variation of the multiverse. How such a thing is even possible is still a matter of much debate. The most widely held theory is that there are fixed points in time where something always occurs and always will, and that these fixed points invariably lead to the creation of an Advent. There are others who argue that there must be an entity guiding the whole of time for the purpose of creating these beings.

Whatever the cause, an Advent begins life as any other of whatever race it is born to. Through the course of their life, often during traumatic or cathartic events, an Advent begins to reel in other versions of itself, growing in both power and skill as entire other lifetimes worth of experience and strength flow into them. As they exist across a nigh infinite spectrum of realities, this usually ends up in an Advent being the ultimate example of their race at the time they lived.

==Notes==
<references />
{{Navbox/Twisted_Council}}
[[Category:Pre-Unification]]
[[Category:Twisted_Council]]
[[Category:Active]]

2026-07-26 - The Advent Returns: Curse of the Nekojin!

2026-07-27T03:33:17Z

Marr0w: Created page with "{{Logsummary| Title = The Advent Returns: Curse of the Nekojin! |Summary = Continuing from last time, Superboy and Satyrn ma..."

{{Logsummary|
Title = The Advent Returns: Curse of the Nekojin!
|Summary = [[2026-07-19 - Satyrn, S-Mart, and_Superboy | Continuing from last time]], Superboy and Satyrn make their way to the UR only to be interrupted by the return of the one person Satyrn has vowed to destroy...
|Who = [[Satyrn]], [[Superboy]], [[Crux]]
|Date = July 26th, 2026
|Where = [[S-Mart Parking Lot]], [[The Arena]]
|Log=

Satyrn's entire body, while looking slim and toned, is a massive ball of dense muscle. It's also incredibly tense, and everything about her posture gets rigid as Superboy puts an arm around her shoulders to help her. Her first instinct is to attack, drive an elbow into the ribs, stamp onto a toe, or multiple other ways to attack him, but the tiredness running through her body and mind after her travels, and the fact that she knows he's just trying to help let's her keep this auto-reflexes at bay.

The saiyan emits a light grunt, which might be a thanks, as she feels like her body is getting lighter. Okay. That's...useful right now. She focuses her chi on her wounds, forcing the blood there to hold in place so it starts to clot. It's not like she has a lot of energy right now, but bleeding out is never a way to recover faster.

"What? Why in the dry wells are you calling Twisted Street your mother's base?" And he used to be part of TASK? She doesn't remember him. Oh, he must be from the reformed TASK that let all the Kept escape and cast the Keepers to the winds. At least that's her interpretation of events.

The ever helpful Superboy tilts his head at that one. "Mother's Base...?" Like a base of operations? Mother? Mom? Oh, Ma-base. He shakes his head a little, "Mabase. Weird word. There's some record of some city ruins from back in the day called that and now somehow that's the name of this city. It's a little less confusing than everything named Twisted-something at least."

He shakes his head again, "Also, do NOT try to use the library to find this stuff out. There's like, nobody keeping anything organized anymore. Had to spend half a day in there speed-reading everything to connect anything around here."

"It was better back when all the little kiosks worked right, but Bishop stopped updating them." He ponders a moment with a frown, "Actually Bishop rarely even makes an appearance. No one does. It's why I went and joined up with TASK for awhile thinking it'd help with the whole saving-people schtick, but Cosgrove is so hands off it's like there might as well not even be a police presence around here." It's not even occurring to him that Satryn might not be following any of this, but then he's not here half the time himself so what does he know?

After a moment's thought he adds, "Also, sorry about the whole walking thing. I'd normally just fly us there but that burning guy kinda sapped me. Feelin' better though. How about yourself? What's your name, anyways? They call me Superboy, but my friends tend to call me Kon or Kon-El." He grins proudly, "It's like my legal name, I guess, but not officially." Sure. That makes sense.

"-uck?!" The latter half of what was almost certainly inappropriate rings out across the Twisted Street. It actually... it doesn't even sound like it's nearby. Someone was just really really lou-- "What did you do to my city?!" Oh, sure. No, it's fine, it's not like I was narrating or anything. Please. Finish your rant.

A continuation of said rant begins, but unlike those first bits, it's not loud enough to be clear. There's just some voice that is *still loud enough to be heard a good distance away* yelling things that are probably best not heard.

Huh. Voice sounds oddly familiar.

...It's probably nothing.

Satyrn takes in slow purposeful breaths. If this isn't all some elaborate hell dimension trick that accessed her memories and is creating some sick scenario then after all her travels and hardships she's wound up right back where she left. Had meant to leave forever. But then her G-PADVII stopped working and she got stuck in her pocket dimension home. Sure, it's a nice place, but she didn't want to be stuck there for the rest of her existence. Alone. She glances at Superboy as he talks, wow he likes to talk. She takes it all in. "What happened to Gegoshi?" Maybe he doesn't even know who that is. "Who's Bishop?" She then actually trembles, goosebumps running across her flesh. Her saiyan tail, which has been loose, winds itself slowly around her left leg. "By the dawn, how long have I been gone." She murmurs. She has more questions than that, and a really, really pressing one. You know what, she's to tired not to ask even though it makes her grind her teeth when she says his name, "Is Crux still around?" She almost doesn't want the answer, but she was raised to be strategic, to get as much information as possible at all times in all situations.

She also hears the distant voices, but they're distant, so, she disregards them for now.

He DOES like to talk! Thank you for noticing! "Geogshi? The old angel/synth-chick?" How many Gegoshis does he know, exactly? "According to the records she got her freedom, got invited to join a new Council when Setsuna Meioh took over from Senor Diablo, and then for some reason everyone just kinda checked out and vanished."

He shrugs again, "Far as I can tell Setsuna is still in charge. Some place called 'The Cradle' claimed they made Gegoshi and sent Bishop to take her place running everything." He gives an apologetic smile, "So, uh. Part of the whole being-a-clone thing makes me a bit of a book nerd. When I got told to come help out here, first thing I did was read everything I could get my little gloved hands on." He IS wearing little gloves, aww. "So I've got you covered on the history lesson."

Whether he doesn't know Crux or simply skipped over the question is hard to say. He's been hearing the man rambling himself for a while, "Jeeze, I wish he'd give it a rest. Some people just love to hear the sound of their own voice."

Satyrn furrows her brow at that. Checked out and vanished? She growls lowly. "The Cradle? The Core made Gegoshi. I've never heard of Bishop." People are always getting things wrong. No one ever knows the truth. People have probably forgotten all about Concordance at this point. Not that it matters. Why does she even care? None of this matters anymore. But her elders forced curiosity into her being when she was growing up, made her always want to learn more about the enemy, opposition, and everything else. And she's not going to risk ripping a hole in the dimensions only to end up in another hell to escape this place. She's having multiple dilemma's which, when you get three or more, they start becoming a crisis.

She takes him saying people checked out and vanished to include Crux. That...that angers her, because she wants to take every piece of his existence and tear it to pieces with her bare hands. Everything is his fault. "Have any of the gods retur-" Is the start of her next question, but then a semi-truck spirals and slams into the street nearby. She looks around for threats, probing out to sense any threats, her body already tense for battle anyway. Then again, this is Twisted Street, these kind of chaotic things are expected.

And no, techincally, Satyrn never turned in a resignation. Do they not fire for absenteeism? Maybe they don't. Does she get back pay? Not that Satyrn thinks any of this, just...saiyan.

Superboy, of course, tenses up. If he didn't quite literally have his hands full he would have been all over that truck, but at least no one seems to be hurt. Instead he releases Satyrn to stand on her own, "Just a sec..." before throwing himself into the air to stop whatever that man-sized blur that's flying through the air in an attempt to stop it from crashing, not that there's enough time.

If he'd been more on top of his game he might have caught up, but instead all he can do is watch it hit about 100 yards away with a wince. He calls out with a bit of hesitation, "...you okay, buddy?" Let's just hope the man-sized blur was in fact a man, or this whole exchange is going to look really weird.

Surprising noone with a basic grasp of ballistic arcs, the white hot streak slams back down into the parking lot about a hundred meters past the crumpled cabin of a truck, just as Superboy likely predicted. The pulverized asphalt and rock dust alone kicks up a nice cloud of black, don't-breathe-this smoke around the landing point, and there is a low, offended cough from inside the plume.

"...Good to be home." The voice is gravely, sarcastic, and has about a century's worth of exhaustion behind it. There's a long, drawn out breath, and then two golden lights blaze from within the smoke, each roughly the size of an eye, and spaced apart the right amount too. Glowing golden eyes. Cool, cool.

Only a moment passes before there's a low skree-ing sound and a tiny red ball of murder comes screeching through the air at nearly the same speed as the other two objects - it's a little imp demon that can't be more than a foot tall, but it's flying and holding what looks like rear-axle of a semi-truck - perhaps the SAME semi truck? It rears it above its head, clearly aiming to clock whoever's in the cloud of smoke with it, but then it... disappears? No, wait, it reappears about twelve meters back, still screeching, travels another twelve meters, and disappears again, doing the re-appear and disappear trick once more.

This continues for a bit, until the momentum of whatever leap the thing took starts to fall off, and that's when one might notice the ripples in the air - one where the thing is disappearing, and one where it is reappearing. The "disappear" ripple is slowly getting lower with each arc, like it's a catcher's mitt and whenever the demon is caught, it is launched out of the first one again. Well, this IS an odd show. Slowly but surely the ripples move closer to each other now, so that the arc remains uninterrupted, and the demon that is effectively falling sideways looks as perturbed as one has time to look while in an infinite portal loop.

"Well, I'm not *great*," says the low voice in response to Superboy's question. "But I'm also not surprised. What does that say about me?"

Satyrn settles her feet under herself as Superboy releases her. That's for the best. She needs to see where she's at. Whatever that is it could be a threat, something to attack, defend, or kill. She rests back on her heels, letting her tail relax. Multiple lesions across her body, hair's a mess, and completely black, her beautiful grey dye having burned away through her travels. Her tail's black too. And her clothing is tatters, but enough to hold in place, she is good with a needle and thread, or a small horn and some intestine. Sometimes you use what you're given.

The saiyan glances at Superboy, who obviously has a 'I need to help others' beat into him, likely the same way her elders raised her, though with different mantras. She looks at the smoke, cloud, and the imp portal show. A weird pang in her heart hits her, things just happening like this, it makes her think of home. Of Twisted Street. She really wanted to forsake this place for the rest of her life, but here she is. She holds back a sigh.

As the demon shows up swinging a truck axle, Superboy just gestures at it incredulously. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" He points towards it, and then back at the man in the smoking crater, "We JUST went through this." He looks down at the remains of his jacket, sighs, and then ponders punching the imp that seems strangely under control.

So instead he offers a hand to the stranger to help pull him up. "Y'know, this is why Gotham doesn't bother me anymore. Sure you can't throw a rock without hitting a supervillain, but at least there's not a weird tear in reality twice a week."

"You would think," The low voice begins with some regret, "that I would have learned how to properly call Diablo by now. But apparently..." From within the cloud, the eyes rise up toward Superboy, and there's a swirling motion as the man inside takes the offered hand and stands. With his other hand, he tries to fan some of the smoke away.

"...I'm still an idiot." As he succeeds at dispersing the asphalt-smoke, and rather slowly at that, the image of a man with a brown leather jacket and black trousers slowly appears. Well. The Jacket is more...black with brown highlights now. His hair... is also black, but given the environment he's standing in, it was probably a different color a minute ago. Same with his black shirt underneath the open jacket. That one was almost certainly white; it's a jersey tee, you can tell how those things stain.

He coughs again, for good measure.

"Thanks. Give me a second." The man steps past Superboy, looks past him too, and squares his posture as he strides towards the looping demon. He clenches his right hand, which is wearing a black fingerless glove, unlike the left which is wrapped in black bandages, and as he clenches it, you can actually *hear* the tendons tightening, but perhaps more alarmingly, the air around it ripples, like it's being forced away by the strength of that fist. And then he pivots and drives the fist towards the demon, but riiiiiiight at the point of contact, instead of the man's fist, out of the ripple tears an actual Freight Train, accept no substitutions. It plows through the demon and carries it a good three feet before disappearing in another ripple, leaving ten feet of continually moving freight train to tear through the air for a good twelve seconds before finishes its journey and the tail end of the train comes out of one portal and leaves through the other, both closing afterward.

"... ...And just like that I'm feeling better."

Satyrn stands there watching as Superboy goes to help the being obscured by smoke. She turns her head, looking around the area. Parts look familiar, but is this place really Twisted Street? It could be some kind of weird semblance. She doubts that though, it would tend to just absorb those into itself. She lets out another sigh as she thinks of everything she's lost, Concordance, The Council, TASK. Maybe she was wrong and this place doesn't need anything. Maybe those gods like Power won't ever return. She looks back towards Superboy and the entity as the smoke clears to reveals him and her entire body freezes in place.

She stares. And stares. And stares as he goes and deals with the imp by opening portals for a Freight Train. It starts at the tip of her tail, the smallest of twitches. The goosebumps that'd been occupying her skin disappear as her blood starts to run hot, her heartrate increasing with every millisecond. Edges of her hair start to wisp out from her. It's him. It's him. o O ( It's him. It's him. It's him. IT'S HIM. ) Her mouth won't even let her say words, her teeth clenched together as fury ripples its way through her. The bane of her existence. The cause for all of her torment for over thirteen years of hell dimensions. The reason she's not even a full saiyan anymore. The reason Concordance is dead and everything fell apart.

"CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUX" she finally finds her voice as a black and grey aura explodes around her, bricks, loose debris, dirt, and even some cobblestone that was certainly solid a moment before erupting away from her in all directions with murder levels of velocity. Sorry windows and walls. The aura starts to shift to a golden hue, her hair starting to spike, but then...fatigue. Her chi levels give out, she falls to a knee as she emits a gutteral groan from the depths of her soul. Her aura doesn't disappear though, rage, if nothing else, is going to get her what she wants.

The Boy of Steel can appreciate a good leather jacket, not to mention obliterating an annoyance in the most video-game special attack he's ever seen outside a screen. "Dope!" Really? Really.

That's when the noise starts. The low, primal, guttural yell that seems to cut through everything like a wrecking ball. He turns, notices the woman he was helping clearly doing something that normally only happens in anime, and takes a step to the side a little further away from Crux.

"Y'know, she was fine until a minute ago. I take it you two have some history?" What could have given him that idea?

The man, (Crux, apparently?), straightens up from the rather dramatic-looking punch and cricks his neck, taking a slow breath. Then as he looks down at himself to survey all the asphalt-soot on him, he notices that some of the pebbles and asphalt start lifting up into the air.

"...Hold on. I've seen this before, I think it's what happened whe--" He is cut off by Satyrn's rage-scream, and he looks a bit surprised and turns to face her. Hah! See? That's what it's like you interrupting little sh--

"Nice lung capacity, there." Oh come on, you did that one on purpose.

He examines the Saiyan as she rages. He actually still doesn't have a ton of experience with their race, but he knows enough to understand they can be cosmically dangerous when provoked. So who the hell is... Oh, hey.

"Oh! That reminds me." He gestures to his left and another ripple opens up. He leans in to the ripple, his upper torso disappearing, but his voice can still be heard. "Satyrn! Hey! I found a girl out here who kinda reminds me of you! She looks real strong, you should come... ... Satyrn?" He seems to be just sort of leaning half in, half out of this ripple, which ... is almost certainly a portal to another location.

"Did she LEAVE?! Who leaves?!"

The man pulls his torso back out and looks at Satyrn, finishing tracing her temporal trail to see what happened. Oh wow. Ohhhhhhh wow. Oh wow. He sort of glances towards Superboy without actually taking his eyes off Satyrn.

"Yeah, I guess I put her on a time-out and she decided she'd rather go to hell than spend another minute with me." A long pause, a beat. "...Honestly that seems fair."

The seething rage does not stop for the saiyan. She feels like she's going to vomit. Some of her wounds, recently clotted, re-open, blood slowly oozing out of them, floating around her in small globules as they're caught up in her aura of animosity. Her lips pull back exposing her teeth like some kind of weird animlaistic smile, or more likely anger expressing itself in ways she can't really control. "You." She seethes. And then...and then he LOOKS for her. He actually LOOKS for her in that pocket dimension he stuck him into. The one that made her miss the battle with Concordance, where SHE could have turned the tide, and everything would be perfect, the way it was, when her life was ordered and she would deal with portal trespassers contaminating pure untouched worlds. But oh no, all that's gone now. Lost in time like tears in the rain and all that philosophical madness that Satyrn actually likes.

Satyrn's eyes scrunch, twitching, everything about her is twitching now. "You only think to look. Only now? ONLY NOW?!" Her normal expansive vocabulary has been buried beneath the rolling ocean of tsunami rage. That's it, she doesn't care. She doesn't care how humiliating it is. The ground, nay, the air itself begins to shake. Her aura explodes outwards, the black and grey starting to shift colors to something more akin to red and silver. Small bumps start to form on either side of her head. Maybe they're horns? She has been through a lot of hell dimensions. Of course, if Crux just looked through her entire existence he knows what's coming. The saiyan slowly pulls herself back up to standing, then floats off of the ground, more from her aura starting to expand with untold of power than conscious effort.

"Okay, in my defense, if you hadn't left, you'd still be there and I could've pulled you out like five seconds after I put you there from your perspective." Crux says, sounding surprisingly calm, and his voice... is weirdly easy to hear over the raging aura that she's putting out. He stares at her like he's trying to see through her, and then blinks and glances at Superboy.

"Hey, Saiyans get really strong when they do this thing, maybe you should..." His golden eyes swirl with black flecks for a moment as he looks the kid over, and then he blinks and laughs. "Oh... Oh, nevermind, you're Kryptonian. Yeah. Wow. You're gonna be fine. I'll just ... juice you up with some yellow-sun rads if it gets dicey." He reaches out and pats Superboy on the shoulder, leaving asphalt soot dust all over the poor kid's jacket. His confident smirk turns to an apologetic look at that. "...Sorry." He turns his attention back to Satyrn.

"You know," He begins, cupping a hand up to his lips as if it will help her hear him, which it will not, "if you keep stressing yourself out, your blood pressure's gonna cause you to lose too much blood and then I'm gonna have to pick you up off the floor after you pass out. You sure you want that? Because I don't have any Saiyan blood and you're gonna have to just take some of mine." He... he doesn't even sound a little afraid. The *nerve* of this man.

Satyrn hears what Crux is saying. She can process it, even though her bottomless rage that feels like a never ending full well (that analogy makes a lot of sense to her don't worry about it too much), but... "You think I CARE for your EXCUSES?!" Everyone knows saiyan transformations take forever, and this one for Satyrn is no different, thankfully finding the source of what she believes to be everything wrong with her life is making up for the fact that she's physically and mentally exhausted. She'd swore on her elders that if she ever found Crux again she'd fight him when she was well rested and had a solid plan. What plan? Satyrn could never come up with a good one, she knows Crux has insane powers, but she also knows that sometimes if you hit something hard enough, even dimensions, they'll break for you.

Her aura is definitely red now with silvery veins pumping through it in time with her heartbeat. "You stole victory from Concordance! You made me go through over a decade of hell dimensions! You made me experience things I'll never recover from! You...you changed me! The humiliation of this." She sneers, knowing what she's saying probably makes little sense to anyone but her, well maybe Crux if she knew he just theater played her existence a bit ago. "But it's worth it. I'm going to destroy you." Her voice breaks a little, like she's about to cry, shaky, frail, a bit of a contrast to the raging aura that's cracking and breaking everything around her from its intensity.

The bumps on her head push out further, and then with a massive outrush of energy and power releases in a shockwave from the saiyan. Her black hair flashes, changing to a blood red with silvery tips, then back to black, then back to the colors. Looks like she's just about there. But again, long transformation sequences the first time they happen on screen, what can you do.

There a long inhale and exhale from Kon as he takes all this in. This is about to be bad, isn't it? He doesn't want to pick sides here, but he knows from experience that person A is probably not going to stop until person B is in pieces from here to Keystone.

He glides over, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. Putting two and two together he assumes her name is Satyrn and addresses her thusly. "Satryrn? I think I get where you're coming from. You sound like you have every right to go on a rampage and obliterate everything in sight." Superboy drops to the ground, walking slowly towards the warrior powering up before him.

"But can we take just a moment to think about the people who live here?" He gestures around at the street around him, pausing on the wreckage of the S-Mart parking lot and mentally kicking himself because it looked a lot better than this just an hour ago.

He gestures down the street in the direction they where already traveling before Crux made his grand return. "There's an arena just at the end of this street. It's contained. I'm sure it has some wards of some kind to prevent blowing up this city and all the innocent people in it."

At this point he's almost arms length away and leaning into the power emanating from her with a little effort. "We can take this whole show over there, you can get it out of your system, and hopefully no one else has to get hurt. I'll even still buy you dinner, alright? Can we make this happen?"

"O-Oh," Crux actually lets a little laughter creep into his voice and then immediately feels bad about it, "is that what you think happened? That Concordance *lost*?" The man just runs his hands through his hair, trying to get the soot out and at least some of the original silver color is showing through now. He turns his head like he's about to shake it the way a dog shakes their fur to get everything out, and then glances at Superboy apologetically. No, he's not going to do that to the poor kid. It's fine. Whatever Satyrn hits him with will probably bleach the skin and muscles from his bones, let alone the soot from his clothes. He can be patient. His dignity isn't really salvageable at this point.

"...Woman, she *left*. I don't know what happened after that because I haven't seen her since, but..." There's more of that laughter, and this time he doesn't bother holding it back. "The only thing that defeated Concordance was public opinion." He shrugs, waiting for the blow that'll just clean him out entirely. When Kon suggests that there is a safe place for the fight, Crux blinks, and then turns to look at the Metropolis kid again.

"The Metropolis Kid, huh? Thanks for the idea." Crux's eyes blaze gold again, and he lifts one hand up. The end of the S-mart parking lot, like the entire damn skydown to the pavement, ripples. He makes a quick gesture, a flick of a finger, and the ripple travels towards them all at the actual speed of light, no dramatic exaggeration, just swallowing them up... and actually nothing happens, it just passes over them and hey wait they're in the Arena now. The other end of which ripples briefly and then the ripple fades out. "Sometimes I forget I'm not the only one who stands to get hurt. You probably just saved some lives. ... ... Okay, the kind of lives that shop at Wal-Mart, but still." S-mart, dude. S-mart. Like K... nevermind.

Of course... he brought Kon with them. Maybe not full marks for this effort.

----

'''The Arena - Pit(#5278R)'''

Well, this is lovely.

After dropping from the entrance gates above, competitors on the pit floor are greeted first by the heady stench of sweat, blood, and other less-savory bodily fluids, and then by the squelching sensation of their feet being enveloped by the same. Nobody has cleaned this place in... well, ever. It's a plentifully large area to work with, at least, with a good thirty feet of headspace at the highest point.

From this side it's apparent that several monitors have been slung up inside the cage, so those not able or bold enough to press themselves against the cage can be sure not to miss anything, but the experience is clearly geared toward the fighters more than the audience. There's liable to be plenty of fallen weapons around, and any attempts to flee are met on the outside with blistering metal spikes, rough-textured truck tyres, and plyboards covered in rusted tin cans and broken bottles. It's a whole mess of tetanus waiting to happen, just for you, and you!

There is one apparent exit; a small, unassuming door on the east side of the pit. It's stalwartly locked, and apparently unbreakable, so long as more than one person remains conscious and/or breathing inside. Upon a combatant achieving victory, it 'pings' open with a delightful little fanfare - customized to the participants... somehow - and allows the winning competitor to make their dramatic exit.

The loser... who cares? Probably they'll be hauled out and left up top somewhere, where their miserable fans can kiss them better.

----

Satyrn screams, straight up, at Superboy. "You think I give a droplet about insane people who CHOOSE to make their home on an UNSTABLE place like this?! Two dimensional tears opened up here and a freight train came through. They knew what they were doing when they decided, against ALL REASON, to live in such a place! They can go dig a well in a connected world!" She's probably operating on old principles, but, ya know, the rage and all. She has little patience right now, and to be fair she normally has quite a bit for her race. None of this is calming her down. And as Crux blathers on about Concordance, she continues to scream, "AS IF I DON'T KNOW HOW CONCORDANCE'S EXISTENCE WORKS?!" She started a church! She had worshippers! She was bringing her back! Oh, oh if this is not the end of the desert caravan she doesn't know what is. She doesn't even register the scenery change. Her aura explodes outwards in multiple shockwaves, if buildings were still around they'd be getting leveled, broken up, and destroyed, including the people in them. She does care about life, in general, just not right now. Not with Crux here.

The bumps on her head fully form, into a pair of cat ears! Adorable. Her hair goes fully red with silver tips and stays that way. Power, strength, beauty(cute), exude from her as she goes fully super saiyaneko. Her time spent in the catgirl hell dimension really, really messed her up, but this new form came with it. She hates it for how it makes her look, and the slight mind alteration that comes with it, but she hates Crux more.

Superboy's fist tightens as Satyrn damns all of Twisted. He was starting to like her before she went full villain monologue. He does notice the change in scenery, and is grateful for it despite the immediate threat in hand.

Even though he knows she's probably past hearing him, he tries anyways, "These 'insane people' didn't have a choice! I don't know what this place was like when you were here last but most of the people living here are refugees from worlds that collapsed or realities that moved on without them. The old guard is gone. Take out your rage, but if you go after anyone else outside of this arena, I'm rescinding my offer for food."

With that, less than stellar ultimatum, Superboy floats up, giving the two the floor. There's a part of him that feels like he should apologize to Crux for getting him in this situation, but he did bring it upon himself from the way he described it. At least Kon can try to keep it from getting out of control.

It's been a long time since Crux was faced with anything else that can move as fast as he can. Longer still since faced with anything that can hit as HARD as Satyrn can. And yet, he has dealt with things that are much, much scarier, just in a different way. He would've tensed before. Would've tried to stop her. Would've moved to do something to slow her down. But instead... he just waits. His pupils dilate. His perception of time dilates. Kon is probably experiencing something similar next to him, if not in response to Satyrn, then in response to the portal. After all, that's how Kryptonians work, right? Crux is pretty sure they scale to the speed needed same as anyone with speed powers that let them remain rational and sane.

"She doesn't mean that, she was a good cop. Saiyans just have this weird rage thing. If one ever got one of those red rings, I'm pretty sure they'd hard-delete their universe." Scary thought.

At any rate, because of this time dilation, it is with wide open eyes and full focused speed that Crux watches Satyrn... turn into a catgirl. Yup. A Super Saiyan Catgirl. A Super Neko-jin as it were.

"I have the most profound sense of Deja vu."

When she starts raging further, he just shrugs. Indifference, that's how he meets her insane battle rage. "...Then you know there's nothing you could've done to change it. And I wasn't even there, you know, I was busy getting my clock cleaned somewhere else." There's a slow pause and a beat. "...I'm guessing you'd be thrilled to watch THAT. I can give you a recording later. I died sixteen times in the first minute, Locke was really in a groove that day." ...Not even a hint of animosity or fear, even still. "...Probably gonna be more satisfying than what happens here. No offense, I'm sure you're unreasonably strong. But..." He points at Satyrn's wounds again. "I already told you what's going to happen. You sure you want my blood coursing through your veins? Because I'm not gonna let you die."

Satyrn's transformation complete, she revels in her power. This form is incredible, beyond anything she every imagined or dreamed was possible. Speed. Strength. Durability. Self-healing would be nice, but she's just ignoring the blood loss at this point. Who cares if she's oozing out of multiple wounds and likely going to pass out rather quickly, she certainly does not. "Oh I could of! I could of obliterated everyone wanting her gone!" Her body shakes, she knows Crux can die and somehow not die, she doesn't know how he does anything he does. And Gegoshi isn't around to get information from. But you know what, whatever. "You won't be around to put blood back me. I'm going to obliterate you, right here, right nyao." Did she just kind of...meow there?

The saiyaneko blinks out of existence, or rather, travels as such an insane amount of speed, it looks like she disappears. Some eyes might see better than others. Either way, she'll end up next to Crux, swinging her fist with every ounce of strength, power, and chi she has within her, a red silvery blaze rippling from her entire arm. The fist is, of course, aimed right for Crux's face. These are the kind of punches that obliterate planets. One might note, she is angled slightly, so she's punching upwards at a slight angle, so any energy that goes past, or hopefully through, would go into the skies above. Maybe she did listen to Superboy a bit, and again she hasn't even noticed the location change.

Superboy hovers above the stands lining the four walls of the arena, looking down into the blood soaked pit that drops down to the dusty floor below. He watches the catgirl move at a speed that would impress the Flash and winces from the thrown punch that should have easily taken his head off. Speaking of moving fast, he really wishes Impulse was around right now. At least he'd go get them some popcorn or a pizza or something.

Wait. Catgirl? With a moment to breathe, Superboy finds himself struggling not to laugh, especially at the 'nyao' thing. Twisted is always interesting, at least.

"I'm not sure you understand how this wo--" Crux begins to attempt to explain, because unlike those annoying cryptic god-types, Crux is an actual person that talks like people talk. Since he's not afraid of Satyrn, he is more than happy to explain how his powers work. But he made the mistake of thinking she was going to continue listening, so that's what he gets.

Despite being fully dialed in, he doesn't even notice her move. It's not a matter of seeing. People at these speeds don't rely on sight; Photons have to bounce off your target and then your retina for you to see. No, they rely on additional senses, and Crux has a pretty good one: when he's nice and locked in, Crux can tell when his target even *brushes* a photon. It's really hard to photon dodge, even for crazy fast people, so this is a pretty foolproof sense in most of his considerable experience. However, there's this tiny limitation. So... his brain processes things at lightspeed - the literal speed of light. Dramatically, dramatically faster than normal human thought. But it still takes an (incredibly small) amount of time for that warning to travel from the part of his brain that sensed it to the part of his brain that needs to know it.

Why are we having this anatomical breakdown of Crux's powers, you might ask?

Because the time between Satyrn nudging that first photon, and Crux getting walloped in the head, is actually shorter than the time it takes the thought to travel through Crux's brain.

From Crux's perspective, she's still not moved yet when his head explodes.

Ok, explodes is the wrong word. Can something really be said to explode when it atomizes? I think we can agree that the answer is no. One minute there is a Crux there, the next minute there is not. If he died the way normal people die, the entire half of the arena inside the ballistic trajectory of Satyrn's fist would be lightly coated with carbon and other atomic debris as the air literally undergoes fusion around her fist, pushing the gas molecules past their Columb barrier and into a state of highly excited plasma.

This, incidentally, is what's left of Crux, a blazing pillar of plasma that used to be organic matter, as it rockets into the wards of the arena, tests them, finds them a bit wanting, and then is joined by the photonic boom and coruscating fusion wake that hits a nanosecond behind it.

Did you know the Arena roof can have a hole put in it?

That's something you know now.

As the purple Cherenkov radiation settles from the blow, there is no physical sign of Crux to be seen. He's just... gone. But in fairness, wouldn't you be?

Satyrn connected. She actually connected. She didn't think she would connect. She didn't think she'd actually managed to get next to him, much less touch him, but she actually hit him, and he vaporized. He vaporized like anything else would if she hit with this kind of insane amount of power. She floats there, fist outstretched, heaving in breaths, blood floating out around her wounds, many of which have opened up further from this exertion, in disbelief. Crux can use portals and do all sorts of unexplainable nonsense. At least, she thought he could. Is this really a different dimension like she'd assumed? It can't be, can it?

Tears edge up in her eyes, and she doesn't have the will to stop them anymore. Her body slowly descends downwards towards the arena floor as her aura fades, her hair returns to black, and her cat ears recede. She settles down on a knee, gritting her teeth as she starts to straight up sob into her sleeve. "There's no way he's dead. I'm sure of it, it's all a trick, but I got to explode his big stupid sand filled head off." She weeps, talking to herself even though Superboy is present. She's been alone a lonnnnnng time.

Floating quietly, Kon-El just observes. He's nowhere near Flash-speed, but he can see enough to realize Satyrn is right and Crux is in some other state of being. He watches her collapse and hesitates. He knows about pride and exhaustion, so he gives her this moment before going to offer any kind of comfort.

Instead he looks up at the new skylight with a slow shake of his head. At least no one innocent died. That's win right? Why doesn't it feel like a win...?

It takes a moment. Actually it takes several moments, but eventually, some of that flickering Cherenkov radiation seems to distort. The purple light that came from extremely localized atomic fusion and atmospheric ionization warps, brightens, and becomes white. After a moment, that white light twists and alters into the form of a humanoid. It's not REALLY a man, more like a brilliant light shining through a man-shaped aperture in the fabric of space-time. Two blazing aureate orbs form in the light, somehow distinct from the white light, appear, and track to Satyrn. She's bleeding on the ground. What are the odds?

"Satyrn Tarn." The voice isn't... a voice. It's a reverberation in space that just... exists. It's not audibly coming from anywhere, but it's no stretch to guess it's from the humanoid shape that is probably Crux. "I see you." The orbs blaze intensely, as if trying to connect with her soul. After a brief delay, there is a... crack? No, a line of light that resembles a crack in reality as a wing crowds through into this dimension. Much like the shape of the man, it is more like the suggestion of a wing, it is identical when viewed from any angle, unshifting, unchanging. Another joins it, and after a moment, there is the sound of a deep, deep sigh.

The figure sweeps a hand below it, creating a horizontal line of light. This movement is at exactly light speed, so to Satyrn it would have been objectively slow a moment ago. Maybe it still is?

Regardless, the humanoid figure seems to fall down through that line of light, and Crux, this time without the soot stains, falls out the other side. His jacket is clean. His hair is clean. Without the soot covering his face, it is clear to be seen that he has not slept in... longer than you can live through not sleeping. Probably much longer. He lands on the arena floor next to Satyrn and crouches next to her, hoping she won't erase him from existence again, it's *really* frustrating and he'd JUST promised not to make a habit of it.

"...Nice punch. Poor girl." He looks at her for a moment, then looks up to Kon, who very smartly got the hell out of the way, unlike Crux. "...Hey, kid. What's your bloodtype?"

Uh...

oO(Welp, guess I'm back in this.) Superboy descends finally, keeping his distance just in case tempers flare up again, "Type-O-Clone Virus." He shrugs, "Look, I don't know what I'm carrying, but I know there was a whole clone disease and it's probably better off not testing the waters to see if what I've got running in my veins is compatible with..." He frowns, looking at Satyrn, "...whatever the bleeding, sleepy kitty is."

He just keeps expecting her to pull a Deadite, fake death, and murder someone the second she's touched. That's just what they /do/ in fights like this. "Maybe give her a chance to cat-nap before you try to rebuild her? No one goes through all that just to die off-screen in a dirt pit." Off-screen? Well, at least he doesn't fancy himself the main character unlike SOME people we could mention.

Satyrn would probably have yelled at Superboy if he'd come over and tried to comfort her, so he's right in his decision to stay a bit back. Then again, a burger sounds nice about now. Either way, her body wracks itself with a ugly sob as she hears that voice. Crux's voice. Of course. She knew. She's not surprised. She knew this would happen. She doesn't know how to kill him, she hasn't taken the time to study her opponent, learn everything about them, figure out their weaknesses, and any other number of things she'd sometimes do when facing such an enemy. She looks up through her tears, wiping at her face with her sleeve as he fully manifests next to her. Unphased. Untouched. Pristine. "I hate you." She growls...maybe hisses...maybe a combination of both, but despite her words will actually reach out to try and grab his leg, or arm, or whichever of those two appendages are close, and bury her face into it. She's close to passing out, she knows it. She's gone over the limit, and all she can do is sandstorming cry into this entity that's occupied her every waking moment for the last thirteen years. It's a matter of seconds before her consciousness goes byebye. She is going to just NOT process Superboy's kitty comments as he floats down next to them.

"Type-0-Clone Virus?" Crux looks at Kon in consternation. "That's not a real blood.... type..." He continues to stare at Kon for a LONG second as he tracks through his temporal trail alllllllllll the way back to the beginning. "...Kid your origin story is really messed up."

He turns his attention back to Satyrn. "You know, it's subtle, but I'm starting to get that impression you don't like me." He lets that sit for just a beat, and then taps two fingers on the side of her neck, somehow exactly tapping her carotid artery through the skin. His eyes blaze gold for a moment as he analyzes the Saiyan's blood by examining it through a micrometer long portal he opens inside the blood vessel, and sighs. "...Sorry, Satyrn. I stock a lotta stuff, but not blood. I did warn you." And with that he opens a similar one inside his aorta, and just quietly pumps blood into the girl at a rate faster than she's losing. Once he's sure he's got those portals locked conceptually to their locations, he stands and looks to Kon.

"I can stop her from passing out. She's going to need SO much food, and I'm... ... ninety percent certain she's not a psychopath." He shrugs at the Superboy. "...They still have the Pizza Cats' place 'round here?"

Superboy tilts his head to the side at the question, "Yes and no.... it's around, you can order stuff." He looks up at the hole in the ceiling, "I just have no idea where they're coming from. Plus, uh. Don't know if Pizza CAT is the best idea at the moment." Assuming she doesn't always turn into a catgirl when she's pissed. That's possible, after all.

He shakes his head and sighs, "Either way the UR is just up the road." He just assumes the Crux would know the Usual Restaurant. Most people do.

"I've probably had enough time to recoup and fly her there if need be." He looks down at the woman ugly-crying on his cuffs and mutters under his breath, "Can't say the same for the jacket, but I've been needing a fashion update for a while now anyways."

Satyrn has, more or less, given up on controlling any semblance of consciousness. The edges of her vision are growing dark. She doesn't want to pass out here, in front of people, but she doesn't have a choice either. She finally got to do SOMETHING about all of her pent up rage and anger. It probably wasn't enough, but getting the murder punch in broke the dam on containing her feelings. That, and she was already exhausted from getting out of the most recent hell dimension. Sanding black fire monsters.

Then, Crux does his blood portal thing. It's not like she really feels it right away, she's not monitoring her blood with her chi at the moment, but the fact that her breathing starts to become more regular and her vision doesn't get completely black are indicators. She pulls her head and arms away from Crux, realizing what she's doing there. Ugh. Still, despite it all, she remains on one knee. She won't fall until she's actually out, which doesn't look like it'll happen. "Did you kill the gods too? And Gegoshi?" That is probably out of context, but it's addressed at Crux. Her stomach...it rumbles loudly as they mention food.

"Which ones were the gods? I've killed like five people tops since I got here, and those ones tried to kill me first." Crux says, not bothering to explain that the Council was *discussing* killing him rather than in the process of it. When people have you prisoner and are discussing your execution, you're basically dead.

"Well, technically Iloken and Harpanic were dead for a minute. But I had that fixed." He blinks again, and then tilts his head. "And Gegoshi's not dead. She's fine. Well. She's Gegoshi." He shrugs at that, like Satyrn would know what that means.

"...I guess the Usual works." He reaches down and hefts Satyrn up by the underarms unless she actually tries to kill him for the endeavor, in which cause he either becomes immaterial, dropping her, or dies, dropping her. You know. Standard responses. Either way he grumbles afterwards. "Come on, on your feet, walk it off."

Superboy hovers down, shakes his head at Crux trying to help her to her feet, holds both hands up dramatically a moment before reaching over and touching them both on the shoulders. They'll feel gravity stop affecting them almost instantly. "Or I could FLY you there, like I offered a few moments ago." He shakes his head again, "Look. Don't count out the Kid with Tactile Telekinesis. Useful for stopping bullets, disassembling equipment, saving damsels in distress, and escorting new friends to the best burger joint in Mabase." He shrugs, leaving them with their feet still planted about an inch from the ground, "Or you could walk...?"

Satyrn emits an exasperated sigh as she wipes at her face. She can't believe she cried. It's a waste of good water. "Power for one." What were the other names? Oh. "Chaos and Order." And...she can't remember the others. It's been a long time. It's not like she was a big student on all that nonsense. From what she was told they wouldn't ever come around unless what happened happened, and that seemed like an impossibility to her. "And if Gegoshi were fine, I wouldn't have got stuck in my pocket dimension, and my G-PADVII would be working." She grits her teeth as she's lifted and does steady her feet. Her vision is starting to clear up. How is Crux doing that? He mentioned blood. Oh. Is he actually somehow putting blood inside of her? She's not going to think about it right now. She doesn't want to risk losing it all over again. "It astounds me how ignorant you murderer existence destroying types are." Her stomach grumbles again as gravity stops affecting her and let's herself get floated, or whatever. She looks at the ground, builds up some moisture in her mouth, and spits. The most offensive thing anyone could ever do. At least where she's from. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. I just want food." She wants to say please, she almost does, but it's Crux, she isn't going to say please to Crux, so Superboy doesn't get to hear it either.

"It amazes me how many people have accused me of being a murderer or destroying existence after I save their lives." Crux muses aloud, and then watches Satyrn spit. "...Twice actually, since someone I know was tried to kill an Uchiha and she was going to die." He looks surprised for a moment when he and Satyrn start floating, then looks to Superboy.

"Is that how that works? That's... honestly really nice. Thanks, kid." He tests his limb movement for a moment, and then looks back to Satyrn.

"...I think it's probably better if you take her alone. That is not the look of someone who is going to enjoy a burger with me around. I'll just monitor her vitals until she seems stable and then break off the connection. That way she can heal, have her burger, and complain about the terrible Doctor who's kept her alive twice now despite her trying to kill him. He's a real monster." Now that Satyrn basically doesn't weigh anything , he can just sort of hand her off to Superboy and wash his hands of this whole thing. Now what else did he have left over to do? Bitch at Diablo, failed. Release Satyrn before she realizes he's been gone, failed. ... Get Lain takeout? ... Surely he can't fail at that too.

Superboy isn't really carrying anyone, so much as letting them have a moment without the pain that gravity causes beings with fleshy-hurty insides, so he's quite confused by the spit and just assumes it was directed at Crux. Meanwhile Crux makes a bit too much sense, so he releases his shoulder and lets the world claim him again. "Alright, suit yourself."

With a quick glance at Satyrn to make sure she's not going to murder him even if she did say 'whatever' he launches upwards through the hole in the ceiling, making his way South.

Out of respect for what he's sure is some kind of warrior pride, he ducks through the trees, bringing them around the back side of the Usual so no one can see, and then moves his arm to a more supportive looking gesture around her waist to walk her around the parking lot and into the front door.

"For the record the way you punched him was crazy bad-ass. I've seen speedsters run around worlds who couldn't have taken someone's head off like that." Is he saying this because he means it, or to make her feel better? Then again, does it really matter which it is?

Satyrn is absolutely not thanking Crux for supposedly saving her, much less twice. Her life would be easier if she were dead. Well, maybe. She might be in a hell dimension AND dead, that would probably be worse. As she starts to get floated away by Superboy, she stares down towards Crux, her black hair trailing off. Frazzled ends. Unkempt. Dirty. Like her life. She'll probably never see him again. She doesn't know how it happened so quick on her return. Fate or destiny maybe. Oh, that was the name of the other gods. Whatever. They didn't seem like the intervene on a single life type people if Power was any indication. "May your well run dry and your sun never set." She says towards him, though she barely means it. She doesn't even know how to feel towards the gross creature that is Crux. Whatever dimension created him should be sorry for what its done.

She looks over at Superboy as she's brought down behind the back of the UR. Figures that of all things is still here. She even found one in a hell dimension, but she couldn't get inside, it had some weird barrier pass that only allowed entry to the dead that belonged there. She shakes the thoughts of hell dimensions away, though they'll likely plague her dreams. "Thank you." She responds to the clone boy. She'll never forget how good it felt to land that blow.

Crux glances at Satyrn when she speaks to him again, and opens his mouth as she drifts away. "..." He doesn't say anything snarky. Why bother? "...Live well, lady." Once they're gone he heads off on his own. Hell, where was the exit again? Well. Noone's around to witness his embarrassment if he just portals out instead of remembering how to leave.

|}}

2026-07-21 - The Space Between the Panels

2026-07-27T01:49:52Z

Marr0w:

{{Logsummary|
Title = The Space Between the Panels
|Summary = So here we are, dear reader. The moment you've all been waiting for. The proper, dramatic reveal of yours truly. Your handsome narrator. Here we see me act on my brilliant plan's next step. Luckily it goes perfectly according to plan without any hitches what so ever. What plan, you ask? That's for me to know, and you to find out when it's too late to stop it. There's some other people in the scene too. I guess.
|Who = [[Liyara]], [[:Category:Nobody|Mr. Nobody]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = July 21st, 2026.
|Where = The White Space, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]], The streets of Mabase, [[Integra's Arms Apartments]], Yoiko's Apartment.
|Log=

[[2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately? | ...part 1?]]

<div style="background-color: #FFF;color: #000; width=100%; padding: 0px 20px 0px 20px;"> 
White. Blinding white light. The light that shines from every star. The blistering brightness from which the existence was created. The big bang? Sure. That light.

A soft trumpet begins to play. The soft whistling of a happy tune. A deep voice begins to sing, "Maaaaagic moooooooments, when two hearts are carrrrrin'! Maaaaagic Moooooooments, memories we've been sharrrrring."

As your eyes begin to adjust to the infinite, blinding, nothingness it fixates on a singular point. An old radio playing a cheerful song on top of a small table. Beside it slowly fades in a comfortable chair, and sitting upon it the most dashing and attractive man you've ever seen in your life. Looking smart in his well pressed suit. A wool vest beneath it and a smart blouse beneath it. The fancy type, not some woman's vestments, you ingrate.

Yes, the most handsome man in existence. Me. I stand, I clap my hands, and I step towards you. "WELCOME!! Welcome. I've been waiting so long to meet you." I flash you that million dollar smile and you find yourself strangely smitten by how staggeringly perfect I am. "I trust you found your trip here comfortably, my dear?"

I offer my hand to be kissed. A sweet embrace shared between your dashing narrator and the beautiful dragon woman I've brought before me. Dressed in a beautiful gown, swirling with every shade of blue and sparkling as if illuminated from an unseen light from every angle. Your gloved hand reaches for mine, and we twirl. Listening as the beautiful music changes to another track.

I can't help myself as I sing along, "It's impooooossible… Tell the sun to leave the sky….. It's just impooooossible…" I bend you at the waist, looking into those dazzling green eyes. "Ask a baby not to crrrry…. It's just impooooooossible….."

Liyara feels her breath taken away as she finds herself just smitten with me. I bow, I gesture towards the recliner. "I imagine you have questions for me. Rest my dear. We have all the time in the world to answer them."

"Hhhhhhhhhow?" Liyara finds herself strangely, suddenly, and most inexplicably in a white space. Is it blinding light or is it just white? She can't tell, but when the music starts playing, and the vocal track starts crooning, her slit pupils dilate then contract rapidly. Too rapidly. Several times faster than sound, her pupils swallow her irises, then contract down paper thin, then widen again. She can't. Quite. Seem to...

There!

Wait. What is this she sees? An end table and a sitting chair, an attractive man, and... Wait. His clothing, his manner of dress and bearing and the radio on the table. She knows this. This is an artifice of the many human worlds that are surrounded by wildspace and not phlogiston. The wrong ones. The ones that brute forced faster than light travel by simply... Exploding things really, really hard.

She thinks back, briefly to Yoiko's world, and the sort of God that answered her spell. Trelane? For some reason she feels like there is a sort of... Tangential connection here, not that thing, that stupid, stupid God, but ... Adjacent.

How the hell does she know that? It's easy. Simple. She's been wanting to slap one her entire life, and they all act like this. Past the imagery she recognizes only from her studies since arriving in Mabase, past the ... Surprisingly charming voice, it is really quite nice... And that stupidly perfect face ... That's a God. Or, well, one of the things that act like them, anyway. Liyara is an atheist; it's not that she believes Gods don't exist, more that she believes they're just strong beings that claim authority by virtue of power, same as anything else.

"..." She looks down at the man's hand, attempting to decipher what he is waiting for. She is not exactly up to date on her period pieces from alternative history human culture. "...I..." She's in a gown? When did she get a gown? Oh, it's a nice one though. Well, she doesn't love being treated as a doll but bonus points for being treated as a pretty one.

"My journey was acceptably serene, given what preceded it." She feels her hand reach for his, feels herself twirl in a dance. Feels herself appreciate music she's never heard before. Something is... Off. She does know to bow after the impromptu dance, but she imitates the man's bow rather than getting the woman's role properly. No context. She takes a seat as suggested, carefully shifting her gown for maximum elegance and presentation. She's only just begun wearing it, but it's hardly her first.

"...Which one are you then?" Beg pardon? Liyara, you're going to have to be much more specific than-- "Which human God are you?" Oh fine, just cut me off then, sure, go ahead.

"The god of detonated bookstores perhaps? I assure that was not my fault, anything that explodes when someone casts a simple first circle ritual is quite inherently unstable to begin with..." So she's chosen to go with defensive. That makes sense.

I clasp my hands upon my heart and simply gaze lovingly at the question. How quaint. Surely no malice to be had behind those words. "Dearest Liyara. Daughter of Lux, Grand…" Hmmph. I reach into my pocket, taking out a pair of spectacles and a small notepad. "GrandSCION of Hoondarrh: The Red Rage of Mintarn who lives Eternal." I throw the card and put the glasses away.

"I am but a humble narrator. Sitting in outside the panels of the world you'd found yourself in, and weaving a tale as old as time. Two love sick children, smitten with one another, and about to embark on a dangerous quest to see what lurks through thine iron makes."

I smile a wicket smile, showing far too many teeth for a normal man. Oh, but they are the normal amount of teeth for a man of my stature. I'm just that good of an ACTOR. "Oh, but alas. It is the way of the star-crossed lovers that some driving force comes between them and it ends in sadness or death." I lower my head in a show of sad resignation. "Oh, but I am remiss if I didn't point out that there was a way out of course. A simple favor to myself which you'll so willingly agree to, won't you? Yes. Of course you will."

"Do this task for me and I'll reset this entire chain of events and put you back with your little blonde tart as though nothing had ever happened." I shrug, "Or we can let events play out as they do now. Either way the alarm has already been sounded and events will continue." I shrug, "But one reality allows you to have it all, and the other…." I shrug. "The other ends up with her pretty blonde head in pieces across the back wall of the book store alongside the little gothling and her cat."

Holding up a finger, I call for a pause, "Oh, but do not think this is a threat, my dear. I'm not one of those little rabble-rousers like those so-called Gods you've had to deal with. That is just how these events play out." I smile… "As for who I am? I'm simply a Nobody."

There's a long, momentary silence, as Liyara gives a languid blink. Then two. Then she opens her mouth slowly. She isn't taking a long time to think, she's taking a long time to perform thinking. She is accustomed to people underestimating her speed and playing into it, utterly. "...But I blocked." Liyara, the headmaster of an academy of arcane arts, which surely requires a potent intelligence and remarkable education, says this simple thing as if it could rectify any and all situations.

"...Mr. uh... ..." Liyara pauses, reaching about her gown and only really now noticing that she is wearing quite elegant gloves. Oh, that is nice. She reaches into the slight excuse for a pocket in the gown, a seam that really is only there for visibility, not to hold anything for that would ruin the silhouette. Despite that, she pulls out... oh. It's a card made of flame, not a real card. Well. That makes sense. She is rather one note. She scrupulously examines the card she just created, furrowing her brows to highlight the performance. "...Mr. Nobody." She casually hits on the proper name, but also completely whiffs as she assumes it to be an incredibly minor slight, taking him at his word. She tosses the flaming "card" in the same manner, leaning forward with a smile that, by contrast, has the perfect amount of teeth. Radiant. Dripping with charm.

"...You are obviously a man of impeccable taste. Some sort of otherworldly power that will doubtless take me centuries to achieve." The nerve! "And you were watching us despite very much not being in the room OR setting off my scrying wards." She has scrying wards? Of course she does. "So I will assume you know many things I do not, while I am dreadfully limited by my own mind and lackluster imagination." She bats her eyes once, twice, and then sighs. "And the only thing I know is that I am far too important to be bothered by that silly explosion, and it won't get to Yoiko through me."

A single, tiny beat. "So do tell me then, good sir. Remarkable sir. Sir who looks quite sharp in that vest. Why will Yoiko be dying and what will you be asking of me to stop her from doing so?"

I pick at the dirt under my nails and shrug, "I'm only speaking the facts. There are two ways this scene ends for you. In the first version the localized break in reality takes out the building and everyone inside it, save for you of course because you're the magical Mary Sue of your own story and everything revolves around you." I give a polite nod to her exquisitely chosen attire. "Thus the gown you currently wear."

I pause with a smile as I peak behind the veil, "Of course I'm well aware that the original Mary Sue happened to be an original Star Trek character who everyone on the USS Enterprise fell absolutely in love with. The irony is not lost on me."

But I digress and must continue. "The other way this scene ends involves you taking advantage of the weave in the moment it's presence will be felt in the explosion and you heroically save the day, possibly showing off that impressive dragon form you have. One requires only a few more seconds on the clock than the other."

At this point I expected a few more mind games. Of course, dear readers, I expected a fight. Not obedience. I expected a struggle against the narrative as I presented it, but I'm sure the dear muse thinks it's funny to have her play along. To have her go with the flow in that trademarked passive way that she's doing. It doesn't amuse me. It doesn't amuse you. It doesn't amuse that annoying bard in the fork who….

I glance around looking for some trace of him. He was here. I swear he was. Or I am confusing things because it's been two years since last time…? No matter.

"I don't care what happens. It's not important to me. What is important to me is a bird. A single black bird that may or may not be locked inside that ugly appliance spewing steam into the air when you triggered the incident that brought you here. Sure, I may have nudged things along slightly, but you would have either ended up here or died in the process - so I consider it a win." With that settled, I make my request clear again.

"Should you find the bird, and believe me - you'll know it when you see it. You find a way to get it into a box. A little Schrodinger situation. That way I can claim it. Do that and you go back, and I'll go back to staying out of your way. Aside from a little amusing dream sequence here and there, of course." I smile that wicked smile of mine, "It's not like that little mirror incursion affected anything more than a little sand in your eyes…."

"Mary... Sue?" The meta-title is this time completely lost on Liyara, with no red mage to unhelpfully point out exactly what's happening. "...I don't know what that is, but you're right. Everything does revolve around me. I'm glad you understand." She tosses her hair once, very clearly for effect as she basically never does that, and then crosses her arms.

"And if I do this, you'll... what? Give me that extra time?" Liyara watches the man for a moment, her eyes shining. "...Or rather, give it back to me since you're stealing it now?" She attempts to imitate his studied disinterest, but her gloves are not nearly as interesting as her nails would have been, and she furrows her brows sincerely this time.

"...My death will simply be my cue to take over hell," She says simply and earnestly, still looking distraught, "but I'd prefer to spare Yoiko and, I suppose that cat..." What about the person, Liyara? What about the one running the book shop?!

Mirror incursion... mirror incursion... Liyara's eyes narrow, like she's trying to piece together a puzzle but she can't get at the piece. It's just out of sight, out of mind, or was it out of mind out of sight? Her eyes glass over, and she does that "reading something in her memory" thing that she is known to do when collating immense amounts of data, but for once, she comes back with nothing.

"...You don't affect my dreams." She finally states after a moment, looking back at the Nobody. "...My Oneiromantic precautions remain intact." Is that even a real word?! "...I don't think I'm privy to your jokes, and I rather don't enjoy that."

The omniscient narrator's smile widens. "Ah-hah. There's a kindling of that flame I was waiting for. It's not so hard to push back when you have something worth the attention, is it?" I smile and gesture around at the White Space. "You are outside of your reality. Outside of," a chuckle, "well… everything. This is the white that peers beyond the darkness. This is the blank space at the margins of the book of your life." I lean forward, a subtle darkness showing itself behind my brilliant blue eyes. "Time means nothing here."

After a moment I dismiss the notion itself, choosing instead to continue with my villain monologue, "But let's cut the bullshit. I don't care about you, or that piece of ass you're running around with. I don't care about that cat, or the woman who feeds it." My voice darkens to reflect the look in my eyes, "I don't even care about that stupid bird."

And just like that the darkness is gone again and I'm back to my cheerful, charming self. "But right now it's all a means to an end. My life gets easier if you go from point A to B to C without mucking about in the middle crying over something you cannot change alone - and even if it results in your sudden but inevitable betrayal of my bargain, I've already gotten what I need from you." I shrug, "So take it or don't. It doesn't matter to me."

"Oh?" Liyara's voice perks up several octaves when the man explains where... when... what... this is. She doesn't believe it, of course, but since when has the path to the truth been about belief?

"Vahrimiss."
The word doesn't sound in the way a normal word sounds. Which is to say, it is shaped by a tongue, given weight by air, and passes from lips, but that's where the similarities to other words end. The word is a placeholder, a word left in the oldest of languages, that reverberates like every unanswered prayer, every incomplete goal, and every abandoned promise all at once, a sort of sonar ping that only those who speak the languages above Celestial and below Abyssal can utter. How it reflects back to her will determine the shape of this place in a way no eyes can see or ears can hear. It is not sound. It is what came before sound. And what word did she use?

Vahrimiss. Loosely translated, it means "You're lying." But is he? She'll determine that herself.

Cut the bullshit? "Yes, let's." She agrees, and sits forward. The gown was, of course, immaculate, so even though it hugs her curves nicely, it is tasteful. This too, she appreciates. "If Time means nothing here, then you are my new favorite antagonist, Mr. Nobody." She still thinks she's being catty calling him that. She has no idea. And I'm not telling her.

"...If you've done anything to warrant my enmity, I don't remember it. And I remember everything." Do you, though? Do you? "So in the interest of making friends, I'm inclined to make your life easier contingent on two things. If you're lying to me..." And she'll know momentarily, unless she has, once again, dramatically overestimated herself. It would not be the first time today, and yet it is still something of a rarity otherwise. A paradox. Like this place. Like this conversation.

"...and if I can come back." Oh?

For what it's worth, I'm not lying. Not even by omission. "I'm not your antagonist. Not yet. Not specifically yours either. I'm just a man displaced from reality with a beautiful voice and a penchant for narrating, existing in a space that lets me bend an ear or two and manipulate events by simply doing so."

"I admitted to having some fun with a dream or two, but that's child's play. Nothing more." I shrug as I begin to briskly walk around the table and chair, "My influence is more subtle than that, but my anger can be much more… direct." I pause, a simple demonstration would perhaps be efficient? "Allow me to give you an example. If I'd wanted to I could have killed you before I ever brought you here…"

My voice grows more serious as I begin to hone my craft at her expense, "Liyara sits, disbelieving the words she's currently hearing. Of course every strange want-to-be God tries to act like they're more important than anyone else. That they're omniscient and they can bend reality at their will. What makes this one any different? Is it his voice? His devilishly good looks?" I turn to face her directly, hovering a few inches from her gaze, "…or is it his words, which even now seem to be turning her fiery blood to ice. The chill starts in her fingertips and traces along her arms, ice crystals forming on her skin even as she looks down in disbelief."

"She leaps to her feet, knocking the chair backwards and glaring at the handsome man ready to call upon her magic to destroy him, but the words don't come to her suddenly missing mouth - yet she feels the need to scream!" I stand straight again, holding my hands to the heavens. "BUT THEN…. Then it's all over. Liyara feels her body return to normal, albeit with a temporary stutter as even now her teeth continue to chatter from the cold."

I clap my hands and laugh, "Oh, but that's not enough is it? A simple trick of hypnosis? A creative suggestion? Some indigestion caused by those awful cheese flavored puffs Yoiko insisted on purchasing earlier? Which is when the narrator snaps his fingers. Realizing the next best thing, something definitive that couldn't be easily done with a mind game or two. Suddenly she feels herself shift, turning her into the young Engineer. The sensation of her insides twisting and turning not entirely uncomfortable, but certainly foreign. It's not until the Hax symbiont is suddenly nestled inside her, latching itself into her nervous system, and the memories of three previous lifetimes including Yoiko's herself, come flooding into her thoughts."

"Daemon, the proud Dilithium miner who couldn't have children and died alone. His only talent being the ability to drink anyone and everyone under the table. Linda the paraplegic musician who wasted her resources on her children instead of making sure she could have the ability to walk. …and of course Yoiko Enoch. The young engineer who offset her years of training with the knowledge of the other two to get a fast pass into the Star Fleet, despite having to abandon most contact with her home world, and helped design one of the prototype nacelles that would eventually rip her precious ship apart and take the life their dear doctor." I smile wickedly, "…and even now as the thoughts try to merge themselves into Liyara's mind she seethes in anger that this weak little human before her could rewrite her existence with only a few words."

"Look, Liyara. I'm not here to fight you or grandstand about how great I am. I meant when I said I've already gotten what I needed from you. Oh, and I do hope you hate me for this. Enough to warrant finding a way back here to kill me, perhaps? I'd like that very much." I must admit I'm almost giddy at this point. "I just needed you to know I EXIST. Why specifically you? Because you where the easiest one to lure here and the one most likely to realize that I can be killed and find a way to do so. After all, now you'll spend the rest of eternity wondering if your actions are your own, or if I'm just being a bastard."

"Wh---" The chill stops Liyara, and as her mouth disappears and she finds herself on her feet, staring at first herself, then back up into the man's eyes, those brilliant green eyes of hers frost over, as if to flash-freeze, but then the pupils dilate again, and bafflingly, her pupils, JUST her pupils dilating, are enough to shake off the sheet of ice forming.

When her mouth returns, she takes a breath, her eyes racing back and forth, mapping out everything. Whatever else is about to happen, she needs to be aware, she needs to be focused, she needs to be cataloguing, she needs to be...

Yoiko. She needs to be Yoiko, apparently. The brief moment of dysphoria, of feeling genuinely vulnerable for the first time in a while, of everything she is being stripped away, is still not enough to break her concentration, not completely. She... was cataloguing. What was she cataloguing? As Liyara's blazing fast mind, crystal clear focus, and iron will are completely sublimated, Yoiko's takes over. Task-based, scientific, rigorous, razor-sharp. She was cataloguing. She can't remember what, she is not Liyara anymore. But the thought, the thought echoes. Focus. Remember. Pay attention.

So Yoiko does. The method. Observe all, discard nothing, observe again. Her memories. Sharp. The feeling of the symbiont attached to her nervous system. Accurate. True. Anchoring. The memories pulled through it, not so sharp. Soft, engulfing, supportive. They are warm and comforting like ambrosia drawn through a sieve. This is who she is, who they were, who we are. All good. All there. Linda's songs, her children. Check. Daemon's favorite booze and how it changes three shots in. Check. The sensations of her ears, eyes, smell, ambient internal temperature in so much as she can consciously assess them all. White space. A human man. Handsome. Great voice. Lies with the truth, instantly clocked. Currently on a power trip. Talking ... not to her. To... Liyara?

Liyara. Her memories of Liyara surface, and she catalogues them, too. There is a different kind of warmth there, but dwelling is not the task at hand. Observe. Analyze. Some incredibly small part of her, distant as the stars, assesses whether she would be comfortable wearing a nice pair of pumps.

That's a weird thought to come unbidden.

She is passing this information on. To... someone. Herself? To Liyara? Not the weirdest thing that's happened to her this week, probably. Wait. Did she just explode? No, focus.

"...The cheese puffs were awful." Liyara Yoiko finally admits, looking... lost? No. Never lost. Concerned? Maybe. Thoughtful? Certainly.

That's when she hears it. The reverberation. The man isn't lying. And she remembers. Some part of her, of Liyara witnessing herself breaking down, remembers. And Liyara Yoiko goes completely still.

It's only a second, maybe two. For her, and people like her, it's a small eternity, as she waits, cataloguing every single part of her mind and her brain, for they are two separate things. A normal person, or perhaps a sane person, would be worrying about whether or not they are in control. And ... in a way, she is. But her first act, when faced with a complete loss of control of her body, the fabric of her reality, her very identity and memory... is to commit every memory of Yoiko's, Daemon's, and Linda's that she experienced into her own memory, and run the mental equivalent of a CRC check on them, herself, and everything else second to that.

"You hope I hate you?" She eventually looks back up to the Nobody, those eyes watering with... well, actual saline flows from her tear ducts... She's crying? Is this what crying feels like for humanoids, and not giant molten lizards cosplaying at being human? "You've just given me three of the most beautiful gifts you could have given me."

Oh, here we go. We've all read these stories, time and again. How lovely and heart-warming, to know that she so cherishes the memories of Yoiko and her past lives.

"You showed me you exist." She says quietly, and those eyes, brightest cobalt now, dilate in a "normal" fashion.

"You let me experience... this." She puts a hand on her Yoiko's sternum, taking a deep breath and just... feeling. Yes, even this decrepit old lizard heart does have room for sentimentality after all. Were you starting to doubt her for a moment?

"And you told me you can die." Those eyes brighten, and somehow, just for an instant, an impossible instant briefer than the window between the stepped electrons reaching down from the sky and summoning a Forked Leader back up into the sky, they blaze green again. Or maybe it's a hallucination, a trick of the light. After all, she can't manipulate reality. Yes, perhaps our unreliable narrator's senses are just being unreliable. It's probably just that.

"You're my third favorite person now. Because you've solved all of my problems all at once. You want me to put a crow in a box? Of course, darling," she drawls, somehow lapsing into Liyara's more imperious, Faerunian accent, "for you, I'll slap a label on the box and ship it, too."

She sounds... ... happy.

Well.

That's... probably fine.

Well, that won't do. That won't do at all. I narrow my eyes and reality comes flooding back in. "Cute. See? That's the fire I was expecting this whole time. Defiant. Stubborn. Liyara shifts back into control as her body returns to normal. The extra minds fading away slowly but surely." The very nerve of her. Beautiful gifts!? Are you fucking kidding me? I don't even care that she just agreed to everything. The very thought of her suddenly sickens me.

Gone is the illusion of the man I once was and replaced is the form I am now cursed to hold. Broken pieces of a man floating in a rough approximation of my form. Half of my face gone. Glowing light shimmering from the cracks between my pieces. Pale human skin and what looks like a sliming black body suit are stretched over the chunks. Look, I didn't get any consultation regarding how I look. What's your excuse?

"…whatever." The word tastes foul on my lips. "Go save your other half, cherish your little lives, and enjoy watching it all crumble when it inevitably falls apart." The very nerve of her. "Just make sure you ask Satoshi about ATOMSK before you eventually waste your time chasing steam. Otherwise you won't understand the third act at all." I shrug to dismiss her. She only has to walk away. Why I don't just SEND her away is a question I don't feel like answering right now.

I don't even feel like listening to music anymore.

Liyara watches him as her body is hers again. Her mind is hers again. She snatches what she can, like every microsecond more of Yoiko's memories is water and she has wandered, parched, for centuries. And then they are gone, and she is whole again.

"...Amazing." She says as her eyes behold the creature that was once human. He still looks human, after a fashion, like someone unspooled a human, unwrapped his human suit and found nothing inside. "You are this ethereal thing, beyond whatever human form you once wore, perhaps beyond any human." Her voice intones softly, getting quieter, like she is speaking to a frightened animal instead of an incredibly powerful creature that could unmake her, and in fact already has. "But you don't realize what you've done."

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, concentrates for a moment, and then she weaves an image in the air with fire, drawing before this Nobody what she sees in her mind. And what she sees in her mind is... complex.

Neural pathways that would give a positronic brain an inferiority complex retrieve the architecture, the anatomy of her universe at dizzying speeds, delivering them to her hand as she traces the lines, the esoteric math, shape, constants, and structure that underpin it all. A line from hers to other adjacent ones, planes of fire, ether, and dozens more, all traced in nearly an instant. And then... another line... from this cluster to what she clearly draws as a smaller cluster inside a singularity. And from that, to another cluster. Even before she gets far, it's obviously Yoiko's universe. The math is different. The shape is different. Even the constants are different. Only the vaguest of similarities remain.

"I could spend eternity mapping these out. Do you know how long it takes? Of course you do." She says, as if her operations to covertly map the infrastructure of the universes and pocket universes she finds herself in were completely public knowledge. Well, he said she's the main character. That means he was reading. Watching? Yes.

"...Or..." She traces a wide circle around everything, and alights this one with pure white flame that expands and fills all the spaces in between everything she's drawn out. "...I can get it all from here without wasting an instant of time." She stares Mr. Nobody in the eyes, which requires a tilting of her head with the way his... ness... moves.

"Are you going to stop me? Or are we going to be friends?" She's smiling, but... there's a manic excitement behind her eyes now. Something obsessive. Something inhuman. She wants this. She wants it badly. She will kill him die trying to get it, if she has to.

I turn and stare, my one eye twitching. "This place doesn't give you power. You can't just take it for yourself. Even if you could I could just narrate it away from you. The trouble with being omniscient is how painfully mundane each interaction can truly be. I let a little bit spill over here. I nudge a few things over there. Then the little peons like yourself decide, 'Oh, I have this brilliant idea.' Then you dance for me until I grow tired of the song."

I let out a deep breath, and resolve myself back to my old form again. "I'm tired of this song." I walk back, glaring into her amber eyes. My voice much more matter-of-fact. "I can rewrite you into nothingness and there's little you can do about it." Let's set that in stone, shall we? "Liyara knows she cannot kill Mr. Nobody. Not just yet. She has to return here before that door will open up for her." There. Is that solid enough? "And she will return here. By the Nine Hells of Baator, she will return here."

With that I offer an apologetic smile, "But for now you need to leave, because if you stay here you won't ever be able to do so and your little gal-pal meets her end alone, and the only pussy she'll ever see again is Kylie's little Pagan, splattering along with the rest of her across the street outside Ray's little bookstore. Capiche?"

"I have power, darling." She uses that term again, she's never used it on Yoiko which means it's not a term of affection, but a knife. "What I don't have is time. Dragons age. Events come and go. Universes collapse." She says all of this like she's witnessed it, but our narrator can read her profiles and her secret histories, he knows she's not even cracked two hundred years yet. She's merely an adult red dragon, and barely one at that, just out of young adulthood. In dragon terms she's "barely legal." If Dragons cared about consent.

"...I don't want YOUR power. How droll." She waves a hand at him, almost dismissively. "To take someone else's power is the absolute height of insecurity and shows a weak pride. No. This place represents infinite time, and therefore infinite knowledge."

She looks away for a moment, then feels this narration wrapping around her and snaps her head back, green eyes blazing as they meet his. "Don't you go visiting my understanding, my knowledge. Not ever!" There's the rage. Not before. Not when she and her entire reality was putty in his hands for his demonstration, but when they were talking like two people and he had the audacity to press "skip cutscene."

She turns away again and marches off. "It was strange meeting you. But you looked better in your true form. In case you wanted MY consultation in how you look."

Oh how sweet, she likes the glowing unspooling tapeworm loo-- ... wait. Run that back?

I watch her go with a shake of my head. "You know, when you were regaling me with her tales, you didn't tell me she'd be so FEISTY." The comment, of course, being directed at our absent little mage who SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY SPOKEN UP BY NOW. "And don't try to tell me that you've suddenly gone mute because the little Trill hooked your fork up to a communicator. Probably voided the warranty too."

Oh, but I suppose I should hold up to my end of the bargain. I did promise to help get rid of that nasty little scene lock I suppose. Liyara will find herself stepping out of the White Space like walking out of a fog.

</div>

Lain finds herself curled up in a ball, floating beside her new friend. She pulls off her bear cap and slowly pulls herself back to her feet. "I'm fine. Thank you." He's given a side-glance about that 'only person I can talk to' comment, but then she pulls out her mobile device, flicking screens showing Twisted into the air around them.

It takes a moment of searching before she points towards a screen showing Ray's Occult. Kylie Griffin stands over a smoking PKE meter while Yoiko Hax tries to get a closer look. Liyara stands on the opposite side of where she had been before the explosion. "Did something just get edited?" She looks up at Crux with a face full of concern. "Is that possible?" For Lain to be unsure of something is a bad thing. Potentially a very bad thing. Let's hope it never happens again.

𝕊𝕠. 𝕎𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕨.

ℕ𝕠, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕒𝕪'𝕤 𝕆𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥, 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥, 𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕖𝕪𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕥𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕪𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕛𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖'𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥? 𝕊𝕠 𝕃𝕚𝕪𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 𝕓𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖? 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕐𝕠𝕚𝕜𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜, 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕕𝕝𝕪. 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖. 𝕀𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥... 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟?

𝕎𝕒𝕚𝕥, 𝕟𝕠, 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Edited?" Crux's still basically blind for a moment; his normally golden irises are basically all black now, with little gold flecks swirling in them instead of the normal gold-with-black-flecks look they usually sport. "What do you mean edited?" The pupils slooooowly contract, here where time has no flow, and he winces. "...Oh. She's not standing in the same spot. The hell did she do?"

And that's when the Advent does a double take. He was looking with his temporal-spatial vision. Because, OBVIOUSLY trying to look at someone in a different universe entirely with your basic human eyesight is an endeavor in futility. So. Then. Why does he find himself staring directly at Liyara? In the normal "she's right over there and she can see me" way?

He slowly lowers the arm he'd instinctively held up to shield his vision from the "light", even though that could never have helped. His eyes narrow, and he sees Liyara directly in front of him - a hole in the fabric of space-time ripped in between himself and the dragoness. It's a jagged, pixelated tear, as if someone tore through a video game screen to get to him.

"Well. You don't see that every day."

-҉

"...Bahamut's blood, what an odd creature." Liyara murmurs, before realizing that where there should be a gaping hole in the building, there is instead a gaping hole in time space. And she is face to face with a man with silver hair and narrowed, golden eyes. He looks irritated, which... in fairness, so is she.

"...Yoiko?" She affords herself a slight glance behind her before returning her attention to the man. If it's not one weirdo it's another. Who just casually sits in a hole between realities? Nobody. Heh.

Alright, so, none of that was my fault, and for the record I absolutely told you she was feisty. You just "couldn't hear me" because I "wasn't in the scene" or something. As if that's my fault. Skill issue, clearly.

Yoiko glances over at Liyara as she calls out. It's clear from her eyes still lingering on the device in the shopkeeper's hands that she's hesitating a moment, "What's up?" Her eyes finally catch up to her face and she looks directly at Liyara, not seeing anything amiss.

She does pause a moment though and looks to her other side and back, realizing that something was off but not registering it as important enough to focus on. "Don't tell me you already found something that'd help us." So far she doesn't see the gaping hole in time and space, probably because it wasn't meant for her. A shame, because she'd be far more interested in that than the toy on the counter.

----

Lain raises an eyebrow at Crux's portal, shaking her head and the needlessly flashy method of looking across the vast expanse. It only lasts a moment before she's peering at Liyara too. Unfortunately for all her time watching individuals, she never quite figured out that necessary 'how to read them' part. She narrows her eyes as if trying to see something that isn't there, but quickly gives up and goes back to trying to understand how something edits a moment in time.

----

Elsewhere, the monitor continues to display it's warning about ATOMSK. Seems like Liyara wasn't the only thing not properly put back exactly as it should have been…

There's a long moment where Crux and Liyara just seem to stare at each other. Crux's eyes narrow further, like he's squinting, trying to see something, while Liyara becomes unnaturally still, and the ambient temperature in the room increases by three or four degrees.

It only lasts for a few brief moments, and then Crux's eyes slide off of the dragoness and down to the dagger at her hip. He furrows his brows for a moment, then smiles to himself and looks back to Liyara with a bit of a smug smirk. And then the portal closes, leaving the two scenes separate once more.

"Well. That was about as successful as was suggested." Crux offers to Lain, turning to the girl now that they're "alone" again, but doesn't bother elaborating what was successful or who suggested it. "She didn't do it. Someone else did." He holds a hand out to Lain, offering to show her what he saw. "Wanna see?" Oh hey, this position is reversed from what it was a while back. Now he's offering and she almost certainly isn't thrilled.

-҉

"Found... a few somethings..." The dragoness watches the portal close, and for the first time in Yoiko's memory, Liyara is sweating. "...Today is not at all going like I expected." She turns back to Yoiko and Kylie, looking over the meter.

"...Bird, what bird?" She asks herself, but really she's asking a certain Michelin Man Cosplayer where the hell this weird creature she's supposed to box up is. She said she'd do it. She'll do it. She just... doesn't understand. Even if he'd dropped the name Atomsk, she's only heard it once before interconnected with gibberish. Though the recollection of WHEN she'd heard it might set her nerves atingle again. Why did she come back here again? Right. Promises. She should stop making those.

At this point Liyara has Yoiko's full attention. Although a smile does cross her lips when she realizes that Liyara is looking at a Stay Puff figurine. "Did you say something about a bird?" She reaches over, pickup up the figure and marching it across the counter. "Mister Puff isn't a bird. He's the form of the destructor! Many schlubs and zools where burned that day."

Kylie just rolls her eyes at the conversation, deciding to use her photographic memory to recite Vinz's quote. "During the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of a Sloar that day, I tell you." It was weird having people quote things from your world, but at least this one seems to respect it.

Yoiko laughs and gestures back with her thumb. "That! Exactly!" She giggles a little, putting the Stay Puff back where she found it. "You wanna talk about it?"

----

Lain raises an eyebrow, very aware of the sudden shift in their dynamic. As if to answer his question, she pulls the bear hat back over her head. "After you…"

Crux just offers Lain a brilliant, devastatingly radiant smile. "Alright, but this is gonna be weird and wild, I don't have any psychic memory transfer or whatever the newfangled kids use these days, so I'm gonna just have to brute force it, alright?"

...Alright.

...What does that m--

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

And then Crux is literally re-shaping the light that's hitting Lain's eyes, just straight up playing a projector onto her retina, but not in the painful way, just in the sudden and probably unexpected way, as Lain will suddenly see exactly what he saw as he was staring at Liyara, but cued up as if it was all being seen through a normal visual cortex and not whatever strange organ Crux uses to see fifth dimensionally.

It begins with the portal, massless space-time ejecta parting around it to reveal Liyara's form, and then the woman turning to look directly at Crux Lain. Weirdly, Lain will also hear what Crux heard - some sort of inner-ear stimulation, perhaps?

"Bahamut's blood, what an odd creature." She said microseconds before her expression registered that she saw Crux through the portal. The feed is played back in slow motion, but there's no audio warping, like time dilation still thoughtfully plays all the right notes at the right speed. There is an... emptiness behind Liyara, a wrongness. Like a wake she leaves in the timestream - Lain can see it follows Yoiko, too. The absence is confusing, but it is Kylie's presence that gives it context; effortlessly, as a tiny side thing in the corner of her "vision", Crux Lain can see a blurred, steady line of after-images behind Kylie of everything the girl did before Yoiko and Liyara walked in for the day. It's... quiet, subtle, like the notes of a perfume in the air or the slight sound of someone's breathing, but it's there and visible and becomes more and less clear depending on how much of Crux'sLain's attention drifts to Kylie. "Yoiko?" The recording of Liyara doesn't break his her gaze, but allows some glance back towards her blonde companion.

There is the sense of Crux's Lain's eyes narrowing, not the physical sensation but the visuals being played back to her. The emptiness in her wake grows, distorts very slightly, but still does not resolve into anything, like eyes trying to focus on an image that just won't be focused upon. The recording of Liyara becomes stone-still now, and the insane detail with which this "recording" was captured allows Lain to perhaps see what she did not the first time. Blood vessels constricting. Pupils thinning. Face flushing. Muscles tensing. Liyara was afraid. Lain can "hear" the recording of Yoiko's response, and that's when stuff gets... weird.

Crux's Lain's gaze drifts down to Liyara's dagger, and the slightly blurred trail behind it just explodes into visual focus, the result of so much effort being attempted to focus on Liyara suddenly succeeding on the dagger that the last week of the dagger's existence just sort of leaps into view. A disintegration, a space station, a pleasant grove, a skip in the recording, a pleasant grove, a space station again, another disintegration, Twisted, a bookstore. Wait. Go back. A skip in the recording?

The dagger's history rewinds as Crux Lain goes back over the visuals. The dagger's owner and her blonde companion in the grove. A skip. The dagger's owner waking up. Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Slowly forward. Frame by fr--skip. Fast forward to the bookstore. The dagger's owner casting some basic magic ritual, a hand motion that has temporal weight - it has been performed hundreds of thousands of times before, but none of those times blew anything up. A flash of light, the universe staggering under the weight of Ray's folly... and then... skip. The dagger's owner has changed locations in the store. ... Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Skip. ... The same pattern. Like a bit of the film was simply... edited out.

The visuals rush away from Lain's eyes finally, Crux releasing her from this picture show.

"...See?" That's Crux this time. Wow. Someone needs to slap that guy.

-҉

"Some of those words made sense to me, and almost as many sound like you made them up." Liyara replies to Kylie and Yoiko's little quote off, her eyes searching around them for some sign of this black bird. Crow? Raven? Shapeshifty familiar? She won't miss it. She's a very good multitasker.

"Talk about what? About the Destructor, Schlubs, and Zools?" Liyara blinks once, and tilts her head. Then looks back at Kylie, who is giving very "disaffected youth" energy. "...Are these things you speak of real? Not some elaborate fiction humans conjured for entertainment?"

Lain's expression from the outside is probably far too amusing. The young woman tilts her head, blinks, winces, blinks, stares. Her head tilts from one side to the other. Each time things seem to rewind she opens her mouth to speak but completely fails to do so making her repeat the entire process.

Once things go back to normal, Lain simply lowers her head rubbing the bridge of her nose with one hand. "That can't be right. It doesn't work like that." She finally looks up again, crossing her arms.

"Who would even have the power to do something like that? Twisted doesn't have a normal flow of time. You can't rewind a fixed quantity of time energy. When it's gone, it's gone. There's not enough to 'time travel.'" One can almost hear the air quotes in her voice. "Even when Twisted was 'young' time didn't actually move backwards. It just aged at an accelerated rate as it burned off the energy is stole from Chronos and the chaos from Trinune."

Look, we're not going to talk about how she knows these things. She's proved she can read our wiki in her spare time. Don't question it.

After a moment's hesitation, she addresses the elephant in the room with a look of worry. "Is there a third watcher somewhere?"

----

Kylie shrugs her shoulders at Liyara's question, stating rather matter-of-factly, "It is where I come from. You guys are the weirdos who think the Manhattan Cross Rip of '85 is a movie." She ponders that a moment before sliding still-smoking PKE meter into a drawer. "The movie you guys know is almost identical to the one they made in Dimension 68-R, but they didn't look anything like the Ghostbusters in that world."

"Speaking of, my favorite alternate dimension the guys have charted is 68-E. I'm a badass in that one, but the time frame is all screwed up and Dr Spengler is older than he should be."

Yoiko tilts her head as she listens to Kylie speak, "No chance you wouldn't mind filling out some paperwork to document all that, would you? The Federation would love to add that to our database."

Kylie just laughs, "You think they didn't document everything the moment they had a chance? Come by here later and I'll get you a printout. I'd do it now but we'd run out of ink before I got to volume 4."

It should probably be a worry that the Commander is suddenly far too excited about that offer...

"I see." Liyara muses quietly, taking Kylie at her word. "So any idea anyone had for a story may have a matching or at least rhyming reality somewhere." Her eyes glass over for a moment. She really should have asked Mr. Nobody for his name. She can't well search up "Mr. Nobody" and expect any useful results. A complete failure on her part. She rifles through her perfect memories, narrowing her eyes for a moment.

Wait. She's back here, she can corroborate that man's story. See if she was being taken for a loop, for a mind-game, or if she really did become Yoiko for that brief moment. "...Yoiko, what was Daemon's favorite alcoholic refreshment? And what about three shots in?" If she remembers that correctly, that's a detail she likely couldn't have made up - for instance, she didn't even know those beverages until moments ago.

-҉

"Probably." Crux says casually to Lain's question, sounding relatively unconcerned about the idea of another watcher. "In my experience there's always someone skulking about. Usually it's me, but still." The young girl can see the Advent looking lost in thought for a moment. "...I don't... actually understand time the way you just described it, like it has some sort of finite quantity. I'm a bit more instinctive. But..." He taps his chin for a moment, looking pensive.

"Probably..." He starts and trails off again, and starts tapping his foot on the empty space. It's an obvious habit that marks him as having grown up human immediately. "... Probably whoever they are isn't manipulating time. It's probably something else, entirely, and this is just a side effect."

Well look at him, he got there in the end. Sort of. Anyway it's pretty good for an idiot.

But what would that mean, Crux?

"Probably means some sort of reality warping, some anti-scrying measures, or extremely high speed teleportation, faster than even my eyes." There's a pause for a moment, then a chuckle. "That last one's pretty unlikely."

The blonde engineer is still a little too engrossed into the idea of a Stanz/Spengler multiverse guide to really click to the question being presented. Amusingly, or almost because of this, she doesn't quite realize what she's about to say until it's too late. "Depends on what I'm feeling, really. If I can get it, a Saurian Brandy. If I can't..." Slowly realization starts to dawn on her, "...an Aldebaran Whiskey."

She turns her head slowly, looking at Liyara with narrowing eyes. "...and the third shot don't matter. Surprise me...?" There's a couple of things that go through her mind; none of them particularly pleasant. "When did I ever tell you about Daemon?"

Yoiko actually looks offended, and that takes a lot these days. "At first I thought you were asking me some confused question about Ghostbusters, and then..." She folds her arms across her chest, trying to calm herself. "I actually feel a little violated."

She hugs herself, trying to get the goosebumps to go away where her skin feels like it's crawling, "You'd better have a dammed good reason for asking me that."

"When you told me he's why you chew your nails." Liyara answers Yoiko's question with zero hesitation, somehow remembering the exact moment and context, because of course she does. "But you didn't tell me his favorite drinks. Nor about Linda's children, only her music. So."

There's a long pause from Liyara, and then she tucks her chin in. She looks... worried? Concerned. But also excited. "It was real. ...Something big is happening, I suspect. I just met one of Twisted's 'Gods'. Or, well, he was honest enough to say he wasn't a God, which means I don't have to kill him to prove he can die, and frankly that saves me a lot of time." ... What is she going on about now?

"..." After a moment, she looks to Kylie. "...Right, yes. I almost forgot. You should tell your employer that his magical setup with the store's inventory is very dangerous, I almost killed all of us simply by inspecting it. No, I don't know why, I couldn't finish inspecting it. I suspect he's performed some shenanigans with dimensional space."

...Ok. You could possibly have paced this better, Dragon.

-҉

"Well there you go, see?" Crux gestures off screen in the vague direction of Yoiko and Liyara's scene. "She just answered it for us. What a helpful monster." He seems entertained. Also, while he's here... He looks back at her dagger, taking his time to get all of that lovely temporal vision in before she can find time to ward it against him like she clearly has done with herself and Yoiko. What's a little bit of metadata sniffing between frenemies? The future Liyara practically told him to.

"...What? Are you used to being able to see all the others? I'm not. Must be nice."

Yoiko seems to accept the answer, but her skin continues to crawl anyways as Liyara expands her scope of Hax's lives. It's hard for her to be open about... well, anything really. She is a Trill after all. Being secretive about themselves is kinda their defining trait - not that anyone should know that!

Her face seems to become almost green as her body tries to blush and go pale at the same time. Someone on Twisted has told Liyara a lot more than she was willing to divulge, and that's a problem. "We're going to have a very long talk about this later, but can you please stop talking about me?" That probably came out wrong, but Kylie is RIGHT THERE.

Kylie, meanwhile, is completely unphased. "Yeah. That sounds about right. Not to mention the amount of cursed objects they've been stockpiling. I swear, every time I walk into the back room expect I'm going to see some Cenobite chattering it's teeth at me." She lets out a long sigh, "Welp. I'm going to be thinking of that all day now, thanks."

----

Lain raises an eyebrow as Crux largely speaks to himself. Having her suspicions confirmed isn't exactly helpful. She's also not entirely sure how much of what he's saying is directed at her or just out loud to himself. She's used to watching quietly, so she does.

At least until the silence just starts to become uncomfortable.

"I'm not a 'God,' just an observer. I'm not part of any specific reality anymore." She tilts her head to the side and sighs, "Everyone here likes to have a label or a title. It's not very becoming." So says the entity who's name redacts itself whenever it's typed on the wiki.

"...Right, well, neither am I but people make that mistake a lot." Crux's not really looking at Lain right now. He puts a hand to his chin and starts musing. "...It's awfully convenient that the dagger was there to keep a record that the dragon would otherwise have blocked me from seeing." Yes. Actually, yes, that is rather convenient.

-҉

"...Right." Liyara just sort of shuts her mouth and looks at Yoiko for a moment. There's analysis, recognition, understanding in those eyes, but they arrive in that specific order. "I am sorry. I was just unmade, turned into something else entirely, and then reshaped back into myself. I am still processing." That's a lie, and we'll call it that on its face. She finished processing that before she walked out. What she is still processing is Yoiko's feelings because somehow, in all of that, she didn't take any of THOSE into consideration at all. And now she is realizing that is... ... not the way to treat a loved one.

"...I will show you what happened, but you will not like it, so perhaps later is better, yes." The dragoness takes a deep breath, and then looks to Kylie. "... Do you have anything on the uh... white space?" She hopes that's the right term. It's probably not.

Kylie tilts her head as she ponders what that might mean. "White Space?" She taps her finger on the countertop. "I assume that's not a bad joke about a Starbucks?" Ba-dum-tiiiiish. "White Space….. White Space… In comic books that tends to be a reference to the blank margins outside the panels. Marvel tends to call it the Gutter Space, but I think DC is the White Space. Either way it's the infinite potential, the pristine nothingness outside of reality. It's usually a white void or a universe of infinite energy."

Look out, she's gone full librarian mode. "There's not really any books about it *specifically* but you'll find referenced in specific comic books. Gwenpool delves into it a lot as she jumps from page to page within her stories. Deadpool will acknowledge it, usually to make some kind of meta joke. Grant Morison, I believe, used it in a few different stories but he was never entirely clear if it was a space or an entity of itself."

Crossing her arms, she ponders a bit more. "The closest thing you're going to find is maybe Purgatory? A place of cleansing, from the verb purgo, 'to clean, cleanse.' Some see it as a state or location between the Earthly Plane and Heaven. Traditionally that's more of a process than a physical location, however. It's also often a type of limbo." She offers up her hands, gesturing in two directions. The first towards the store windows, "You're either going to want to grab a stack of comic books and hope for the best." She then uses her other hand to vaguely motion towards the religious section. "Or you're going to have to get Biblical."

"Comic books?" Liyara looks rather dismayed for a moment. It's possible she's never heard of them, or has and thinks little of them. Probably the latter.

"...Gwenpool. Deadpool. These aren't words I'm familiar with. Are these pools like the Zools?" ...She has no idea what any of these words are. At all.

When Kylie says Biblical, Liyara just crosses her own arms. "There are many bibles, I believe you will have to be dramatically more specific." Hoo boy.

-҉

"Welp." Crux says and stretches his arms over his head. "She's getting sucked into the wide world of comic books, I think I'm done with her." He creates another portal, this time more of a gentle ripple. "You wanted me back here, I'm back here. Are you uh... you gonna come with? Seems kinda lonely out here. When was the last time you had a choco taco?"

Kylie simply shrugs at the question. "Most Bibles have their own views of Heaven and Hell. Even Buddhism has it's Naraka. You're kinda asking me what life forms breathe oxygen. It wouldn't be all of them, but it's going to be a lot." She sighs, shaking her head, "I also have nothing to go by but a vague inkling. You need to dish up a lot more detail before I'm going to know what you're looking for."

Almost as an afterthought she adds, "Unless you want to go the coffee shop route? I hear Coffee of Doom used to be pretty popular." She's kidding of course. Maybe. Probably.

----

Lain lets out a sigh at the question about going back. "I'll be there, but I can't go with you. Going would be getting involved and that's not something I can directly do." However, there's an anxiousness there that wasn't apparent before. She wants to go. She wants friends, but that is not her nature or her destiny.

"I'll keep looking where I can and see if I can find something else to help answer questions. They do tend to come from the strangest of places after all. I wouldn't be surprised if Dexter somehow knew more about this than we do." That seems strangely prophetic. "When you need me, just call my name. I'll probably be near."

With a rather depressing wave she paints on a smile, "Good luck, Mister Caedon. It's been a pleasure to meet you face to face." Her words echoing a greeting that no longer happened.

Crux just tilts his head to one side at that, frowning. "Well. I can come back here, unlike the temporally moored." He jerks a thumb at the portal. "So... uhm. Maybe just tell me what you want for takeout, and I'll bring some back after I deal with the absolute certainty of a cluster that's going to converge on me the second I step foot in there. Come on, a girl's gotta eat, even if she don't gotta eat."

Well. It was suggested he should be nice to her.

-҉

"I don't.... none of this is helpful. It was a white liminal space where concepts like time and space were relatively meaningless." Liyara tries again, looking frustrated. "It occupied the space between things. Around things?" She's beginning to think there isn't going to be a book on this, which is... frustrating. Most of her study comes from ancient tomes that time forgot

Yoiko just watches the exchange quietly. Her arms are still crossed and that sick look hasn't left her face. She's struggling to rationalize whatever's just transpired. They left the 24*7 in good spirits. The walk seemed to be brisk, but fun. But once they arrived at the bookstore, instead of geeking out of old tomes and magic - Liyara started aggressively dismissing everything. Then the bombshell about Yoiko's past, blurting it out loud where anyone could listen. Now...

Now whatever this was. Liyara felt manic to her, like someone obsessed. What did she say? Something about being unmade and put back together again? Was she still holding some grudge about the teleporter? Maybe Yoiko should have been more respectful. It was easy to dismiss the way a normal part of her life would affect those who weren't familiar with it. Clearly Yoiko had done something horrible in Liyara's eyes, but what did this have to do with white space and bible studies? Did Liyara believe that she'd lost her soul in the transport?

Shaking a little, Yoiko reaches out a hand to touch Liyara's shoulder. "Hey. It's going to be okay. I'm sorry if the transporter frightened you. It was wrong of me not to tell you about it first, but that doesn't mean you need to go to such an extreme. Let's go somewhere quiet and talk about all of this."

Kylie's blind to people being weird with everything she's seen. Between the paranormal, the doorways to other dimensions, and the weird talking turtles, nothing was really 'weird' anymore. Annoying maybe, but not weird. The chick with the wings was just becoming another bossy customer. She'd delt with her kind before. "Eh, maybe you passed through a dimensional gateway. Maybe you're not looking for some other plane of existence but another universe entirely. Happens on Twisted all the time. One minute you're fine, the next minute you're standing in Gotham City."

She gives a slight shrug of dismissal and checks on the PKE Meter she'd tossed in a drawer. Yep. Still smoking. "Without more to go on, I can't help you. I'm sorry."

----

Lain gives a warm smile at the offer of him coming back, "I'd like that." But she glances around and sighs, "But not here. The ethereal prison is nice and all, but lacking a little atmosphere, isn't it?" Wait, is she making a joke about space? "Either way, good luck. We'll see each other again soon."

Crux gives a small smirk. "I'm used to not being able to breathe." A pause. "Real used to it now." And then he shrugs. "Anyway, you know how to find me, I bet. So think about what you want to eat so you can let me know. Otherwise I'll have to track you down. You don't want that. I only ever show up at the worst time. You've been warned!" With that, he gives Lain a wave and steps through the portal back to Twisted Street.

To Mabase.

To Truce Fountain.

...

"Oh what the f--" The portal closes.

-҉

Liyara just sort of stares at Kylie for a moment, then shrugs and sighs. A place with all the books and none on this very specific thing. Except comic books? ... That sounds like a worthless endeavor.

She turns back to Yoiko at the touch, and sees the sick look on her face. "It's..." She blinks at Yoiko's misunderstanding, and then gives a tiny, pained laugh. "...The transporter? Oh, no. This all just happened the moment after that strange device started smoking." She winces a little, furrowing her brows as she goes back over the conversation with the man-that-was-no-longer-a-man. "It is possible that somehow it also never occurred. My understanding of time here is rudimentary."

A moment drags on, before she looks down at Yoiko's shaking hand. She looks back up to Yoiko, and actually connects with her gaze for a moment. "...You don't tell people." There it is. That took forever. Liyara pales, which is not something she generally does. "Oh. You don't tell people." Her tail thumps against the floor and then twitches and swishes back and forth. "...𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏." Translator didn't catch that one, but it was definitely an expletive.

There's an urge in the Commander to yell. To scream exlipdatives! But also to cry. There's nothing rational about these thoughts, but the weight of whatever is going on unspoken is suffocating her. She withdraws her hand, choosing to fold her arms around to hug herself again. Now that Liyara is paying a bit more attention Yoiko tries it again, "So can we go somewhere and talk about things? Somewhere that's not in a book store with a-" an audiance? "I need some air either way. I'm going to step outside. I hope you join me."

Kylie watches the exchange with a raised brow. Did she just watch a break-up? It felt like a break-up. If so, good going Blondie! The chick with the wings and the tail feels a bit too self absorbed for her liking. She makes herself look like she's distracted by deciding to come over and bug Pagan for a bit of overdue scratching. "Hey, um. Just in case, you two have some bags over by the door. You don't want to forget them if you need to dash in a hurry." She means the bags from the 24*7 of course. You didn't think they just vanished into nothingness, did you?

Liyara blinks when Yoiko withdraws her hand, and then nods when Yoiko asks if they can do this elsewhere. She looks back to Kylie with surprise, as if she'd forgotten the girl existed once she was no longer of use, and then looks down to the bags. "...Yes. Apologies." For forgetting her, or the bags? Best not to ask.

Liyara grabs the bags and heads outside on Yoiko's heels, tossing Kylie a good coin that's probably worth several of the less expensive tomes... Even though she didn't buy anything. It's just custom, apparently. She fights back the urge to snatch it out of the air. It's always present, but today she wins.

Once outside, Liyara sighs. She slips out of emergency triage mode, and something like actual emotion slides back into her green eyes. Her slit pupils dilate a bit, and she quirks her lips into a painfully pretty frown. How do you frown prettily?

"I'm sorry." That's all she says for now. She doesn't know what else to say in public. So she just... Doesn't.

Yoiko is leaning against the wall beside the door when Liyara comes out, her gaze locked on the sidewalk. When she appologizes, Yoiko lifts her head up too offering a forced smile. "It's... fine. I'm sorry too." She can feel the weight pressing down on her of guilt, embarssment, and something more. Something she isn't able to define yet.

She tries to rationalize things, but she also realizes it might be time - whether she wants to or not - to come clean. This wouldn't have happened if she'd have been more open about things. Plus she still wasn't sure that this whole situation wasn't her fault to begin with. "Okay, let's... go ...uh, somewhere." They where headed somewhere when all this started right? Was it her apartment? That's probably fine.

"You okay with walking to my apartment, or would you rather go somewhere else?" She glances around herself, suddenly feeling like every eye and ear in range is studying her every movement. Yoiko rubs her arms to fade away the goosebumps that feeling brings with it.

There's a lot of feelings bubbling up inside her to unpack, and she wasn't prepared for any of them. This is going to be a day…

Liyara blinks at Yoiko's apology, still looking a bit flummoxed now that her viridian eyes finally have feeling behind them again. "You've sincerely done nothing wrong, Yoiko." Liyara says simply, and then nods, moving the bags to the crook of her arm so that she can offer a hand to the engineer.

"I am... Not an easy person to be close to." The dragoness' voice lowers, and she sighs.

With a shake of her head and a soft laugh, Yoiko locks her arm around Liyara's, taking her hand in the process. Already she's walking in the direction of Integra's Arms, dragging Liyara along for the ride.

Even after the laugh her voice sounds sad. "No, you're fine. I'm fine. We're fine. I think we both need to talk. ACTUALLY talk about some of this stuff. We can do it now, or you can walk me back and take a breather. It's less of a walk than the one we took from the 24*7, so at least there's that."

The sadness creeps into her face again and she squeezes the arm a little tighter. Sadness may not be the right description, but it's certainly the closest emotion it appears as from the outside. Her mind is racing through all the things that she's been avoiding talking about and the contemplative dread is not doing wonders for her mood.

"Yes, well," Liyara begins, happy for the proximity but still looking a bit stiff, "Communication is supposedly key to healthy relationships." And like that she is already smiling again. Or ... Is she trying to be funny?

"...Let's go back to your place." She keeps walking, but then drops it whole while they amble along. "...I tried to use a 'detect magic' ritual to find the most interesting tomes in the book store, but the bookstore exploded, which is atypical of 'detect magic'." One would hope?

"I was able to block the damage but there was a nonzero chance that you and the others inside the bookstore would have died, and that's when some strange, god-like entity who claims to be narrating our lives pulled me into a liminal space between realities, turned my blood to literal ice, removed my mouth, and then turned me into you. In an actual, very real sense. I asked those questions because I was verifying my memory of, well, your memory, was not fabricated." She doesn't even miss a step if Yoiko doesn't.

"It's been a strange day." ...No shit.

The pace of Yoiko's steps slow as she listens to Liyara speak. When she gets to the bit about a god-like entity, Yoiko stops and stares quietly. There's a pause long enough for a few breaths, and then she finally replies back, "Yeah. We're going to talk about *that*."

By now they're not too far from the apartment building, and the blonde woman stares up trying to guestimate where her apartment was specifically. Briefly she tries to calculate how big of an opening it might rip if she just tore through the micro dimension behind her door and tried to fly her tiny shuttle out of the side of the building.

She frowns at the distracting thoughts and makes herself focus on the current conversation. "I probably should have told you about... all of me. My whole past. Not just Yoiko. My people try to disassociate with our previous hosts. Even talking to their families are frowned upon." She lets out a deep sigh, "It's not because we're ignoring them, but because even though their memories live on inside us, we're all part of the new host now. The new 'us'.

Yoiko offers a weak smile and a shrug, "I got grilled about this the last time I shared any of that. Apparently some people think it's wrong not to live in the past and try to continue the past relationships we once had." There's a tone to her words that sounds like she might agree with that assessment herself, but she'll never admit it.

"It's the only way we can move forward in life after being joined. So many thoughts and memories just flooding in at once. It's a lot." She reaches the door and holds it open, letting Liyara enter the building so she doesn't have to release her arm. "It's not like we pretend they don't exist. We have a whole ritual, Zhian'tara, that we use to communicate with our previous hosts. It's actually mandatory for those of us who are joined."

Stepping through the lobby towards the elevator, Yoiko bites her lip softly before pressing the button to call it. "I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago. You ask the questions, and I'll answer it. All of them." Her hand begins to shake ever so slightly as the doors open with a ding.

"This is your free pass, but when we're done I want to know everything you've seen of me, even the small unimportant stuff. Then we'll figure out what to do about this new God."

Liyara hefts the bags slightly, more for comfort than because they have any real weight to her, and then she enters the door that Yoiko kindly holds open for her.

"...I think I know some of this. It's half-remembered now. I was trying to observe and notice everything when he... changed me... and so logically 'you' picked up on that and caught everything, including running a basic check to make sure your memories were all as they should be before becoming 'me' again." Huh. If that ain't a brand new sentence.

As the elevator doors open, Liyara gives Yoiko's shoulder a squeeze, gently. "Well, to give him credit where it's due, he's the first one of them that admitted they weren't a God, and that they can die. So, the good news is I don't have to kill him to prove that. Saves me a lot of time. His existence and confession both validate my long-running hypothesis about our own 'gods' back on Faerun. That and the structure of his strange white... place."

As Liyara chooses the floor by memory, she smiles. "...I will let you ask questions of me, too, and I will answer them. I don't mean to brag, but that is a very rare opportunity." She means to brag. She definitely means to brag.

Once the elevator begins to move, Yoiko simply shakes her head with a smirk. On the bright side that little self-indulgent denial actually made her feel a little more at ease. She spends the elevator ride trying to ponder questions, but the gravity of the situation and the mystery of this Not-A-God God has her perplexed.

As the elevator finally comes to a stop, she asks, "What do you suppose his game was?" It's common sense, of course, "There's always an end-game. Like, what was the point of showing you... me?" Being used as an example certainly didn't make her feel better, let alone the invasion of privacy that entailed.

Arriving at her door, she fumbles with the lock a moment before they step in. She steps to the edge of where she'd pulled up the floor tiles, glancing nostalgically at the bits of floating furniture drifting around the void she'd exposed. Following the cables and wires running from the exposed wiring into her shuttle, she carefully leads the way into her ship choosing to go into the rear section where a bed and a small couch offer more comfortable seating.

To no one in particularly she mutters, "I'm not looking forward to the act of getting this out of here, but I think I know how to make it happen. Gonna take a few hours when I get started though..."

Sitting on the couch, and gesturing for Liyara to join her, Yoiko takes a moment to glance around the small cabin. There's a door separating it from the mid-section. A bed that extends across the rear wall. The couch is on the starboard side between the door and the bed and opposite is a small desk with a computer set up. It's not the most luxurious quarters, but compared to her room on the station, it's about the same size in total.

"And now that you've got context, I suppose you see why I prefer to this to that awkward little apartment."

"Well, he wanted me to do something for him and he promised he'd reset the clock back to before I killed--" The dragoness trails off, then grimaces and restarts. "Before the bookstore owner killed everyone in the bookstore." She looks to Yoiko as they walk, and watches her unlock her room.

"Maybe he wished to convince me he had the power to do so. Or maybe he wished to anger me. Or maybe he just doesn't like me very much. He said he hoped I would hate him; he didn't realize he was handing me the completion of my thesis, a rather intimate moment with a loved one, and the knowledge of his plane of existence. He seemed to think something like a few moment's torture would overrule all that. Strange man."

The redhead puts a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "...Sharp dresser, though. Very insightful." What, because he knows everything revolves around her? Oi.

"It's as though we just left." She says, somewhat wistfully. She joins Yoiko in the runabout, and then casually reclines on the couch like she owns the place. Her tail curls around and underneath. "...Can one be nostalgic for a time like a little while ago?"

Yoiko is still pondering what this thing's plan is when Liyara waxes nostalgic. "I guess a lot has happened since we were here last." She sighs wistfully. "Already feels like it's been years."

"...why would some random being you've never met care if you hated him or not?" This is going to bother her. "For that matter, why remove you from here to do it?" She hmms softly. "Kinda sounds like he was baiting you for some reason." That much should probably be obvious.

"Anyways." There's another sigh. "Let's start this from the beginning and see how much I've neglected to tell you." Yoiko places her hand on her chest, "Yoiko Enoch. Joined with the Hax Symbiont. Thus Yoiko Hax. I'm a Trill, but we refer to it as a Joined Trill because of being, well. Joined." She lets out a sigh, "My planet is Trillius Prime. M-Class planet. One moon. Our Science Council is probably the most advanced in the Federation, even rivaling the one on Vulcan - not that anyone knows that."

She frowns at that, "...okay, maybe we are a little too secretive." She gives a weak smile before continuing, "Hax has had two previous hosts. Dameon and Linda. Daemon wanted to be an architect, but ended up as a Dilithium Miner to make ends meet after the love of his life dumped us to go be with that rotten little moisture farmer who came strolling in to sell his trash wares." Mid-sentence her voice had deepened a bit and her posture changed, her shoulders rose a little higher, and she leaned both arms on her knees almost like a crouch. It wasn't hard to picture her as a grizzled miner for a moment before she caught herself and settled back, crossing her legs. "...sorry."

Letting her mind reset a moment she continued, "Linda was a musician." Her voice softens a little more, almost like she was singing, "She was married, had three beautiful children and a husband that was willing to move mountains for her to make up for the fact she couldn't walk." Yoiko finds herself wanting to chew on her fingernail, but dismisses it by pressing her hands together in her lap. "If we'd saved some of our concert money I could have gotten an operation done, but the children had to come first." With a clear sense of pride she adds, "They became little artists themselves. The oldest was able to join the Echevarria Orchestra. I was so proud!"

"I actually got your last name from the... thing..." Liyara gestures vaguely in the air, but doesn't otherwise interrupt beyond that. She listens, patiently, actually paying attention. It is surprising how much of this she remembers from the two seconds she actually was Yoiko, but hey, teamwork? After Yoiko admits all of that, Liyara gives a low chuckle.

"...Doesn't the federation think of you as if you were some sort of tourist destination? Like the Rice planet?" Rice planet? Rysa? Oi.

After another moment, she sits up and nods. "I knew that about Linda, but not from memories, the narrator man-god-thing just intimated that she put her children before fixing herself, and I figured out the rest." She watches Yoiko for a moment, and then takes a deep, slow breath, and brings a hand to her chest. "I appreciate you sharing this with me, and I am sorry I pre-empted it by accidentally stealing a few seconds of your life." ...New sentences all over the place today.

The young woman settles into her normal body language again as Liyara confesses everything, choosing to let out a sigh. "I'm not a big fan of that, y'know." She crosses her arms and sulks back into the couch, "But I believe you that it wasn't a choice."

She regards the 'rice planet' comment with a shake of her head, "It's between a ton of Federation trade routes. If they had their way it'd just be a hub for supplies coming and going. We do get a lot of off-world traffic though."

Briefly she flicks a strand of loose hair out of her eyes, "I could break them down more if that'd somehow help, or tell you about *me*." She places her hand on her chest again before she crosses her arms back. "Trying to get into Starfleet, trying to get stationed on a ship. Meeting Jon. Getting obsessed with trying to redesign the warp nacelles that..." She trails off remembering the disaster, "Or about Fiona ("Flea") or Kenzie, or any of the other random dates I've been on that weren't nearly as memorable."

Liyara looks thoughtful at that, and then smiles. "I think I'd like to hear about all of that." She stretches out on the couch, languidly, sort of like a cat in how almost liquid-like her grace is, and of course she lays in that exact right way that looks appealing, as if she was perfectly angling things for Yoiko's vantage point. Oh hell, she probably is.

"...And afterward, I'll tell you all about me. I can also show you ... not my memories, but a visual of them... from what happened. If you still like me after all that... then I'll consider myself very fortunate." She somehow rolls over onto her stomach after a moment, her tail now looping over the back of the couch, and she keeps staring at Yoiko.

"...The only people I've ever met who wouldn't run screaming aren't people I like very much. So." Her tail thumps once, a nervous indicator. "...Take your time with yours first, if you don't mind..." Yeah, they're gonna be here a while.

|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately?

2026-07-27T01:49:03Z

Marr0w:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Read any good books lately?
|Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint.
|Who = [[Coop]], [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = May 17th, 2024.
|Where = [[24*7|The 24*7]], The streets of Mabase, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]]
|Log=

That's the way it goes, isn't it? A scene never seems to end and then… poof. They drop it. Like a festering piece of rotting meat dripping out of the mouth of some lost dog picking scraps out of the gutter. I am not a lost dog, nor am I a piece of rotting meat. No. I am the maggot swimming happily on the rotten carcass of this dead game trying to convert the decaying matter into a delicious meal fit for kings!

But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail…

Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up.

No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read.

If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet?

The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply.

I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of?

Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie.

Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it…

- - - -

As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead.

"I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait."

The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!"

Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely.

"It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way."

Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."

It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it.

"I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that?

Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that.

She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down.

None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.

The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness.

"Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?"

Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer."

Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."

Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me."

She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara.

If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead.

"...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.

Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!"

Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7."

Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife."

Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways."

The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…

There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko."

... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it?

"...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.

"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us."

The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"

The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest."

She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird.

"...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting.

Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."

The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved."

Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole.

"So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."

Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice.

"Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably.

"... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that.

When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too.

...It's probably nothing.

Probably.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way."

Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good."

She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!"

Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."

"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her?

As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise.

"A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are.

"... What's a Ghostbuster?"

Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit."

----

The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten.

Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed…

Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??"

Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"

Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all.

"Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.

<s>Meanwhile, in between the margins…</s>

"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?"

My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people.

I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.

With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears.

"Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!"

- - - -

Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking."

The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it."

Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once…

- - - -

Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams!

- - - -

Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for.

One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog.

As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."

The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--"

"A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-"

A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?"

Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--"

Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!"

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥.

ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go.

Did I mention he's an idiot?
-҉

Liyara has never, EVER, been hit with a multiversal-scalar hexavelent anti-divination bomb of reciprocity before. She's never even conceived of such a thing, even after reading up on "ZIP bombs" when she first arrived here. The idea that so much magic would be gathered in one place that when she gazed upon it all, it would slap her with the multiversal equivalent of walking in on Elminster in the shower is something far beyond her ability to comprehend.

It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage.

But it's still just the surprise round.

[Liyara used 1 AP!]

Alright, first things first. Liyara blocks. Do you want more detail than that? Fine. Golden Dragon scales creep up around her neck, her hairline, her eyes, and her hands, and she steps between Yoiko and Kylie and the blinding flash of light. Her teeth sharpen to something that shouldn't fit in a humanoid mouth, and she growls as she lifts a hand up to block this nonsense, whatever it is. It's bigger than she can see. Bigger than anyone can see. It's grander in scope than the world-spiral that contains a trillion trillion planets.

It's literally infinite.

And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm.

"𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔."

The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are.

She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐.

It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore.

[[2026-07-21 - The Space Between the Panels | ...part 2?]]
|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately?

2026-07-27T01:48:46Z

Marr0w:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Read any good books lately?
|Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint.
|Who = [[Coop]], [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = May 17th, 2024.
|Where = [[24*7|The 24*7]], The streets of Mabase, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]]
|Log=

That's the way it goes, isn't it? A scene never seems to end and then… poof. They drop it. Like a festering piece of rotting meat dripping out of the mouth of some lost dog picking scraps out of the gutter. I am not a lost dog, nor am I a piece of rotting meat. No. I am the maggot swimming happily on the rotten carcass of this dead game trying to convert the decaying matter into a delicious meal fit for kings!

But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail…

Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up.

No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read.

If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet?

The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply.

I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of?

Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie.

Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it…

- - - -

As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead.

"I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait."

The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!"

Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely.

"It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way."

Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."

It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it.

"I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that?

Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that.

She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down.

None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.

The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness.

"Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?"

Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer."

Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."

Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me."

She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara.

If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead.

"...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.

Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!"

Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7."

Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife."

Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways."

The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…

There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko."

... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it?

"...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.

"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us."

The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"

The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest."

She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird.

"...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting.

Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."

The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved."

Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole.

"So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."

Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice.

"Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably.

"... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that.

When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too.

...It's probably nothing.

Probably.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way."

Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good."

She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!"

Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."

"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her?

As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise.

"A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are.

"... What's a Ghostbuster?"

Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit."

----

The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten.

Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed…

Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??"

Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"

Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all.

"Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.

<s>Meanwhile, in between the margins…</s>

"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?"

My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people.

I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.

With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears.

"Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!"

- - - -

Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking."

The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it."

Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once…

- - - -

Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams!

- - - -

Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for.

One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog.

As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."

The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--"

"A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-"

A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?"

Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--"

Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!"

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥.

ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go.

Did I mention he's an idiot?
-҉

Liyara has never, EVER, been hit with a multiversal-scalar hexavelent anti-divination bomb of reciprocity before. She's never even conceived of such a thing, even after reading up on "ZIP bombs" when she first arrived here. The idea that so much magic would be gathered in one place that when she gazed upon it all, it would slap her with the multiversal equivalent of walking in on Elminster in the shower is something far beyond her ability to comprehend.

It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage.

But it's still just the surprise round.

[Liyara used 1 AP!]

Alright, first things first. Liyara blocks. Do you want more detail than that? Fine. Golden Dragon scales creep up around her neck, her hairline, her eyes, and her hands, and she steps between Yoiko and Kylie and the blinding flash of light. Her teeth sharpen to something that shouldn't fit in a humanoid mouth, and she growls as she lifts a hand up to block this nonsense, whatever it is. It's bigger than she can see. Bigger than anyone can see. It's grander in scope than the world-spiral that contains a trillion trillion planets.

It's literally infinite.

And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm.

"𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔."

The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are.

She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐.

It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore.

[[2026-07-21- The Space Between the Panels | ...part 2?]]
|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2026-07-21 - The Space Between the Panels

2026-07-27T01:48:19Z

Marr0w: Marr0w moved page 2026-07-21- The Space Between the Panels to 2026-07-21 - The Space Between the Panels without leaving a redirect: Formatting

{{Logsummary|
Title = The Space Between the Panels
|Summary = So here we are, dear reader. The moment you've all been waiting for. The proper, dramatic reveal of yours truly. Your handsome narrator. Here we see me act on my brilliant plan's next step. Luckily it goes perfectly according to plan without any hitches what so ever. What plan, you ask? That's for me to know, and you to find out when it's too late to stop it. There's some other people in the scene too. I guess.
|Who = [[Liyara]], [[:Category:Nobody|Mr. Nobody]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = July 21st, 2026.
|Where = The White Space, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]], The streets of Mabase, [[Integra's Arms Apartments]], Yoiko's Apartment.
|Log=
<div style="background-color: #FFF;color: #000; width=100%; padding: 0px 20px 0px 20px;"> 
White. Blinding white light. The light that shines from every star. The blistering brightness from which the existence was created. The big bang? Sure. That light.

A soft trumpet begins to play. The soft whistling of a happy tune. A deep voice begins to sing, "Maaaaagic moooooooments, when two hearts are carrrrrin'! Maaaaagic Moooooooments, memories we've been sharrrrring."

As your eyes begin to adjust to the infinite, blinding, nothingness it fixates on a singular point. An old radio playing a cheerful song on top of a small table. Beside it slowly fades in a comfortable chair, and sitting upon it the most dashing and attractive man you've ever seen in your life. Looking smart in his well pressed suit. A wool vest beneath it and a smart blouse beneath it. The fancy type, not some woman's vestments, you ingrate.

Yes, the most handsome man in existence. Me. I stand, I clap my hands, and I step towards you. "WELCOME!! Welcome. I've been waiting so long to meet you." I flash you that million dollar smile and you find yourself strangely smitten by how staggeringly perfect I am. "I trust you found your trip here comfortably, my dear?"

I offer my hand to be kissed. A sweet embrace shared between your dashing narrator and the beautiful dragon woman I've brought before me. Dressed in a beautiful gown, swirling with every shade of blue and sparkling as if illuminated from an unseen light from every angle. Your gloved hand reaches for mine, and we twirl. Listening as the beautiful music changes to another track.

I can't help myself as I sing along, "It's impooooossible… Tell the sun to leave the sky….. It's just impooooossible…" I bend you at the waist, looking into those dazzling green eyes. "Ask a baby not to crrrry…. It's just impooooooossible….."

Liyara feels her breath taken away as she finds herself just smitten with me. I bow, I gesture towards the recliner. "I imagine you have questions for me. Rest my dear. We have all the time in the world to answer them."

"Hhhhhhhhhow?" Liyara finds herself strangely, suddenly, and most inexplicably in a white space. Is it blinding light or is it just white? She can't tell, but when the music starts playing, and the vocal track starts crooning, her slit pupils dilate then contract rapidly. Too rapidly. Several times faster than sound, her pupils swallow her irises, then contract down paper thin, then widen again. She can't. Quite. Seem to...

There!

Wait. What is this she sees? An end table and a sitting chair, an attractive man, and... Wait. His clothing, his manner of dress and bearing and the radio on the table. She knows this. This is an artifice of the many human worlds that are surrounded by wildspace and not phlogiston. The wrong ones. The ones that brute forced faster than light travel by simply... Exploding things really, really hard.

She thinks back, briefly to Yoiko's world, and the sort of God that answered her spell. Trelane? For some reason she feels like there is a sort of... Tangential connection here, not that thing, that stupid, stupid God, but ... Adjacent.

How the hell does she know that? It's easy. Simple. She's been wanting to slap one her entire life, and they all act like this. Past the imagery she recognizes only from her studies since arriving in Mabase, past the ... Surprisingly charming voice, it is really quite nice... And that stupidly perfect face ... That's a God. Or, well, one of the things that act like them, anyway. Liyara is an atheist; it's not that she believes Gods don't exist, more that she believes they're just strong beings that claim authority by virtue of power, same as anything else.

"..." She looks down at the man's hand, attempting to decipher what he is waiting for. She is not exactly up to date on her period pieces from alternative history human culture. "...I..." She's in a gown? When did she get a gown? Oh, it's a nice one though. Well, she doesn't love being treated as a doll but bonus points for being treated as a pretty one.

"My journey was acceptably serene, given what preceded it." She feels her hand reach for his, feels herself twirl in a dance. Feels herself appreciate music she's never heard before. Something is... Off. She does know to bow after the impromptu dance, but she imitates the man's bow rather than getting the woman's role properly. No context. She takes a seat as suggested, carefully shifting her gown for maximum elegance and presentation. She's only just begun wearing it, but it's hardly her first.

"...Which one are you then?" Beg pardon? Liyara, you're going to have to be much more specific than-- "Which human God are you?" Oh fine, just cut me off then, sure, go ahead.

"The god of detonated bookstores perhaps? I assure that was not my fault, anything that explodes when someone casts a simple first circle ritual is quite inherently unstable to begin with..." So she's chosen to go with defensive. That makes sense.

I clasp my hands upon my heart and simply gaze lovingly at the question. How quaint. Surely no malice to be had behind those words. "Dearest Liyara. Daughter of Lux, Grand…" Hmmph. I reach into my pocket, taking out a pair of spectacles and a small notepad. "GrandSCION of Hoondarrh: The Red Rage of Mintarn who lives Eternal." I throw the card and put the glasses away.

"I am but a humble narrator. Sitting in outside the panels of the world you'd found yourself in, and weaving a tale as old as time. Two love sick children, smitten with one another, and about to embark on a dangerous quest to see what lurks through thine iron makes."

I smile a wicket smile, showing far too many teeth for a normal man. Oh, but they are the normal amount of teeth for a man of my stature. I'm just that good of an ACTOR. "Oh, but alas. It is the way of the star-crossed lovers that some driving force comes between them and it ends in sadness or death." I lower my head in a show of sad resignation. "Oh, but I am remiss if I didn't point out that there was a way out of course. A simple favor to myself which you'll so willingly agree to, won't you? Yes. Of course you will."

"Do this task for me and I'll reset this entire chain of events and put you back with your little blonde tart as though nothing had ever happened." I shrug, "Or we can let events play out as they do now. Either way the alarm has already been sounded and events will continue." I shrug, "But one reality allows you to have it all, and the other…." I shrug. "The other ends up with her pretty blonde head in pieces across the back wall of the book store alongside the little gothling and her cat."

Holding up a finger, I call for a pause, "Oh, but do not think this is a threat, my dear. I'm not one of those little rabble-rousers like those so-called Gods you've had to deal with. That is just how these events play out." I smile… "As for who I am? I'm simply a Nobody."

There's a long, momentary silence, as Liyara gives a languid blink. Then two. Then she opens her mouth slowly. She isn't taking a long time to think, she's taking a long time to perform thinking. She is accustomed to people underestimating her speed and playing into it, utterly. "...But I blocked." Liyara, the headmaster of an academy of arcane arts, which surely requires a potent intelligence and remarkable education, says this simple thing as if it could rectify any and all situations.

"...Mr. uh... ..." Liyara pauses, reaching about her gown and only really now noticing that she is wearing quite elegant gloves. Oh, that is nice. She reaches into the slight excuse for a pocket in the gown, a seam that really is only there for visibility, not to hold anything for that would ruin the silhouette. Despite that, she pulls out... oh. It's a card made of flame, not a real card. Well. That makes sense. She is rather one note. She scrupulously examines the card she just created, furrowing her brows to highlight the performance. "...Mr. Nobody." She casually hits on the proper name, but also completely whiffs as she assumes it to be an incredibly minor slight, taking him at his word. She tosses the flaming "card" in the same manner, leaning forward with a smile that, by contrast, has the perfect amount of teeth. Radiant. Dripping with charm.

"...You are obviously a man of impeccable taste. Some sort of otherworldly power that will doubtless take me centuries to achieve." The nerve! "And you were watching us despite very much not being in the room OR setting off my scrying wards." She has scrying wards? Of course she does. "So I will assume you know many things I do not, while I am dreadfully limited by my own mind and lackluster imagination." She bats her eyes once, twice, and then sighs. "And the only thing I know is that I am far too important to be bothered by that silly explosion, and it won't get to Yoiko through me."

A single, tiny beat. "So do tell me then, good sir. Remarkable sir. Sir who looks quite sharp in that vest. Why will Yoiko be dying and what will you be asking of me to stop her from doing so?"

I pick at the dirt under my nails and shrug, "I'm only speaking the facts. There are two ways this scene ends for you. In the first version the localized break in reality takes out the building and everyone inside it, save for you of course because you're the magical Mary Sue of your own story and everything revolves around you." I give a polite nod to her exquisitely chosen attire. "Thus the gown you currently wear."

I pause with a smile as I peak behind the veil, "Of course I'm well aware that the original Mary Sue happened to be an original Star Trek character who everyone on the USS Enterprise fell absolutely in love with. The irony is not lost on me."

But I digress and must continue. "The other way this scene ends involves you taking advantage of the weave in the moment it's presence will be felt in the explosion and you heroically save the day, possibly showing off that impressive dragon form you have. One requires only a few more seconds on the clock than the other."

At this point I expected a few more mind games. Of course, dear readers, I expected a fight. Not obedience. I expected a struggle against the narrative as I presented it, but I'm sure the dear muse thinks it's funny to have her play along. To have her go with the flow in that trademarked passive way that she's doing. It doesn't amuse me. It doesn't amuse you. It doesn't amuse that annoying bard in the fork who….

I glance around looking for some trace of him. He was here. I swear he was. Or I am confusing things because it's been two years since last time…? No matter.

"I don't care what happens. It's not important to me. What is important to me is a bird. A single black bird that may or may not be locked inside that ugly appliance spewing steam into the air when you triggered the incident that brought you here. Sure, I may have nudged things along slightly, but you would have either ended up here or died in the process - so I consider it a win." With that settled, I make my request clear again.

"Should you find the bird, and believe me - you'll know it when you see it. You find a way to get it into a box. A little Schrodinger situation. That way I can claim it. Do that and you go back, and I'll go back to staying out of your way. Aside from a little amusing dream sequence here and there, of course." I smile that wicked smile of mine, "It's not like that little mirror incursion affected anything more than a little sand in your eyes…."

"Mary... Sue?" The meta-title is this time completely lost on Liyara, with no red mage to unhelpfully point out exactly what's happening. "...I don't know what that is, but you're right. Everything does revolve around me. I'm glad you understand." She tosses her hair once, very clearly for effect as she basically never does that, and then crosses her arms.

"And if I do this, you'll... what? Give me that extra time?" Liyara watches the man for a moment, her eyes shining. "...Or rather, give it back to me since you're stealing it now?" She attempts to imitate his studied disinterest, but her gloves are not nearly as interesting as her nails would have been, and she furrows her brows sincerely this time.

"...My death will simply be my cue to take over hell," She says simply and earnestly, still looking distraught, "but I'd prefer to spare Yoiko and, I suppose that cat..." What about the person, Liyara? What about the one running the book shop?!

Mirror incursion... mirror incursion... Liyara's eyes narrow, like she's trying to piece together a puzzle but she can't get at the piece. It's just out of sight, out of mind, or was it out of mind out of sight? Her eyes glass over, and she does that "reading something in her memory" thing that she is known to do when collating immense amounts of data, but for once, she comes back with nothing.

"...You don't affect my dreams." She finally states after a moment, looking back at the Nobody. "...My Oneiromantic precautions remain intact." Is that even a real word?! "...I don't think I'm privy to your jokes, and I rather don't enjoy that."

The omniscient narrator's smile widens. "Ah-hah. There's a kindling of that flame I was waiting for. It's not so hard to push back when you have something worth the attention, is it?" I smile and gesture around at the White Space. "You are outside of your reality. Outside of," a chuckle, "well… everything. This is the white that peers beyond the darkness. This is the blank space at the margins of the book of your life." I lean forward, a subtle darkness showing itself behind my brilliant blue eyes. "Time means nothing here."

After a moment I dismiss the notion itself, choosing instead to continue with my villain monologue, "But let's cut the bullshit. I don't care about you, or that piece of ass you're running around with. I don't care about that cat, or the woman who feeds it." My voice darkens to reflect the look in my eyes, "I don't even care about that stupid bird."

And just like that the darkness is gone again and I'm back to my cheerful, charming self. "But right now it's all a means to an end. My life gets easier if you go from point A to B to C without mucking about in the middle crying over something you cannot change alone - and even if it results in your sudden but inevitable betrayal of my bargain, I've already gotten what I need from you." I shrug, "So take it or don't. It doesn't matter to me."

"Oh?" Liyara's voice perks up several octaves when the man explains where... when... what... this is. She doesn't believe it, of course, but since when has the path to the truth been about belief?

"Vahrimiss."
The word doesn't sound in the way a normal word sounds. Which is to say, it is shaped by a tongue, given weight by air, and passes from lips, but that's where the similarities to other words end. The word is a placeholder, a word left in the oldest of languages, that reverberates like every unanswered prayer, every incomplete goal, and every abandoned promise all at once, a sort of sonar ping that only those who speak the languages above Celestial and below Abyssal can utter. How it reflects back to her will determine the shape of this place in a way no eyes can see or ears can hear. It is not sound. It is what came before sound. And what word did she use?

Vahrimiss. Loosely translated, it means "You're lying." But is he? She'll determine that herself.

Cut the bullshit? "Yes, let's." She agrees, and sits forward. The gown was, of course, immaculate, so even though it hugs her curves nicely, it is tasteful. This too, she appreciates. "If Time means nothing here, then you are my new favorite antagonist, Mr. Nobody." She still thinks she's being catty calling him that. She has no idea. And I'm not telling her.

"...If you've done anything to warrant my enmity, I don't remember it. And I remember everything." Do you, though? Do you? "So in the interest of making friends, I'm inclined to make your life easier contingent on two things. If you're lying to me..." And she'll know momentarily, unless she has, once again, dramatically overestimated herself. It would not be the first time today, and yet it is still something of a rarity otherwise. A paradox. Like this place. Like this conversation.

"...and if I can come back." Oh?

For what it's worth, I'm not lying. Not even by omission. "I'm not your antagonist. Not yet. Not specifically yours either. I'm just a man displaced from reality with a beautiful voice and a penchant for narrating, existing in a space that lets me bend an ear or two and manipulate events by simply doing so."

"I admitted to having some fun with a dream or two, but that's child's play. Nothing more." I shrug as I begin to briskly walk around the table and chair, "My influence is more subtle than that, but my anger can be much more… direct." I pause, a simple demonstration would perhaps be efficient? "Allow me to give you an example. If I'd wanted to I could have killed you before I ever brought you here…"

My voice grows more serious as I begin to hone my craft at her expense, "Liyara sits, disbelieving the words she's currently hearing. Of course every strange want-to-be God tries to act like they're more important than anyone else. That they're omniscient and they can bend reality at their will. What makes this one any different? Is it his voice? His devilishly good looks?" I turn to face her directly, hovering a few inches from her gaze, "…or is it his words, which even now seem to be turning her fiery blood to ice. The chill starts in her fingertips and traces along her arms, ice crystals forming on her skin even as she looks down in disbelief."

"She leaps to her feet, knocking the chair backwards and glaring at the handsome man ready to call upon her magic to destroy him, but the words don't come to her suddenly missing mouth - yet she feels the need to scream!" I stand straight again, holding my hands to the heavens. "BUT THEN…. Then it's all over. Liyara feels her body return to normal, albeit with a temporary stutter as even now her teeth continue to chatter from the cold."

I clap my hands and laugh, "Oh, but that's not enough is it? A simple trick of hypnosis? A creative suggestion? Some indigestion caused by those awful cheese flavored puffs Yoiko insisted on purchasing earlier? Which is when the narrator snaps his fingers. Realizing the next best thing, something definitive that couldn't be easily done with a mind game or two. Suddenly she feels herself shift, turning her into the young Engineer. The sensation of her insides twisting and turning not entirely uncomfortable, but certainly foreign. It's not until the Hax symbiont is suddenly nestled inside her, latching itself into her nervous system, and the memories of three previous lifetimes including Yoiko's herself, come flooding into her thoughts."

"Daemon, the proud Dilithium miner who couldn't have children and died alone. His only talent being the ability to drink anyone and everyone under the table. Linda the paraplegic musician who wasted her resources on her children instead of making sure she could have the ability to walk. …and of course Yoiko Enoch. The young engineer who offset her years of training with the knowledge of the other two to get a fast pass into the Star Fleet, despite having to abandon most contact with her home world, and helped design one of the prototype nacelles that would eventually rip her precious ship apart and take the life their dear doctor." I smile wickedly, "…and even now as the thoughts try to merge themselves into Liyara's mind she seethes in anger that this weak little human before her could rewrite her existence with only a few words."

"Look, Liyara. I'm not here to fight you or grandstand about how great I am. I meant when I said I've already gotten what I needed from you. Oh, and I do hope you hate me for this. Enough to warrant finding a way back here to kill me, perhaps? I'd like that very much." I must admit I'm almost giddy at this point. "I just needed you to know I EXIST. Why specifically you? Because you where the easiest one to lure here and the one most likely to realize that I can be killed and find a way to do so. After all, now you'll spend the rest of eternity wondering if your actions are your own, or if I'm just being a bastard."

"Wh---" The chill stops Liyara, and as her mouth disappears and she finds herself on her feet, staring at first herself, then back up into the man's eyes, those brilliant green eyes of hers frost over, as if to flash-freeze, but then the pupils dilate again, and bafflingly, her pupils, JUST her pupils dilating, are enough to shake off the sheet of ice forming.

When her mouth returns, she takes a breath, her eyes racing back and forth, mapping out everything. Whatever else is about to happen, she needs to be aware, she needs to be focused, she needs to be cataloguing, she needs to be...

Yoiko. She needs to be Yoiko, apparently. The brief moment of dysphoria, of feeling genuinely vulnerable for the first time in a while, of everything she is being stripped away, is still not enough to break her concentration, not completely. She... was cataloguing. What was she cataloguing? As Liyara's blazing fast mind, crystal clear focus, and iron will are completely sublimated, Yoiko's takes over. Task-based, scientific, rigorous, razor-sharp. She was cataloguing. She can't remember what, she is not Liyara anymore. But the thought, the thought echoes. Focus. Remember. Pay attention.

So Yoiko does. The method. Observe all, discard nothing, observe again. Her memories. Sharp. The feeling of the symbiont attached to her nervous system. Accurate. True. Anchoring. The memories pulled through it, not so sharp. Soft, engulfing, supportive. They are warm and comforting like ambrosia drawn through a sieve. This is who she is, who they were, who we are. All good. All there. Linda's songs, her children. Check. Daemon's favorite booze and how it changes three shots in. Check. The sensations of her ears, eyes, smell, ambient internal temperature in so much as she can consciously assess them all. White space. A human man. Handsome. Great voice. Lies with the truth, instantly clocked. Currently on a power trip. Talking ... not to her. To... Liyara?

Liyara. Her memories of Liyara surface, and she catalogues them, too. There is a different kind of warmth there, but dwelling is not the task at hand. Observe. Analyze. Some incredibly small part of her, distant as the stars, assesses whether she would be comfortable wearing a nice pair of pumps.

That's a weird thought to come unbidden.

She is passing this information on. To... someone. Herself? To Liyara? Not the weirdest thing that's happened to her this week, probably. Wait. Did she just explode? No, focus.

"...The cheese puffs were awful." Liyara Yoiko finally admits, looking... lost? No. Never lost. Concerned? Maybe. Thoughtful? Certainly.

That's when she hears it. The reverberation. The man isn't lying. And she remembers. Some part of her, of Liyara witnessing herself breaking down, remembers. And Liyara Yoiko goes completely still.

It's only a second, maybe two. For her, and people like her, it's a small eternity, as she waits, cataloguing every single part of her mind and her brain, for they are two separate things. A normal person, or perhaps a sane person, would be worrying about whether or not they are in control. And ... in a way, she is. But her first act, when faced with a complete loss of control of her body, the fabric of her reality, her very identity and memory... is to commit every memory of Yoiko's, Daemon's, and Linda's that she experienced into her own memory, and run the mental equivalent of a CRC check on them, herself, and everything else second to that.

"You hope I hate you?" She eventually looks back up to the Nobody, those eyes watering with... well, actual saline flows from her tear ducts... She's crying? Is this what crying feels like for humanoids, and not giant molten lizards cosplaying at being human? "You've just given me three of the most beautiful gifts you could have given me."

Oh, here we go. We've all read these stories, time and again. How lovely and heart-warming, to know that she so cherishes the memories of Yoiko and her past lives.

"You showed me you exist." She says quietly, and those eyes, brightest cobalt now, dilate in a "normal" fashion.

"You let me experience... this." She puts a hand on her Yoiko's sternum, taking a deep breath and just... feeling. Yes, even this decrepit old lizard heart does have room for sentimentality after all. Were you starting to doubt her for a moment?

"And you told me you can die." Those eyes brighten, and somehow, just for an instant, an impossible instant briefer than the window between the stepped electrons reaching down from the sky and summoning a Forked Leader back up into the sky, they blaze green again. Or maybe it's a hallucination, a trick of the light. After all, she can't manipulate reality. Yes, perhaps our unreliable narrator's senses are just being unreliable. It's probably just that.

"You're my third favorite person now. Because you've solved all of my problems all at once. You want me to put a crow in a box? Of course, darling," she drawls, somehow lapsing into Liyara's more imperious, Faerunian accent, "for you, I'll slap a label on the box and ship it, too."

She sounds... ... happy.

Well.

That's... probably fine.

Well, that won't do. That won't do at all. I narrow my eyes and reality comes flooding back in. "Cute. See? That's the fire I was expecting this whole time. Defiant. Stubborn. Liyara shifts back into control as her body returns to normal. The extra minds fading away slowly but surely." The very nerve of her. Beautiful gifts!? Are you fucking kidding me? I don't even care that she just agreed to everything. The very thought of her suddenly sickens me.

Gone is the illusion of the man I once was and replaced is the form I am now cursed to hold. Broken pieces of a man floating in a rough approximation of my form. Half of my face gone. Glowing light shimmering from the cracks between my pieces. Pale human skin and what looks like a sliming black body suit are stretched over the chunks. Look, I didn't get any consultation regarding how I look. What's your excuse?

"…whatever." The word tastes foul on my lips. "Go save your other half, cherish your little lives, and enjoy watching it all crumble when it inevitably falls apart." The very nerve of her. "Just make sure you ask Satoshi about ATOMSK before you eventually waste your time chasing steam. Otherwise you won't understand the third act at all." I shrug to dismiss her. She only has to walk away. Why I don't just SEND her away is a question I don't feel like answering right now.

I don't even feel like listening to music anymore.

Liyara watches him as her body is hers again. Her mind is hers again. She snatches what she can, like every microsecond more of Yoiko's memories is water and she has wandered, parched, for centuries. And then they are gone, and she is whole again.

"...Amazing." She says as her eyes behold the creature that was once human. He still looks human, after a fashion, like someone unspooled a human, unwrapped his human suit and found nothing inside. "You are this ethereal thing, beyond whatever human form you once wore, perhaps beyond any human." Her voice intones softly, getting quieter, like she is speaking to a frightened animal instead of an incredibly powerful creature that could unmake her, and in fact already has. "But you don't realize what you've done."

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, concentrates for a moment, and then she weaves an image in the air with fire, drawing before this Nobody what she sees in her mind. And what she sees in her mind is... complex.

Neural pathways that would give a positronic brain an inferiority complex retrieve the architecture, the anatomy of her universe at dizzying speeds, delivering them to her hand as she traces the lines, the esoteric math, shape, constants, and structure that underpin it all. A line from hers to other adjacent ones, planes of fire, ether, and dozens more, all traced in nearly an instant. And then... another line... from this cluster to what she clearly draws as a smaller cluster inside a singularity. And from that, to another cluster. Even before she gets far, it's obviously Yoiko's universe. The math is different. The shape is different. Even the constants are different. Only the vaguest of similarities remain.

"I could spend eternity mapping these out. Do you know how long it takes? Of course you do." She says, as if her operations to covertly map the infrastructure of the universes and pocket universes she finds herself in were completely public knowledge. Well, he said she's the main character. That means he was reading. Watching? Yes.

"...Or..." She traces a wide circle around everything, and alights this one with pure white flame that expands and fills all the spaces in between everything she's drawn out. "...I can get it all from here without wasting an instant of time." She stares Mr. Nobody in the eyes, which requires a tilting of her head with the way his... ness... moves.

"Are you going to stop me? Or are we going to be friends?" She's smiling, but... there's a manic excitement behind her eyes now. Something obsessive. Something inhuman. She wants this. She wants it badly. She will kill him die trying to get it, if she has to.

I turn and stare, my one eye twitching. "This place doesn't give you power. You can't just take it for yourself. Even if you could I could just narrate it away from you. The trouble with being omniscient is how painfully mundane each interaction can truly be. I let a little bit spill over here. I nudge a few things over there. Then the little peons like yourself decide, 'Oh, I have this brilliant idea.' Then you dance for me until I grow tired of the song."

I let out a deep breath, and resolve myself back to my old form again. "I'm tired of this song." I walk back, glaring into her amber eyes. My voice much more matter-of-fact. "I can rewrite you into nothingness and there's little you can do about it." Let's set that in stone, shall we? "Liyara knows she cannot kill Mr. Nobody. Not just yet. She has to return here before that door will open up for her." There. Is that solid enough? "And she will return here. By the Nine Hells of Baator, she will return here."

With that I offer an apologetic smile, "But for now you need to leave, because if you stay here you won't ever be able to do so and your little gal-pal meets her end alone, and the only pussy she'll ever see again is Kylie's little Pagan, splattering along with the rest of her across the street outside Ray's little bookstore. Capiche?"

"I have power, darling." She uses that term again, she's never used it on Yoiko which means it's not a term of affection, but a knife. "What I don't have is time. Dragons age. Events come and go. Universes collapse." She says all of this like she's witnessed it, but our narrator can read her profiles and her secret histories, he knows she's not even cracked two hundred years yet. She's merely an adult red dragon, and barely one at that, just out of young adulthood. In dragon terms she's "barely legal." If Dragons cared about consent.

"...I don't want YOUR power. How droll." She waves a hand at him, almost dismissively. "To take someone else's power is the absolute height of insecurity and shows a weak pride. No. This place represents infinite time, and therefore infinite knowledge."

She looks away for a moment, then feels this narration wrapping around her and snaps her head back, green eyes blazing as they meet his. "Don't you go visiting my understanding, my knowledge. Not ever!" There's the rage. Not before. Not when she and her entire reality was putty in his hands for his demonstration, but when they were talking like two people and he had the audacity to press "skip cutscene."

She turns away again and marches off. "It was strange meeting you. But you looked better in your true form. In case you wanted MY consultation in how you look."

Oh how sweet, she likes the glowing unspooling tapeworm loo-- ... wait. Run that back?

I watch her go with a shake of my head. "You know, when you were regaling me with her tales, you didn't tell me she'd be so FEISTY." The comment, of course, being directed at our absent little mage who SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY SPOKEN UP BY NOW. "And don't try to tell me that you've suddenly gone mute because the little Trill hooked your fork up to a communicator. Probably voided the warranty too."

Oh, but I suppose I should hold up to my end of the bargain. I did promise to help get rid of that nasty little scene lock I suppose. Liyara will find herself stepping out of the White Space like walking out of a fog.

</div>

Lain finds herself curled up in a ball, floating beside her new friend. She pulls off her bear cap and slowly pulls herself back to her feet. "I'm fine. Thank you." He's given a side-glance about that 'only person I can talk to' comment, but then she pulls out her mobile device, flicking screens showing Twisted into the air around them.

It takes a moment of searching before she points towards a screen showing Ray's Occult. Kylie Griffin stands over a smoking PKE meter while Yoiko Hax tries to get a closer look. Liyara stands on the opposite side of where she had been before the explosion. "Did something just get edited?" She looks up at Crux with a face full of concern. "Is that possible?" For Lain to be unsure of something is a bad thing. Potentially a very bad thing. Let's hope it never happens again.

𝕊𝕠. 𝕎𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕨.

ℕ𝕠, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕒𝕪'𝕤 𝕆𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥, 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥, 𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕖𝕪𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕥𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕪𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕛𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖'𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥? 𝕊𝕠 𝕃𝕚𝕪𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 𝕓𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖? 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕐𝕠𝕚𝕜𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜, 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕕𝕝𝕪. 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖. 𝕀𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥... 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟?

𝕎𝕒𝕚𝕥, 𝕟𝕠, 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Edited?" Crux's still basically blind for a moment; his normally golden irises are basically all black now, with little gold flecks swirling in them instead of the normal gold-with-black-flecks look they usually sport. "What do you mean edited?" The pupils slooooowly contract, here where time has no flow, and he winces. "...Oh. She's not standing in the same spot. The hell did she do?"

And that's when the Advent does a double take. He was looking with his temporal-spatial vision. Because, OBVIOUSLY trying to look at someone in a different universe entirely with your basic human eyesight is an endeavor in futility. So. Then. Why does he find himself staring directly at Liyara? In the normal "she's right over there and she can see me" way?

He slowly lowers the arm he'd instinctively held up to shield his vision from the "light", even though that could never have helped. His eyes narrow, and he sees Liyara directly in front of him - a hole in the fabric of space-time ripped in between himself and the dragoness. It's a jagged, pixelated tear, as if someone tore through a video game screen to get to him.

"Well. You don't see that every day."

-҉

"...Bahamut's blood, what an odd creature." Liyara murmurs, before realizing that where there should be a gaping hole in the building, there is instead a gaping hole in time space. And she is face to face with a man with silver hair and narrowed, golden eyes. He looks irritated, which... in fairness, so is she.

"...Yoiko?" She affords herself a slight glance behind her before returning her attention to the man. If it's not one weirdo it's another. Who just casually sits in a hole between realities? Nobody. Heh.

Alright, so, none of that was my fault, and for the record I absolutely told you she was feisty. You just "couldn't hear me" because I "wasn't in the scene" or something. As if that's my fault. Skill issue, clearly.

Yoiko glances over at Liyara as she calls out. It's clear from her eyes still lingering on the device in the shopkeeper's hands that she's hesitating a moment, "What's up?" Her eyes finally catch up to her face and she looks directly at Liyara, not seeing anything amiss.

She does pause a moment though and looks to her other side and back, realizing that something was off but not registering it as important enough to focus on. "Don't tell me you already found something that'd help us." So far she doesn't see the gaping hole in time and space, probably because it wasn't meant for her. A shame, because she'd be far more interested in that than the toy on the counter.

----

Lain raises an eyebrow at Crux's portal, shaking her head and the needlessly flashy method of looking across the vast expanse. It only lasts a moment before she's peering at Liyara too. Unfortunately for all her time watching individuals, she never quite figured out that necessary 'how to read them' part. She narrows her eyes as if trying to see something that isn't there, but quickly gives up and goes back to trying to understand how something edits a moment in time.

----

Elsewhere, the monitor continues to display it's warning about ATOMSK. Seems like Liyara wasn't the only thing not properly put back exactly as it should have been…

There's a long moment where Crux and Liyara just seem to stare at each other. Crux's eyes narrow further, like he's squinting, trying to see something, while Liyara becomes unnaturally still, and the ambient temperature in the room increases by three or four degrees.

It only lasts for a few brief moments, and then Crux's eyes slide off of the dragoness and down to the dagger at her hip. He furrows his brows for a moment, then smiles to himself and looks back to Liyara with a bit of a smug smirk. And then the portal closes, leaving the two scenes separate once more.

"Well. That was about as successful as was suggested." Crux offers to Lain, turning to the girl now that they're "alone" again, but doesn't bother elaborating what was successful or who suggested it. "She didn't do it. Someone else did." He holds a hand out to Lain, offering to show her what he saw. "Wanna see?" Oh hey, this position is reversed from what it was a while back. Now he's offering and she almost certainly isn't thrilled.

-҉

"Found... a few somethings..." The dragoness watches the portal close, and for the first time in Yoiko's memory, Liyara is sweating. "...Today is not at all going like I expected." She turns back to Yoiko and Kylie, looking over the meter.

"...Bird, what bird?" She asks herself, but really she's asking a certain Michelin Man Cosplayer where the hell this weird creature she's supposed to box up is. She said she'd do it. She'll do it. She just... doesn't understand. Even if he'd dropped the name Atomsk, she's only heard it once before interconnected with gibberish. Though the recollection of WHEN she'd heard it might set her nerves atingle again. Why did she come back here again? Right. Promises. She should stop making those.

At this point Liyara has Yoiko's full attention. Although a smile does cross her lips when she realizes that Liyara is looking at a Stay Puff figurine. "Did you say something about a bird?" She reaches over, pickup up the figure and marching it across the counter. "Mister Puff isn't a bird. He's the form of the destructor! Many schlubs and zools where burned that day."

Kylie just rolls her eyes at the conversation, deciding to use her photographic memory to recite Vinz's quote. "During the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of a Sloar that day, I tell you." It was weird having people quote things from your world, but at least this one seems to respect it.

Yoiko laughs and gestures back with her thumb. "That! Exactly!" She giggles a little, putting the Stay Puff back where she found it. "You wanna talk about it?"

----

Lain raises an eyebrow, very aware of the sudden shift in their dynamic. As if to answer his question, she pulls the bear hat back over her head. "After you…"

Crux just offers Lain a brilliant, devastatingly radiant smile. "Alright, but this is gonna be weird and wild, I don't have any psychic memory transfer or whatever the newfangled kids use these days, so I'm gonna just have to brute force it, alright?"

...Alright.

...What does that m--

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

And then Crux is literally re-shaping the light that's hitting Lain's eyes, just straight up playing a projector onto her retina, but not in the painful way, just in the sudden and probably unexpected way, as Lain will suddenly see exactly what he saw as he was staring at Liyara, but cued up as if it was all being seen through a normal visual cortex and not whatever strange organ Crux uses to see fifth dimensionally.

It begins with the portal, massless space-time ejecta parting around it to reveal Liyara's form, and then the woman turning to look directly at Crux Lain. Weirdly, Lain will also hear what Crux heard - some sort of inner-ear stimulation, perhaps?

"Bahamut's blood, what an odd creature." She said microseconds before her expression registered that she saw Crux through the portal. The feed is played back in slow motion, but there's no audio warping, like time dilation still thoughtfully plays all the right notes at the right speed. There is an... emptiness behind Liyara, a wrongness. Like a wake she leaves in the timestream - Lain can see it follows Yoiko, too. The absence is confusing, but it is Kylie's presence that gives it context; effortlessly, as a tiny side thing in the corner of her "vision", Crux Lain can see a blurred, steady line of after-images behind Kylie of everything the girl did before Yoiko and Liyara walked in for the day. It's... quiet, subtle, like the notes of a perfume in the air or the slight sound of someone's breathing, but it's there and visible and becomes more and less clear depending on how much of Crux'sLain's attention drifts to Kylie. "Yoiko?" The recording of Liyara doesn't break his her gaze, but allows some glance back towards her blonde companion.

There is the sense of Crux's Lain's eyes narrowing, not the physical sensation but the visuals being played back to her. The emptiness in her wake grows, distorts very slightly, but still does not resolve into anything, like eyes trying to focus on an image that just won't be focused upon. The recording of Liyara becomes stone-still now, and the insane detail with which this "recording" was captured allows Lain to perhaps see what she did not the first time. Blood vessels constricting. Pupils thinning. Face flushing. Muscles tensing. Liyara was afraid. Lain can "hear" the recording of Yoiko's response, and that's when stuff gets... weird.

Crux's Lain's gaze drifts down to Liyara's dagger, and the slightly blurred trail behind it just explodes into visual focus, the result of so much effort being attempted to focus on Liyara suddenly succeeding on the dagger that the last week of the dagger's existence just sort of leaps into view. A disintegration, a space station, a pleasant grove, a skip in the recording, a pleasant grove, a space station again, another disintegration, Twisted, a bookstore. Wait. Go back. A skip in the recording?

The dagger's history rewinds as Crux Lain goes back over the visuals. The dagger's owner and her blonde companion in the grove. A skip. The dagger's owner waking up. Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Slowly forward. Frame by fr--skip. Fast forward to the bookstore. The dagger's owner casting some basic magic ritual, a hand motion that has temporal weight - it has been performed hundreds of thousands of times before, but none of those times blew anything up. A flash of light, the universe staggering under the weight of Ray's folly... and then... skip. The dagger's owner has changed locations in the store. ... Rewind. Skip. Rewind. Skip. ... The same pattern. Like a bit of the film was simply... edited out.

The visuals rush away from Lain's eyes finally, Crux releasing her from this picture show.

"...See?" That's Crux this time. Wow. Someone needs to slap that guy.

-҉

"Some of those words made sense to me, and almost as many sound like you made them up." Liyara replies to Kylie and Yoiko's little quote off, her eyes searching around them for some sign of this black bird. Crow? Raven? Shapeshifty familiar? She won't miss it. She's a very good multitasker.

"Talk about what? About the Destructor, Schlubs, and Zools?" Liyara blinks once, and tilts her head. Then looks back at Kylie, who is giving very "disaffected youth" energy. "...Are these things you speak of real? Not some elaborate fiction humans conjured for entertainment?"

Lain's expression from the outside is probably far too amusing. The young woman tilts her head, blinks, winces, blinks, stares. Her head tilts from one side to the other. Each time things seem to rewind she opens her mouth to speak but completely fails to do so making her repeat the entire process.

Once things go back to normal, Lain simply lowers her head rubbing the bridge of her nose with one hand. "That can't be right. It doesn't work like that." She finally looks up again, crossing her arms.

"Who would even have the power to do something like that? Twisted doesn't have a normal flow of time. You can't rewind a fixed quantity of time energy. When it's gone, it's gone. There's not enough to 'time travel.'" One can almost hear the air quotes in her voice. "Even when Twisted was 'young' time didn't actually move backwards. It just aged at an accelerated rate as it burned off the energy is stole from Chronos and the chaos from Trinune."

Look, we're not going to talk about how she knows these things. She's proved she can read our wiki in her spare time. Don't question it.

After a moment's hesitation, she addresses the elephant in the room with a look of worry. "Is there a third watcher somewhere?"

----

Kylie shrugs her shoulders at Liyara's question, stating rather matter-of-factly, "It is where I come from. You guys are the weirdos who think the Manhattan Cross Rip of '85 is a movie." She ponders that a moment before sliding still-smoking PKE meter into a drawer. "The movie you guys know is almost identical to the one they made in Dimension 68-R, but they didn't look anything like the Ghostbusters in that world."

"Speaking of, my favorite alternate dimension the guys have charted is 68-E. I'm a badass in that one, but the time frame is all screwed up and Dr Spengler is older than he should be."

Yoiko tilts her head as she listens to Kylie speak, "No chance you wouldn't mind filling out some paperwork to document all that, would you? The Federation would love to add that to our database."

Kylie just laughs, "You think they didn't document everything the moment they had a chance? Come by here later and I'll get you a printout. I'd do it now but we'd run out of ink before I got to volume 4."

It should probably be a worry that the Commander is suddenly far too excited about that offer...

"I see." Liyara muses quietly, taking Kylie at her word. "So any idea anyone had for a story may have a matching or at least rhyming reality somewhere." Her eyes glass over for a moment. She really should have asked Mr. Nobody for his name. She can't well search up "Mr. Nobody" and expect any useful results. A complete failure on her part. She rifles through her perfect memories, narrowing her eyes for a moment.

Wait. She's back here, she can corroborate that man's story. See if she was being taken for a loop, for a mind-game, or if she really did become Yoiko for that brief moment. "...Yoiko, what was Daemon's favorite alcoholic refreshment? And what about three shots in?" If she remembers that correctly, that's a detail she likely couldn't have made up - for instance, she didn't even know those beverages until moments ago.

-҉

"Probably." Crux says casually to Lain's question, sounding relatively unconcerned about the idea of another watcher. "In my experience there's always someone skulking about. Usually it's me, but still." The young girl can see the Advent looking lost in thought for a moment. "...I don't... actually understand time the way you just described it, like it has some sort of finite quantity. I'm a bit more instinctive. But..." He taps his chin for a moment, looking pensive.

"Probably..." He starts and trails off again, and starts tapping his foot on the empty space. It's an obvious habit that marks him as having grown up human immediately. "... Probably whoever they are isn't manipulating time. It's probably something else, entirely, and this is just a side effect."

Well look at him, he got there in the end. Sort of. Anyway it's pretty good for an idiot.

But what would that mean, Crux?

"Probably means some sort of reality warping, some anti-scrying measures, or extremely high speed teleportation, faster than even my eyes." There's a pause for a moment, then a chuckle. "That last one's pretty unlikely."

The blonde engineer is still a little too engrossed into the idea of a Stanz/Spengler multiverse guide to really click to the question being presented. Amusingly, or almost because of this, she doesn't quite realize what she's about to say until it's too late. "Depends on what I'm feeling, really. If I can get it, a Saurian Brandy. If I can't..." Slowly realization starts to dawn on her, "...an Aldebaran Whiskey."

She turns her head slowly, looking at Liyara with narrowing eyes. "...and the third shot don't matter. Surprise me...?" There's a couple of things that go through her mind; none of them particularly pleasant. "When did I ever tell you about Daemon?"

Yoiko actually looks offended, and that takes a lot these days. "At first I thought you were asking me some confused question about Ghostbusters, and then..." She folds her arms across her chest, trying to calm herself. "I actually feel a little violated."

She hugs herself, trying to get the goosebumps to go away where her skin feels like it's crawling, "You'd better have a dammed good reason for asking me that."

"When you told me he's why you chew your nails." Liyara answers Yoiko's question with zero hesitation, somehow remembering the exact moment and context, because of course she does. "But you didn't tell me his favorite drinks. Nor about Linda's children, only her music. So."

There's a long pause from Liyara, and then she tucks her chin in. She looks... worried? Concerned. But also excited. "It was real. ...Something big is happening, I suspect. I just met one of Twisted's 'Gods'. Or, well, he was honest enough to say he wasn't a God, which means I don't have to kill him to prove he can die, and frankly that saves me a lot of time." ... What is she going on about now?

"..." After a moment, she looks to Kylie. "...Right, yes. I almost forgot. You should tell your employer that his magical setup with the store's inventory is very dangerous, I almost killed all of us simply by inspecting it. No, I don't know why, I couldn't finish inspecting it. I suspect he's performed some shenanigans with dimensional space."

...Ok. You could possibly have paced this better, Dragon.

-҉

"Well there you go, see?" Crux gestures off screen in the vague direction of Yoiko and Liyara's scene. "She just answered it for us. What a helpful monster." He seems entertained. Also, while he's here... He looks back at her dagger, taking his time to get all of that lovely temporal vision in before she can find time to ward it against him like she clearly has done with herself and Yoiko. What's a little bit of metadata sniffing between frenemies? The future Liyara practically told him to.

"...What? Are you used to being able to see all the others? I'm not. Must be nice."

Yoiko seems to accept the answer, but her skin continues to crawl anyways as Liyara expands her scope of Hax's lives. It's hard for her to be open about... well, anything really. She is a Trill after all. Being secretive about themselves is kinda their defining trait - not that anyone should know that!

Her face seems to become almost green as her body tries to blush and go pale at the same time. Someone on Twisted has told Liyara a lot more than she was willing to divulge, and that's a problem. "We're going to have a very long talk about this later, but can you please stop talking about me?" That probably came out wrong, but Kylie is RIGHT THERE.

Kylie, meanwhile, is completely unphased. "Yeah. That sounds about right. Not to mention the amount of cursed objects they've been stockpiling. I swear, every time I walk into the back room expect I'm going to see some Cenobite chattering it's teeth at me." She lets out a long sigh, "Welp. I'm going to be thinking of that all day now, thanks."

----

Lain raises an eyebrow as Crux largely speaks to himself. Having her suspicions confirmed isn't exactly helpful. She's also not entirely sure how much of what he's saying is directed at her or just out loud to himself. She's used to watching quietly, so she does.

At least until the silence just starts to become uncomfortable.

"I'm not a 'God,' just an observer. I'm not part of any specific reality anymore." She tilts her head to the side and sighs, "Everyone here likes to have a label or a title. It's not very becoming." So says the entity who's name redacts itself whenever it's typed on the wiki.

"...Right, well, neither am I but people make that mistake a lot." Crux's not really looking at Lain right now. He puts a hand to his chin and starts musing. "...It's awfully convenient that the dagger was there to keep a record that the dragon would otherwise have blocked me from seeing." Yes. Actually, yes, that is rather convenient.

-҉

"...Right." Liyara just sort of shuts her mouth and looks at Yoiko for a moment. There's analysis, recognition, understanding in those eyes, but they arrive in that specific order. "I am sorry. I was just unmade, turned into something else entirely, and then reshaped back into myself. I am still processing." That's a lie, and we'll call it that on its face. She finished processing that before she walked out. What she is still processing is Yoiko's feelings because somehow, in all of that, she didn't take any of THOSE into consideration at all. And now she is realizing that is... ... not the way to treat a loved one.

"...I will show you what happened, but you will not like it, so perhaps later is better, yes." The dragoness takes a deep breath, and then looks to Kylie. "... Do you have anything on the uh... white space?" She hopes that's the right term. It's probably not.

Kylie tilts her head as she ponders what that might mean. "White Space?" She taps her finger on the countertop. "I assume that's not a bad joke about a Starbucks?" Ba-dum-tiiiiish. "White Space….. White Space… In comic books that tends to be a reference to the blank margins outside the panels. Marvel tends to call it the Gutter Space, but I think DC is the White Space. Either way it's the infinite potential, the pristine nothingness outside of reality. It's usually a white void or a universe of infinite energy."

Look out, she's gone full librarian mode. "There's not really any books about it *specifically* but you'll find referenced in specific comic books. Gwenpool delves into it a lot as she jumps from page to page within her stories. Deadpool will acknowledge it, usually to make some kind of meta joke. Grant Morison, I believe, used it in a few different stories but he was never entirely clear if it was a space or an entity of itself."

Crossing her arms, she ponders a bit more. "The closest thing you're going to find is maybe Purgatory? A place of cleansing, from the verb purgo, 'to clean, cleanse.' Some see it as a state or location between the Earthly Plane and Heaven. Traditionally that's more of a process than a physical location, however. It's also often a type of limbo." She offers up her hands, gesturing in two directions. The first towards the store windows, "You're either going to want to grab a stack of comic books and hope for the best." She then uses her other hand to vaguely motion towards the religious section. "Or you're going to have to get Biblical."

"Comic books?" Liyara looks rather dismayed for a moment. It's possible she's never heard of them, or has and thinks little of them. Probably the latter.

"...Gwenpool. Deadpool. These aren't words I'm familiar with. Are these pools like the Zools?" ...She has no idea what any of these words are. At all.

When Kylie says Biblical, Liyara just crosses her own arms. "There are many bibles, I believe you will have to be dramatically more specific." Hoo boy.

-҉

"Welp." Crux says and stretches his arms over his head. "She's getting sucked into the wide world of comic books, I think I'm done with her." He creates another portal, this time more of a gentle ripple. "You wanted me back here, I'm back here. Are you uh... you gonna come with? Seems kinda lonely out here. When was the last time you had a choco taco?"

Kylie simply shrugs at the question. "Most Bibles have their own views of Heaven and Hell. Even Buddhism has it's Naraka. You're kinda asking me what life forms breathe oxygen. It wouldn't be all of them, but it's going to be a lot." She sighs, shaking her head, "I also have nothing to go by but a vague inkling. You need to dish up a lot more detail before I'm going to know what you're looking for."

Almost as an afterthought she adds, "Unless you want to go the coffee shop route? I hear Coffee of Doom used to be pretty popular." She's kidding of course. Maybe. Probably.

----

Lain lets out a sigh at the question about going back. "I'll be there, but I can't go with you. Going would be getting involved and that's not something I can directly do." However, there's an anxiousness there that wasn't apparent before. She wants to go. She wants friends, but that is not her nature or her destiny.

"I'll keep looking where I can and see if I can find something else to help answer questions. They do tend to come from the strangest of places after all. I wouldn't be surprised if Dexter somehow knew more about this than we do." That seems strangely prophetic. "When you need me, just call my name. I'll probably be near."

With a rather depressing wave she paints on a smile, "Good luck, Mister Caedon. It's been a pleasure to meet you face to face." Her words echoing a greeting that no longer happened.

Crux just tilts his head to one side at that, frowning. "Well. I can come back here, unlike the temporally moored." He jerks a thumb at the portal. "So... uhm. Maybe just tell me what you want for takeout, and I'll bring some back after I deal with the absolute certainty of a cluster that's going to converge on me the second I step foot in there. Come on, a girl's gotta eat, even if she don't gotta eat."

Well. It was suggested he should be nice to her.

-҉

"I don't.... none of this is helpful. It was a white liminal space where concepts like time and space were relatively meaningless." Liyara tries again, looking frustrated. "It occupied the space between things. Around things?" She's beginning to think there isn't going to be a book on this, which is... frustrating. Most of her study comes from ancient tomes that time forgot

Yoiko just watches the exchange quietly. Her arms are still crossed and that sick look hasn't left her face. She's struggling to rationalize whatever's just transpired. They left the 24*7 in good spirits. The walk seemed to be brisk, but fun. But once they arrived at the bookstore, instead of geeking out of old tomes and magic - Liyara started aggressively dismissing everything. Then the bombshell about Yoiko's past, blurting it out loud where anyone could listen. Now...

Now whatever this was. Liyara felt manic to her, like someone obsessed. What did she say? Something about being unmade and put back together again? Was she still holding some grudge about the teleporter? Maybe Yoiko should have been more respectful. It was easy to dismiss the way a normal part of her life would affect those who weren't familiar with it. Clearly Yoiko had done something horrible in Liyara's eyes, but what did this have to do with white space and bible studies? Did Liyara believe that she'd lost her soul in the transport?

Shaking a little, Yoiko reaches out a hand to touch Liyara's shoulder. "Hey. It's going to be okay. I'm sorry if the transporter frightened you. It was wrong of me not to tell you about it first, but that doesn't mean you need to go to such an extreme. Let's go somewhere quiet and talk about all of this."

Kylie's blind to people being weird with everything she's seen. Between the paranormal, the doorways to other dimensions, and the weird talking turtles, nothing was really 'weird' anymore. Annoying maybe, but not weird. The chick with the wings was just becoming another bossy customer. She'd delt with her kind before. "Eh, maybe you passed through a dimensional gateway. Maybe you're not looking for some other plane of existence but another universe entirely. Happens on Twisted all the time. One minute you're fine, the next minute you're standing in Gotham City."

She gives a slight shrug of dismissal and checks on the PKE Meter she'd tossed in a drawer. Yep. Still smoking. "Without more to go on, I can't help you. I'm sorry."

----

Lain gives a warm smile at the offer of him coming back, "I'd like that." But she glances around and sighs, "But not here. The ethereal prison is nice and all, but lacking a little atmosphere, isn't it?" Wait, is she making a joke about space? "Either way, good luck. We'll see each other again soon."

Crux gives a small smirk. "I'm used to not being able to breathe." A pause. "Real used to it now." And then he shrugs. "Anyway, you know how to find me, I bet. So think about what you want to eat so you can let me know. Otherwise I'll have to track you down. You don't want that. I only ever show up at the worst time. You've been warned!" With that, he gives Lain a wave and steps through the portal back to Twisted Street.

To Mabase.

To Truce Fountain.

...

"Oh what the f--" The portal closes.

-҉

Liyara just sort of stares at Kylie for a moment, then shrugs and sighs. A place with all the books and none on this very specific thing. Except comic books? ... That sounds like a worthless endeavor.

She turns back to Yoiko at the touch, and sees the sick look on her face. "It's..." She blinks at Yoiko's misunderstanding, and then gives a tiny, pained laugh. "...The transporter? Oh, no. This all just happened the moment after that strange device started smoking." She winces a little, furrowing her brows as she goes back over the conversation with the man-that-was-no-longer-a-man. "It is possible that somehow it also never occurred. My understanding of time here is rudimentary."

A moment drags on, before she looks down at Yoiko's shaking hand. She looks back up to Yoiko, and actually connects with her gaze for a moment. "...You don't tell people." There it is. That took forever. Liyara pales, which is not something she generally does. "Oh. You don't tell people." Her tail thumps against the floor and then twitches and swishes back and forth. "...𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏." Translator didn't catch that one, but it was definitely an expletive.

There's an urge in the Commander to yell. To scream exlipdatives! But also to cry. There's nothing rational about these thoughts, but the weight of whatever is going on unspoken is suffocating her. She withdraws her hand, choosing to fold her arms around to hug herself again. Now that Liyara is paying a bit more attention Yoiko tries it again, "So can we go somewhere and talk about things? Somewhere that's not in a book store with a-" an audiance? "I need some air either way. I'm going to step outside. I hope you join me."

Kylie watches the exchange with a raised brow. Did she just watch a break-up? It felt like a break-up. If so, good going Blondie! The chick with the wings and the tail feels a bit too self absorbed for her liking. She makes herself look like she's distracted by deciding to come over and bug Pagan for a bit of overdue scratching. "Hey, um. Just in case, you two have some bags over by the door. You don't want to forget them if you need to dash in a hurry." She means the bags from the 24*7 of course. You didn't think they just vanished into nothingness, did you?

Liyara blinks when Yoiko withdraws her hand, and then nods when Yoiko asks if they can do this elsewhere. She looks back to Kylie with surprise, as if she'd forgotten the girl existed once she was no longer of use, and then looks down to the bags. "...Yes. Apologies." For forgetting her, or the bags? Best not to ask.

Liyara grabs the bags and heads outside on Yoiko's heels, tossing Kylie a good coin that's probably worth several of the less expensive tomes... Even though she didn't buy anything. It's just custom, apparently. She fights back the urge to snatch it out of the air. It's always present, but today she wins.

Once outside, Liyara sighs. She slips out of emergency triage mode, and something like actual emotion slides back into her green eyes. Her slit pupils dilate a bit, and she quirks her lips into a painfully pretty frown. How do you frown prettily?

"I'm sorry." That's all she says for now. She doesn't know what else to say in public. So she just... Doesn't.

Yoiko is leaning against the wall beside the door when Liyara comes out, her gaze locked on the sidewalk. When she appologizes, Yoiko lifts her head up too offering a forced smile. "It's... fine. I'm sorry too." She can feel the weight pressing down on her of guilt, embarssment, and something more. Something she isn't able to define yet.

She tries to rationalize things, but she also realizes it might be time - whether she wants to or not - to come clean. This wouldn't have happened if she'd have been more open about things. Plus she still wasn't sure that this whole situation wasn't her fault to begin with. "Okay, let's... go ...uh, somewhere." They where headed somewhere when all this started right? Was it her apartment? That's probably fine.

"You okay with walking to my apartment, or would you rather go somewhere else?" She glances around herself, suddenly feeling like every eye and ear in range is studying her every movement. Yoiko rubs her arms to fade away the goosebumps that feeling brings with it.

There's a lot of feelings bubbling up inside her to unpack, and she wasn't prepared for any of them. This is going to be a day…

Liyara blinks at Yoiko's apology, still looking a bit flummoxed now that her viridian eyes finally have feeling behind them again. "You've sincerely done nothing wrong, Yoiko." Liyara says simply, and then nods, moving the bags to the crook of her arm so that she can offer a hand to the engineer.

"I am... Not an easy person to be close to." The dragoness' voice lowers, and she sighs.

With a shake of her head and a soft laugh, Yoiko locks her arm around Liyara's, taking her hand in the process. Already she's walking in the direction of Integra's Arms, dragging Liyara along for the ride.

Even after the laugh her voice sounds sad. "No, you're fine. I'm fine. We're fine. I think we both need to talk. ACTUALLY talk about some of this stuff. We can do it now, or you can walk me back and take a breather. It's less of a walk than the one we took from the 24*7, so at least there's that."

The sadness creeps into her face again and she squeezes the arm a little tighter. Sadness may not be the right description, but it's certainly the closest emotion it appears as from the outside. Her mind is racing through all the things that she's been avoiding talking about and the contemplative dread is not doing wonders for her mood.

"Yes, well," Liyara begins, happy for the proximity but still looking a bit stiff, "Communication is supposedly key to healthy relationships." And like that she is already smiling again. Or ... Is she trying to be funny?

"...Let's go back to your place." She keeps walking, but then drops it whole while they amble along. "...I tried to use a 'detect magic' ritual to find the most interesting tomes in the book store, but the bookstore exploded, which is atypical of 'detect magic'." One would hope?

"I was able to block the damage but there was a nonzero chance that you and the others inside the bookstore would have died, and that's when some strange, god-like entity who claims to be narrating our lives pulled me into a liminal space between realities, turned my blood to literal ice, removed my mouth, and then turned me into you. In an actual, very real sense. I asked those questions because I was verifying my memory of, well, your memory, was not fabricated." She doesn't even miss a step if Yoiko doesn't.

"It's been a strange day." ...No shit.

The pace of Yoiko's steps slow as she listens to Liyara speak. When she gets to the bit about a god-like entity, Yoiko stops and stares quietly. There's a pause long enough for a few breaths, and then she finally replies back, "Yeah. We're going to talk about *that*."

By now they're not too far from the apartment building, and the blonde woman stares up trying to guestimate where her apartment was specifically. Briefly she tries to calculate how big of an opening it might rip if she just tore through the micro dimension behind her door and tried to fly her tiny shuttle out of the side of the building.

She frowns at the distracting thoughts and makes herself focus on the current conversation. "I probably should have told you about... all of me. My whole past. Not just Yoiko. My people try to disassociate with our previous hosts. Even talking to their families are frowned upon." She lets out a deep sigh, "It's not because we're ignoring them, but because even though their memories live on inside us, we're all part of the new host now. The new 'us'.

Yoiko offers a weak smile and a shrug, "I got grilled about this the last time I shared any of that. Apparently some people think it's wrong not to live in the past and try to continue the past relationships we once had." There's a tone to her words that sounds like she might agree with that assessment herself, but she'll never admit it.

"It's the only way we can move forward in life after being joined. So many thoughts and memories just flooding in at once. It's a lot." She reaches the door and holds it open, letting Liyara enter the building so she doesn't have to release her arm. "It's not like we pretend they don't exist. We have a whole ritual, Zhian'tara, that we use to communicate with our previous hosts. It's actually mandatory for those of us who are joined."

Stepping through the lobby towards the elevator, Yoiko bites her lip softly before pressing the button to call it. "I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago. You ask the questions, and I'll answer it. All of them." Her hand begins to shake ever so slightly as the doors open with a ding.

"This is your free pass, but when we're done I want to know everything you've seen of me, even the small unimportant stuff. Then we'll figure out what to do about this new God."

Liyara hefts the bags slightly, more for comfort than because they have any real weight to her, and then she enters the door that Yoiko kindly holds open for her.

"...I think I know some of this. It's half-remembered now. I was trying to observe and notice everything when he... changed me... and so logically 'you' picked up on that and caught everything, including running a basic check to make sure your memories were all as they should be before becoming 'me' again." Huh. If that ain't a brand new sentence.

As the elevator doors open, Liyara gives Yoiko's shoulder a squeeze, gently. "Well, to give him credit where it's due, he's the first one of them that admitted they weren't a God, and that they can die. So, the good news is I don't have to kill him to prove that. Saves me a lot of time. His existence and confession both validate my long-running hypothesis about our own 'gods' back on Faerun. That and the structure of his strange white... place."

As Liyara chooses the floor by memory, she smiles. "...I will let you ask questions of me, too, and I will answer them. I don't mean to brag, but that is a very rare opportunity." She means to brag. She definitely means to brag.

Once the elevator begins to move, Yoiko simply shakes her head with a smirk. On the bright side that little self-indulgent denial actually made her feel a little more at ease. She spends the elevator ride trying to ponder questions, but the gravity of the situation and the mystery of this Not-A-God God has her perplexed.

As the elevator finally comes to a stop, she asks, "What do you suppose his game was?" It's common sense, of course, "There's always an end-game. Like, what was the point of showing you... me?" Being used as an example certainly didn't make her feel better, let alone the invasion of privacy that entailed.

Arriving at her door, she fumbles with the lock a moment before they step in. She steps to the edge of where she'd pulled up the floor tiles, glancing nostalgically at the bits of floating furniture drifting around the void she'd exposed. Following the cables and wires running from the exposed wiring into her shuttle, she carefully leads the way into her ship choosing to go into the rear section where a bed and a small couch offer more comfortable seating.

To no one in particularly she mutters, "I'm not looking forward to the act of getting this out of here, but I think I know how to make it happen. Gonna take a few hours when I get started though..."

Sitting on the couch, and gesturing for Liyara to join her, Yoiko takes a moment to glance around the small cabin. There's a door separating it from the mid-section. A bed that extends across the rear wall. The couch is on the starboard side between the door and the bed and opposite is a small desk with a computer set up. It's not the most luxurious quarters, but compared to her room on the station, it's about the same size in total.

"And now that you've got context, I suppose you see why I prefer to this to that awkward little apartment."

"Well, he wanted me to do something for him and he promised he'd reset the clock back to before I killed--" The dragoness trails off, then grimaces and restarts. "Before the bookstore owner killed everyone in the bookstore." She looks to Yoiko as they walk, and watches her unlock her room.

"Maybe he wished to convince me he had the power to do so. Or maybe he wished to anger me. Or maybe he just doesn't like me very much. He said he hoped I would hate him; he didn't realize he was handing me the completion of my thesis, a rather intimate moment with a loved one, and the knowledge of his plane of existence. He seemed to think something like a few moment's torture would overrule all that. Strange man."

The redhead puts a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "...Sharp dresser, though. Very insightful." What, because he knows everything revolves around her? Oi.

"It's as though we just left." She says, somewhat wistfully. She joins Yoiko in the runabout, and then casually reclines on the couch like she owns the place. Her tail curls around and underneath. "...Can one be nostalgic for a time like a little while ago?"

Yoiko is still pondering what this thing's plan is when Liyara waxes nostalgic. "I guess a lot has happened since we were here last." She sighs wistfully. "Already feels like it's been years."

"...why would some random being you've never met care if you hated him or not?" This is going to bother her. "For that matter, why remove you from here to do it?" She hmms softly. "Kinda sounds like he was baiting you for some reason." That much should probably be obvious.

"Anyways." There's another sigh. "Let's start this from the beginning and see how much I've neglected to tell you." Yoiko places her hand on her chest, "Yoiko Enoch. Joined with the Hax Symbiont. Thus Yoiko Hax. I'm a Trill, but we refer to it as a Joined Trill because of being, well. Joined." She lets out a sigh, "My planet is Trillius Prime. M-Class planet. One moon. Our Science Council is probably the most advanced in the Federation, even rivaling the one on Vulcan - not that anyone knows that."

She frowns at that, "...okay, maybe we are a little too secretive." She gives a weak smile before continuing, "Hax has had two previous hosts. Dameon and Linda. Daemon wanted to be an architect, but ended up as a Dilithium Miner to make ends meet after the love of his life dumped us to go be with that rotten little moisture farmer who came strolling in to sell his trash wares." Mid-sentence her voice had deepened a bit and her posture changed, her shoulders rose a little higher, and she leaned both arms on her knees almost like a crouch. It wasn't hard to picture her as a grizzled miner for a moment before she caught herself and settled back, crossing her legs. "...sorry."

Letting her mind reset a moment she continued, "Linda was a musician." Her voice softens a little more, almost like she was singing, "She was married, had three beautiful children and a husband that was willing to move mountains for her to make up for the fact she couldn't walk." Yoiko finds herself wanting to chew on her fingernail, but dismisses it by pressing her hands together in her lap. "If we'd saved some of our concert money I could have gotten an operation done, but the children had to come first." With a clear sense of pride she adds, "They became little artists themselves. The oldest was able to join the Echevarria Orchestra. I was so proud!"

"I actually got your last name from the... thing..." Liyara gestures vaguely in the air, but doesn't otherwise interrupt beyond that. She listens, patiently, actually paying attention. It is surprising how much of this she remembers from the two seconds she actually was Yoiko, but hey, teamwork? After Yoiko admits all of that, Liyara gives a low chuckle.

"...Doesn't the federation think of you as if you were some sort of tourist destination? Like the Rice planet?" Rice planet? Rysa? Oi.

After another moment, she sits up and nods. "I knew that about Linda, but not from memories, the narrator man-god-thing just intimated that she put her children before fixing herself, and I figured out the rest." She watches Yoiko for a moment, and then takes a deep, slow breath, and brings a hand to her chest. "I appreciate you sharing this with me, and I am sorry I pre-empted it by accidentally stealing a few seconds of your life." ...New sentences all over the place today.

The young woman settles into her normal body language again as Liyara confesses everything, choosing to let out a sigh. "I'm not a big fan of that, y'know." She crosses her arms and sulks back into the couch, "But I believe you that it wasn't a choice."

She regards the 'rice planet' comment with a shake of her head, "It's between a ton of Federation trade routes. If they had their way it'd just be a hub for supplies coming and going. We do get a lot of off-world traffic though."

Briefly she flicks a strand of loose hair out of her eyes, "I could break them down more if that'd somehow help, or tell you about *me*." She places her hand on her chest again before she crosses her arms back. "Trying to get into Starfleet, trying to get stationed on a ship. Meeting Jon. Getting obsessed with trying to redesign the warp nacelles that..." She trails off remembering the disaster, "Or about Fiona ("Flea") or Kenzie, or any of the other random dates I've been on that weren't nearly as memorable."

Liyara looks thoughtful at that, and then smiles. "I think I'd like to hear about all of that." She stretches out on the couch, languidly, sort of like a cat in how almost liquid-like her grace is, and of course she lays in that exact right way that looks appealing, as if she was perfectly angling things for Yoiko's vantage point. Oh hell, she probably is.

"...And afterward, I'll tell you all about me. I can also show you ... not my memories, but a visual of them... from what happened. If you still like me after all that... then I'll consider myself very fortunate." She somehow rolls over onto her stomach after a moment, her tail now looping over the back of the couch, and she keeps staring at Yoiko.

"...The only people I've ever met who wouldn't run screaming aren't people I like very much. So." Her tail thumps once, a nervous indicator. "...Take your time with yours first, if you don't mind..." Yeah, they're gonna be here a while.

|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately?

2026-07-27T01:47:32Z

Marr0w:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Read any good books lately?
|Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint.
|Who = [[Coop]], [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = May 17th, 2024.
|Where = [[24*7|The 24*7]], The streets of Mabase, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]]
|Log=

That's the way it goes, isn't it? A scene never seems to end and then… poof. They drop it. Like a festering piece of rotting meat dripping out of the mouth of some lost dog picking scraps out of the gutter. I am not a lost dog, nor am I a piece of rotting meat. No. I am the maggot swimming happily on the rotten carcass of this dead game trying to convert the decaying matter into a delicious meal fit for kings!

But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail…

Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up.

No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read.

If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet?

The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply.

I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of?

Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie.

Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it…

- - - -

As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead.

"I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait."

The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!"

Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely.

"It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way."

Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."

It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it.

"I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that?

Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that.

She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down.

None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.

The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness.

"Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?"

Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer."

Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."

Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me."

She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara.

If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead.

"...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.

Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!"

Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7."

Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife."

Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways."

The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…

There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko."

... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it?

"...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.

"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us."

The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"

The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest."

She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird.

"...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting.

Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."

The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved."

Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole.

"So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."

Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice.

"Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably.

"... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that.

When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too.

...It's probably nothing.

Probably.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way."

Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good."

She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!"

Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."

"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her?

As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise.

"A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are.

"... What's a Ghostbuster?"

Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit."

----

The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten.

Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed…

Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??"

Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"

Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all.

"Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.

<s>Meanwhile, in between the margins…</s>

"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?"

My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people.

I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.

With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears.

"Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!"

- - - -

Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking."

The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it."

Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once…

- - - -

Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams!

- - - -

Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for.

One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog.

As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."

The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--"

"A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-"

A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?"

Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--"

Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!"

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥.

ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go.

Did I mention he's an idiot?
-҉

Liyara has never, EVER, been hit with a multiversal-scalar hexavelent anti-divination bomb of reciprocity before. She's never even conceived of such a thing, even after reading up on "ZIP bombs" when she first arrived here. The idea that so much magic would be gathered in one place that when she gazed upon it all, it would slap her with the multiversal equivalent of walking in on Elminster in the shower is something far beyond her ability to comprehend.

It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage.

But it's still just the surprise round.

[Liyara used 1 AP!]

Alright, first things first. Liyara blocks. Do you want more detail than that? Fine. Golden Dragon scales creep up around her neck, her hairline, her eyes, and her hands, and she steps between Yoiko and Kylie and the blinding flash of light. Her teeth sharpen to something that shouldn't fit in a humanoid mouth, and she growls as she lifts a hand up to block this nonsense, whatever it is. It's bigger than she can see. Bigger than anyone can see. It's grander in scope than the world-spiral that contains a trillion trillion planets.

It's literally infinite.

And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm.

"𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔."

The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are.

She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐.

It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore.

[[http://marrowproductions.com/Twisted/wiki/index.php?title=2026-07-21-_The_Space_Between_the_Panels | ...part 2?]]
|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately?

2026-07-27T01:47:02Z

Marr0w:

{{Logsummary|
Title = Read any good books lately?
|Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint.
|Who = [[Coop]], [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = May 17th, 2024.
|Where = [[24*7|The 24*7]], The streets of Mabase, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]]
|Log=

That's the way it goes, isn't it? A scene never seems to end and then… poof. They drop it. Like a festering piece of rotting meat dripping out of the mouth of some lost dog picking scraps out of the gutter. I am not a lost dog, nor am I a piece of rotting meat. No. I am the maggot swimming happily on the rotten carcass of this dead game trying to convert the decaying matter into a delicious meal fit for kings!

But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail…

Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up.

No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read.

If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet?

The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply.

I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of?

Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie.

Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it…

- - - -

As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead.

"I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait."

The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!"

Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely.

"It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way."

Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."

It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it.

"I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that?

Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that.

She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down.

None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.

The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness.

"Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?"

Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer."

Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."

Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me."

She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara.

If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead.

"...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.

Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!"

Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7."

Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife."

Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways."

The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…

There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko."

... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it?

"...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.

"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us."

The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"

The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest."

She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird.

"...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting.

Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."

The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved."

Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole.

"So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."

Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice.

"Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably.

"... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that.

When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too.

...It's probably nothing.

Probably.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way."

Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good."

She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!"

Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."

"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her?

As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise.

"A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are.

"... What's a Ghostbuster?"

Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit."

----

The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten.

Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed…

Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??"

Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"

Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all.

"Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.

<s>Meanwhile, in between the margins…</s>

"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?"

My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people.

I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.

With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears.

"Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!"

- - - -

Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking."

The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it."

Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once…

- - - -

Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams!

- - - -

Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for.

One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog.

As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."

The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--"

"A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-"

A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?"

Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--"

Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!"

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥.

ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go.

Did I mention he's an idiot?
-҉

Liyara has never, EVER, been hit with a multiversal-scalar hexavelent anti-divination bomb of reciprocity before. She's never even conceived of such a thing, even after reading up on "ZIP bombs" when she first arrived here. The idea that so much magic would be gathered in one place that when she gazed upon it all, it would slap her with the multiversal equivalent of walking in on Elminster in the shower is something far beyond her ability to comprehend.

It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage.

But it's still just the surprise round.

[Liyara used 1 AP!]

Alright, first things first. Liyara blocks. Do you want more detail than that? Fine. Golden Dragon scales creep up around her neck, her hairline, her eyes, and her hands, and she steps between Yoiko and Kylie and the blinding flash of light. Her teeth sharpen to something that shouldn't fit in a humanoid mouth, and she growls as she lifts a hand up to block this nonsense, whatever it is. It's bigger than she can see. Bigger than anyone can see. It's grander in scope than the world-spiral that contains a trillion trillion planets.

It's literally infinite.

And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm.

"𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔."

The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are.

She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐.

It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore.

[[http://marrowproductions.com/Twisted/wiki/index.php?title=2026-07-21-_The_Space_Between_the_Panels||...part 2?]]
|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]

2024-05-17 - Read any Good Books Lately?

2026-07-27T01:45:39Z

Marr0w: Created page with "{{Logsummary| Title = Read any good books lately? (Part 1) |Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint. |Who = Coop, Liyara, Yoiko Hax, [..."

{{Logsummary|
Title = Read any good books lately? (Part 1)
|Summary = The Thespians go to visit a book store. How quaint.
|Who = [[Coop]], [[Liyara]], [[Yoiko Hax]], [[Kylie Griffin]], [[Lain Iwakura|"@̏͐[ͦͣ͒=̈́̈́̍̑͐͆ḡ͛̂3͑̉͗̽,ͦͫ̽͛ͭ8d̅ͤ]͌\̂&̆ͣ̈ͩf̔͛̔bḃ̒̀͌̆̿ͮ=ͯ͑ͦ͒̆̏̈-͂qͯ̈̔̚]/̔hk̾ͬ͂͐ͣ%̃f̈́͂͒̃g̈́̅̍ͨ"]], [[Crux]]
|Date = May 17th, 2024.
|Where = [[24*7|The 24*7]], The streets of Mabase, [[Rays Occult Books|Ray's Occult Books]]
|Log=

That's the way it goes, isn't it? A scene never seems to end and then… poof. They drop it. Like a festering piece of rotting meat dripping out of the mouth of some lost dog picking scraps out of the gutter. I am not a lost dog, nor am I a piece of rotting meat. No. I am the maggot swimming happily on the rotten carcass of this dead game trying to convert the decaying matter into a delicious meal fit for kings!

But I admit I've been away. Far away. Between the woke romance of our two female thespians (that's not an abbreviation of "the lesbians" you uncultured swines) and the sappy anime of Little Watcher Girl and Captain Lightbulb, I needed to step away. However, rather than leave you, the dear reader, in the dark. How about we recap a few things, eh? After all. You'll never figure out my plan if you've forgotten all the work I've put into laying it out and carefully tooling over every finite detail…

Now, where to start…? If I go all the way back to the beginning I'm just spelling it all out for you. That won't do. Maybe just an overview will be best - such as, The Devil has been busy rebuilding Hell in his own image. No, I don’t mean he's making it look like a giant robed ghoul with horns! He was the head honcho, the one in charge of Twisted and now he's back to being hated and feared. So he's been busy rebuilding things like the utopia he tried to make Mabase. He may have even gotten a little tip of a certain someone who might have reincarnated and be busy raising a little Hellspawn of his own. Alessa, you ingrate. Not Pepito. Keep up.

No, this won't do at all. It's too…. Impersonal. I'm just regurgitating information. Such as the Maniac sitting and being good for so long that his brain checked out leaving him sitting and starring for hours on end at the dismay of the demons who are meant to carry out his instructions on the damned. I could have jazzed that up. Maybe told it from his perspective. "Sitting atop a throne of skulls, the Maniac drooled slightly on himself as he watched the ongoing mundane judgments paraded before him." But of course the problem with that is you start getting invested in him and then we forget the story we're actually here to read.

If we're going to just spew out knowledge, why would we stop with a recap? Maybe I should just start giving away all the dark and spooky secrets of Twisted that you pea-brained idiots haven't even bothered to start asking questions about. Like, why do the irons built by Medical Mechanica not have any doors if they where built BEFORE they had the technology to create tunnels into N.O. space or even before they stole the ability to create pocket dimensions from little Mary Sue and her clearly original fog gimmick. Did it occur to anyone that they exist to contain something so terrible and horrible that it had to be sealed away but powerful enough that each one could be used to literally flatten a planet?

The answer of course is no because no one has time for ten year old plots and stories that sputter out into nothingness. No one cares anymore about the little demon girl who ran a coffee shop or the abused imp that was forced to cross-dress. No one spends a moment wondering about the forgotten reaper with the cute little bow who haunted the Cathedral in Truce or what else the fountain being in the center of Mabase might imply.

I've pushed and I've poked. I've started people down quests that seemingly go nowhere simply because no one bothered to start asking the right questions - so it's not MY fault things have stagnated, it's YOURS. You little muses reading your little tales and bragging about the size and girth of your logs. YOU'RE the reason things haven't gone anywhere as of late. And what of it? Why am I bothering to even begin this incessant rant on this lonely Sunday evening when I could be spending my time getting some of that long sought after rest that I can never seem to get enough of?

Because there's a story that needs to be told. Why else would the Lesbians be getting ready to go back to Twisted and use their considerable abilities to break into one of the irons prepared even now to smooth out the wrinkles in existence? Yes, this time I called them that on purpose. You may have your cookie.

Of course they won't make it inside. I've seen to that. The little Mary Sue crawling around in the literal brains of a locked scene has made sure they won't get in until the Dragonmaster remembers he's left a scene on pause. But trying to get through that barrier should lead to some entertaining situations. By the way, do you know what's required to activate one of these view-blocking irons? A hand large enough to wield it…

- - - -

As the ding from the door chime echoes through the basement garage, Harold "Coop" Cooplowski drops his sandwich and makes a run for the exit. In this case a pneumatic hose which somehow sucks one upwards into the frozen yogurt cooler of the 24/7 which he managed to build one day out of some old vacuum cleaners and the old Fizz-Wizz machine before they changed out the flavors. Zipping upwards and defying the pull of gravity, Coop waves to his lost sandwich mournfully but to make himself feel more macho he pretends he's waving at his giant mecha robot the M.E.G.A.S. instead.

"I'll get you back up and running soon. Just you wait."

The inside of the 24/7 is suddenly filled with the sound of human fat on glass as Coop realizes he's snacked one too many today and nearly suffocates pushing open the cooler door only to fall flat on his face. With a soft click the shelves behind him snap back into place revealing nothing more than expired half-melted ice cream labeled as "low-fat Yogurt" to keep people from digging around. Pealing himself off the tiled floor, Coop calls out to the latest customer, "Be with you in just a minute!"

Across the room Yoiko Hax enters, presumably with Liyara in tow. "Look. If I learned anything by studying and living in the 21st century for a bit, it's that you can't do anything role play related without Cheetos and Mountain Dew. It's a fundamental law. We can't get those things on the station, thus we have to come here. I don't see why this is annoying you." As if in response to what little he's overheard, Coop nods his head sagely.

"It's true." He mutters, "Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Edition Revised - page 203. Always have Cheetos and Sodas on hand. The more caffeine the better. Aisle 2, by the way."

Yoiko raises an eyebrow but gives him a warm smile in response, "Thanks!" With a bit of a skip in her step she makes her way to the chips and starts grabbing some day-glo orange bags. "Like I said, we're gonna re-write our character sheets. It's the only way. Besides, what's the worst that happens? We get overly caffeinated and roll around in my sheets another night?" Coop is heard knocking over a display of lighters at the comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure those weird dreams where just from being in artificial gravity again. Stop worrying about them."

It's not particularly hard to get Liyara to follow someone. Honestly. You just have to know or stumble upon the trick. Something that sounds new, and like it's either exciting, challenging, or an opportunity for her to show off how amazing she is? Well, you're done. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it has a harder time with draconic sorcerers. Of course, like any proper dragon or housecat, Liyara demurs like she was born to it.

"I still fail to see the appeal of this roleplaying," Liyara lies effortlessly, glancing around the 24/7 and taking every inch of it in with that perfect recall of hers, "why would I want to pretend to be someone else when I am already perfect?" Her flaunting and deflection hide the fact that Liyara greatly enjoys portraying other people, but in a very different context than that of a game. And it always has to end with "Surprise, I was a dragon all along!" or else where is the fun in that?

Look, she has to be bad at something. It's not going to be rules-lawyering, everyone who's spent five minutes talking with her knows that.

She glances at Coop when he nods and offers a specific quote. Her eyes glass over for a moment, as if she's reading something just out of sight. "Strange, I though the back of the books was where they kept the appendices," she states in a matter of fact way that is both designed to undermine Coop and showcase that she doesn't get the joke. She's above all of this. Clearly. Can't you tell just by looking at her? She tosses her hair once, just in case, and it billows briefly in a non-existent breeze before settling down.

None of this fronting stops her from following Yoiko and raising an eyebrow as she effectively gets to be a chips and soda carriage device. "You've been listening to the tuning fork too much. I'm telling you, nothing good comes from that lout and his feathered cap, imaginary or otherwise." Another lie, that, though this one is... quite defensible.

The Commander lets out a brief groan and gives her head a shake at Liyara's words. "Look, I don't mean literally. Although I'm sure there is some reality where we're just text on a paper and a few seconds with a pencil could change our lives dramatically." She ponders that another moment after saying it out loud. Surely she knows someone who could actually make that happen in passing…? She shakes her head again realizing that path only leads to madness.

"Look, you and your fork buddy, " She knows exactly how that sounds and peeks at Coop to confirm as much, "come from what I'd describe as a rich fantasy world where people explore dungeons and fight dragons. Thus I related things to D&D. What I mean is like changing our fate - taking advantage of the way our contrary physics react in this weird little rock." As she says this she makes her way to the counter and drops her arms full of stuff to eye Coop again. "You know what I mean, right? Surely you've seen people from other realities show up and defy all logic from whatever world you come from?"

Coop raises an eyebrow. "Look, lady. I just work here. If I wanted to talk about the fundamental nature of the universe I'd just go find the biggest jock and have him start punching me now. Besides, brains don't get you nowhere 'round here unless you count getting chopped up by the Icehouse killer."

Yoiko simply stares blankly a moment and then turns her attention back to Liyara. "Do you want anything else while we're here? We've kinda got unlimited money at the moment. Just don't ask me to explain how it works or we're gonna be here for the rest of the day."

Liyara balks at Yoiko's words. "There is no world in which I am anything less than this. I am fairly certain I exist in all timelines, just not WHEN I exist in all timelines." The confidence she states that with is staggering - considering there's absolutely no way anyone could verify her statement as true, it's quite a leap. "Though, admittedly, I am probably the best version in any of them. It's not their fault, even I almost wasn't me."

She glances to Coop, then back to Yoiko. "Fine... show me these books and explain your idea further. I'm not foolish enough to dismiss an idea just because I don't understand it yet." She loads all of her stuff on the counter next to Yoiko's, and then looks around. "...Infinite money is only helpful if there are things of value to purchase." Her head snaps back to Coop. "You don't have any enchanted weapons, legendary artifacts, or..." She looks thoughtful and then traces a fiery sigil in the air that is the spitting image of a green lantern ring she saw in a comic book, then snaps her fingers and the flames flicker green just long enough to clarify the intent. "...One of these, do you?" Nooone has any of those things for sale in a convenience store, Liyara.

If we could take a few moments and have an aside from this pair, it would behoove the reader to note that there is a more than passing chance that at least one edition of these sourcebooks will actually have Liyara's home in it, depending on which books Yoiko collected. Now, this is mentioned, dear reader, not to point out an amusing coincidence, but to warn you of the consequences of introducing such material to her. Not that anyone reading can stop this train, but you still have time to get off at the next exit. For once she gets going on the lore of her homeworld, Liyara is unlikely to stop ranting and raving for some time, and when most people talk about an angry person spitting fire, it's usually not so literal. Or in other words, dear reader... there be dragons ahead.

"...Perhaps a small aurochs for the road?" There is no such thing as a small aurochs, Liyara. Really.

Once again staring blankly, Yoiko looks to Liyara's leaps of logic as her mouth hangs open, twitching as she tries to form words that never come. Instead she just raises a hand to cover her own eyes, "Why do I always fall for the ones with egos? What does that say about me? Am I a terrible person?" Before anyone can assume she's expecting an answer, Yoiko lowers her hand with a roll of her eyes, "I never said anything about books!" She gestures towards Coop frantically, "He did! I only know about table top games in passing!"

Coop raises a brow mid-way through ringing up their order. "Look, I already said I didn't want any of this nerd stuff. If you need magical do-dads and old books, go to Ray's. This is just the 24/7."

Yoiko slowly nods her head at his words, handing over a credit card with a UFP logo on it. "Liyara? Babe? This is a mini-mart. Like a small market. They sell…" She reaches deep into her knowledge of fantasy settings, "…food and refreshments for long voyages. They don't sell any weapons more threatening than a cheap pocket knife."

Holding it up to the light, Coop blinks calmly at the credit card. "Darndest thing. I swear there's no chip in it but it picked it up anyways."

The Commander snatches it out of his hands and pockets it into her tool belt. "See? Don't ask me to explain. It just works. Future-magic." The last bit was meant as a joke so she smiles mischievously at Liyara only to sigh a moment later realizing she'll probably take it seriously…

There's a long, drawn out stretch as Liyara just looks back over her shoulder at Yoiko, followed by a slow smirk. "Confidence is an attractive trait." She says in response to Yoiko's question, as if remarking upon the weather. "Doubly so if earned." The redhead just looks from Coop to Yoiko for a moment, like she's sizing them both up. As if she hasn't already done plenty of that. Then there's a delighted laugh. It's musical, but also more than a little haughty. Imagine if Naga's laugh was somehow pleasant. "I know what a convenience store is, Yoiko."

... Wait. Was she messing with them? Oh, that's not good. It's already hard enough to follow her with their disparate approaches to analyzing reality. "Just driving home the point that there isn't anything here for me, is all." Nevermind, it's worse. Her sarcasm doesn't translate. This is going to be a rough ride, isn't it?

"...I confess some confusion, though. What exactly IS your plan?" The dragoness watches the exchange with the credit card and notes it silently. Money hasn't really been a problem for her here, she can take or earn what she needs fairly effortlessly, and get brontosaurus ribs from the UR if she needs them. That was, admittedly, a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

Unfortunately, nobody just "sells" magical artifacts or reality altering powers, magic or otherwise, here. At least not that she's encountered. Back in Neverwinter and Waterdeep, there were shops a plenty where she could buy scrolls that were effectively weapons of mass destruction. It seemed a bit much power to concentrate in the hands of mortal capitalism, which is why she so frequently... took charge of them for safe keeping. It was the only ethical thing to do. If you ask her, anyway.

"My plan…?" Yoiko's voice pauses as she grabs the bags from Coop and makes her way towards the door (deliberately ignoring trying to figure out where her sarcasm levels begin and end). "Well, it's kinda…. 40% whim and 20% thought admittedly. I'm hoping luck will fill in the rest." She pushes open the door and winces at the perceived sunlight. "You wanted to get out there and see what's outside Mabase. My tech and your magic seems to have unexpected results. I figure we put our heads together, figure out how to get the ship I built in the apartment outside, and then we see where that road leads us."

The Commander lifts up the bags of snacks, "This is just some junk food to get us going. It absolutely doesn't help but humans are convinced it does - so why not?" She glances around at the occasional cars going up and down Fukuoka Court and Twisted Street and tilts her head, thinking about Coop's comment regarding Ray's Occult. "What do you need for your magic, anyways? Like do you actually need scrolls and dusty old books or do you like, pull them out of the air or something?"

The question isn't something Liyara was expecting, but being the headmaster of an arcane academy produces a great number of rote responses, one of which starts up right away. "Well, you see, mortal magic in Toril generally relies upon the weave, a generalized magical under layer to reality that...." She slows down, and tilts her head to one side for a moment. "....If I want to cast spells that aren't very specific types of fire magic, I need to harness the magic inherent in a proper universe, and not this isolated pocket cut off from the rest."

She huffs a little, and then crosses her arms. "All universes have magic, but not all of them have the weave, and trying to call upon it in a location without the weave can have unpredictable consequences. As per our little telepathic conundrum earlier." Right, where she accidentally admitted an incredibly minor aesthetic preference that she seemed unusually embarrassed to let slip. Dragons are weird.

"...So I either need to go somewhere infused with the weave, like my Solace Bole." Liyara has previously identified that as the grove within her magically growing tree. "Or I have to brute force it by meticulously reproducing the exact design of the weave involved in the spell, and then powering it with my own, highly magical, blood." Oh. Well. That sounds exciting.

Liyara looks back to Yoiko, and then shrugs. "...It's like if there were universes where different physics just rendered your phaser inert, or worse, made it fire beams of anti-matter instead. More caution was warranted, and I didn't excercise it. A mistake, if you will."

The blonde woman shrugs as they start making their way North along Fukuoka Court. Luckily the foot traffic is rather light today making the walk a bit easier. "Mistakes happen. I can't tell you how many time I jumped into something head-first on impulse without even considering that it was dangerous." It takes a moment but suddenly she lets out a slight giggle at a particularly note-worthy example, "Like, we should probably be more worried about carving ourselves into billions of tiny pieces and throwing them through a black hole at the speed of light, but teleporting is so much easier than trying to navigate a ship through and the insane math involved."

Crossing her arms a moment, the Commander lets out a sigh, "So you need this magical weave to pull magic from. Some places have it, and some do not. You can use your blood as a quick substitute, so it's gotta be something relating to the planet or the nature of the universe itself. Like it's written into your DNA. That also explains why you can create a battery like your Solace Bowl to store that energy." Yes, she said Bowl not Bole. She doesn't know what a Bole is so it's either a Bowl or a Boole.

"So an old occult library filled with documentation from all the intersecting worlds in the area wouldn't help you. So much for that clerk's suggestion." The blonde woman gives another shrug. "Otherwise that wasn't a bad idea. I was hoping some of that random luck might be kicking in when he brought it up."

Liyara actually slows to a stop when Yoiko admits that maybe tearing themselves apart at the atomic level and photocasting themselves in a slingshot orbit around a black hole is dangerous. Her jaw actually drops open a little bit, and she stomps her foot and flails her arms up in the air. "Oh, NOW it was risky, now that we've murdered ourselves twice." Her tail thumps on the ground behind them, and she lowers her arms after a moments and crosses them under her chest, intentionally framing her assets while she pouts. It's a choice.

"Next time we're using magic like the gods intended." ...There's not enough time in the day to go into what's wrong with that statement from Yoiko's perspective, probably.

"... And yes, the weave exists in most crystal spheres where people worship Mystra or Mystryl or whatever she's calling herself this week." Crystal spheres? Mystryl? Ok. "...And a good guess, but my blood is elemental magic in pure form. It's not from Toril or from ... well. Not from the prime material plane." Is that what she calls her universe? "... It's complicated. Just think of it as a power source, not a pattern. The pattern has to come from my sigil tracing." But wouldn't that leave room for mistakes? "...It's a very time consuming and error prone process normally. I wouldn't recommend mortals, even brilliant ones, try to do it with any speed." Doesn't she do it within only ten seconds or so? ... Oh, right, she's bragging again. She does that.

When Yoiko mentions an old occult library, Liyara's eyes light up, and she bites her lip, squirming just a little. "Well. There's no guarantee that it wouldn't have anything useful." Oh no. She floated the possibility of finding a library when she was on the station, too.

...It's probably nothing.

Probably.

The blonde woman lets out a laugh as Liyara not-so-subtly suggests there may be something to the idea after all. She looks up at the apartment complex on the far side of the fountain, but gestures in the opposite direction. "I know it's over by the mall, so we should head that way."

Moving her bag from one arm to another, Yoiko lets out a momentary sigh from the weight. "I've never been there myself, but I know that old commercial they show late at night. The one that always comes on after that stupid Devil May Cry ad?" Another cheerful laugh escapes her. "I love that one so much." She lowers her voice trying to imitate Dante poorly, "I don't want your damn business!" Another laugh, "All the while Stayin' Alive is playing in the background for whatever reason. Oh, it's too good."

She hums the tune a little as they pause for the crosswalk light to change. "Ugh, how does that ad go? I'm usually too busy laughing at the Devil Guy to pay attention." Yoiko lets out a soft sigh, "…something about due to the," she makes air quotes with her hands, "dimensional resonance of Twisted they have access to every book in existence? Sounds like a load of crap to me, but it might be fun!"

Walking quietly a moment she tries to give her red-headed friend a chance to talk but can't help but blurt out, "Besides, I think Ray's one of the Ghostbusters. That movie is AMAZING."

"Lead the way then, my fair-haired flame." Liyara winks and then intentionally starts ahead, completely negating her statement that Yoiko should lead. Why is communication so difficult with her?

As they walk, she confesses. "I don't have a television - that would require obtaining some sort of domicile, and electricity, and a television." She explains, as if these things are obviously self explanatory. "...Then I'd be setting down roots here, and I've always planned to help get people out of here, one way or the other." She's already found a few ways, but unfortunately in spite of trying to come off like she's forged no connections, she hasn't scarpered off at the first sign of freedom - she told people here that she would help them get home and she meant it. A promise is a promise.

"A dragon's debt is always paid." She says simply, and then her tail swishes behind her as they walk. "...Commercial sounds like fun. Every book in existence is certainly quite dangerous, though. I hope it's an exaggeration. I wouldn't want a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness or the Nether Scrolls floating around." ...Whatever those are.

"... What's a Ghostbuster?"

Ahh, yes. Your narrator here again to save us all from a disparaging scene where the blonde with the slug spots tells the red head with the wings in detail about the cultural icon that is the movie Ghostbusters - completely breaking the unwritten rules of RP and discussing someone's life as though they where placed on this planet just to entertain. Of course on one hand the awkward nature of the conversation does have some merit, and I'm sure Liyara's "scribe" (as he had one of his characters refer to himself) would find it helpful to know the specifics of what they talked about, but where is the fun of that? No, let's just skip this part and get straight to the next scene. Besides, as a pair of wise men once said, "It's a fact. Positrons don't react like that. You built a laser grid with no safety switch and Walter Peck was right, that's some shady shit."

----

The door opens with a too familiar jingle as a small bell is rung, much as the same was true for all old shops. Ray's Occult is a dusty place filled with books the likes of which only exist in old movies as we enlightened few know that any book can be acquired somewhere on the internet and read digitally - otherwise it's not worth reading. Of course Ray Stantz would say otherwise, and that's exactly what got him started and has kept him going all these years - to catalogue those that the world had forgotten.

Upon the glass case being used as a counter sleeps an old black and white cat known as Pagan. The pride and joy of one Kylie Griffin, a creepy gothling who runs the shop when Ray and his partner Egon Spengler are out chasing shadows and missing extremely important moments like this one. Oh, but what could they have learned from me, dear reader? What indeed…

Yoiko holds the door open for Liyara, and only releases it once the dragonborn woman's tail sways in behind her. "…but of course it's Twisted, so all of that really happened somewhere. Isn't it exciting??"

Hearing her voice, Kylie peeks her head out from the back office. "Welcome to Ray's Occult. There's books and stuff. Feel free to browse." Clearly her attention is strongly focused on something else. A series of electronic chirps can be heard before Miss Griffin steps out fully holding a smoking piece of electrical equipment like a rotting fish. "I don't get why Ray keeps these old shoe polishers around. Not a single one has worked right since I've been here." She drops it on the countertop to Pagan's dismay and sighs at the two women. "You need help with anything?"

Liyara tilts her head as she squeezes by Yoiko into the shop, her tail dragging along the ground for mere moments before the dusty nature of the shop causes her to lift it up. She glances down at it with a look of distaste, then coughs once as they enter. This isn't to say the place is actually dusty enough to be worth coughing - Liyara is a judgemental and sometimes rude person, so she very well may be coughing just to make a point and cast aspersions on the store. "Not every story can be real..." She murmurs, still having a bit of a hard time with it conceptually. She didn't seem to have any difficulty accepting that Star Trek was real... maybe it's easier for her if she sees it. The visual medium of shows and movies are a lot more immersive, after all.

"Well, I would hope there are books." The dragoness says, glancing over to Kylie. She realizes that the young woman is paying attention to a smoking device rather than her, but decides not to let it rattle her. That has become worryingly common since Liyara arrived here. "...Well, what's it do?" She asks, looking at the smoking device, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the shelves full of books. She quietly traces a sigil in the air behind her, and then pricks her own palm to let some blood flow into it and power a detect magic ritual. It will let her see everything in the room that's magic, as well as what kind of magic it is and how strongly it is magic. Well, anything not guarded by specific anti-detection measures like herself, anyway. She'd better hope Ray keeps the really good stuff in the back, that sounds like a recipe to blind yourself in a place like this.

<s>Meanwhile, in between the margins…</s>

"...The Dragon and the space Barbie are back in Twisted, some cat-creature is talking with a senshi, and ... ... is that raccoon flying a tank?"

My question is rhetorical. I can very clearly see one "Rocket Raccoon" piloting some sort of flying tank that did not exist five minutes ago. I place the blame on the girl in the gunner's seat, Dani Moonstar. She seems like the type to be at fault. It's good to know things just by looking at people.

I turn my view back to Lain, my golden eyes lidding, partially hiding the swirling flecks of black within. "What just happened? A moment ago they were still in their little tree thing, and nothing was happening on Twisted." Lain seems like she might answer questions, and even though I feel like this has already been explained to me, I still don't get it. Pretending to know more than you do works great on people. Not so great on infinite repositories of knowledge that identify as a kid. So I ask.

With a tilt of her head, Lain smiles. "Life. Good or bad; imagination will run wild when given half a chance." The young woman's outfit has changed once again. This time she's wearing an orange tank top and a baggy pair of brown carpenter jeans. It's as if she can't decide how she should look. Patting her pockets down a moment the girl looks worried, then with another smile she produces a cap modeled off of the bear pajamas she'd worn briefly. Pulling it down over her head, Lain lets out a soft giggle - another reminder of the child she was never quite allowed to be. True to form the cap is a brown bear head complete with little ears.

"Also a moment ago is a moment imagined, or have you forgotten our new timeline? Unless you've been watching the people of Twisted too." Falling into character, Lain gets a wishful look in her eyes and excitedly claps her hands together, holding them tightly to her chest. "Please tell me you're a watcher too! It's been so lonely as of late!"

- - - -

Kylie gives a shrug to the winged girl's question. "What's what do? This thing?" She points towards the smoking device on the counter. "It's a Psycho-Kinetic Energy Detector, or as Dr Venkman calls it a 'PKE Meter.' Do you know anything about the theory of Free Neutron Flux?" She notices the glazed look in Liyara's eyes but raises an eyebrow at what she assumes is interest in Yoiko's. "Okay, so spiritual energies produce psycho-kinetic valances. When a spirit manifests it ionizes atoms so quickly that neurons are ejected into the air - thus free neutrons. The PKE meter is supposed to detect those fluctuations to home in on a ghost as a way of tracking them. The problem is the nature of this place itself is chalked full of neutrons. It's like this whole rock of a world we're living on was inside a giant containment grid. There's too much background radiation and the meters just fizz out and start smoking."

The gothic woman lets out a sigh, crossing her arms to lean on the counter. "I've spent a lot of time studying Dr Spengler's research. It's how I ended up meeting these guys and getting a job here. So anyways, what do you ladies need? I've got a near photographic memory for this place so whatever you're looking for I can probably save you the time and tell you where to get it."

Yoiko inches closer to the counter, wanting desperately to get a look at that PKE meter and more so to see what's inside it, but instead of speaking up she glances over at Liyara since she's the one wanting to look up magical tomes and what-not. The last thing she could have possibly expected in that moment was to see her newest fling back lit in a blinding explosion of light. Because let's face it. Dr Ray Stantz is too absent minded to hide the good stuff in the back, only the dangerous stuff. Meaning the magical force of a bomb would likely hit Liyara if she tried to detect magic. After all, it takes a lot more than science to deliberately move a piece of New York City across dimensions and onto Twisted. It also takes magic, some incredibly powerful talismans, and an engineered dimensional vortex tethered to the very building itself. Just how do they have any book you can imagine? Because the building itself has been forced to exist everywhere at once…

- - - -

Lain suddenly cries out in pain as Liyara's spell erupts across the city of Mabase. In a brief moment the shattered remains of Twisted seem to collapse onto itself and balloon out across the multiverse in a spectacular flash of pink light. The young girl can feel her own timeline being burned like a roll of negatives tossed out into the sun. She drops into a ball, pulling her bear cap over her face and screams!

- - - -

Somewhere deep within the Medical Mechanica factory a quiet "ding" can be heard, not unlike the sound an old microwave makes when the timer runs out. The room is black and in the darkness seems to go on forever. With a click and a hum a series of florescent lights flicker into existence shinning light over a room full to the brim of monitoring equipment. This was the moment they where waiting for.

One by one the equipment roars to life letting off a vibration that echoes through the facility, agitating everything inside. The vibration spreads and echoes until it becomes a triumphant roar. The heat from all the equipment running at once blasts out of the factory filling Twisted with a dense layer of steam that blankets everything in hot fog.

As quickly as it starts, everything inside the factory shuts back down again save for a single display in that again darkened monitoring room. It's screen reads, "N.O. DETECTED - PORTAL ACQUIRED. CONNECTION WITH ATOMSK: 100%. ACTIVATOR EN ROUTE."

The silver-haired advent just shrugs. "I've been watching since I changed out of my work uniform, but I don't s--"

"A psycho-kinetic..." Liyara's eyes glass over a little, like she's reading things noone else can see, but then shakes her head. "Never heard those words arranged in that order bef-"

A scribe somewhere glances at a screen, reading the description of a bookstore. "...What's the metaphysical word for 'oops'?"

Back in the bookstore, Liyara yelps, a thoroughly undignified sound, as she sees into an infinite number of bookstores at once, which are also just this bookstore, and her pupils dilate to tiny points. "Tiamat's tits!" She curses, just comprehending enough of what she's seeing to get an arm up. "Yoiko, get behi--"

Outside of Space-time, Crux raises an eyebrow. "Oh, how cute, she triggered some kind of 𝕆𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕥!" Golden eyes open wide, and both the pupils and the black flecks within dilate. "Not again!"

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖? 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖. 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚-𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕠 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥.

ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨? 𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕘.

-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉-҉

"Lain?" Crux turns to look to the girl-goddess next to him, and he's practically blinded by what he just saw, but he still tries to gaze down her temporal trail to see what's happening to her. "You aren't allowed to die, you're literally the only person I can talk to." Yes, as usual, the Advent has sussed out that the appropriate response to a very serious situation is Sarcasm. Good job. Way to go.

Did I mention he's an idiot?
-҉

Liyara has never, EVER, been hit with a multiversal-scalar hexavelent anti-divination bomb of reciprocity before. She's never even conceived of such a thing, even after reading up on "ZIP bombs" when she first arrived here. The idea that so much magic would be gathered in one place that when she gazed upon it all, it would slap her with the multiversal equivalent of walking in on Elminster in the shower is something far beyond her ability to comprehend.

It is devastating. It is incomprehensible. It is multiversal in scope and perhaps even in damage.

But it's still just the surprise round.

[Liyara used 1 AP!]

Alright, first things first. Liyara blocks. Do you want more detail than that? Fine. Golden Dragon scales creep up around her neck, her hairline, her eyes, and her hands, and she steps between Yoiko and Kylie and the blinding flash of light. Her teeth sharpen to something that shouldn't fit in a humanoid mouth, and she growls as she lifts a hand up to block this nonsense, whatever it is. It's bigger than she can see. Bigger than anyone can see. It's grander in scope than the world-spiral that contains a trillion trillion planets.

It's literally infinite.

And it's nothing compared to the size of her ego. The light - the magical impact - the multiversal fucking collapse and expansion... literally stops upon contact with her outstretched palm.

"𝕹𝖔. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖔."

The voice is a powerful rumble, the shaking of all things, and here, in connection with a single magic point that connects to an infinite array of other magic points in an infinite array of other book stores... the word-shaped thunder echoes through all of them. "𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖘. 𝕾𝖔 𝖓𝖔." Everywhere, across every timeline in every universe, the disaster just sort of stops expanding. It doesn't... go back together. It doesn't re-ravel or un-burn or anything so neat and tidy. It just... stops. It holds still. The force is abated. All of it. Physics be damned, and they most certainly are.

She reaches back behind her, and traces her fingers backwards in a precise pattern through the fire-blood still hanging in the air, undoing her detect-magic ritual as though her own ritual were an attack on herself and she's deflecting it, because 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖏 𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖍𝖐.

It doesn't undo the other consequences of what she did, but at least she doesn't have to look at them anymore.
|}}
[[Category:Nobody]]