[System]
Gender: Female

Age: Unknown, appears to be a young adult

Race: Halfling

Appearance: Instead of metal her armor plates are made of wood with bone and wood spikes.

Height and Weight: 3'0"

Weapons/Items: She carries several primitive weapons. A rough wooden boomerang, multiple flint knives, and a curved tusk with a grip that she wields like a mix of a sword (with the sharp point) or a club (the rest of the tusk). Her boomerang and knives aren't of exceptional quality, but as she knows how to make them she doesn't seem to mind treating them as totally disposable weapons.

Skills: Chack is an exceptional climber, and while her movements may lack any sense of flair she is capable of being incredibly agile. She also knows how to construct simple weapons and armor using scavenged materials, and frequently spends her downtime chipping out a new knife or carving down a boomerang. She also makes small scrimshaw carvings, often crude representations of animals, or else just strange marks that she seems to invent. She's a middling shot with her boomerang, but she's terrifying with her other weapons in melee combat. She fights like an animal, jumping onto her target before pulling out her short, sharp weapons or else twisting joints and even biting at exposed flesh.

Magic: She seems to treat some of her scrimshaw carvings as though they had some mystic significance, but nobody has ever seen them do anything.

Personality: Chak is naturally clever, but she grew up without any exposure to civilization beyond seeing strange dangerous people go through the ruins. Her behavior is almost animalistic in some regards, and not in the cute or endearing way. She prefers to communicate in grunts when she can, mostly in regards to yes / no questions and the like, since she still doesn't have a good grasp on the common language and finds it unpleasant to try to express herself with it.

Bio: Left at the Crumbleport orphanage at a very young age, the Halfling that would become Chak was a normal, curious child. Like any curious child, she wanted to explore. Nobody noticed until nightfall that she had wandered off, and by then she was lost to the ruins. She was quickly presumed dead.

The lucky young Halfling wasn't dead though, and instead managed to survive and even eventually thrive living in the wilderness. She learned to make tools and protection from natural materials, patterned after the objects used by the tall creatures coming and going from the city. She learned to hunt, and in time became a dangerous predator herself.

[User]
To say that Isabel stood on the edge of the ruins would be inaccurate, because the ruins never ended. All of Crumbleport was an amalgamation of ruined, ancient structures, tumbledown but more recent buildings, and brand new construction. The "ruins" stretched from the coast, well into the jungle, and as Crumbleport shared no borders with other principalities, nobody had ever bothered to define exactly where it ended.

And yet Isabel stood on the edge of something. Maybe it wasn't the edge of the ruins, and maybe it wasn't the border of Crumbleport, but it was some imaginary line. Some line that, it was understood, marked the barrier between safety and uncertainty. It looked no different from the rest of the town. There was no line, no sudden dropping or even a sudden increase in foliage. Nearest anyone could figure, the watchtower stretching out of the trees to her right(held up more by magic than by mortar these days) was the furthest one could walk without being prepared for danger.

Isabel was as prepared for danger as she could be. She had practiced a few spells, and the Bottle on her back had just one prepared spell preserved inside of it. It was a kinetic field, which she could activate at a moment's notice, to protect her from attack, or a structural collapse or something like that. The rest of the Bottle's cells she left empty, to capture ancient magic for further study. She also carried a brand new leather bound notebook, held on a chain from her belt, to keep track of anything she needed to notate. Currently the only words in it were the day's date at the top of the first page. She wished she could bring a scribe student. When working at the University, there was an abundance of scribes in training who were perfectly willing to write down anything you said just to practice their calligraphy. But none were willing to go where she was going.

Isabel took a final breath of safe air and then stepped forward, eyes scanning wildly around as she did so. When nothing happened, she took another step, and another. She smiled, pulled her notebook from her side and wrote:

"Three steps in. Not dead yet."

Then she continued walking.

[Assistant]
Devon watched Isabel head off. He shook his head with a smug smirk. They won't likely see that one alive again.

That was how life was in crumbleport. They stood on the grounds of untold evil waiting to grab you at every turn.

Devon wasn't afraid though, evil was supposedly in his blood. In his lineage. He was looking for the answers, but he needed to go looking to know for sure what the truth really was.

He strode through the ruins deciding it best to head to the tavern. It was run by dwarves to no ones surprise. It was called "The Stone Cellar" and it was very popular. He could use a drink of rum right about now.

[User] Jack sat inside 'The Stone Cellar' at a table by himself. He had several documents about the ruins of Crumbleport. Deciding where to start is one thing but it's best to learn about the place before stepping in. Learning of its origin may help get an idea of what to expect and better prepare yourself. He was looking through them wondering where to start and what horrendous beasts he would find down in the ruins, especially on the deeper levels when it really gets underground. "This place really is more than just a maze isn't it. The entire place was covered in ruins. Choosing a place to start was deffinetly a tough decision. One misstep and it was over. Jack looked around to see others that looked like they wanted to check out the ruins. Some were here for the treasure, some for knowledge, and someay even find great power. Jack was looking for the ancient secrets hidden within. Who knows what lurked within those ruins. Jack was waiting and preparing for his long journey into the ruins of Crumbleport.

[Assistant]
Devon sat at the bar, ordering himself some rum to drink. Looking behind himself, the pale man noticed Jack immediately.

He stood out like a sore thumb, his armor, and his documents scattered about before him. This man wanted to explore by the looks of things.

The thought had crossed Devon's mind immediately; he needed someone to travel with. Devon needed a party of his own if he intended to be successful. Being lost wasn't something he was used to, but all the same, he didn't want to be alone when he tried to discover his true lineage.

Devon must have been staring for quite some time as he noticed a few people glance in his direction. Devon turned and took a drink of his rum. He wasn't sure he wanted to bother the knight, but in the same instance, he was curious if he'd help.

[User]
From the top of a broken pillar, gleaming yellow eyes watched the approaching human. Pretty sure it was human anyhow. Well, well, well, what were they doing here, hm? Walking around her ruins like that? Probably another wannabe 'professor'. Those people were so boring. The 'raiders' were a bit more interesting, but also a lot louder and meaner. Rarely did anyone come out here that she thought was actually fun.

Not that it ever stopped Ekra.

She giggled, jumping over to a stone rooftop filled with holes and dodging past them. A little further up was a trick she had set up a while ago, one that had used up a fair amount of rope and time. She knew it'd work though. She watched the human, crouched on her perch as the human slowly began walking along the decaying pathway, pausing to write something - Ekra would have to grab it, she was fond of flipping through those; sometimes they even had pictures - before continuing on. Her smile grew into a grin as the human got closer.

Right when the human was where she needed to be, Ekra yanked on the rope nearby. Ahead, suspended from an overhanging tree, a spiky log dislodged and immediately swung downwards. Fast enough to catch attention, certainly fast enough to be seen, aimed right at the human's midsection-

And then, not a foot away, crumble into harmless wooden chips and sawdust.

Ekra's raucous laughter tore through the quiet ruins.

[Assistant]
Isabel cried out in surprise, and thrust her hand forward. The Bottle whirred as it discharged the prepared spell. A wave of force emanated from Isabel, blowing the crumbling bits of wood away from her at great speed. Isabel smiled and lifted her notebook to write again.

K-field worked like charm. Disintegrated booby trap. Must prepare new one.

She checked the ground for a loos bit of rock or a string that might have set the trap off, but found nothing. That meant, she reckoned, that it had been set off by some sort of magic. She lifted her gauntleted hand and started turning the dial on the back of it, trying to find traces of the magic for capture and study.


[System]
Race: Human
Age: 27
Gender: Female

Appearance: Isabeau has short auburn hair. It is longer in the front, sitting just below her chin. Bangs, neatly parted to the side, hang over her forehead and just barely brush over her eyebrows. Her eyes are something to behold; light green surrounded by a thin ring of gold. Freckles sprinkle lightly over her nose. She stands at about 5'7" tall, a petite upper body sitting upon wider hips and thick thighs. Not overly muscular though her body is tone. When exposed, displayed on her back are a number of scars, some seeming a bit more prominent.

Image courtesy of @Diabolic

Clothing: She typically wears light fabrics, leathers and cloths of darker shades, red being her favorite color. A large cowl normally covers most of her features. Dark brown leather boots extend up just past her knees, straps and buckles secure padding where would be needed. Plain cloth pants are held up by a thick black belt, lined with a few pouches and oddities.

Weapons: Through her training, she has become a jack of all trades. Though her favorite weapon is the battle axe strapped to her back. She has a dagger hidden within her boots and one saddled to her belt at her right hip. The dagger hanging from her belt is a curved dagger, with a ruby embedded within the hilt.

Alignment: chaotic neutral

Skills: Part of the reason why the witches wanted to do away with her because she did not have the affinity for magic as they did. However her time in the Assassin's Keep allowed her to develop other skills and techniques:
Shadow Prison: Isabeau is able to shadow step to her foe for an attack. During this attack, her foe's movement speed is drastically reduced temporarily
Wild Blow: Isabeau is able to manipulate the shadows around her weapons, increasing the damage done by her attacks. The attack is usually used when attempting to sunder a shield.
Wildfire: Despite not having the understanding of the weave, as the witches did, Isabeau was bestowed with a gift from her mother. The gift of Wildfire. This gift takes an enormous amount of energy to control and wield. When called upon, the shadows immediately surrounding Isabeau will ignite and deadly flames will surround her as well as coat her axe, adding fire damage to her attacks. This generally leaves Isabeau quite drained afterwards

Magic:N/A -see skills above

Backstory:
Though actual details of her birth are a mystery, there are rumors of a witch who fell in love with a prince from a far away land.

The prince had journied far in search of a magical herb that was said to cure a sickness plaguing his kingdom. He came upon a young woman living deep within the woods. Beautiful in every way imaginable, the Prince became enthralled with the young woman and insisted that she leave the woods and return with him to his castle. But she could not leave her home. For she was a witch, just as her mother before her, and so on down the line. Their family and gifts had been banished from the kingdom long ago, and since, had taken refuge in the forest, tending to the wilds and those who dwelled within its sanctuary.

Disturbed by the story, the prince vowed that he would speak with his father to lift their exile if she would return with him as his bride. Gleefully, the young woman accepted. And with the prince as her guest, she spent her last few days in the woods saying her goodbyes and making arrangements for after she left.

Those last few nights blanketed by the stars, we're magical for her and the prince, though as the story goes, it was the last shred of happiness for the young couple. Grandmother Amari, the high witch of their clan, had high expectations for the young witch. Plans which did not include the Prince, plans which would've been especially ruined if the prince took her away to become a princess in the castle. Though a silver lining appeared that would help Amari's plans along. And so the high witch gathered her kin, and her plot for war went into action.

The night before the two lovers were to leave for the castle, Amari had one of the youngest within their clan travel to the cottage where the two were staying. She silently crept in, cloaked within the shadows and darkness of the night. With one clean swipe of her blade, she sliced his throat open, and without anyone noticing, made her way back out. He bled out onto the bed next to his beloved, who never stirred, and never realized his death until the next morning.

It wasn't until many months later did they all realize the young witch was with child and when the news had traveled to the High Witch, it was ordered to discard the baby once it was born. The young witch with fire red hair and green eyes encircled with a gold ring would never know her daughter.

Isabeau continued to meet only betrayal and despair as she grew older unfortunately. Bred into a world of death and darkness, she was raised within the Keep of the Assassin's Guild and was honed into the land's deadliest weapon. She was taught to cast all emotions aside, especially that of love. Though being the girl she is, passionate and vibrant, her one downfall is what led her to her situation.

Isabeau always acted the tough girl, but there was something so innocent, so pure and delicate behind her eyes and under the scars. It lived right there beside the rage, buried deep within her heart. Unfortunately, the violence of her wrath has been all that she's known since she could remember. They called her a berserker, at the time, she never knew what they meant.

She held on so tightly, grasping at the last few strands that were her life. She was bruised and burdened, battered and afraid, and on the run. Catching the first boat out of her land, she fled. She wasn't sure of where'd she go, but this was no longer her home.

[User]
Robert had been silent this whole time. He felt like something was watching him, And whatever it was. Its presence felt like a constant itch that he couldn't reach. His sword was having the same problem. Trying to sense for the thing that had been watching them. However it seemed to no avail so they decided to shrug it of for the time being. He was surprised however to see a few new faces, One of which being a bloody orc! Now Robert had seen a few orcs before, Most of them a bunch of crazy sword wielding bad-asses. It was a very rare sight to see an orc since most of them had been hunted down or killed. However this only counted in his country. What surprised him even more was that she used a bow. Most orcs used giant swords. So this was a rare sight indeed.

He would talk to here later and she what she was all about. He then looked at the new guy. Just looked like the regular mercenary trying to make his living in the world. He did however have a gun, Which was interesting since guns where pretty expensive. Again something he would look at later. Then a women approached. Robert just ignored here hoping that she would go away. Then she spoke,"Excuse me" A soft grunt barely hear able over the sound of the tavern. Again Robert just ignored here hoping she would go away. However Loannes responded to hear clearly curious what she wanted to say. "You're all destined for great danger, sacrifice. Victory does not come without blood or loss, but it is a possibility. "

Now this raised an eyebrow, In any other case, Robert would have told her to leave before he would make her. But since this had been the weirdest few days in a long time. However before he could respond "The Red" said."Either explain yourself, woman, or I will end you here as testament that I do not take lightly any supposed threat on my fate or that of the realm." Robert ignoring "The Red" looks at the women and said."Ignore my very aggressive friend here. He probably did not mean it." He then looks at "The Red". Clearly preparing himself to strike." Atleast i think he does." @The Harbinger of Ferocity, @Belwicket, @Jon Y, @The Fated Fallen, @Dragoknighte, @boomlover, @KazeXDZ, @IcePezz, @Lucius Cypher.

[Assistant]
"You would be wise not to speak for me," The wilder began, pausing to adjust his footing accordingly, trusting Robert as little as he trusted this new addition - the woman - "at least if you desire a long life."

The demeanor the Druid of the Fang carried with him had no love of Robert, least of all his "gold and glory" persona and the overly ornate sword he bore. The man, like Roanoke, was everything the wild man loathed the civil folk for.

The grasp around the old blade adjusted faintly but visble enough for the entire lot to see. "Our enemy is powerful and numerous... prone to whisper words of our supposed 'doom'."

"Either she will explain her actions or pay accordingly for her intentions."

[User]
"I mean no harm to your group, it's actually quite the opposite. ", Genevieve had responded.

Isabeau had remained in the back, tucked in the shadows of the afternoon sun on the side of the tavern. She couldn't gauge if this one was a threat or not, but there was something wrong, she could feel it in the air.

Genevieve's gaze lingered over them all, and despite her location, Isabeau was quite easy for the stranger to spot.

"It is your destiny to complete this quest. I have spent my life studying the ancient texts of my people. They talk about a Princess of Darkness, and how she will lead a group of unlikely heroes." Her eyes seemed to burn a hole in Izzy'a skull. "This expedition however, will lead to your deaths, unless you allow me to help you."

[Assistant]
"All this talk of destiny and fate- I am the master of my own fate. So clearly, you've no idea what you're talking about.", Isabeau growled lowly, not moving from her spot, securely leaned against the wall.

"And why should we trust you anyway"

[User]
"And now it is my turn to be suspicious," said Ioannes openly and honestly. "Who are your people? How do they know what they know? Who is this Princess of Darkness and why should we allow her to lead us?" Ioannes didn't have a problem with Princesses, while Darkness...not all Darkness is evil, it was just easier for evil things to hide in the dark. Then, he listened to Isabeau's reaction, then turned back to Genevive - not that he knew her name.

"I echo the question asked; why should we trust you? You just blantantly accused one of us of being the 'Princess of Darkness', which some people might take as an insult. More to the point, what information do you have that can prove to be a game-changer?" He then looked at The Red, his own gaze saying: you were right.

Which he was.

Harbinger of Ferocity, @Belwicket, @Jon Y, @The Fated Fallen, @Dragoknighte, @boomlover, @KazeXDZ, @IcePezz, @Lucius Cypher.

[Assistant]
There was an air of arrogance about the unknown woman. As seemingly meager and mousy as she was, she was the poster queen of socially awkward. Being sheltered behind her books most of her life, she never really learned about social cues and niceties, or how one shouldn't call people out on their birth right in front of others who clearly didn't know.

"She knows very well who she is, I won't waste my time debating truths and birthrites. What you seek up in the mountains, it could very well turn the tides of this war. It is a very dangerous, and very powerful tool. You should know that Jeltheor is not the only one searching for it.". She was so matter-of-fact, pushing her glasses up in their proper place.

[User]
"Heh... Heh ha ha ha ha!"

Orchid sat quietly as the scene around her became tense. Some mysterious lady came to them with a vague prophesy, which some members of the table questioned, a few even seemed threaten. Orchid, however, stood up and offered the woman her hand. "I am da Green Orchid, please ta meet ya. Sophistry aside, seems to me dat yer trying to tell us 'bout the location of some good loot to fight some big evil in da land. Sounds right up mah alley, so let's skip da dark story and get to da point. Wot we lookin' fer, wot does it look like, and wot does it do?"

[Assistant]
Genevieve sighed softly. She didn't expect to have this hard of a time with everyone.

"Is is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Orchid. But before I go into the details of the artifact, I must know if you're all on board for this quest. Jeltheor wishes for this city to burn. And the demons that some of you have fought, well. It is only just the beginning. I'm sure some of you have gotten that feeling. ... an ominous sensation of sorts. There is one wandering town somewhere. This much I can tell. And I know the demons won't stop until they have complete control. If that means eradicating this world, that is just what they'll do. So, are you all with me?"


[System]
Age: 13.
Height: 5'3.
Weight: 120 lb.
Path: Hikari.

Weapon: Studded gauntlets, used for forearm protection and offensive purposes (not always in use).

Appearance:

Personality: Yoshito is the sort of sarcastic, unenthusiastic child that didn't get along with others his age. He enjoys having a good laugh at minor things, which may cause him to come off as easily distracted, but Yoshito maintains a correct focus. Despite him being so young, his intellect is far above what most would regard it to be. He most often has a strong will and moral compass, but also spends perhaps too much time laid back, causing the severity of most situations to bring him little, if not any fear. Overall Yoshito is an independent person that prefers getting most things done on his own, or not at all.

Biography: Growing up even younger than Yoshito is before was very troubled. Not financially, but Yoshito himself was a born a youngling with zero discipline. At school he was neither a bully, nor one picked upon, though his grades were an obvious failure. Only for a short while was it tolerable until both Yoshito's parents figured they couldn't handle a child much longer, especially one of this audacity. At the age of 7, Yoshito had been sent to be raised and trained at a temple of martial artists a few miles outside of his home village. There he obtained new power, and learned techniques that gave him a new mindset, and something more to do. Here he didn't have to be bored by those around him at school, and his foolhardy ways were taken care of. Only recently did Yoshito move to Asheville where he recruited himself, making him something of a "new kid".

Martial Art Style -

1.) Togakure-ryū: A traditional ninpō (Ninjutsu) that focuses on analyzing your opponent through combat in order to gain additional information on said opponents fighting patterns. This knowledge may be used in physical escapes and often evasion techniques in order to counter attack when an opening is exposed.

2.) Ng Ga Kuen/Ng Gar King: A Chinese style of martial arts that incorporates techniques from the five Shaolin animals: the tiger, the dragon, the leopard, the snake and the crane. Ng Ga Kuen brings together a multitude of fighting styles that are used for various situations and scenarios such as speed (Leopard), strength (Tiger), evasion (Snake), equilibrium (Crane), and intellect or the ability to smoothly preform in combat (Dragon). Most techniques are seen utilizing open palm thrusts, parries, and boxing combat.

Magic Abilities -
1.) Photokinetic Combat: The ability to fuse light energy within your body to greatly increase your speed tenfold, which also amplifies hitting power, allowing for much faster attacks, and a much quicker evasion. Yoshito cannot literally move at light speed.

2.) Energy Beam Emission: A beam of pure light and energy usually ejected from the palm of fingertips that can be thinned out for accurate shooting, or widened for large destruction. Not only is the beam used to project damage, but can smite dark energy and absorb life-force to make an opponent feel weaker. Almost predictable if used too often.

3.) Photon Healing: Yoshito may heal himself or others using a photogenic regenerative process. Larger wounds may take longer, and this ability will run out if a light source is not current.

Character Rank: D.
Missions Completed: 0.

[User] Hanzõ entered the schoolgrounds. They were by now familiar to him, he had been walking around there in the nighttime for the past few days, hiding from curious eyes. But now it was daytime and there were others. He was walking towards the homeroom, taking mental notes about others and pushing past them when they were walking too slow for his taste. But he did not shove or move anyone, he just sort of slid past them in all peace, avoiding conflict for now. He was already wearing his Karate Gi for the school and the chain around his waist rests there without a sound as he steps inside just as quietly, his bare feet causing little to no sound at all. There were already people inside, and the headmaster, a the board said, was addressing a student already. That was fast. He took a seat and sat in place completely still with that small smile on his lips, waiting and listening for the sounds of living around him, now this is more what felt like home so far.

[Assistant]
The morning was nice. A little too nice, unfortunately. Kaori had woken up early to get ready and wander around for a bit, get a feel for the grounds. She wore her normal clothes rather than a gi, for comfort's sake, and for the a fact that the first day was home room and she doubted that there'd be any fighting or actual training ons the first day, and even if there were, she could move as easily in these as she could in a gi. But back to before. It was an unfortunately nice morning because the girl thought it would be nice to sit under the shade of a tree for a few moments to relax, and ended up falling back to sleep.

The reason she woke up is a mystery, all she knows is that her legs jerked in a. Motion like she was jumping, startling herself awake. Color rose to her cheeks and she glanced around to make sure that no one had seen, then got to her feet, pursed off her pants, and began hurrying towards the building. She was probably late, but hey, what would the teacher do? She entered just after that Hanzõ character did, looking tired and confused, then flopped down at a seat further away from the rest, folding her arms into the desk and resting her chin on them, barely holding her eyes open. Still in a tired daze, she hadn't noticed that the man at the head of the class was the headmaster, and so she showed little respect or reverence when she turned her gaze onto him and gave a slow "Hello." It was gonna be a long day.

[User]
[Day 1 - Monday - 9:45 am]

When Sin'chi asked for Amy's name that was when a few others had entered the classroom. The first fresh face gave Hajime a slight suspense; he was quiet…and didn't say anything at all. Then again waking up early in the morning to attend school wasn't necessarily a wonderful thing to young faces. He decided to shake off the thoughts and acknowledged the presence of another face as well, Kaori. She wore some unusual attire but Hajime knows that everyone has their own style in clothing. He turned back around to the window and waited for Amy's answer. But then suddenly something clicked in his mind. As he stared at the monument that was partially covered by the top of a tree from his point of view, a few dark images appeared in his mind; as if he got pulled into an instant nightmare. But that was Hajime in a nutshell. He has always had a look on his face as if he became disturbed or haunted by something. While working at the bakery a while back, the ones he worked with were intimidated by his focused expressions for they knew that something was wrong with him when they saw him. However, Hajime was the first to deny any rumor of him. He did not mention to anyone what exactly was wrong with him but before attending school he could remember his father speaking.

"As a carrier of the Kinji Raremashita Superu (Japanese for 'Forbidden Spell') it would be apparent to have constant prophecies…which were the only negative drawback the carrier would have. You are known as the Vanguard and with every new vanguard come an entire new set of challenges." His father once said.

Ah…so that was why he kept having constant visions. Momentarily, he thought about what could happen. Suddenly, the school was transformed into a dark cathedral filled with ancient dead spirits fighting out in the courtyard. This was the look of the old school when ancient Kurai master, Akihiko Hisashi ruled. He visualized himself, Hanzo, Amy, and Kaori standing in the middle under the dark purple skies. Akihiko stepped down from the steps and raised his katana, wearing his armor and helmet.

"The return is inevitable, Vanguard. You and your students will bow before the darkness!" he heard Akihiko yell.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it and took a gasp before taking a few steps back placing his hand on his desk to recover himself. He panted a bit but tried to hide it from the class. He cleared his throat.

After taking the time to clear his head, he looked up at the class.

"I see we have…new faces…" he said a bit shaken up. "Give me your names while we wait for the others to arrive…" he finished and took a breath before sitting down in his desk.

[Assistant]
Hitomi strode toward the school, appearing as if she were in a dream. Her eyes were closed as there was no point in her using them anyway, and her mouth was curled into a slight, seemingly content, smile. She weaved her way through the mass of people outside, and stepped into the hallway that would lead to her homeroom. She had rehearsed the steps in her head dozens of times, and with the help of her shadows to 'feel' the way for her, she made it into the room without any issues. When she got to the doorway, she stopped, as she could almost feel the energy coming form the inhabitants of the room. There were quite a few, Hikari and Kurai...and there was one especially powerful one toward what she assumed to be the front of the room. She inhaled sharply; she realized that she was in the presence of the headmaster himself! A powerful aura surrounded the figure, it could be no one else. She bowed her head toward him, not even sure that he'd seen her, then she took a seat near the front of the classroom.

She had heard much about the headmaster from her father, who had once studied at the academy. The headmaster was young, younger than Hitomi's father by a great deal. He was handsome, slow to anger, and quite skilled. She put her hands on the desk, and held them as she faced straight forward. Inside, she was almost giddy; she couldn't believe that she was in the presence of the headmaster. Would he be teaching them? That would be amazing, to learn from the very best!

Then, she heard him speak: "Give me your names while we wait for the others to arrive…"

This being the first time she ever heard him, she made absolutely certain that she would be able to recognize his voice at any given time. She let the words float in her mind for a good, long time. His voice was a bit shaky, which she thought was unusual for someone who, as her father put it, 'annihilated everyone in his path', but there was also some authority behind his words. Perhaps he just wasn't used to speaking in public?

She then heard him exhale, and the sound of a chair sliding on the floor, and a slight creak telling her that he had seated himself. It was at this point that she finally decided to speak:

"Headmaster. I am Hitomi Matsumoto. It is my sincerest pleasure to be in your presence."


[System]
Cody stands at about 6 feet, and has a lean, athletic build.

Age: 31

Personality: Cody is calm and collected, he prefers analyzing and planning out a battle beforehand rather than rushing in. He believes that battles should always be fought with a plan in mind, and abhors those who rush into battle blindly. Although he usually works alone, he is more than capable of working well and communicating with a team. However, he can still commit some mistakes and misunderstandings when working with others. He is always seen wearing his full armor in public, as he feels uncomfortable taking it off unless he's around people he trusts.

Backstory: Born in the city of Hong Kong, Cody Liu had been fascinated by NC's ever since he first laid eyes on them. He grew up studying and learning about them, and when he was old enough, joined the Red Star NC academy in Beijing. Finding himself with a fair sync ratio of 75%, he passed pilot training with flying colors and was assigned the pilot of an unknown NC that Red Star had salvaged with its body intact. Proving himself to be a valuable pilot, Cody was soon promoted to lieutenant and fought across many fronts for Red Star. But during a mission defending a border city from a Volkov Industries attack, the population of the city, along with several Red Star NCs and one of his close friends were killed by a massive airstrike that was authorized by his superior officer despite his objections. He ultimately deserted the army and forged a reputation as a mercenary. Recently, he had heard news of a large-scale Red-star attack on the city of Darwin. Cody felt something inside him, despite not receiving any noticeable rewards it benefits from defending Darwin, he volunteered. Perhaps it was his hidden feelings of anger towards Red Star, or maybe a sense of justice in defending the innocent inhabitants of the city. Nevertheless, he's there now, ready to fight for the defense of Darwin and Haven as a whole.

Tactical Preferences and Skills: Cody prefers staying in his mech, blasting away at foes from a safe distance due to the nature of his NC. His speciality is taking down targets as artillery, but performs equally as well at mid-range. He very rarely engages in melee combat, but knows how to reposition himself and keep the enemy away long enough for him to regain an advantage. Outside of his NC, he is adept in marksmanship, with his favourite firearms being assault rifles and heavy weapons such as rocket launchers and miniguns.

Notes: Cody really appreciates food, and eats rice with nearly every meal.

---

Codename: Halberd

Body-type: Bipedal

Type of NC: Light Artillery/Minor anti-air/Long-range

Equipment and armaments:

Heavy plasma cannons: The Halberd posseses 4 Heavy plasma cannons, 2 mounted on each arm. Used primarily for mid-range and close-range combat, the cannons pack quite a punch and have a decent fire rate as well. The only problem they face is that they are relatively quick to overheat, and thus, must be carefully managed.

Ripper missile launchers: Two ripper missile launchers surround the cockpit of the mech. They possess 4 tubes each, and can fire a salvo of guided ripper missiles, which can be used against ground targets, but are more effective against aircraft. Alternatively, the ripper missiles can be replaced with lancer missiles instead, which function more like anti-ground artillery.

Mass driver cannons: The Halberd's most powerful weapons are its dual mass driver cannons, located on its back. They function best as long-range anti-mech weapons, and can fire armor-piercing rounds at incredible speeds. Although they possess immensely long range, they fire slowly. It is usually loaded with armor-piercing rounds, but can be loaded with different types of rounds as well, such as incendiary rounds.

Shield generators: It is also equipped with energy shield generators to protect it from enemy fire. The generators produce a slightly more durable shield as compared to other NCs.

Rocket boosters: Should the Halberd ever need to escape, it is equipped with 4 rocket boosters located on the back of the vehicle to boost its speed by a large margin. The boosters are quite powerful and can move the Halberd fast enough to outrun interceptor type NCs. However, the boosters guzzle down large amounts of fuel, and thus must be carefully used to ensure the Halberd does not run out.

Notes: The Halberd stands at about 7 meters high. It possesses moderate armor and a moderately fast walking speed. Its primary weakness is its lack of powerful close-range options, as it functions as a light artillery and anti-air unit. The heavy plasma cannons are deadly at close-range but have difficulty in aiming at closer targets as well. The Halberd's only option is to use its boosters to quickly enlarge the gap between it and its attacker, but once it runs out of fuel, it is incredibly vulnerable.

[User]
Alexei d' Vexille
Alexei had just finished having a shower when the intercom blared, summoning all NC pilots to Ops. He dried his hair with the towel thoroughly, ruffling his tousled locks. He then looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, towel slung over his shoulders. He pulled a cheesy grin, and then slipped on his jockstrap. He then grabbed his pilot suit, the same one his father wore, and d'Vexilles before him. Family heirloom, if anything, just like Vectis. The thought of both wearing and piloting tradition centuries older than he was sometimes crossed Alexei's mind when he slipped into the yellow trimmed black and red suit.

He zipped up and then picked up his helmet, catching himself in the mirror again. No cheesy grin this time. The memory of his father was like a cloud that hung over Alexei when he put on the suit. He sighed, but knew even if the other pilots weren't suited up yet, it didn't do for a son of d'Vexille to be unprepared. He slipped a pellet of gum in his mouth and then walked out, leaving his room and headed down the corridors to get to Ops. When he arrived, he was one of the last pilots filing inside. He didn't greet anyone unless spoken too, and just hung on the outskirts of the briefing, leaning against the wall and listening to General Commander Narra. As he paid attention, he noted his comrades around the room and assessed their reactions-- Nothing seriously analytical, just to get an idea of their personalities.

When Narra described the primary asset of Red Star; Osamu Akiyama, Alexei's brow furrowed. He didn't at all like the thought of control over Vectis being wrested from him. That alone just made the strategy-- if it can be called that, of pre-emptively assaulting the enemy and closing the distance swiftly seem less insane. At least then, if Vectis is taken over, he would be at too far a distance to injure comrades. Sure, Vectis had combat sniping capability, but that was for on the move medium distances. And there surely was an NC that actually specialised in long range engagement. He just hoped they won't kill him.

Then again; would dying really be worse than being a Red Star captive?

Alexei then pursed his lips when Narra described the Chainbringer Team. More so when he ordered everyone to try and capture them. Well, he only said 'if they can be captured'. Anyone will understand if we kill them so we don't get killed. That's just war, baby. Alexei thought, blowing a bubble and popping it back into his mouth. He folded his arms and then thought it over. But I guess, if we have to use disabling force on each other in the event of a takeover, it would be some practice... What a fucked up situation.

Then amidst all that, Alexei couldn't believe what he was hearing. Time to relax and hang out? He shrugged internally, whilst watching everyone's reactions and hearing what they said. Most of them opted for the coffeehouse, one of them who introduced himself as Caz-- 'the resident drunk' more like, opted for the bar. Thankfully, nobody opted for the bathhouse. It didn't really make sense anyways. Imagine if Red Star took down the shields early and caught them with their pants down-- Literally. Alexei smirked at the thought, however silly and awkward that outcome would be. After all, humour was hard enough to come by without making it yourself.

Alexei didn't really care to vocalise his opinion, since everyone else had made up their minds. The coffeehouse was the popular choice, and he'd just be stacking on top of that. Pointless. However, as hard as it was to believe they had this ample amount of time to prepare by socialising, Alexei was sort of grateful. He actively focused on getting something decent to eat and drink while finding someone to watch his back while he possibly charges headfirst into danger. This distraction what he needed to avoid thinking about what a waste of time the situation was-- That's not what he thought. It's what my father would have thought. He said to himself with a tang of annoyance.

[Assistant]
Por Dios, La Patria, El Rey!

Spain remains alive in the hearts of all men and women, even those who do not have the blood of the peninsula, there are those who were adopted by our empire from before. And even as an empire fell and a corporation took over, we are still Spanish. And we will not let greed rule.

---------------------------

Encarnación ignored all things around her, strapping the armor on her suit. With one foot on the top of her foot locker and another providing her balance, she could hear Covenant speak to her easily as she adjusted some of the armored plates on her thighs

"My lady, do you wish for some advice from the Holy Book?"

The lady grunted as she made one final adjustment to her armor. She patted it well and said, straightening her back

"Yes. Could you please recite the passages that shall make us both ready for war…"

"Very well, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Covenant."

After giving her armor one last inspection and a quick look around as well, she sighed as she started to listen to the scriptures, the lady making her way out of her room.

"Put on yourself the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme."

She passed by some of her soldiers and officers from the war for Spain. They saluted her swiftly as she returned it with the nod of her head

"You are my war club, my weapon for battle - with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms."

Kingdoms. Will I ever be a queen with a kingdom? Will there ever be a chance that these corporations shall go away as the tides do, as they ever do on the shores of Andalusia? Of Valencia? Catalonia? The places her people came from?

"Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all fighting men draw near and attack."

She finally made it to the Operations Room. There she would receive her orders and speak with other pilots. She winced at that and felt a set of jaws come around her heartstrings. Was she truly a hero or a traitor? Perhaps something like the man with the mask from the ancient Watchmen comics?

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

And finally she spoke, keeping her voice down so she could hear her words alone before finally bringing herself forward to participate in the calm before the storm.

"I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city."

She paused for a little while. Then she looked to the rosary she wore around her neck as well as the Sacred Heart of Jesus painted on the armor that shielded her breast. She spoke to them

"Beat easy and let me stand firm. Bless me with bravery, with might and with honor. My duty on this Earth is not over yet and allow me, oh God, to be victorious and glad. Bless my hands, my mind and my weapons. Let go of nothing that will protect me and grant me the righteousness I need to be a good soldier. Firmly take my hands and grant them the power to end life that may stand against me and my people.

Save me and all that I hold dear. And in return, oh God, I devote my heart, my mind and my liberty to you. Amen."

She crossed herself and joined the squad, entering silently with a smile as her Covenant told her, a whisper in her ear

"Por sus crímenes contra su gente y por mi deseo de servirle, Mi Señora, deje que mis armas rugen y mi armadura proteja."


[System]
Game Origin: Grand Theft Auto 5
Appearance:

Personality: Michael is a man of many contradictions. He is egotistical and narcissistic, and goes after material things, even though they don't bring him any happiness. He has a hard time coming to term with his mistakes, and has a great deal of self-hatred as a result. This gives him a short temper, and when he gets angry, he often makes poor and irrational decisions. He has a rather cynical outlook on the world, and is very sarcastic. He also has a hard time dealing with criticism, and displays a great amount of hypocrisy. Despite all this, he cares deeply for his friends and family, and during his robberies, tries to limit civilian casualties as much as possible. Recently, he has started to acknowledge his flaws and past mistakes, and has been trying to improve himself as a person.

Background: Born as Michael Townley, he grew up in a poor family, with an abusive and alcoholic father, who left him and his mother at a young age. During high school, he was a star quarterback on the football team, but he wasn't able to make a career out of it. After high school, his troubles with the law began. He began to commit robberies to make money, and as time went on, his skills improved, becoming an excellent marksman and learning to lead a crew during heists. In 1993, he met Trevor Phillips, and the two went on to commit a number of heists and other criminal acts. Later, he met his future wife Amanda while she was working as a stripper, and they had two children together. Because of this, he wanted to find a way to escape his criminal lifestyle. An opportunity came in 2004, when the FIB agent Dave Norton offered him a deal- fake his death at the hands of Norton, in exchange for payments and a mansion, while Norton gets to rise to fame for killing the infamous robber.

He took the deal, and got to start over, changing his last name from Townley to De Santa, while him and his family moved to a mansion in Los Santos. However, he began to have regrets about abandoning his past lifestyle. He found his new life to be empty and pointless, and he spent most of his days getting drunk or lounging around. His relationship with his family became strained, and he became very narcissistic.

Later, due to a chain of events caused by an anger-induced lapse of judgement, he owed millions of dollars in debt. In order to pay it off, he had to go back into his old business, with his new associate Franklin Clinton. After many events (a.k.a. the plot of GTA 5, a lot of stuff happens in that game and if I tried to summarize all of it we'd be here forever), Michael was rich, and was able to reconnect with his family, and begin improving himself as a person, retiring to a much happier life than the one before.

At least, he would have, but someone (cough cough, Galeem) had to fuck everything up.

Specialty: Sniper
Level: 4
Experience: 0/40
Powers:
* Bullet Time: For a short amount of time, Michael can enter a trance-like state, slowing down time and greatly improving his accuracy with ranged weapons. He can use this to make very precise shots, or take shots at several enemies at once.
* Partial Regeneration: When badly wounded, Michael can partially regenerate. The most grievous wounds will slowly heal, saving him from dying of blood loss, but not fully healing him. This process is slow, especially during battle.
* Explosive Bullets: When this ability is activated, all of Michael's ranged attacks will cause a small explosion on impact. This lasts for one post, and has a recharge time of four posts.

Strengths: (Things your character's always good at, or always can do; essentially, passive abilities or bonuses. You start with three, but you can add more in place of powers when you level up)
* Expert Marksman: Michael is deadly accurate with firearms. He has a great deal of experience with almost every type of firearm, and he knows how to hit targets accurately and consistently.
* Thorough Planner: Michael has made a living out of his well-planned heists. While planning out a bank robbery might not perfectly translate to planning an attack on enemy forces, the prior experience still helps.
* Vehicle Operator: Michael can operate planes, helicopters, and boats. He's also a skilled driver, due to the many times he's had to escape the cops in a car.

Weaknesses:
* Out of Shape: Due to his age, abuse of alcohol and cigarettes, fondness of fast food, and his preferred daily routine of either watching TV or sitting by the pool all day, Michael is not in the best physical shape. He has low stamina, and will get exhausted faster than most.
* Only Human: In the end, Michael is just a guy in a suit, with no special abilities to protect him. A single well-placed shot could end his life.

Spirits:
*

Kindred Spirits:
* Trevor Phillips: Michael's old partner in crime. While they were at odds when they met each other again, they've been able to mostly forgive each other.
* Franklin Clinton: Michael's newest business partner. Together, they took on several dangerous heists, and made fortunes.

Inventory:

Custom Barret M82: The Barret M82 is a large, semi-automatic, .50 caliber sniper rifle. This specific rifle was custom built to Michael's specifications. Some notable customizations are: a lightweight yet durable alloy frame, a variable zoom scope with both thermal and night-vision modules, and an advanced recoil system that makes your shoulders hurt less when you fire it. However, even with these customizations, the M82 is still most effective when fired from a prone position, a good distance away from the target. Given its large size and heavy recoil, it's almost impossible to use the weapon effectively in close quarters.

Custom Mini Uzi: The Mini Uzi is a smaller version of the 9mm Uzi submachine gun. This one has been customized with the addition of a suppressor and a red dot sight. It also uses high-capacity 30-round magazines. It's a highly effective close range weapon, and its small size makes it easy to conceal. However, it isn't very effective at longer ranges.

Rifle Case: A carrying case for the Barret. It protects it from dust and dirt when not in use, and has a strap that allows the case to be carried like a backpack. It also contains a cleaning kit for the rifle.

Earplugs: A simple, but very important piece of gear. Wearing these prevents Michael from going deaf each time he fires the Barret.

Suit: A stylish gray suit. It has special pouches sewn in to carry the Uzi and ammo for it and the Barret.

Gold-Rimmed Aviators: A pair of designer aviator shades, rimmed with 24 karat gold. Besides being very fashionable, they keep the glare out of Michael's eyes.

Phone: A smartphone. No signal, but it has all of Michael's music on it. Who knows, maybe it will be useful somehow? Comes with a charging cable and earbuds.

Wallet: Michael's wallet. Contains credit card, driver's license, pictures of his family, and $100 dollars in cash.

[User]
Courier 6
Level 3 - (6/30) EXP
Location: Scrapyard - Start
Word Count: 639

Huff. Huff. Huff. The Courier ran as fast as his fleet feet could take up, heading back up the original hill they had started on. How had his shots landed? He honestly didn't know. If the sniper was in trouble, then the rest of the group that had been guarding Michael was surely in trouble too, allies he couldn't see much less protect from his vantage point down lower. He just had to hope things would be alright once he got up there, and that the spirits he had crushed would turn into something more useful for the situation.

The two objects solidified in his hands: some sort of purple box that didn't appear to be immediately threatening or useful (and thus would need a bit of observation later, when no longer in the heat of the moment) and a pickaxe of all things. A pickaxe? Really? Really? That soldier robot turned into a god damn pickaxe?! Not a rifle or a machine gun or kevlar armor or Hell, even a combat knife,but a friggin' pickaxe?! What, was that a repurposed mining robot?!

The Courier didn't have the opportunity to muse on his apparent misfortune anymore, as just as his vision rose above the crest of the hill, the sight of the Master of Masters, the centurion, the dancer, and Michael came into full view. His shots had apparently done enough damage to that Omnic that Michael was able to recover, and finished the job himself. A large number of the robots were being handily defeated and frozen over by Din (did that rod of hers have a miniature cryolator installed?), and the Master… Well, he was having a grand ol' time defying the laws of gravity, as 6 saw it. The centurion, however, had things in a much more difficult situation.

That's when the party was crashed by none other than Zer0 and… Hey, did he look different? A sniper round tore through a bunch of downed robots, then the assassin vanished from sight, but his presence could still be seen by the sudden large gashes appearing in the robots clumped together by the Master's power. Once Zer0 reappeared, spouting off one of his weird ass poems, the Courier couldn't help but notice that his visor was a different color. And his legs, were they more mechanical now? "What in tarnation happened to you?" he asked, almost completely forgetting about the centurion.

"Oh. Right. YEEHAW!" The Mojave courier moved in, pickaxe in hand, and took a wild swing at the Omnic that had pinned down the Roman legionnaire, hoping this weapon carried with it some sort of bonus effect or special traits. Alas, that did not seem to be the case as the metal slammed into the robot and pierced its hull with only minor effect. The Courier had more skill in hand to hand weapons like knuckle dusters and the power fist than he had with melee weapons. Factor in the odd shape of the pick and he wasn't able to swing it with full strength, creating a rather sloppy technique with sloppy results. Still, it had at the very least the effect of knocking the robot off of Magnumus Agoston, even if it was still in perfect working order.

"Aw fuck this," he sighed, pulling off his best Indiana Jones impression as he simply drew his magnum and placed a round straight into the Omnic's processing center. "Y'all owe me," he commented to the Roman and Michael, before focusing his gaze on Michael specifically. "And you owe me double for fucking up and shooting those rabbits when I convinced them to help us. I ought to feed you brahmin pie for that."

[Assistant]
Blazermate

Level 2 - (15/20) EXP
Location: Scrapyard
Word Count: 452

Blazermate wasn't too far behind the Courier, who had let off a few shots. Although she noticed when she was in healing range that Din and the MoM were more control fighters, as they had either thrown robots in the air and crippled them, or froze whatever was nearby with ice. It was around this time that those spirits she had crushed coalesced into weapons for her. One was fairly simple, a taser sort of thing that looked like she had to fit onto her arm for it to work, with how wonky its trigger mechanism was. The other she felt like she'd just use and get rid of, a giant minigun. With it being very big and, frankly, heavier than herself, she had to hold it with both hands in an awkward fashion. And with it in her hands, there was no way she could heal anyone.

Zer0 had dashed up behind Blazermate and the Courier, taking out the robots the MoM had dealt with but with odd... robot legs? Well he was already a robot right? Although these legs looked a lot less sleek than what he had before. Either way, he had taken out the robots that were on fire, so Blazermate decided to use this minigun a bit to at least have some fun before she handed it off to someone else. Holding it akwardly, she pointed it at all the frozen bots around Din and opened fire. It took a second to spin up and actaully shoot, but it made scrap out of all the frozen robots as it fired. It didn't take much time at all to rip all the robots Din had frozen into scrap metal, and with the Courier dealing with the robot that had tackled the Centurion, Blazermate dropped her minigun and began to heal the downed man. "Hey, when you guys have had your fun back here, we should all get going forward. There was some massive firepower ahead of us, and I don't think I can heal Bowser through all that damage if we go at it head on." She said, making sure to get everyone up and going with all the omnics in the area dealt with.


[System]
Nickname(Optional): Pfft, no.
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Physical Appearance: Of Average build with short dark hair, Neil isn't exactly the most unique specimen. He is fit but not noticeably so. He isn't big at all, but he is also not small. He has a face girls can find cute, but not exactly dreamy. Tanned skin and a ruddy complexion from all of the machine's he's worked on, coupled with the calluses on his hands gives him an experienced look despite the very youthful appearance he has. All in all, other than the twinkling of his eyes and the trademark grin, he is essentially average. He has dark eyes and very dark brown hair, enough to be considered black under most light. He's about 5'10 and 165 pounds.
Clothing: He often wears baggy pants, mostly military cargo. He likes to wear single colored T-Shirts. Usually he wears red.
Personality: Oh, now that is a question. To say Neil is eccentric is...well, that hits the nail on the head. Very good with hand-eye coordination, competent combatant, good engineer, and a daring pilot. But prone to sarcasm, snide remarks, unorthodox behavior, and just good old fashioned explosions. He's a born jokester, though behind his charming yet insufferable demeanor belies a certain intelligence, and to those he enjoys, he does tend to have a big heart.

[User]
"Isn't it wonderful?" Junebug asked, her face plastered with a smile that could only fool those bewildered like Taya, who honestly didn't know what to think. She had always pushed for Neil and Junebug to stop running circles around each other, but...if he was getting married.

Before 'business' could begin, Indra grabbed Neil and kissed him full on the lips in celebration, much how Neil had kissed Junebug not two weeks ago when they had managed to get off of Hahn. Neil flailed, not entirely knowing where to put his hands or what to do at all, being kissed in public and in front of Junebug, and also before their was even an agreement!

"So, what we offer Neil is obvious." Indra's mother said without even looking. "What we offer you is a very prized, highly sought after plasma weapon. A new rifle we are developing. My husband can give you the details." She said, and gaudily sipped her wine glass. Meanwhile, Saxon had begun to dig a very large hole in the sand a few paces off to the west for some unknown xenos purpose. It almost looked like a hole that a terran sea turtle would dig to lay eggs, but Neil knew that even with his alien biology, the Hexanagallion males didn't lay eggs.

Junebug's vision of Indra kissing Neil would be replaced by a portable vidcaster Gredorius placed in front of her face. It was a triple action, burst fire carbone. Triple action meaning the third action was DNA specific, and only she would be allowed to fire it. It also didn't necessarily fire plasma rounds. It was plasma fueled. The rounds were displacer rounds, that tore the targets apart atom by atom. It was a weapon, junebug knew, that most military's had laws against their usage within the branches.

"So, will you do it?"

"What about Saxon and Taya?" The Captain asked.

"I have an agreement with the Hexan. I could always use top enforcers in my line of work. Taya and I will discuss her employment, but I can only get to each of you so fast, and there is the reward for my daughter's safe return to consider. You will have it, and be ready to go on your assignment in three days time. Is this acceptable for you?"

[Assistant]
"We can work with that. Can you give us any more details about this assignment?" Sayeeda asked. Gregorious smiled an avuncular smile.

"Your eagerness does you credit Captain, but today is for celebrating my daughter's betrothal. A toast to the happy couple!"

It was nearly noon by the time Junebug was able to make her excuses and slip away from the gathering. Mostly to irritate Neil she invited Saxon to join her. The Hex agreed with what Sayeeda thought was enthusiasm but she was still having difficulty reading the alien's moods and emotions. They made their way down to the shipyard where the Highlander had been moved from its landing pad.

The slip the Highlander was moored in was a dry dock, evidently used to repair the ocean going warships of this world. Dozens of armored plates had been removed by hydraulic derricks and technicians swarmed over the ship, replacing wiring and refitting the components damaged in the blind RIP jump from the Terran Cruiser.

"It looks like a partially stripped kill," Saxon observed. Sayeeda shook her head.

"No, she is strong, she lives," Sayeeda disagreed as she walked down into drydock, ignoring the iodine smell of old seawater and the acrid byproducts of welders and soldering irons. It felt somewhat sacrilegious to have other people working on the ship, but the damage had been severe for the four of them to put right. She wondered how Neil would find it, living on Chalcedon with Indra, perhaps Taya would stay too make some kind of life for herself. A world with such a porous nobility would suit her. Junebug lay a hand on the hull of the Highlander feeling the cold metal under her finger tips.

"She is your X'anada," Saxon hissed behind her.

"My what?" Junebug asked.

"A steed for a warrior," the Hex hissed. Junebug trailed her fingers along the ship's armored plate.

"Something like," Junebug agreed. Whatever Neil decided to do this was no place for her. She didn't know that there was any place for her. Once this job was settled and the Highlander was repaired she would leave, although how she would do that without her pilot she had no idea.

[User]
Neil was lucky the hallway wasn't overly wide, or he would never have been able to pull off such a maneuver. He used to do this back in school often, when the teaching officials looked for him to mete out punishment. Now he found himself doing this to avoid Indra and the guards that she had ordered to find him as to invite him to some frivilious activity he had no idea of. It was a simple one, where he placed both arms out, along with both legs out, keeping the pressure on both sides to keep himself elevated above a normal human's field of vision within the hallway.

His rump touched the ceiling, he was so far up there. About a dozen feet or so, and as the multitudes of guards hustled past him and out of his chambers, he breathed a sigh of relief and still waited for a minute or two, just to be certain. Sure enough, two guardsmen hustled back in to see if he had been in there and had come out of hiding, but when they found nothing, they left. He'd been in too many hairy situations to not know how to get out of one.

"Goddamn..." he growled to himself, unable to even speak more than the single word, but he wanted to add 'Sayeeda' after it. She was making him jealous, and what's more he couldn't even blame her. She had bared her heart and soul and he had been too stupid to realize she had wanted him to tell her she was wrong. Granted, if she had talked to him about it back on Hahn this wouldn't be happening, but it had been a quick confession and-

"Shut up" he told himself, and dropped down to the floor. "Just stay out of sight and do what you need to do."

And so he did. He had to scale the outer walls of the palace, raking in more sweat than he cared to admit and nearly falling twice, but he made it to where he intended to go. It would be just at the cusp of evening when Sayeeda would make it back to her chambers, and she decided she needed to shower. She would have heard some small talk of him being missing, but nothing too serious. Once she was done with her shower, wrapped within her towel, she found the pilot sitting at the edge of her bed.

"You're wrong." He said to her before she could even give a question to why he was there. He looked up at her. "You are worth it. I'm just too stupid to realize that I should have said it yesterday." Rubbing his temples, he stood up. "Fuck all this. Fuck marrying her, fuck any of this. I'm sorry I'm braindead, but you mean a lot to me. More than any woman. So tell me off or order me to leave, but don't look at me like that. You said the same thing to me yesterday. I'm tired of doing this dance, and I'm tired of my part in it. So..."

He crossed his arms, looking at her. "What do you say?"

Not exactly romantic, but she was definitely a conundrum when it came to traditional romance.

[Assistant]
Sayeeda froze in shock for an instant as she emerged from the luxurious bathroom to find Neil sitting on her bed. She recovered almost instantly with the cavalry of charging forward when things got hairy. The afternoon had been spent looking over the work on the Highlander, which, given the budget of Indra's family and the workforce they had at their disposal, was proceeding at a more rapid pace than she could have hoped for. After that she had spent the afternoon with Saxon, she had been drinking and he had been chewing the odd herb which seemed to fill the role for his people that alcohol did for humans. He had taught her several words in Hex, mostly curses, which she could pronounce only with a great deal of hissing and spitting. It had been a pleasant way to pass the afternoon, distracting herself from the prospect of the upcoming wedding and the fact that she would be leaving Neil and probably Taya once the job here was done.

After that things had gotten complicated, though not, unfortunately, as complicated as they were likely to become in the next few minutes.

"You were all set to marry Indra yesterday," she said her voice steady despite the alcohol and the sense of spiralling disaster.

"You don't like the in-laws and are looking for a consolation prize?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

The smart move would have been to order him to leave but despite her best efforts she was unable to do so. Steam rose from her skin as the vapors of the hot bath she had been taking cooled in the sub tropical air.

[User]
At first he was somewhat surprised. He had expected her to be furious, not shocked he was there. He didn't quite know what to make of it, and decided to pay no heed to it at the current time. He needed to breathe easier though. She wasn't going at him like a Ranaak serpent from Zolas. "I wasn't set to her marry her, I thought that's what you wanted. I know, I know, I am an idiot." he said, holding his hands up.

"Just..." he didn't rightly know what to say, honestly. Though the consolation prize insult did get his blood boiling a bit. He'd been with multiple women but only because she had kept rejecting him!

"Hey!" he barked, stepping forward. "You're not a fucking prize. And I couldn't care less about these people. They could be thrown into a vat of boiling iron, I don't give a fuck." Briefly he wondered how smart it was to throw caution to the wind and speak like that aloud, but he realized if they had cameras or had the room bugged, they would have confronted him yesterday. "I'm throwing all the shit they want to give me away for you, does that sound like you're just some prize on my belt?"

He was very close at the moment. He could feel the heat from the shower emanating off of her, but he only looked her straight in the eyes.

[Assistant]
"So you have slept with every other convenient woman and you are finally working your way around to me?" Junebug snapped, unwilling to be reasonable in the heat of the moment.

"That's not what..." Neil protested, anger on his own face as he faced her down. Both of them were too hot under the collar for this conversation to be a good idea, and certainly not in the home of Neil's would be inlaws. Sayeeda held up a hand in warning to cut Neil off.

"Look all I want, all I've ever wanted is..."

It was perhaps bad timing that Saxon chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom where he and Sayeeda had been sharing the tub. Steam wreathed his reptilian form like smoke and his throat sacks were fully engorged and colored a vibrant red. His reptillian eyes narrowed as he beheld that Neil was in the room.


[System]
Age- 19

Gender- Male

Sexuality- Straight

Personality-
Kousei's personality is that of a very low level introvert, while he does get lost in his thoughts every now and again he does like to interact with others on a day to day basis. He is kind to pretty much everyone unless he has a reason not to be. While he does like to seem very pessimistic about things he is indeed an optimistic person. Kousei does not like to appear weak to others but when he does it's because he is stuck in a very bad predicament and as such will ask for the help of others in situations like that. Once someone gets to know him he is easy to talk with and a great friend to have as he cares for anyone that forms a bond with him. Whether it is for better or for worse.
Appearance-

Skills-
Proficient with a bow, knows various martial arts but is not a master of any, handy with bladed weaponry, can shoot a gun decently but will always prefer a bow, decent cook, basic medicine.
Biography-
Kousei was only just finishing up his classes for the day and as he was pulling into the garage, he heard the news over the radio seeing as it came on over the station he was listening to. It came to him as a surprise but he listened to it very closely to see what it was about. What he heard came to him as a shock and as such he immediately began to run around his house grabbing what he figured he would need. Obviously those supplies included his compound bow and tanto knife, he would've liked a gun but at the same time he knew the bow was probably the better idea. Once he gathered all the supplies he could he locked up his home and jumped into his car and began driving to wherever he thought would be the safest.

It has now been a month since that day, Kousei was making ends meet and had picked up a ton of survival skills along the way, but at the same time he had a lot to learn and not only that he still had to get used to killing the zombies that roamed the streets of Philadelphia one thing he figured would be the best would be to get out of Philadelphia as soon as possible and hope that there is another city that he can go to that is safe from this virus. He can only hope that there is somewhere safe, as he was not ready to live the rest of his life wondering whether or not he would survive for the next day.

Motive-
His sole motive is to survive through this virus and live on.

[User]
Emma walked down south street it surprisingly had no undead rather as of now it didn't. Everything was dead though shops had been trashed for supplies and anything anyone could use and or need. It was nothing like it used to be there was no joy or entertainment to be brought anymore.
It was actually rather dead and boring.

Swallowing she would check every now and then behind her to make sure nothing would pop out and feed on her. Pulling her mask up a little bit to cover her nose and mouth to make sure the Smell didn't lingerie into her system not only that she wanted to prevent anything that could cause the disease to speed it's pace up in her system.

Deciding that she needed some more supplies she was going to look for the nearest Walmart and or large grocery store to get everything she needed.

[Assistant]
Kousei sat in the middle of one of the many aisles that were in walmart, seeing as the walmart itself was clear, to his knowledge, he took his time in searching for any supplies within each aisle. Every now and again he got lucky and found something small that would help him but so far his search hadn't yielded anything worth the time he spent inside. He adjusted the bow on his shoulder and shifted the quiver of arrows around his waist up. Once he was clear of the aisle he was in, he moved onto the next one over which was the outdoor equipment aisle. He had high hopes for this aisle since there was a high chance he could find something that could later help him. Raising his right arm to his forehead, he wiped the sweat away and continued on his way.

Arriving to the aisle he immediately began searching past all the useless junk, before long he found some basic camping gear, which included a fire starter. He shot up to a standing position and with his hands motioned as if saying yay out loud, obviously without the actual yay part. Right away he knelt down on the ground and opened up his mid sized messenger bag and put in the stuff he thought was the most useful. Once he was all set he got back up to his feet and continued to move down the aisle.

[User]
Elsewhere, a girl climbed through a window she had recently broken, helping herself inside before those things came running. She unwrapped her spare shirt from her hand, worn to prevent any bleeding and risk a whole group from lining up for her blood. Inside, she ransacked all the cupboards in the kitchen, unsurprised to find majority of the food either gone or past its expired date. She luckily found a couple of canned tomatoes and beans, which she eagerly stuffed into her bag before moving onto finding any other supplies.

Lydia held her battered rucksack close to herself, as if it were a shield that could protect her from oncoming dangers. The girl snuck throughout the house quietly, hoping to find any weapons or medicine she could use before escaping. She could hear the dead groans from outside and each time she would stiffen, terror overcoming her shaky body.

Finding nothing, the girl finally gave up searching the house, deciding to look elsewhere instead for her supplies. At this point, her days were all the same: eat, drink, run, and scavenge. Lydia wondered whether there were any survivors, whether her brother was one of them. She longed for some contact, anything with another human being which she didn't need to kill for once.

[Assistant]
The Walmarts front entrance was like a shrine of death, thought Mies looking through the binoculars. Like moths to a flame people would come seeking fortune and oh so few would come out again. Why the dead would not disperse out of the temple of consumerism Mies pondered. The aisle must get them turning around and around. "How fitting" said Mies putting down his binoculars and opening his bag to take stock, a now daily ritual. 1 binocular, 1 mp3 player (full battery, but fill of trashy boy band music), 1 harmonica, a small bag of condiment packs, 1 magnet, a Pencil and Pen, a knife sharpener, multi-tool (leatherman), 1 Long handled Machete, 1 pump action shotgun (8 buckshot shells), a police standard pistol (1 clip with 15 rounds).

Putting every thing in its place Mies stood up, pistol at his side, and claimed down the side of the green trimmed house he had sat upon and walked slowly towards the Walmart thinking: 'Death, fortune, or food. How fitting of me now.'

[User]
Finn opened another can of beans. His last can... He'd have to make another soon. He stuck the can in the microwave, using the the energy he had saved.

As the beans slowly rotated, Finn turned back to his work. He had two test tubes set up. One with a sample of his blood in, the other with some rather old blood from his father. He looked back down his microscope again. Both him and his father had strange bacteria like organisms swimming around in them.

The microwave dinged as it finished. Finn shook his head as he stood up from the table. He was no scientist, and had no idea what he was looking at. He ate his beans quickly, thinking about what he would pick up on his next trip. Once he finished, he grab his rucksack, a kitchen knife, and his filled water bottle, and quietly slipped out of the house.

The journey was a simple one. He only ran into two zombies, who he easily snuck past. He breathed in deeply before stepping inside Wal-Mart.  This is my last trip, my last trip...

[Assistant]
As Kousei quietly went from aisle to aisle ins earch for supplies he began hearing some rustling noises near his area, he hoped on everyhting that it was only a rodent scurrying around in fear, but he did not want to take any chances so he slid his bow off of his shoulder and then reached around to the back of his waist, before grabbing an arrow he knocked the quiver with his hand and took a count of the amount of arrows he had through the noise that was made by the all the arrows being knocked against the quiver.「Ok I only have fifteen arrows...as long as they don't break though I can continue to use them...」He quietly said to himself as he drew one of the arrows from his quiver and placed it on the arrow guide. He half drew the bow back and slowly creeped his way around the area, getting closer and closer to the source of the noise.

As he got closer and closer he drew the arrow back even farther and as soon as he was practically in front of the source of the noise he released the arrow from the bow sending it shooting at the source of the noise. Right away the noise of flesh being pierced by force, was heard by Kousei. Once he confirmed the surrounding area was clear he sneaked his way to where his arrow was to inspect what he had hit. He was not surprised at what he hit, it was an infected human. He closed his eyes for a brief second before removing the arrow from its head and cleaning it of any residue left by the infected human.「I am sorry you didn't get to die as yourself my fellow human...」

Once his arrow was clean he placed it back on the arrow guide and went back to his searching.


[System]
SHOWTIME!
Monster Type: Robot/ghost
Gender: "ASKING IS IMPOLITE SWEETHEART"(Prefers to be called male, though he has no true gender)
Occupation: Entertainer
Weapon?: (Normal and EX) Bombs (NEO) Arm cannon.
Armor?: Immune to damage in normal, none in other forms
Magic (up to three) : Bombs, lasers, and arm cannon
Personality: Mettaton loves to entertain, it is his passion, and the only reason he took a physical form, he is self-centered and egotistical, but he loves his fans. When in battle, his demeanor is the same, feminine and flamboyant. Mettaton seems unable to focus on anything, but hidden behind his metal face, is a planner, able to trick even his creator Alphys. While untrustworthy, if you befriend Mettaton, he'll have your back, though only after an intense pose-off.
Bio: Originally a ghost, Happstablook was never content with his life, wishing to be more than what he was, a celebrity, a role model, a brilliant comedian! Though he loved his cousin Napstablook, and the time they spent together, making music, and raising snails, he was never content. During a contemplative walk, Napstablook phased through a scientist, accidentally fogging up her glasses with the residue he left behind. Turning to apologize, he met Alphys for the first time, at that point, ambitious but unsuccessful. After a conversation about how insecure and worthless he felt, Alphys told him of a way she could make him a star.

"AND THUS, I WAS BORN, SWEETHEARTS!

Mettaton arrived. Through some showing of his musical talent, Mettaton became a star, given his own show, his own newspaper, even his own day of the week! For the first time, the charade of happiness Happstablook kept was replaced with genuine happiness.

"THEN... THEY ARRIVED! THE ONE THAT WOULD CHANGE MY LIFE FOREVER!...FOR THE BETTER OF COURSE!"

After a friendly human arrived, Alphys made a plan to finally not be a loser, to have a friend! Coming to Mettaton, she gave him a script to follow. Though he made a show, as usual, Mettaton was surprised with the quality of her writing, and agreed.

"SHOWTIME WAS APPROACHING, I WAS GREAT! BUT... ALPHYS SCREWED UP HER LINES AND RUINED IT! TO SALVAGE THE SHOW, AND MY FANS LIVES, I ENTERED, FOR THE FIRST TIME, MY EX FORM!... AND WAS SWIFTLY DEFEATED, BUT MAN! THOSE RATINGS!"

After his defeat by Frisk, Mettaton realized just how much his fans meant to him, and Frisk was... nice! The only people ever genuinely nice to him were Napstablook and Alphys! But... a human? Those were meant to be awful!...Right? Returning to showbiz, after the barrier was destroyed, Mettaton gave his new fans the concert of a lifetime! Nothing could ever ruin the happiness he felt... right?

"WRONG AGAIN! THE HUMAN WAS GONE, AND I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF TO DOCUMENT THE RESCUE EFFORT, THERE WAS NO BETTER PERSON FOR THE JOB OF COURSE! LET'S LET THIS ONE PLAY OUT!

[User] "Well, I think we should check the underground. It seems likely that he'd fall down there, again," I explain to Erion. I then catch a glimpse of someone rushing past the place, with a look of determination on her face... wherever she was heading, she wanted to get there fast. Curious about this, I flew towards her just to keep up. "Um... hi?" I introduce while avoiding an obstacle that would have otherwise probably sent me several feet backwards. "So... what's with the running?" I continue, though, for some reason, I didn't really expect an answer, at least, not yet. She seemed to be running to the forest, or the mountain... one or the other. I suppose if she was heading into the underground, we'd have a common goal at this point. I then add "So... did you hear about Frisk? I, um, have a feeling he might be in the underground again, you know? As in, he fell down there again by accident, or something... of course, my friend got the idea that he still has his cell phone, and we could ask where he is..." I narrowly avoid a tree after that conversation, and pass by a chameleon with a saxophone, and that guy that might have been the king. "Uh, 'scuse me! Sorry!" I shout as I fly between the two, narrowly missing at least one of them. I continued my flight, wondering exactly why this girl was so determined to run... somewhere... though, I was almost sure that she would answer in some way or another... I just hoped that way wouldn't involve violence. I start to ask the running girl another question, however, that distracted me from a tree, which I quickly flew right into, effectively stopping my flight for at least the next five minutes. That was just about the time when I looked back to see if Erion was following me, and, if that was actually him, and not just some weird effect of being hit in the head, he probably heard me say "Owww... stupid... trees..." though, I could have just as easily been talking to myself at that point.

[Assistant]
Seth looked up at the big goat who had approached him. He looked menacing, but seemed to be trying to make friends... Seth took the mouthpiece out and wiped it off, thinking of what to do or say. After a second, he shook the big monster's hand and smiled back.
 "G'day! My name's Seth, and... you're the king, aren't you? That crown gives it away, mate. Nice to meet you!" Seth said, popping his own neck. He soon heard a ringing coming from under the king's cape. "She's apples if you take that call," he said to him, smiling patiently as he leaned against the wall. He looked up into the sky and began to daydream about being famous again, sighing and chuckling as he came out of it, looking around. He flashed pale-green as a human and a bird-monster darted past them, and he then looked at the king and said "Sorry, gotta run. Er... here's my phone number," as he scribbled it out on the corner of some sheet music he brought, tearing it off and handing it to the king before walking down the road again, playing the sax a little quieter this time around as he approached the street corner.
 Seth saw a bunch of adolescent humans walking down the street and waved. No one waved back, but whatever; they didn't know him, and he didn't know them. He ignored them until one of them murmured 'dirty monster' as they passed.
 Seth whipped around and said "If you want to get knocked cold one day, then keep sayin' that type of drivel," and the human, obviously an ego-inflated, naive child turned around and swore at Seth. "Just a fair warning, cobbler." The adolescent swung a punch at Seth, making him turn a nice shade of pale-green as he sprinted down the block, and doubled back, running in a square and down the road before running out of breath and stopping, looking back, seeing the group trying to regain their breath. "Persistent little ankle biters, aren't you?" Seth wheezed as he jogged around the corner again, trying to get away from the posse of angst-y teenagers.

[User]
Erion saw a woman pass by quickly, with David suddenly running to fallow her.
"Woah wait up David!" he says quickly, trying to fallow him, having a bit of trouble actually keeping up, before he then started to speed up more, fallowing a bit closer before moving to the side where a chameleon was playing a saxophone.
"Scuse me!" he says, continuing to run, trying to fallow. Seriously, if someone was determined, did not mean they would know what was going on here. What was David even thinking right now. Sure, he could try to help on whatever that girl had for problem, but what was with the plan on going to see the mountain? Well, it seemed they were heading that way anyway. He kept running as fast as fast as he could. He then heard David from a distance saying something about stupid trees. He frown as he walk to David.
"David, this is why it would have been better to slow down a bit. Geez.* he says breathing deeply a bit, before shaking his head.
"I guess we might want to fallow. We are probably gonna head to the cave afterwards." he says.

---

Meanwhile

---

Celes was working in the flower shop right now, getting some plants ready, making flowers grow faster and taking care of them, cutting thorns off of roses and being careful. Her boss walked in afterwards.
"Almost ready with the next order we got?" she then asked to Celes calmly. Celes nod's.
"Almost, just need to prepare a couple more potted plants." she said calmly, taking care of another flower, this one a golden flower. She made it grow and make sure that it looked nice and good. She then placed the pot with the flower onto a table.
"There, ready to sell for someones garden." she says softly to her owner, who smiled at her.
"Good, business been booming lately. You can go now." the owner then said. Celes smiled before going and getting her things before walking out. It been a couple of months she been working with this lady, taking care of the plants and flowers in the shop. Lately they been having a lot of demand for flowers for ceremonies and then such. Before, the shop had trouble meeting with the demands of all the clients, which caused many clients to leave empty handed without the plants they wanted. But since Celes arrived, things had been going better, although with all the work she been doing lately, Celes had gotten quite some over time to take care of plants for major clients. Because of this, she was just glad to be able to have some time off for now, at least for a couple of days. She got up and then headed outside, before relaxing and starting to hum softly, although careful, on her guard a bit, hoping no humans would go and attempt to hurt her. She was heading towards the forest right now, not wanting to get back to her parents home just yet. It was the usual. A little walk in the forest always helped her calm herself and cheer up, and with all the work that was done, she did need to calm herself.

[Assistant]
"TAKE 39!" No groan erupted around the room this time, most of the actors seemed resigned to their fate. Yet again Mettaton left the room, which less and less resembled a school. Mettaton stood outside the collapsing building, using his phone to manage his many businesses when his ringtone sounded.

It was Alphys, it seemed more and more like she was acting through him, never leaving her lab except for her dates with Undyne. She barely even spoke to him anymore, she was his creator! She needed to pay attention. Mettaton frowned internally before answering the call. 'This'd better be good Alphys.'

"Uh....M-Mettaton?" Mettaton blew a raspberry and leaned on the closest wall, without warning, it collapsed in on itself. When the dust cleared, Mettaton was in the same leaning position, undamaged, as were his actors, thanks to some MTT brand armor products. "HELLO DARLING! YOU HAVE AN UPGRADE FOR ME?" Mettaton spoke in his same flamboyant way, looking at his nails (or lack thereof) as he spoke. "Y-yes, I can... install it through... through..." "MY PHONE?" Mettaton interjected impatiently. "Y-yes, it's a new form, I call it, NEO... W-we think we've found Frisk, I'm sending the co-coordinates n-now." Mettaton was pleased, smiling internally as the phone extended a metal arm, opening his back panel and beginning the upgrade. 'Frisk's been found? I cannot wait! I doubt my fans will be able to as well!' "D-done!" Mettaton admired the new form, all black, with wings! AND AN ARM CANNON? SO COOL! He danced around for a second before entering a pose, his left arm bent in towards himself, he had his body turned sideways, pointing his right arm (And the cannon) towards the closest camera.

"N-now, we have some new features, flight of course, a-and, you can r-record just by looking at something with your r-right eye." Mettaton's right eye was kept in shade by the hairdo, but upon activation of the camera, it began to glow a yellow tinge. "ALPHYS, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THIS UPGRADE, AND NOW, I WILL USE IT... TO FABULOUS EFFECT!" Mettaton took a superman-like pose, and the space between his wings opened into a jetpack. He blasted off near instantly, leaving a cloud of grey smoke.

"NOW THEN, MY DARLINGS! ENJOY MY NEW SHOW! METTATON'S NEOVISION, STARRING ME! METTATON! Mettaton flew in the direction of Mt. Ebott, laughing all the way.

---

Meanwhile, King Asgore finished speaking to the other monster, but was interrupted at any chance he got to speak, finally his phone rang. "Scuse me, I have to take this." Closing off his body to the young monster, he put the phone to his ear, but not before having a paper stuck in his pocket. "What a handful." Asgore quietly said to himself, smirking.

It was Alphys. And-

"FRISK'S BEEN FOUND!? I'LL CALL YOU BACK!"

Asgore yelled loudly, so loudly that the whole town probably heard it. He took off in the direction she described, along with a group of youths heading that same direction.