[IC Board] All the World's a Game - Season II

[Koishi]

Firestorm Citadel

---

The Higher Power moved over to the gate where the siege engines smashed into, over and over. With a flick of his wrist, the gate flung open.

"Move fast. I hope Yukari taught you how to graze." HP said. The large wheels tumbled forth, piles of Shadow Fire making the bridge a back and forth maze. of fire and projectiles. HP shifted his form around the huge spiked wheels as they went down the bridge. The engines themselves neared closer and closer.

---

Santa Cruz

---

On the second shake, Isaac's pull was resisted, sickles holding themselves into the ground. Malthael then slowly rose, resisting the module's effects. His hood stared at Isaac. Though there was no face, the raw feeling of hatred from that black void was certainly there.

"You." Malthael's voice was a dark thing, carrying a multitude of images and emotions with it. Malthael took a step forward. Then another. And another, despite the Kinesis Module.

Overhead, Koishi lined up a shot with the hefty SBC Cannon, Malthael locked on in her sights.

"Archangel, this needs to stop." Koishi's voice echoed throughout the cavern, and despite the moans of the undead all around, the air seemed to quiet, darken, even.

[SUSTIC]

Chris and Claire's Living Quarters - Prometheus Labs - London

Chris didn't seem to pay any attention to Six's offer, instead Chris had grabbed Six by the shoulders and stared the Spartan dead in the eye? Chris did still have an angry expression on his face, but for some reason he wasn't killing or attacking Six. "As much as I am pissed that you got my sister pregnant. I'm going to try and be the better man here and not actually attack you with the blind fury of a thousand suns. Instead I'm just going to say congratulations, and that you better fucking take responsibility. Because if you don't... oh boy if you don't..." Chris replied before whispering something into Six's ear. "You would need to sleep with your eyes open for a loooong time pal..." Chris whispered into Six's ear before turning to Claire who was also surprisingly shocked and impressed at Chris's reaction. That was when Chris smiled at Claire, his face still red with anger but he was trying to hide his anger now.

"I am very proud for you Claire. I know that you'll be a good parent." Chris spoke to her before leaving the room to go to the Mess Hall to calm down... leaving Claire still honestly surprised by Chris's reaction.



Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London

Chung continued to try and think of something to do while they wait... but unfortunately he could not think of anything. So he turned to Neuman.
"Well what would you like to do? I can't think of anything really..."



Lu and Ciel's Apartment | Barcelona, Spain

The little demon lord just stood there staring at Kongou with a rather blank and bored expression. Lu then let out a little yawn before speaking up. However Lu did lower her guard as she was no longer going to attack Kongou "...Oookay. I don't understand anything you just said. But I like you. You have spunk and energy that I haven't seen in a person before. You may stay and join me for some tea. When my servant comes back I'll ask him to prepare some sweets."



Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

Meanwhile after the others had nearly finished talking and the Demoman was wondering where his firned went, the Soldier could be heard emerging from Sana's bedroom with one of Sana's dresses being worn over his coat and pants, a pair of her panties being worn on his helmet, and make-up smeared all over his face. "I am in disguise. You cannot see me. Do not pay attention to the pretty man-lady that is sneaking around." The Soldier said in a near deadpan tone as he casually walked towards the kitchen...



Washington D.C - City Streets

As Midna pressed her spears further into Gaibon's flesh, the beast roared even louder as Pit continued to open fire on the scythe, with the blade of Death's scythe cracking slowly with Gaibon's struggling becoming weaker and weaker. Seeing this Julius called out once more. "Everyone quick! The scythe is weakening! We need to deal one last final strike!" Julius yelled as he readied his whip, about to leap into action before Palutena could be heard calling out telepathically to trio below.

"Don't worry I'm on it! Here we go!" Palutena's voice echoed as a large blue beam rained from the sky over the scythe, striking it and shattering it into pieces under the power of the Palutena Glam Blaster ))(real name of the attack no joke)). Upon shattering Gaibon let out one final roar as it's skin and flesh began burn away, leaving nothing but a skeleton that collapsed and burned up as well. All the while the dark and eerie pained yell of something could be heard as the air lightened around the area...

[Kristia]

Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY


Gaige was still thinking on how to upgrade the studio, much to her mind making crazy ideas, but then she heard the soldier guy saying something about a disguise. "I donīt think a disguise would be needed here, mostly beca-" she stopped on mid-sentence when she saw him.

The dress, the make up, the underwear.. it was just too much, the mechromancer bursted out laughing at the scene to the point of making tears with the absurd disguise of the Soldier.

Washington D.C - City Streets


Midna closed her eyes when the beam of energy destroyed the scythe and then felt the strain on the spears disappear. Opening her eyes, the twili understood that the connection was finally severed and thus the monster died in pieces of ash, the spears collapsing due to her exhaustion fell as pieces of glass.

"Well.. that was a thing" the former princess said sitting on a car to take some breaths while cleaning her face of some sweat "Next time Iīll be prepared though" she said to herself already charging her magic reserves.

[Kilelicus]

Lima Tuberculosis Hospital | Lima, Ohio

Hazama stepped back to the Hero's corpse, and crouched down next to it, placing his hand upon his hat. "Processing, huh? Man, you PALADIN types are so formal about your work. Kill a Madgod and then fill out some paperwork. Just another day at the office, a'int it?" Hazama sighed and snapped his fingers. A green void appeared beside him. "Fiiiiiine. I guess I'll take the Hero back to Headquarters. I suppose Ouroboros had his meal anyway."

Hazama summoned a chain to lift the Hero of Kvatch's corpse into the air and began walking into the void before looking back at Reaper.

"I might not be at base when you come back. I hear there's a powerful Vampire Hunter in Washington D.C. that I'd like to learn a bit more about. If a certain little vampire bitch decides to rear her ugly head, I'm gonna see if I can't get him to kill her off for me." Hazama said, and with that, he disappeared into the void, with the Hero's corpse.

[SereneGrace]

Hieda Manor - Human Village

Bang remained silent upon hearing that there might not be much left to do to save the woman, but he at least found comfort in what the Elder had said about what will happen to her in the afterlife. Granted it didn't make him feel all too much better, for he was still saddened by the fact that she won't have long to live... Though hopefully with the information he will gather about this killer youkai, he will be able to put an end to all these violent attacks. Meanwhile Bang who was distracted thinking about the elderly woman's fate, and what this vicious youkai might be. He looked up and noticed that the Elder was already off to go talk to one of the victims.

In a hurry Bang hurried to the Elder's side so that they can go talk with one of the victims.

[WriggleRid3r]

Lu and Ciel's Apartment | Barcelona, Spain

---

Kongou beamed at the offer for the sweets, and cheered in jovial hollering. "Always got to make time for tea-time! What tea do you have? Do you have Earl Grey? I'd love a Cuppa! I can make some really good handmade scone too!"

---

Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

---

Why was Gaige laughing like she saw a horde of Psyducks? I took a look at where the mechanic was pointing at to find the same man with the rocket launcher prowling through my studio...

...wearing a pink laced panties over his helmet.

That's my panties.

"Mister Soldier... you have 10 seconds to explain yourself."

"Ho ye, I'd hide if I were ya." Demoman gulped and begin retreating. Good thing too; I have a Thunderbolt ready. I may be benevolent, but I can't have someone pilfer through my things.

---

Hieda Manor - Human Village

---

"You're... Sazanami, aren't you? One of the lumberjack?" Elder Hon asked one of the victims of the Youkai attack: a well-built man in his mid 20s. His torso was bare for treatment, and his abs were covered with bloodstained bandages.

"Elder Hon. I'd never have expected to see you here." Sazanami groaned and clutched his stomach as if it still hurt.

"I brought someone who can help with the Youkai incident." Elder Hon introduced Sazanami to his guest. "Tell him about what happened that night."

"It horrifies me to relive the memory, but if it helps..." Sazanami stuttered, hesitant to reminisce the accident but persuaded by the grander scheme of things. "Have a seat, stranger, this is going to be a long story."

[SUSTIC]

Washington D.C - City Streets

After the battle was done, and the dark presence over the city streets had vanished, Julius took a relieved sigh as he cracks his neck a little. While Pit jumped into the air, yelling about his victory, Julius had walked up to Midna and patted her on the back.

"Good job Midna. You're an excellent fighter. I knew I sensed a strong power from inside you. Just couldn't exactly gauge how strong you really were until now. But all in all, thanks. Even though Pit, Palutena, and I could have probably handled the situation ourselves, the help was greatly appreciated." Julius said to Midna as he prepares to head back inside. "Listen I'm going back inside. I may not have done much... but I do feel quite tired from this mess." Said Julius as he went into the main lobby, with Pit running closely behind him, but stopping to look at Midna with a big smile.

"Thanks Midna! You were awesome! Anyways I think we should go check on Lady Palutena." Pit commented before running into the building as well.



Lu and Ciel's Apartment | Barcelona, Spain

"Tea... tea... What kinds of tea do we have? I know Ciel tends to stock up on all sorts of different kinds of tea... so we should have many different kinds. I think you should ask him when he comes back up. Which should be any minute-" Lu spoke as the door to the apartment is slammed opened, with a bruised, and dazed Ciel standing in the doorway. "Well speak of the devil. Ciel can you prepare some tea for myself and our friend here?" Lu asked as Ciel just groaned.

"Grrrr... Fine. What would you like ladies...?" Ciel asked in a rather angered, and still slightly dazed tone of voice.

"I will have whatever our guest will have."


Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

The moment Gaige, then Sana took notice of the Soldier, the man in red... with panties on his helmet turned towards the two as his disguise was blown. "Oh no. My identity has been revealed! I am no pretty lady! I was using a carefully thought out disguise to scout the area. I decided to take the guise of a pretty young lady, and a pretty young lady I was! Now I have been caught! Abort abort!" The Soldier replied as he took off the panties from his helmet, getting ready to throw them. However before he did he stopped and looked at them...

"Oh my god this headwear is pink, and is too vibrant and pretty! No wonder I was found out! This must be burnt! No evidence of my presence should remain! I shall proceed to burn this headwear!"

[S121]

Roxas' House - Tokyo, Japan

John was just about to completely enter the Corridor of Darkness, but as soon as Mara reminded him about the man that Renamon and Nera were confronting, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and stepped back out of the portal.

"Renamon and Nera, are they alright?", John asked Mara. Based on the tone John had in his voice, he didn't seem too worried, but through his relatively calm tone he did seem concerned.



Firestorm Citadel

"Okay", Takoizu said before a small smile formed inside her helmet. "Try to keep up.", she then added in a somewhat playful tone.

As the wheels raced towards Takoizu, she suddenly sprinted towards them without hesitation. Right as one of the wheels were about to strike her, a gap suddenly opened up in front of Takoizu, swallowing her whole before disappearing. After that, another gap opened up right behind the wheel and out came Takoizu, sprinting faster than she had been going when she first entered the gap.



Crater - Santa Cruz

Isaac clenched his jaw as he saw Malthael resist the gravitational effects of his Kinesis Module. Simply by that act alone Isaac could tell that the Angel of Death was very physically strong. A single swipe from him would be adequate enough to pose a significant threat to Isaac's suit. As Koishi shouted at Malthael to stand down, Isaac disengaged his Kinesis Module, took a few steps back to keep himself out of range of Malthael, and twitched his right hand, ready to fire his Stasis Module if Malthael did not yield.



Chris and Claire's Living Quarters - Prometheus Labs - London

Even ten seconds after Chris had left the room, Six remained completely still, slightly shocked by Chris's reaction and still trying to completely process the situation the three of them were in. After a moment, Six finally turned his head to look at Claire. Based on the facial expression on Six's face, it was clear that he was rather confused, almost as if he was grasping for any idea or thing to say to break the silence. Finally, Six spoke.

"Well then. I'd say Chris took the news quite well."[/color], Six said half-jokingly, half-awkwardly.



Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London

Dr. Neuman simply shrugged at Chung before speaking.

"I'm not entirely sure. I was kind of looking forward to eating, but that option is temporarily unavailable.", Dr. Neuman said.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as an idea struck his mind. It was actually quite surprising that he hadn't thought about asking this before, but now that he just did, now was as good a time as any to ask such a question.

"So, did you get anyone anything for Christmas?", Dr. Neuman suddenly asked.



Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)

The red armored SPARTAN carefully listened to the exchange between Vala and her AI, and if he wasn't already surprised by the fact that this unknown SPARTAN had an AI, he was now. It didn't take a perceptive person to notice the slumping of his shoulders and his authoritative stance melting away. The SPARTAN couldn't really believe it, but he was not only speaking to a SPARTAN-II, he was speaking to a SPARTAN-II that was originally a Character from another game altogether. After a moment of surprise, the SPARTAN quietly cleared his throat before continuing.

"So you mean to tell me that you are an unmentioned character from the Dead or Alive franchise that was then taken aboard the Nassau and successfully augmented?", the SPARTAN asked in confusion.

"How? Who augmented you?"



Lima Tuberculosis Hospital | Lima, Ohio

Reaper silently stared at where the portal used to be as he thought about his new partner. Reaper didn't know what exactly it was, but it was pretty clear that this Hazama was going to be trouble. The only question on Reaper's mind was Hazama's motive for helping PALADIN. Was it guaranteed safety? Was it promised power? Was there a hidden motive? All Reaper knew was that within the few minutes he had known Hazama, he did not like him.

After a short while of thinking, one of the soldiers under his command lightly cleared his throat before speaking.

"Sir, your orders?", the soldier asked.

"Call for extraction. We're heading home.", Reaper calmly said to the soldier before continuing his thoughts.

[Koishi]

Santa Cruz

---

"Where. Is. It." came his low, dark melodious voice.

"Where's what?" Koishi called down.

Malthael glanced up at Koishi for a moment, before setting his head towards Isaac again. "The Soulstone. You made me shatter it." Malthael's voice sent images flashing back to the Devourer, Malthael shattering the black stone before Isaac could get it.

"It is one of the only things in the universe I cannot see." Malthael took another step forward. "Where is it."

---

Firestorm Citadel

---

HP kept pace with Takoizu, weaving through the wheels through his shapeshifting. "You know, in any other circumstance, i'd call that cheating."

The Seige Engines were almost directly in front of them, looming, with a huge shield on the front. The top of a wheel could be seen spinning, accelerating, before being released, the shield lowering as it tumbled down the bridge.

"Hit them from the sides, they're all wood." HP recommended, his sword slashing through one of the engines, shattering it as the wheel inside fell over and shattered.

[Kristia]

Washington D.C - City Streets


Taking some breaths, the twili managed to get her energy back, she stretched her arms until she felt a snap on her bones ("That`s the spot") she thought while hearing Julius "It was a pleasure, while the events were too coincidental to occur on such short lapse of time, it felt good to be back on the front" she said following the vampire hunter and the joyous angel boy "But I have the feeling that we havenīt seen the last of those creatures" she commented while trying to trace that energy around their surroundings.

Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

Gaige finally managed to relax from her laughter fit when she noticed that the soldier understood that his disguise was an utter failure and that their host had the face of someone ready to murder said idiot, so she had to act fast "Now now soldier boy, while this disguise of yours could have worked, it would have been better for a woman rather than a man, so why donīt you try something.. manlier with what you got? or maybe you like to wear frilly dresses and make up" she spoke. In her mind, the mechromancer was still laughing, but also understanding the manīs personality ("Crazy to the point of madness, has an addiction for military moods, easy to mold") she thought "And if you make a convincing disguise, maybe you could receive a medal for fooling a spy or an enemy"

Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)


Both Melissa and Vala were still sŋtalking when the soldier asked an interesting question for the latter "Dead or Alive? Never heard of that" she said confused, the AI on the other hand was already searching for information and couldnīt help but blush at the images "Well, we never searched for where she came from, although Iīm surprised she joined these combatants". The blondeīs ears perked at that "So who were those people?" she asked

The brawler took her helmet to see what the AI found and couldnīt help but laugh "Are those clothes even legal? and why is a drunkard beating the crap out of this armored ninja?" she asked within laughs and then she calmed down seeing her mentor in an image "And of course she is wearing the armor". Then the second question of the soldier made her look at him "Now that is odd, if you found out from what game I came from, how come you donīt know which spartan was on the game?"

Roxas' House - Tokyo, Japan

The froslass floated ready to go while answering the spartanīs question "From what the vixenīs tone sounded, they are fine" she said with her usual bored tone "Although it could be World War three and that girl would have something behind her sleeve" she smirked at that and looked at John "I can assure you that if she says they are ok, it is because there is no danger with them, even a time traveler with inhuman strength and speed wouldnīt stop her plans, although with him still alive at the moment, she is trying to make him change sides since the original idea was to outright eliminate the threat."

[SereneGrace]

Hieda Manor - Human Village

Bang followed the Elder through the building until they stop at a small area set up for one of the victim's. Said victim looked to be a youthful, well built young man who had some apparently nasty injuries judging by the bandages over his stomach while his torso appeared to be ready for some treatment. Seeing the bandages though did make Bang grimace slightly as he examined the young man before sitting down beside the young lumberjack.

It was clear in the man's behavior and tone of voice that he was definitely not comfortable with recounting his story to Bang...

"I am all ears. I will listen to every detail about your experience with this vicious youkai, and be assured that I myself will not rest until said Youkai is defeated." Bang spoke in reply to the man, ready to listen to Sazanami's story.

[WriggleRid3r]

Hieda Manor | Human Village

---

"If so, then..." Sazanami breathed in, out, then began his story:

---

Week ago | Forest of Magic

---

"A'ight, that's about good enough lumber for today." Sazanami uttered to the workers that the day is over for them. The lumberjacks gradually lowered their axes and sighed in relief that they can finally go home. The day was indeed coming to an end, with the western skies dyed red and orange while the eastern skies were a gradient of purple and deep blue. Several tree stumps replaced what was once a patch of thick trees isolated from the Forest of Magic, with the felled trees stacked neatly on a pile. "Everyone reconvene tomorrow; we'll carry the lumber off and begin renovating the town hall."

With the word of Sazanami, the rest of the lumberjacks took off to the human village. They seemed to be in a hurry, even though they were exhausted from hours of hard labor, possibly because of the recently increasing threat of unnamed, newly born Youkais. Sazanami, however, didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry as he gathered smaller logs and began tossing them next to the larger logs.

"Sazanami, you not comin'?" One of the lumberjack asked Sazanami, who shook his head.

"I'll catch up to you later; just wanted to finish gathering the smaller ones." Sazanami answered to the lumberjack's question.

"A'ight, but be careful, dem Youkais lurk at nighttimes."

---

"That's that." Sazanami sighed to himself as he finished stacking the smaller logs adjacent to the larger logs. The sun has already set, and the darkness crept across the land. The moonlight was the only source of light at these times, and the wild animals' cries made the atmosphere eerie.

"Better be careful. They come out during these times..." Sazanami gulped as he began trekking back to the human village, his woodcutter's hatchet handy in case a wolf or even a wild Youkai jumps. He was proud of his own self, and has fended off several feral animals that jumped him or one of his crew member from time to time... but with the news of a new Youkai attacking several tourists near the trek, he can't let his guards down.

The half-hour journey was quite uneventful. No beasts jumped him, and no Youkai attacked him. The village gates were in sight, thanks to the torches lit by the watchguards. it would only take a few minutes to reach the gates.

But something compelled Sazanami to stop in his track and turn back.

Slumped next to the road, unseen by Sazanami the first time, was a young woman, her bare, pale body gleaming bright. She had her back turned against Sazanami, and her head was declined. She had quite a lengthy hair, black like the night itself, falling across her skinny back.

Sazanami couldn't help but approach the woman.

He took the short walk to the woman and bent over to check if anything was wrong-

The rest of the memory was faded to black.

---

"I can't remember anything after that." Sazanami finished his story. "I woke up here afterwards. I was told that Ryukaze, the lumberjack who warned me of Youkai attacks, came back up the trek to find me lying on the road, bleeding from a slash wound to my stomach and close to death. That was about... 3 days ago."

---

Lu and Ciel's Apartment | Barcelona, Spain

---

"YES!" Kongou cried a shout of happiness as she sat on the chair of a now-ruined balcony. The first-sight opinion of the two being meanie-buttheads have been dissolved to nothing; they are now a dear companion in this glorious tea time. "I'll have black tea and scone DESU!"

---

Sana's Studio | Manhattan, NY

---

"UGGGGGH!"

I... have never been so angry...

EXCEPT NOW!

"RUN, LADS!" Demoman shouted as bolts of lightning shot up from Sana's hands and began crackling down towards Soldier, her eyes burning with rage. "We're not going ta be safe!"

[S121]

Roxas' House - Tokyo, Japan

John was relieved to hear that Renamon and Nera were handling their own and safe for the moment, but he was wary of the time traveler, Jack. John was not afraid of the man, but he knew that it would be unwise for him to assume Jack was any less dangerous than Takoizu and Otori made him out to be. When John would meet him, he would have to approach with caution. For now, what they really needed to do was get home. It took a brief moment to figure out where he wanted to go first, especially since he remembered that he had to return Utsuho and Reimu to their homes, but after checking the digital clock in his HUD and seeing that it was eleven, John decided that their next course of action would be to meet up with Renamon and Nera. After all, he still had an hour before Utsuho was supposed to return home.

"We'll meet up with them soon enough. The sooner we can meet up, the sooner we can initiate the plan.", John said to Mara before turning his attention to the others.

"Let's go.", John said to Utsuho, Reimu, and Jason.




Firestorm Citadel

"Fine, I'll play by the rules.", Takoizu playfully remarked as she continued to sprint.

As the next wheel came spinning towards her, Takoizu suddenly lunged to the right and began to fly before raising her hand at the side of the wheel. Once her hand was fully extended, a large turquoise laser erupted from her palm, slamming into the side of the wheel.




Crater - Santa Cruz

Isaac quickly remembered about the black soulstone's fate, but he was a little hesitant to speak about it, seeing how Malthael did not seem to be in a friendly mood at the moment, but there was no escaping the truth.

"Wasn't that destroyed?", Isaac asked Malthael.




Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)

To be honest, the red SPARTAN was surprised by what Vala was implying. If he was right, then Vala was saying that the SPARTAN-II from Dead or Alive, Nicole 458, had augmented a little girl. Even more surprising was that the Nassau Station had the equipment to augment someone. He did little to question it, especially since the girl was now sitting in front of him, proving all of his preconceptions wrong.

"You're telling me that Nicole-458 augmented you?", the SPARTAN asked, "Did she follow you to this world?"

[Koishi]

Firestorm Citadel

---

The wheel shattered, blowing apart in rain of wooden and metal shrapnel.HP's form changed to avoid the shrapnel as he tore apart more of the engines.

"Not what I meant, but it works. Didn't your mother teach you how to graze?" HP questioned a little as sword clashed and tore through wood. "I mean, that's pretty important in Gensokyo, isn't it?"

---

Santa Cruz

---

"Shattered.." Malthael started. "Shattered and destroyed are two different things. Pieces of it are still in existence. They MUST be found." Malthael's voice echoed around the crater. Another step. "Continue to hinder me, and your soul is forfeit."

[Kristia]

Bench - Streets of London (Vala's Location)


The two females were still seeing the veteran spartanīs images of the game when they heard the male ask about Nicole, this question made the brawler frown for a moment "Well, since most, if not all the videogame characters were sent here, then it would be pretty obvious" she answered honestly. She knew that this was important information, but her mentor was a veteran who still kicked ass, heck even she had a rough time to beat Nicole in sparring sessions and still needed to balance the win/lose ratio of them.

"As for the first question.. yeah she augmented me with the help of Melissa, and man.. it was something that even the Devil would wet his pants to feel or see" Vala spoke shivering while feeling faint parts of her body which were the ones that were pierced by the machine "In all honesty, it was luck that saved me from dying" she smiled again.

Melissa then sighed and spoke through the speakers "All right little one, I know you would like to make this guy your friend, but we have a schedule. Now, how about you let us meet the Doctor so we can also ask our questions?" the AI asked the red spartan.

(I know the next part is too small, but seriously, there isnīt much I can do here)

Roxas' House - Tokyo, Japan


Mara just nodded and followed the spartan "What I know though is that time where the three are is relative, an hour there can be a second here or something similar" she said.