[IC] - All the World's a Game

@Krista: Oh, you're in Japan? It's a good idea to specify your current location at the start of your post so people can understand where you are.

Leaving Starbucks, En Route to Mima' Antiques - Tokyo City - Japan

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Leon felt the caffeine rush into his system after the last drop of precious coffee slid down his throat. The time spent as a rookie police officer and agent had left him with the knowledge that any day could be his last, but he hardly thought about that. What he did think about was savoring the time he had now, and more importantly, the things he ate and drank. He could hardly remember when he ate on missions back in his own universe. Perhaps it was all the running from monstrosities that kept him from sitting down, or it was the bloated corpses of the zombies that ruined his appetite. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and got up from his seat.

Without looking at the TV one last time, the agent threw away his empty cup and stepped out into the bustling downtown area of Toyko. If he had lingered, he probably would have noticed the news update on an explosion in the sky... He tried not to linger in public places for long, especially in a crowded place like Tokyo, Japan. Seeing all the people walk around on their way to work or their families filled the man with a sense of dread. If what happened in his China happened here, the devastation would be too much to deal with. He shook his head and took off down the street, just another face in the crowd. If worst came to worst, he still had his gun and his skills, but without something to save, he was worthless.

He weaved between pedestrians on his way to Tokyo's SCAE building. His workday was over, but the hardass of a boss would be expecting him back any minute now to follow up on a small report. If he hurried, he would make it back with a few minutes to spare, thus soothing things over with the boss. Leon figured it didn't matter. For some reason, he had the sneaking suspicion that the Asian woman didn't much care for American characters, even if they had been created by a Japanese corporation. Leon sighed at that and rubbed his temples, but he brushed against a few people in doing so. He needed to get some space.

The man stepped out from the crowd and took off down a side-street. If memory served him correctly, there was a small antique shop on this street. The agent had a knack for antiques ever since the mission in Spain, and he had even collected a few items from his universe just to remind him of who he was, not of who he was created to be. He'd rather spend his time training or cleaning his gun, but he figured if he stopped by this antique shop and bought something tiny for his boss, perhaps she'd change her tune and stop getting on his case. He snorted sardonically. Women, always enjoying small, trivial things, he thought.

Aqua walks quietly trough the forest. As she walks on she begins to wonder which world this one looks the most like.
"I think i would say it's feels very much like Radiant Garden, there is even computers here. On the other side it feels even more advanced than Radiant Garden, and magic is rare here'" she said for herself. She stops when she arrives at her destination.

She looks up at the village and begins to walk toward it. "Maybe i can hear something about Ven or Terra here. Or maybe even find them here. It is in fact a village of both those from here and those from other worlds. I wonder why so many people got separated from their worlds at one tough" she wonders while walking towards the city.

As soon as she meets someone else she tries to ask them about Ven and Terra.

"Hello there, have you heard of anyone named Ventus or Terra?"

"No I'm sorry. Are you new around here?"

"I'm just passing by. Thanks for your time tough"

Near Mima's Antique Shop, Fighting off the Mental Institution-Somewhere in Japan

---

The jets were destroyed two at a time, thanks to the wideness of her danmaku, and she kept strafing the jet's too easy to remember pattern. The pyramid then spat out a giant green orb, suddenly splitting open a giant mechanical spider, flinging green, acidic blobs at Mima, who was barely scratched by them. The pyramid's front opened again, and Mima charged a Master Spark, firing directly into the crystal, causing warning sirens to beep, and the sound of the crystal cracking echoing through the hills.

"Sorry, we're closed!" Mima said to the pyramid, which responded by firing homing missiles at her.

---

(Last post for now.)

Oh god, so many people waiting for my advancement in story. I'll try to update as much as possible from now xD

Downtown Tokyo, Tokyo City, Japan
The men in suits acted tough, but they were fragile inside.

"Why you bitch-" one of the men, a shorter, stockier one, drew his gadget from his back at pointed it at Yuuka. Yuuka by then realized what the gadget was: a gun.

Wait, what was gun again?

Oh right, it shoots metal danmaku. Nitori talked about it once.

The stocky man shoved his finger into the trigger hole and opened fire. The time it takes for a bullet from a regular rifle to reach the target is 0.5 seconds. Yuuka was 20 feet away from the man.

The bullet was fast, Yuuka was faster.

Using her Youkai reaction speed, Yuuka opened her parasol, shielding her from the gunfire. The stocky man relentlessly fired at Yuuka, and the other men, reluctant, fired too. Yuuka can hold with her parasol for as long as their ammo runs out, but prolonged shootouts can attract unwanted attentions.

A rose bush, at the peak of its beauty and its deadliness, came into Yuuka's view.

Yuuka smiled sadistically, and ordered the bush to grow, grow until it can reach and prevent those who seek to destroy what it seeks to preserve. The bush obeyed, growing until its vines and branches grasped the men in suits, strangling them into an immovable position.

"Let me tell you," Yuuka whispered as she stepped in close to now powerless and fearful men. "Tell your boss to not pursue me. I will not be led by anyone."

Growing tired of sadism, Yuuka liberated the men in suits, who trembled and scrambled away. They hastily got in their metal carriage and drove away, equally fast.

Maybe that's all there is to it there, Yuuka thought, but her hypothesis seemed short-coming as she spotted an armored soldier running towards her and a fox-like humanoid watching from a distance.

(This is John's thoughts.)
"This is John's dialogue."

Downtown - Tokyo - Japan

("Oh no you don't"), he thought as the car started to drive away. He stuck his weapon to his magnetic holster, and sprinted towards the car. Sprinting at 50 mph, he jumped 30 feet into the air and
soared through the air as he landed feet first onto the hood of the car.

CRUNCH

The car's front end looked as if it was made maimed by another car. As john got off of the hood, the men got out and opened fire.
John's heart sped up, eyes dilated, time began to slow. The mens' yelling was slowed down to the point that John could hear the reverberations in their voices.
"Spartan Time" kicked in as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. John lunged to the side, and dodged an incoming bullet. He grabbed one man's wrist, and struck the man's elbow with his palm.
The man yelped and dropped the gun as his arm broke at the elbow. John quickly tossed him over to the side, sidestepping an oncoming bullet. He lunged towards the man and crushed him against the side of the car.
The second man died almost instantaneously as the half-ton giant slammed into him. John grabbed the side of the car and flipped it over, as if it was made of plastic.
The car rolled onto the last guy, killing him.

All this happened in the span of 6 seconds; two for the men to get out of the car, and four for the men.
Time began to play at normal speed as "Spartan Time" left John.
He looked at the man he didn't kill, and restrained him with handcuffs; both legs and to the side of the car.
He took a deep breath, collected his thoughts, and walked into the alleyway, toward the woman with green hair.

@Major Mario: Sorry about that, I forgot about it ^^;
_______________________
Above the flower shop, tokyo downtown

Renamon analyzed the situation as how a the green-haired woman had that kind of reaction speed by evading the bullet using a flower looking parasol. Some humans were heavily skilled in many subjects, this girl was probably one of them too, but the moment the florist grew a rose bush dramatically and also binded the men in suits explained to the vixen that she too was a virtual being as her.

The men ran towards their transport and sped up as fast as they could,but were stopped by the man in green armor who in a span of 5 seconds stopped the car and killed two of the three men leaving the surviving one barely counscious. ("He is possibly a police or soldier with extreme experience in battlefield") The fox thought as the armored man restrained the thug.

seeing the florist again, Renamon felt an aura of pure madness around the green-haired well hidden in the human below her. And then the florist spotted the vixen from the hidding spot she was using, the sadistic smile on the girl now gone and a serious face replaced it. Knowing she would need an explanation, Renamon sighed and jumped down to surface level at a fair distance from both the florist and the many plants around.("Got to be careful around this woman, this is her territory") The warning buzzed on her mind as she slowly got closer to the green-haired florist.

Also she was making sure the armored man was on her line of sight just in case he would face her or the florist, seeing that the situation was still on hot temperatures, Renamon took a slow step forward and facing the two character and making a little growl so they sould notice her "Before anything happens, lets stop where we are and calm down" the vixen calmly said yet ready to confront any of them or both.

(^Violently spectacular)

Times Square - Manhattan - United States

---

It had been a while since Snake had to draw his weapon. The screams of terror that surrounded him were, sadly, an all too familiar setting. Before he had been transported to this world, he remembered coming home from foiling and defeating the Sons of Liberty's plan to use Aresenal Gear. It had only been about a week after the incident before he had suddenly woken up outside of an unknown, destroyed complex. It had been a year since then and everything he had known about his world was turned upside down since that time.

Snake snapped back to the current and looked around at his surroundings. He wore a white dress shirt with a brown business suit jacket on top. A bulge was visible where his breast pocket was, concealing his trusty combat knife that he had used for many missions. As he took a peek around the corner of the building he stood behind, he heard the crackle of a rifle and the fragments of a missed bullet hit the concrete in front of him. Snake quickly ducked back behind his cover. He didn't know exactly how many assailants were after him or even where they were. He only knew that there were too many gun barrels pointing in the wrong direction for his liking.


*** "'The hell are these guys' problem?" Snake muttered to himself as he quickly dashed to the other side of the building, ducking into an alleyway.


Since coming over to this world, Snake had eventually found himself working with the NYPD as a part time detective. His most recent case, which he had been on his way to work on, was of the murder of a young male Character. The primary suspects for the case had been a new terrorist organization much similar to that of the neo-yakuza he kept hearing about in Japan. Reports were generally concluded to be that should a Character not agree on joining the organization's ranks, they would be killed on the spot. The new organization operated under no official name and tracking of its members had been giving many investigators and detectives a hard time. Could these assailants be part of that organization?

Snake quickly scanned the alleyway and spotted the emergency fire stairs. Looking for objects he could use to climb up to the upraised ladder, he quickly gathered several trashcans and hopped his way up. As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard the sound of rushing feet and shouts behind him.


*** "Up there! Get him!"

*** "Move! Move! Move!"


Snake swiftly turned around and fired off three shots in quick succession, taking down the two head men, before running across the rooftop and jumping onto the roof of a lower building. Seeing an access to the top floor, Snake quickly holstered his pistol and went through the door, escaping down the rooftop access stairs. He was in a run-down apartment building, it seemed. The paint on the walls had obviously not been redone in a long time and the floors creaked as he trotted down them. Finding the normal set of stairs, Snake continued on down and cautiously peered out of the main entrance. It seemed that the entrance was one street over from the one he had been chased down. Seeing a subway entrance nearby, Snake quickly made his way towards it and took the Q train. He needed to get to the NYPD headquarters near City Hall ASAP.

As the doors on the train closed behind him, Snake pondered his current situation. Depending on the threat level of these assailants, it was possible that he could no longer continue his detective work - if not for his own safety, the safety of the innocent around him. Perhaps he could get a transfer to another location. Perhaps the threat would be eliminated and he could continue working. Perhaps, and possibly the most enticing of options for Snake, circumstances would work out so that he could go back into the battlefield - where he belonged.

(A little side-note for future storyline)
Rio De Jainero - Brazil

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"Did you fix the motorcycle yet?" "I want to get this cell phone fixed please." "You got time yet?" A crowd of Brazilians and tourists alike gathered around a small dinky garage at the heart of Rio, the city of Festival. This was too many people for one mechanic, but there was not enough space to hire another mechanic. "Stand in line and wait your turn please!" The mechanic shouted, wiping some sweat off from her forehead. "I'll try to reach all of you before lunchtime."

NYPD Headquarters - Manhattan - United States

---

The train slowed to a stop and after a moment the doors slid open as stream of people flowed out into the busy subway. Among that crowd was Snake, keeping his head down and moving at a quick pace. He didn't know where the assailants from earlier were or if they knew where he was. Regardless, he needed to get to the NYPDHQ as quickly as possible. Keeping his right hand on his M1911 he had holstered on his hip, hidden under his jacket, Snake quickly made his way back above ground.

Not looking up, Snake breathed in the distinct Manhattan smell and made his way to the headquarters that he saw a couple of blocks away. Ever since he had come over to the "real world", he had allied with the humans. Though they weren't the "same" people he knew from his game's universe, his world was based in a relatively realistic representation of the real world. Though the threat of bipedal, nuclear capable, futuristic ballistic missile launching robots didn't exist in this world, there were plenty of other real threats that had taken its place. That was why Snake had independently started to work as a part-time detective for the NYPD. He knew that he had it much better than most other Characters. He looked like a normal human being and could act like one, which made assimilation extremely easy. When not in his sneaking suit, virtually no one could identify him as Solid Snake. In his thoughts, Snake had reached the entrance of the NYPD headquarters.


*** "Sir, may I see an ID?" A security guard asked as Snake entered through the revolving entrance.

*** "Right here." Snake replied as he pulled out his wallet and showed his ID and badge showing he worked with the NYPD.

*** "Thank you very much, Mr. Snake." The security officer nodded as he waved Snake through the metal detectors and other security measures.


Walking into the actual complex, Snake noted how bland the place always seemed. Aside from the occasional potted plant, the place was white-washed and empty. The floor was tiled with white plaster walls and white fluorescent lights above the generic plastic light cover on the ceilings. Snake quickly made his way to the elevators and entered, punching the number 9, the floor where the chief detective's office was. The chief detective was one Adam Lark. Even after working for him for nearly a year, Snake still could not figure out what kind of man he was deep down. On the surface, he was a serious and professional detective, but Snake could tell it was more of a mask for his job. The biggest question Snake had was what did he think of Characters? A topic he always seemed to avoid. More specifically, what did he think of Snake?

Reaching the ninth floor, Snake stepped out and walked towards his office. The halls were much the same as it had been on the first floor. White, tiled, generic. He reached the office of Adam and rapped on the door loudly, signifying his urgency.


*** "What and who is it?" A voice called from inside.

*** "It's me. Dave." Snake replied. Though he preferred his code name, the detective insisted on his real name for official purposes.

*** "Come in. Aren't you supposed to be out on a case right now?" Adam inquired as Snake opened, entered, then closed the door behind him. Adam was a middle-aged American man. His hair was still full, but the visible start of wrinkles on his face betrayed that he wasn't as young as he probably would have liked. His cold black eyes were set behind a pair of rectangular wire-framed glasses. If he weren't sitting in this building, he could have fit in anywhere that had an office and a computer. He didn't particularly have any special features.

*** "Yes. But I was rudely interrupted by our friendly neighborhood terrorists." Snake sarcastically replied as he sat down. Adam placed his elbows on the desk while bringing his hands together. He slowly lowered his chin onto his hands and looked at Snake.

*** "So what exactly happened?"

*** "I was walking towards the next area of investigation where I was ambushed by an unidentified number of assailants and was met with decent small arms fire. Mostly pistol caliber weapons, but a few rifles as well. By the sound of the weapons, I'd judge that they were of US make."

*** "So what do you want to do?" Adam calmly asked, never breaking his gaze from Snake.

*** "Well I figured the most logical thing would be to increase police presence in the area to prevent a similar occurrence. The other thing I was suggesting was sending out a force to investigate and neutralize the assailants. A third option would be-" Snake was cut off as Adam lifted his chin and held up his hands.

*** "You know that the NYPD and subsidiary forces are stretched out thin handling various issues. We haven't recruited and trained enough new officers in the past year to compensate for the skyrocketing numbers of incidences or the manpower needed to handle specific ones." Adam reminded. "We can't do much in terms of increasing manpower in any of the precincts of Manhattan. Rather, we simply don't have the manpower."


Snake sighed. He knew that something along these lines would be the response he would get. With tens of thousands of Characters spilling out into the real world, many of them took root in major cities around the world - New York, Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Moscow, and various other major cities. That being said, the repercussions of the pseudo-diaspora of Characters brought organized crime attempting to harness the power of the Characters, malicious Characters, and general unease amongst the population.


*** "So is there anything you can do about it? You do realize that I may be a Character, but I'm still of human flesh and bone. I get shot, and I still go down." Snake questioned. Though he usually wasn't one to worry about safety, the thought of a gunfight in a high population density area like Manhattan brought a shiver down his spine. He added, "Judging by the way they went about, I'm assuming they were specifically after me. Whether that be due to the case I'm handling or my origin being from a game, I can't tell."


Adam rested his chin on his hands again and looked at Snake. That was something Snake slightly disliked about Adam. He seemed to be looking at Snake like an object. Calculating and simulating situations and considering his assets and whether an action would be worth the losses and gains. His lack of expression made it doubly hard to figure out what went on behind the man's wire-framed glasses. They almost acted like a wall between the outside world and his thoughts.


*** "Right now, I don't think I can do anything." Adam finally spoke after a minute of silence. "The best I can offer is that you continue working as-is and do so with more caution and awareness of any threats."


Snake shook his head ever so slightly. Did Adam not realize the implications of a firefight in the middle of Manhattan? He couldn't possibly be thinking that the assailants wouldn't be back, could he? Snake had made sure in his explanation that he make it clear that the assailants weren't there by coincidence.


*** "Would a transfer to a less populous city be possible?" Snake asked in a last-ditch effort.

*** "That would be out of my jurisdiction. Remember, you're not an official NYPD officer. You're an adjunct detective."

*** "I know, but I mean do you have anyone who could take over my case. I can't just disappear. I've gotten too many leads to let this die."

*** "I can assign it to another detective as another case, but it won't have a dedicated detective on the case."


Snake knew what that meant. It meant that Adam didn't think the case important enough to transfer it to a dedicated detective. Though manpower of officers was in demand, there were plenty of detectives who were taking on minor cases and could transfer. It also meant that the case would get thrown onto the never-ending "queue" of cases needing transfer. If he left the case now, it would probably stay buried under a pile of papers for months and by then, the chances were that all the leads would be dead ends.


*** "I'll stay on the case. Thanks for your time." Snake coldly responded as he stood up from his chair and thanked the bespectacled chief detective.


Snake made his way to the door and opened it. Taking a quick look behind him, he saw Adam had returned to working on whatever papers were laid out before him. Shaking his head, Snake walked out and back down the hallway. Though Snake had always known that Adam was very calculating and had no place for any sentimental actions, Snake still couldn't believe that Adam had brushed him so easily. Did he simply not care about the murder of a Character? Wasn't the world's overall goal to assimilate them into society? Dumbfounded, Snake continued down the hallways, feeling slightly betrayed at Adam's matter-of-fact attitude in sending Snake right back out into Manhattan with assailants with rifles hunting for him, as if Snake were nothing but another chess piece to him.

Peering out of a window as he passed, he noticed something odd. He seemed to see the faint trails of black smoke rising several blocks ahead of him. Perking his interest, he quickly made his way to the elevator, out the building, and towards the location of the smoke.