Voyage Through the Multiverse (Ended) [IC]

[Skylus]

AGA
Ammy

Ammy dodged the strange projectiles and skidded to a stop moments alter. She then crouched low and snarled, while Issun drew his sword.
"At last, you've noticed us! Stay still so we can kill you!" With that, the wolf leapt towards the strange creatures and used Power Slash.

---

Banjo & Kazooie
Empty Wallets-Inside a burning ballroom
Things had gone downhill very quickly. The two had really no idea what had happened, how the fire started, or who was attacking them.
"I could use Ice Eggs. Sure, they might freeze everything, but it's better than the alternative."
Banjo said nothing but instead continued to make his way towards what appeared to be an open window.
Kazooie took this as a 'yes', and seconds later, Ice Eggs were flying across the room, freezing all in their path.
Banjo had reached the window by now and looked down. it was too dark to see anything, and those that had been chasing the group were walking towards them.
"....We're going to have to jump, aren't we....We've done this way too much...."
The bear took a second to glance behind him before taking a step forwards. "You know what to do."
"Yep."
And they jumped, leaving the frozen flames and whatever else behind them.

[Menschenfleisch]

Respite | Julyan

The suit was swift. Fast and nippy, with just a hint of mechanical stiffness behind each motion. The skeleton merchant was fairly calm during the whole process of testing the machine, pacing around the room and running diagnostics. Finally, satisfied with his equipment, Julyan faced Alucard and Jacket, listening for their input. The more anomalous of the two spoke up, and made their decision for them. They’d be heading to the castle. Of the two destinations it was the more obvious one; even though Julyan wasn’t comfortable playing along with this strange game of cat and combat.

“Alright. Fritz, I’ve noticed that you haven’t said a word since we got here. I assume you’re okay with this plan of action, correct?”

He didn’t wait for a response. The trio set out from the church. The automatons that they’d been fighting earlier didn’t appear to accost them, which was good if a little unnerving. This entire world seemed as if it were built to accommodate some sort of game. It was apocalyptically set, almost like a movie. If they had to fight any more conventionally terrifying enemies and deal with any more enigmatic helpers, well… honestly he didn’t know. Keep up standard procedure, he supposed. Nothing else to do in such circumstances.

The sound of a flute pierced through the night. Melody notes, punctuated by raindrops and the sigh of machinery. A man slid off a raised platform, landing with a jovial bounce and a roguish twang to his voice. Even worse was how flamboyantly dressed and visible he was against the gloomy backdrop.

“Hello, “Waka”. My name is Julyan. What are you doing here and why do you want to know if we ‘pack a punch’? If you try to fight I’ll have no choice but to liquidate you on the spot... unless you're proposing an alliance?”

Global Occult Coalition "Blackbase 59" | Mary Rupert

The GOCA Vigilance. Two billion dollars of paratech, weaponry, staff and anomalies packed onto a ship the size of the Iowa. Within this thing’s hull lay forty people, trained to fight, trained to do their duty for the good of mankind. There was something romantic about the concept; flying off into the unknown, spreading the Coalition wherever the ship went. Certainly, when it was first conceived, it must have been at least partially affected by popular interpretation of space travel. It wasn’t as if there were more compact and more efficient designs.

It was not a sleek vessel. It was a bow-shaped ship, with a roughly conical body stretching from one end of the hanger to the other. Rings of buckypaper and beryllium-bronze were nestled in retaining layers of graphene. Blinking lights flashed on every surface, drowned out by the vast incandescent lights mounted on the roof and walls of the holding area. The ship bore many marks from previous battles. Little scorch marks amongst otherwise pristine plates, microscopic dents and scrapes on the windows and walls. It was likely that not a single component from the original ship was still in it.

But Mary Rupert didn’t care about any of that. She was still waking up to the soft chime of an alarm and the feeling of papers underneath her hand. Living on site was never comfortable but at least it was functional. There was hot water, decent food and a distinct lack of things that wanted to kill you; although there were plenty of things that would kill you accidentally. She gave a groggy look at the floor plans for the ship, still clutched by a stiff set of fingers. The insides of the ship were twisted. Corridors that by all account should’ve gone through the side of the ship didn’t appear on the outside. Rooms seemed to take up the same space as one another. Staircases led to random parts of the ship, and apparently there was one room that just sat outside the bounds of the ship entirely, without any doors or corridors leading to it. Whoever designed the insides of the ship had a lot to answer for, not the least of which being; “why did you choose to spatially compress the ship instead of just making it bigger?”

It wasn’t worth thinking about it too hard. “Operative Iris” glanced at herself in the mirror. Same old lines of scar tissue running down her cheek. Same old white eye glancing back at her. She might have been a skilled diplomat but she was sure her injuries didn’t exactly enhance her charisma. Then again, with her more-than-a-little-rough methods of negotiation, her appearance might have helped. She sighed, and cupped a handful of water, splashing it over her face. She brushed her teeth with possibly the last batch of water she’d taste in months that hadn’t been filtered out of her own piss. It would probably be the last tube of toothpaste she’d use that she didn’t need to ration for a couple of months, too. Long deployments were nightmares. Long deployments were her job.

A distinct ringing broke her train of thought. With a begrudging flick of the wrist, she answered the phone. A voice began to come out of the circular device in her lounge. Even in this world of anomalous tech and toying with literal Hell, Amazon Echo remained a relevant device.

“Mary. You there?”
“Yes, Gunther. The hell do you want? I assume this isn’t an official call.”
“Ah, no, it isn’t. I, uhh, just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas.”
“It’s the 15th.”
“Yeah, well, Christmas is coming up, isn’t it?”
“Of October.”
“Look, just… stay safe, okay? I know we don’t usually have much time for interpersonal in our line of work but we’re going to miss you back here.”
“I’ll do my best. With any luck Stan can pull through and get me rotated back onto the Strike Team. Bet I'll be dying to get back on the field once this little assignment is over.”
“It’ll be good to have you back with us. Good luck on your trip, Mary. Don’t forget about us while you’re gone, yeah?”
“I'll make sure I don't. See you soon.”
“You too.”

Teeth brushed, face washed, obligatory well-wishing phone call over with. That sappy bastard just couldn’t hold back could he? A quick glance at the clock told her she was on schedule. She didn’t ever have breakfast. Mornings were for frontloading work, not wasting time. It probably hurt her health a little but she’d manage. Nothing like an empty stomach to motivate the mind. She quickly pulled on a coat, preparing to step into the balls-cold corridor. She turned the brass knob, and looked back at the room she’d been living in for the last week, waiting for the Vigilance to come online.

Mary gave a lingering stare at her now-former quarters. Grey carpet and oak walls, lacquered to a finish. A black marble benchtop, a thick downy bed; a porcelain bathroom, oiled floorboards, damp golden lights… it looked more like a luxury hotel suite than the living quarters of an interuniversal combatant. Maybe it was a last luxury before she went away. Once upon a time she might have felt nervous. About being alone, being in charge, missing the internet and her home; but she’d been through the motions before. It was just another assignment to some godforsaken corner of nowhere, waiting for something interesting to happen.

Who knows? Maybe she’d get paid at the end.

Hanger Katrina-B12

“I assume you’ve been briefed, Captain?”
“Yes. I’ve read all the assigned reading… and maybe some above my clearance. Your engineers need to remember to protect their computers.”
“I’ll be sure to pass that on to the director. Ridley! Are we ready for jump?“

A single thumbs up from a hundred metres away. Mary’s coat billowed out behind her as a cyclone of wind and noise swept throughout the empty space. The Vigilance seemed far more imposing up close in the drydock, all fifty thousand tons of god-knows-what and who-the-hell-cares. Falco Nelson, the architect and manager of the entire project, stood just a few metres away, shouting out the scream of wind. The air smelled like gasoline and shredded copper. Never good for the lungs. She clutched her chest for a moment, clearing her throat. Not as if it could get any worse.

“Alright! Just step into the yellow circle! The CIDS system should apportate you to the bridge!”
“Should?”
“Okay, Opal. Register Senior Officer Mary Rupert, expeditionary leader and Captain of the Vigilance!”
“Voice confirmed. Beaming you up.”

The silence was like a deafening clap. All the sounds of wind, fury and calibrating electronics simply stopped. The bridge was ghastly quiet. It was a disorienting experience. Mary resisted the urge to faint, and took in her surroundings. A cylindrical command platform with platinum-blue railings. A reflective black floor composed of some esoteric stone. A panoramic view of the outside world. She watched as an enormous series of metal rings and gizmos began to spin, easily two hundred metres wide. The ship began to move forward, pulled on rails. The inertial dampeners kept her feet steady. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve sworn she was watching a silent movie.

A wave of starstuff began to build around the windows, obscuring her vision. The entire bridge was essentially just a circular foyer and a window. The ship’s AI handled the actual navigation. Mary looked down toward the centre of the room, where a featureless black cylinder lay. A general communications array. It mightn’t have looked the part, but such an object was capable of transmitting and receiving just about every signal in existence. The view outside the window became fully obscured by a cosmic glow, growing brighter and brighter. A dull whine dug into her ears, piercing her skull. She clutched her head, trying to drown out the noise. Shut up! Shut up!

Terminus | Mary

...and then the GOCA Vigilance appeared fifty thousand kilometres above Vega II, glowing with residual heat. Mary looked upon the glowing world, speckled with yellow lights and streaks of blue. Oceans. Lights. People. They’d been expecting an advanced civilisation, so this planet wasn't a surprise to anybody. A voice spoke up. One that wasn't her own.

"Damn, it's... beautiful."
"Commander Scott Cather. I've read your file."
"I'm sure you have, Captain. Good to see you on deck."
"That may be so, but this is still my first time meeting you. It's also the first time any of the crew are meeting each other."
"Don't be so uptight, Captain. There's only forty people on this ship, and every last one of them answers directly to you. You can get personal with them if you want."
"I don't remember you being my social advisor."
"Hey, we're colleagues now. We're on this boat for the long haul. The least I can do is try to smooth the transition over. It's my goddamn job."
"Point taken."

Cather stood up and strode down to the foyer, putting his hands in his pockets and looking out the window. Mary had to admit, the view up here was breathtaking; watching a planet drift through space. Flashes of light came up from below, ships drifted through space; flashes of heat and energy pulsed around the planet as vessels came and went. Hopefully they wouldn't immediately get shot. She looked up toward nothing in particular, shouting at the ship's AI.

“CIDS. Open a channel. I think we’ve found our first mark.”

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

Moira and Percy - RotMM

Moira and Percy both took in the sights of Professor Elm's lab, and then looked ahead to see a reunion between Gold and his mother. She seemed to be a nice woman, and it appeared that she cared for her son very much and was clearly worried for him. This sight made both Moira and her Palico smile warmly. Then the Professor addressed the group. "It's very nice to meet you Professor. My name is Moira, and this is Percy." Moira introduced, gesturing to her Palico.

Percy then waved at the man and said. "Nya, that's my name alright. It's a purrlesure to meet you, nya."

Kirby/Advrick - DttM

Kirby smiled as he watched the scorpion expload: the plan had worked perfectly! Kirby gleefully danced, and then ran up with the rest of the group. Before they could decide what to do next, two figures appeared on the top of the wall. One of them looked like a weird clown man with a really creepy smile on his face, and the other... whoa, this guy looked dark. Kirby could only assume that the dark one was Wilfre, and so he glared up at them as viciously as he could.

Meanwhile, Advrick looked down on the group that had apparently bested one of Wilfre's minions and chortled his mocking chortle. "And what do we have here? A group of misfit heroes from all corners of reality? How exciting." The elf said as his sly gaze probed each figure before him. What an odd bunch indeed. The group's members ranged from elegant ladies, to hulking armored warriors, to tiny pink puffballs, but one thing remained the same: they were all going to die. Advrick just couldn't have anyone messing with his plans, and right now they involved assisting Wilfre in any way he could.

"So what's next, hmm? Are we just going to glare at each other until the end of time, or are we going to do something a bit more... active?" Advrick inquired, chortling again.

Plague Knight - Respite

Foggy... Tired... Bones aching, head throbbing. What... What happened?

A figure appeared not very far away from where the selection of people where gathered, clad in dark robes and wearing a green mask similar in shape to a bird's face. Plague Knight - scientist, alchemist, and former "member" of The Order of no Quarter - awoke and looked around frantically whilst letting out a series of frantic noises. His masked face settled on the group, and immediately the very short man brandished a glass orb with a fuse sticking out of it and pointed the staff he was holding at them. "HEE! What's going on?! Who are you?!" The little man demanded; his shrill voice cutting through the gloomy air of the ruined village.

What had happened? How did he get here? The last thing Plague Knight remembered was him hard at work in his laboratory, The Explodatorium. After the events with the Serum Supernus had transpired, Plague Knight and Mona had both been hard at work getting the scientific paradise that was The Explodatorium back up and running the way it had been before it had started going haywire. Wait, Mona! Where was she?! Was she okay?! What on Earth was going on?! "Somebody better start talking, or else things are gonna - HEE! - get EXPLOSIVE! HEE HEE HEE!" He exclaimed, still brandishing his bomb.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

So here she was, caught between a demented wraith and a spirit of death, forced to be a snitch or else they would kill her. It would be incredibly upsetting if this was a first for her but sadly she was caught in similar situations before, yet it still doesn't erase the fact that it sucks to be in this mess in the first place. Elizabeth normally either found a way out of the mess or had enough time to undo the damage she made, but in this one she really didn't have much to make an escape plan and with a reaper close by any attempt to flee wouldn't end well for her.

Just to prove the point Elizabeth felt the reaper put it's hands on her shoulders, further making the woman colder as she began to shiver uncontrollably. "The bastard is in the basement of the Drinking Crow. The reason he is there is because I hired him to get you out of the way so I can find your family and convince them to give me the artifact." She confessed, the reaper only making the air colder around Elizabeth to make her pay in some levels for hiring the necromancer. It wasn't going to kill her unless Skylar wanted to add her soul into her bargain.

"Look I thought he was just going to send you to Stygia and let a few of his familiars guide me to your family, I wasn't expecting him to set out attack dogs or a freaking reaper of all things after you. Besides that bastard tried to get me killed seconds ago when I freed your new friend. If anything we both have a common enemy now. So you can either focus your rage on me and give the wanker who put you and your new friend through hell a chance to escape or you can go after him now before he can leave?"

[Kentucky Fried Land]

Lamar and Ryder
With Trevor
Secrets of the Raven

The two gangsters had followed along with most of the things happening, not saying much other than offhand comments and snide remarks towards each other. The two certainly still had a differing business style, yet their gaits were ever so similar.

The man who had helped Lamar earlier, Trevor, approached them, questioning if they wished to continue with him. “Investigation? Shit, I don’t know if you seen him, but do you think he looks like the investigatin’ type, all detective like and shit.” Lamar grinned, aiming his insults towards the shorter Ryder. “Nigga, fuck you. I’ve got the pipe now, my senses are fuckin’ enhanced as a motherfucker. I don’t even need this shit, I’m already one intelligent mothafucka, but now I’ve got superhuman smarts, busta.”

“Man, quit sayin’ busta. It makes you look bad fool. Anyways, yeah, I’ll come with you. I can actually reach the top shelf.”

“Fuck you, you lanky ass bastard. I’m comin’ with you too, let’s get goin’ now, you medieval mothafucka.” Ryder finished the conversation, Lamar rolling his eyes and smacking his lips in disapproval. “I’m just sayin’, he ain’t gonna be any help. Leprechaun lookin’ nigga.”

“The fuck did you say, mothafucka? Man, I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”

“Oh yeah? Bet then, you little bitch.”

“Oh, just you wait you shithead. Then, it’s Ryder, nigga.”

The two ended their shoutfest with a series of mutterings and mumbles, but did look to Trevor to lead them towards their objective.

***

Jacket
The Newcomer
Respite

The introduction of a new player in their little game was unexpected, to Jacket. He had a thick bandage from his medkit wrapped around his torso, Hawaiian backpack on his… back, of course. A belt covered his waist, canteen and ammo slotted in. He had an M14 now, held in his hands as if it were a newborn. He agreed with the plan, of course, but he refused any words to show it. Instead, he nodded and followed them outside of the church.

The introduction of “Waka” led him to aiming his rifle up at the man, safety off and barrel pointed at his chest. He didn’t waste any time attempting to look down the sights, his mask obscuring his vision enough already. If need be, Jacket decided he’d fire indiscriminately, no matter who got in his way. Of course, this only led to another figure to appear, this one shorter than the others and perhaps a bit more... erratic. Jacket flipped around, firing two shots into the sky and leveling the rifle down at the newcomer, a plague doctor of sorts. He grunted at them both, flipping the rifle back and forth.

[Jraden]

Secrets of the Raven
"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Skylar asked, giving a lovable smile as she patted Elizabeth's head like a pet that was being obedient to its owner. "It's really much more rewarding being honest, you get to make all sorts of friends! Now if you don't mind, me and my new found friend have to make a few visits! Simon, Hope, can you please take Elizabeth back to our room, and make sure she's warmed up, but not too warmed up until I get back!" Just before she left, she turned to Elizabeth and said "I am going to interrogate and potentially slap the shit out of you later, but for now-bye!" If it wasn't for Skylar's charming attitude, Elizabeth would have been terrified out of her wits.

But she wasn't, and instead was driven back to the Inn by Simon and Hope, the former being unable to speak, simply looking forward with a thousand yard stare, politely telling a disappointed Hope he wasn't in the mood for talking. It was a long drive back to the Inn.

Meanwhile, Skylar and Hope were going on quite the adventure, as Skylar kept questioning the Reaper about its life, its purpose, its ability to feel emotions, how it was bound, if it morality, are some oils different than others, are there souls it likes to collect more than others, etc, the entire time they flew over to the Twisted Road. She couldn't tell if the Reaper was annoyed with her, but she didn't care. Perhaps it liked having someone so nice to talk to. Speaking of nice things to talk about, once they found the mutilated bodies (Surrounded by the police, good thing the two were incorporeal) Skylar said "Well, here you go. A bunch of murderers and rapists. Well, attempted ones, they didn't get very far, as you can see. They're all yours."

Once the Reaper finished collecting their souls, Skylar asked "So what do you do with them? I'd prefer if they went straight to Hell, but I suppose your care will have to suffice."

Once that was done, Skylar while looking like an Angel (A very angry Archangel that is) and the Reaper found the Necromancer in his hiding spot, utterly terrified out of his mind. "You know, under most circumstances I'd feel bad for you and try to find a way to spare you life." Skylar had now picked up the Necromancer with one hand gripped around his throat, as he was helpless to do anything. "But you banished me, sent familiars after me, who simply want their freedom, and when they refused to follow your orders you sent your insects from hell and tentacle blobs after us, and then you sent a Reaper after me. I didn't like it when the Reaper came for me the first time, and I sure didn't like it the second." Skylar's body was now looking the same the day she died, complete with the blood stains, which were also visible on her once beautiful wings.

"You wanted me dead for no reason than because I pissed you off. You wanted to separate me from my fmail , force me to leave them behind. I'm a very forgiving person. But I made a promise to never leave my family, and I made another promise to Mr. Reaper to feed him your soul. And I don't break my promises." She put a hand on his crotch and squeezed until his genitals, much like the gangbangers who she fed the souls of to the Reaper, were utterly mutilated and crushed. As the man screamed and cried in agonizing pain, she threw him on the floor in front of the Reaper, leaving the Necromancer to his fate.

[Turmenista]

The Multiverse’s Most Dangerous Game
Inkopolis
Adrian Westwoods
__________________________________

"And I'm not in the mood to sit around and give you all the exposition while that monster destroys this city," the blonde woman responded briefly. "All you need to know right now is that we need to push that monster into the city. Now, you are welcome to join us, or you can do nothing and hope that you don't get fried. Choose quickly."

Gee. So much for introductions. Adrian scoffed, rolling her eyes in response to the woman's rather snarky response as he crafted his own, equally snarky response. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, madam, but no giant lizards are gonna be frying Adrian Westwoods today. And, for the record, I'd appreciate it if you call me by my name next time. Thanks."

"She doesn't know who you are, Adrian." Dare spoke over his armor's speakers, prompting Adrian to shrug , dismissing Dare's mention. "Alright, I get it — you want me to help you kill the monster. Sure. I'll help you." Hefting the box-like Cobra MPRAW onto his shoulder, he nodded, his helmet automatically assembling itself over his face as his voice gained a slightly hollow metallic touch to it. "But, by the end of this, when I dropkick that sonofabitch into the ocean, you owe me: you're telling me who you are, where you come from, and what this place is. Then, maybe, I can work out a way to getting us out of here. Capisce?"

The blonde woman made no other mention of this, instead returning to the group before them to rally them up. "Alright, everyone. This is it," she called. "Let's give that monster everything we can!"

While the group left to all deal their own damage to the giant lizard in their own way, Adrian stuck behind for a moment, partially to scope out any possible vantage points he could use to hit the monster from, and partially to inspect the symbol on the back of the strange woman's blue bodysuit. It was a pink and hexagonal glyph of something that seemed very alien and unfamiliar to him, as if it were some mathematical symbol or something, even. His helmet's camera promptly activated, and he took a mental and literal snapshot of the figure on her back, sending the picture that appeared on his augmented eyes to the side of the screen and to the back of his mind before moving on.

His eyes then began to slowly drift down from the symbol on her back before stopping, where he took another snapshot.. then another... then another.. and then anot—

"Seriously?"

Adrian shook his head and snapped out of his trance as the voice of another female went off in his head. Dare. "Huh? What?"

"Big monster. Go get it. I've identified a possible weak spot. Marking it on your HUD now."

"Uhh... right. Okay."

Adrian took off shortly thereafter, the thruster suite built into his armor kicking up into full gear as he shot up into the air and over the city buildings. Eventually, he came right down onto a building that the giant monster hadn't tore through yet, the ground crackling underneath his feet from the impact as he began to engage the monster, bringing the MPRAW up to bear on his shoulder and plopping down onto one knee. At such a range, missing would be nearly impossible.

"Where am I aiming?"

"The gills. Towards the neck. You should see them coming over you now."

The monster towered well over Adrian and the building, seemingly ignoring him, but by now he had already begun to aim right at the marker on his HUD. "I see it."

He squeezed the Cobra MPRAW's trigger. Its firing sequence was first indicated by a low whine coming from the weapon as its magnetic coils charged, letting a bright bluish-white light escape from the weapon's barrel before it fired with a thunderous clap of sound and light. Dust and debris around his position were blown to the side as the Cobra MPRAW fired, slinging the magnetically-accelerated tungsten slug right towards the monster's gills. Knowing how the round would land on its target a mere milisecond or so after it fired, Adrian immediately put the weapon back into its portable carrying position on his back, hauling ass off the roof of the skyscraper post haste, lest he (and the building) be bisected effortlessly by a swipe of a claw or, even worse, a swing from its massive tail.

---

Terminus
Interstice | En-route to Vega II
Elsewhere Universe 0002
Abomination Armada
The Warden
__________________________________

Aboard the massive command chamber of the Flagship, practically a throne room to a castle in terms of size, a menacing individual partially grafted into the throne itself watched as the stars and lights of the Interstice sped past the windows at lightspeed.

Steam crept beneath his throne as the expansive hallway of his Titan's command chamber was entered by a lowly Grub from the Ground Forces. The Grub's skin was still slick and clean as if he were straight from a birther, meaning that the Grub hadn't yet shown himself to be a deadly warrior like the rest of his comrades, but, nontheless, had passed the grueling mental and physical trials to become such a prestigious rank in Abomination culture. But, the massive Abomination was angry — they should've arrived at the Vega sector hours ago, and their surprise attack would've been all for nothing thanks to this mere mistake. Hopefully the Grub coming now would at least provide something good to his anger.

The lowly grub knelt down halfway to the throne. Thanks to the acoustics of the room and the Abominations' already excellent hearing, as well as the additional microphone situated at the end of the room, hearing him wouldn't have been a problem. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Warden.."

"You are the brat sent by from the Homeworld to oversee my operation, I suppose?" The Warden spoke, his vocalizer producing an oddly raspy, yet deep and metallic voice from the throne's built in speakers, all to amplify his voice.

"Er... yes, your excellency," The grub stammered, freezing up as his commander's clouded black eyes began to stare him down, returning to his tone in the pathetically pitiful royal we. "We apologize for the maneuver we had to perform — the Commercial Federation long range Bormann Resonance scanners would've picked us up right away.. had we.. er.. blasted right through their lines—"

The Warden tilted his head upwards, the grub's feet being swept from the ground as he was dragged nearly half a kilometer over towards the Warden, before stopping right at the base of his "throne". At this distance, the Grub could hear the Warden's raspy breathing increase in speed. He was angry. Very angry.

"I'm aware," The Warden said, telekinetically dropping the grub to the floor. "Which was exactly my plan. The Commercial fleets would crumble at close range - being inside of their defensive screen at such a range would have them risk destroying their own craft whilst we insert our armies to the surface. Vega II is heavily defended, yes, but it is not impenetrable." Pausing, for dramatic effect, he continued, again in a much more sinister tone. "Nothing is impenetrable to us Abominations."

"Y-you are exactly right, your excellency!" The grub said. "We apologize for setting the armada on such a maneuver - as per your guidance, our projected exit path shall be.. right next to the enemy fleet."

A red notification light went off aside the Warden's screen. Undoubtedly, this was from the bridge, where most of the good news came from, after all.

Time to go to work.

The Warden immediately dismissed the grub from his quarters, bringing up the notification to the side of his vision. The red holographic screens appeared at once, giving him a perfect view of the bridge to the massive flagship of the armada. As the doors to the bridge opened up, the lights brightened, along with several other consoles and computers scattered throughout the bridge. Hundreds of Abominations rapidly tended to said consoles as a vibration ran through the ship, following the activation of its shields. The rest of the ships in the Armada had presumably done the same thing.

"Shields are up, Warden," The Captain in charge marched aboard to his chair, sitting down soon after. His face was now visible in the holographic screen presented before the warden. "Weapons at the ready. Launch all strike craft once we reach normal space, set timer for T-minus five minutes. Are you ready for battle, Warden?"

Chuckling maniacally, the Warden stood up in full height, his battlesuit mimicking what his regular movements would've been as he reached for the massive assault rifle to his right, along with his sword to his left. "Ready. These pitiful Thanatosians shall make for a great meal for my men."

The world stretched and compressed in on itself as the ship abruptly slowed down upon its exit from FTL speeds, and out of the Interstice, the space "in between universes", so to speak. A massive blue rift stretched itself outwards as the colossal ship left, entering its new area. Alongside the Titan, dozens of other ships followed it out of the rift, giving the impression that, as one ship entered the fray, another would come in to supplement it. As soon as the ships entered the fray, they began to cruise towards the city-covered world in formation, preparing for the massive invasion that would ensue.

---

Terminus
Orbit of Vega II
Elsewhere Universe 0002
CFS Halberd
Commercial Federation
__________________________________

The AI of the Halberd, Sigma, was the first to speak as the ships approached Vega II. "Counting 49 ships, Captain, most of which have weapons. One large one in particular. Shall we hail?"

"Do so, and find out who they are, and where they are from. More importantly, find out if they're friendly."

"Yes, Captain." The A.I. immediately disappeared back into the console of the ship as the ships stopped by Vega. They appeared to be here on good intentions considering that they hadn't immediately begun to fire, but, then again, after 20 years of experience in the CF Navy, "good intentions" by people you didn't know were another word for a surprise attack. As such, the fleet guarding Vega II, consisting of some 40 ships or so, had been set to high alert, with the ring of orbital SHMAC guns ready to eliminate anything that entered their effective range.

The A.I. then appeared once again. "Subroutine is active. Sending out the broadcast and a holographic transmission now. A standardized message follows:"

>ZSR-1 :: BURST BROADCAST ::
>HALBERD TO UNKNOWN CONTACTS. 
GREETINGS
WELCOME TO VEGA SECTOR
THE COMMERCIAL FEDERATION HAILS YOUR VESSELS
RESPOND IN A TIMELY MANNER
STATE INTENTIONS, INTENDED DESTINATION, AND UNIVERSAL ORIGIN
>ZSR-1 OUT.

"Now all that it comes down to is whether or not they respond," The AI folded its holographic arms, nodding in response to the captain's comment. It then stiffened suddenly, as if it had seen something frightening as the crew responded accordingly: a mix of shock and disbelief appeared throughout the bridge as the A.I. zipped over to the tactical officer, the Captain following the holographic trail left behind by the artificial intelligence. "What's happening?"

"Bormann Resonance spike. This could mean one of two things: an enemy incursion or a new rift appearing nearby. The fleet has been advised to stay on standby."

"Raise combat readiness to level red," The Captain said. "I want guns trailed on that Rift as soon as it opens up. If it's Abomination in origin, I want it extra dead."

A cacophony of "Aye, sir"s echoed throughout the bridge as the some 40 ships comprising Vega II's defense fleet all oriented themselves towards the opening rift, or, at least, where it was thought to be opening. The Bormann Resonances were detected seemingly right on top of the fleet as a massive blue sphere suddenly ripped a hole open in space right in the gap inbetween the fleet. Commercial Federation craft too close to the glassy sphere were then annihilated from a hail of laser beams and torpedoes as an Abomination Titan, nearly 100km in full length, exited the rift slowly and steadily. It easily dwarfed almost every ship in the area, friend and foe, and was headed straight towards Vega II, the underside of the ship passing right over its equivalent, the Halberd.

"Contacts front and rear!" A tac-officer shouted. "Enemy flagship is breaking through our lines — and fast!"

"Reorient ourselves to bearing one-eight-zero," The Captain bellowed, holding on as the much smaller Thanatosian Battleship executed a perfect 180-degree turn to face the rear of the escaping Titan. Its weapons were useless against its heavy shields, and should've been pointed forwards anyways as more and more Abomination ships spewed out of the massive rift, practically touching a few Commercial Federation ships as the fighting immediately ensued. They easily outnumbered their orange and white counterparts, but this numerical disadvantage suddenly gave way to an opportunity, which the Captain promptly took running back over to his command seat. "Open up communications with the new fleet, holographic comms. Tell me when we're open."

Seconds later, a crewman suddenly lifted his hand up, giving a thumbs up to the Captain. "We're live!"

Turning to face front, the Captain began to speak, trying his hardest to ignore the dire predicament of the outnumbered CF fleet outside of the Halberd. "Listen here, new fleet: We're outnumbered here about 8 to 1 and we noticed your ships are packing. We would very much appreciate it if you could redirect some of that firepower towards the ships that are exiting, and to keep COMMS open between our sides. These Abominations aren't somebody you want to mess with, and they'd likely start shooting you first and ask questions later. Reply ASAP."

He left the channel open and returned to the battle outside, staring at the grisly sight of the fleet engaging the Abominations with a poker face. Hopefully, they'd respond in a timely manner.

[Mundeo]

---

The Multiverse’s Most Dangerous Game

---

TARGET: GODZILLA
LOCATION: INKOPOLIS

"If you're still alive afterwards, I'll give you the details" Samus added before everyone unleashed their onslaught. Godzilla roared as the combined might off all of the attacks pushed him back. The monster had become a post-modern painting, smothered in various tones of ink. Several of the spears launched by Konny remained embedded in his skin, blood dripping out from the punctures. The tungsten bolt had blasted away a portion of Godzilla's scales where it had made contact, leaving behind a small - but noticeable - gap in the creature's armor. Godzilla reared back its head, preparing to unleash a wave of radioactive fire.

"Sypha!" Samus called out.

"On it!" The mage responded. She briefly halted her fire spell, and after a different hand gesture, released a torrent of wind that surrounded everyone, forming a barrier big enough to protect everyone from the oncomming flames. Once the flames subsided, everyone continued their attack. Every swipe or blast sent by Godzilla was met with a tenfold counterattack. With the combined efforts of the heroes and the Squid Sisters, it didn't take long until Godzilla was pushed back into the shore from which he had emerged.

"This better work" Samus said.

"We have no other option to minimize the damage done to the city" Sypha answered. "If any more of you can use ice magic, lend me a hand!" The magician then extended her arms. The water around Godzilla's feet began to glow, then suddenly froze and rose up as pillars of ice, encasing the monster's legs.

---

RESPITE

---

"I see you all catch my drift, so to speak" Waka said to the ever increasing gang before him. He twirled his flute, holding it in front of him. Holding his hand against the end of the flute, a beam began to extend out of it, forming a blade of light. "Oui! This is how I get my point across, pun intended. Now you shall all get an earful of my beloved sword, Pillow Talk!"

Suddenly, Waka then drew another sword: a short, metallic blade. The tao master jumped into the air, twirling both blades in a dance and returning to the ground posied for action.

"Let's rock, baby!"

Waka made the first move, throwing his shortsword towards Jacket, then immediately following with a charge towards Plague Knight.

---

Secrets of the Raven

---

Listening to the two bicker was giving Trevor a headache. He was going to have to pick up a pint before leaving. The hunstman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I don't need you two to be investigation experts, I just need someone to come with me. God knows what might happen. Now if you two are ready, we're gonna head out"

---

The apartment building was nothing special to look at. It was four stories tall but brutalist in style. There was an old man that Trevor had to greet at the entrance, but all he had to do was flash him his fake ID and say something about him being here to investigate the murder of whats-her-face to get through. Trevor's two guests, however, did get some suspicious looks from the old Irishman as they passed by.

The three reached the apartment of the late Ashley, entering some sort of combined living-dining-kitchen area. Attached to this main room were what appeared to be a bedroom and a bathroom.

[Prusselanden]

Vega II
Tupac had a hunch that something bad would happen. just like he had that day he was shot multiple times and died. His stomach tightened as he looked up to see an epic battle in the sky. Abominations were clashing with giant battleships far bigger and more advanced than anything from his world. Tupac struggled to make sense of all of this.

"Shit."

But he knew one thing-they probably wouldn't hold. And the next thing Tupac was doing was looking for cover.

[Menschenfleisch]

Respite | Julyan

The going was rough but the group was making good progress. The silhouette of the castle loomed ever closer, outlined by lightning and storm clouds. From here he could already see the spires and ornaments stretching into the air, the broad figure of stone coming into focus. The appearance of the flamboyantly dressed Waka was quite a glaring contrast. No. Don’t romanticise the situation. Stop thinking in such poetic terms. Focus on what needed to be done. Right now? His responsibility was to his companions. They seemed like excellent sources of information and protection, if a little eccentric. His line of thought was broken by the sudden appearance of a short man wielding a glass orb wearing a plague mask. Julyan stumbled backwards, taken aback.

“Holy crap! I thought The Foundation had you! Wait- you’re not… you’re different. Another plague doctor. “Explosive”? Sir! Put down the bomb or I will be forced to fire! I will explain our situation once you assure me you are safe!”

Two shots rang out as Jacket pulled out his gun. An M14, from the looks of it. The whole situation was escalating out of control. He hated to make things worse but nevertheless Julyan drew his pistol and length of chalk, preparing to fight. Waka spoke up again, drawing an energetic blade of some kind and another, less anomalous sword. Thankfully he seemed to be focusing down Jacket and the plague doctor. Julyan braced his pistol on his forearm and fired off three shots, aiming to hit Waka’s legs. He wasn’t entirely sure whether this man wanted to hurt him, or if he had something against the entire group.

“Stop! Explain what you are doing here! Are you responsible for our transportation here? Answer me!”

Terminus | Eira

The man she was shaking didn’t respond. Maybe because everyone was too busy trying to reconcile the fact that two people had just appeared out of nowhere and one of them was apparently covered in insectoid chitin and scales. Eira let him go and shoved him to the wayside. Useless. If she wanted information she’d have to take it by force. Surprisingly enough everything here was spelled and spoken in English. For the first time, she looked upwards, and realised something was wrong. The sun was too bright, in too strange a position. Had hours passed after she fell through the portal? The buildings here were strange and ornate, nothing like any other city she’d seen. Too decadent, too advanced.

“Oh. I see. So I’m not on Earth anymore.”

The sky lit up with a flash of blue light. A dot flared in the distance, to the side of the planet’s star. A colossal shadow emerged from it, like a worm pushing its way through wet soil. Almost immediately, starbursts of light and radiation filled the sky. She’d arrived just in time to witness a battle, apparently. Things were going wrong very, very quickly. Some shadows and silhouettes were approaching faster than others. Bright streamers of fire fell through the sky, as debris and objects began to fall through the atmosphere. A long blade of calcite extended from her wrist, and keratin began to overtake her body. She would not die here. If there was a battle to be fought, so be it. Her only priority was her own survival.

“You there! Man in gold and black. Are you… are you Tupac Shakur? You seem to have arrived shortly before me. I recommend we remain together.”

Eira ran over to where Tupac was and hid with him underneath the roof of a particularly imposing building, looking up toward the unclouded sky shrouded with dust and falling scrap. If this was an attack, soldiers would start landing soon. She had to be ready.

Terminus | Mary

“'Welcome to Vega Sector'. Nice of them to tell us where we are.”
“Captain, we are detecting a massive spatial rift above the planet. It appears we are not alone.”
“Opal, are the energy sigs the same as the other sublight ships we’ve seen?”
“No. This is an entirely unfamiliar reading.”

An enormous blue sphere flashed into existence, rocking the Vigilance as waves of gravitational shock and light buffeted its surface. The windows automatically dampened, thankfully preventing Mary from losing her other eye. Ships began to pour out, raining fire upon the planet below. Flashes of light in deep space. It would’ve been beautiful, if it weren’t the ongoing extinction of thousands of lives. Mary tapped the communications console, pondering what to do. Scott spoke up first, a twinge of urgency to his voice. The shadow of the Abomination Flagship fell over the planet, dwarfing the Vigilance.

“We have to support the planet. There are civilians down there getting massacred! Our job is to protect humanity and as far as I can tell the people from the portal struck first..”
“We could also just do nothing. Not take sides. We don’t want to look like warmongers, and whoever we attack, we declare instantaneous war upon. Besides, we don’t know the background behind this conflict. For all we know Vega II is home to some kind of apocalypse cult, or an organisation that could pose a threat to the Coalition.”
“Preliminary scans indicate the attacking vessels are occupied by non-baseline humanoids. They are exempt from the third mission of the Coalition.”
“So we don’t need to protect them… what about the planet? Who’s down there?”
“Several billion baseline humans of varying ages and responsibilities. It appears to be a terrestrial civilian planet.”
“Fuck… alright. CIDS, prime all weapons systems. We’re going in hot. Our mission isn’t to win this fight, with that behemoth of a ship out there I think we all know that’s impossible. We’re only making it clear whose side we’re on, at least for now.”

The Vigilance oriented itself to face the Abom fleet, radiating light. A loose projectile or two broke against the hull but the ship remained largely intact. Mounted turrets on the vessel’s body turned to fire at the Titan. Lines of glowing projectiles spat themselves into space, flying between debris and other missiles. They shattered against the Titan’s shields, detonating their Tartarean munitions. Space seemed to crunch, with an effect like looking through a river of broken glass. Physics itself inverted for a moment, like a hand was grabbing geometry and twisting it into knots. Reality reasserted as waves of shock and heat radiated from the impact site. A salvo of such eruptions broadsided the Titan, erupting upon the ship's shields.

“CIDS, how much damage did we do?”
“Uncertain. The enemy vessel utilises unknown technology. It is entirely possible we are unaware of the scientific theories that dictate its behaviour.“
“Well we certainly caught their attention. Opal, send an all-points bulletin to the crew. Man the weapons stations, prepare for imminent retaliation.”

The Vigilance became a flurry of light and activity, as the crew squirmed within its confines. Mary watched as the battle unfolded beyond that window, silent and seemingly distant. She watched as more shells, more missiles spun into the sterile depths and found their marks. Figures. First ten minutes in this dimension and they’d already pulled themselves into an intergalactic war.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

"No, it was far worse you spectral bitch." the witch thought as she let out her final cough, enraged at being patted at the head after nearly being killed by the reaper. When Skylar told her family to warm her up but not too much she was curious on what she meant by that but the wraith left before she an say anything. With no other choice and wanting to be in the car to have the heater blow hot air at her she followed the Kents into the car.

The ride back to the Inn was silent, with one Kent not being in the mood to speak and the other worried about the silent one Elizabeth looked out of the window. Guessing that neither would like her smoking in their car she didn't ask if she could, instead she looked out of the window as the town pass by her. Elizabeth knew that her case was going to become a slog to go through once other mages in the town find out the necromancer was dead, each one killing the other to fill in the gap he left behind.

Elizabeth thought of sleeping but with each attempt being greeted by the form of the reaper she decided to just watch the town in silence.
---

Skylar would find that her newfound reaper friend was rather vague when it came to some topics. When the topic of its purpose came up it simply stated that what it does was something all reapers know instinctually and follow through. As for it's life it only gave the response that it travels throughout existence to fulfill the goal all Reapers have. However it did mention that it's ability to feel emotions was something all Reapers have, but his to Express his in a fashion similar to humans was due to his long exposure to humans, stating that humanity rubbed off on it to some levels.

When Skylar asked it about the morality of its job it seem to become annoyed but answered back with the question, would she consider a lion evil for killing and eating another animal? It would state that is the general nature of a reaper's job, just an act of nature being carried out. When asked about souls it will state that it sees no differences in souls nor a preference for any types of souls, but admits that abyssal tainted souls are ones it avoids.

When they finally reach the site of the dead gangbangers the reaper would collect the screaming souls of the gangbangers who were hiding nearby the crime scene. When the reaper return back it would hear Skylar asking where they will go. "They will go where their souls resonate with the most." It would simply state as it follows her back to the Drinking Crow. Once in the basement the Reaper would just watch the events in their play out.

Down in the basement the necromancer of Branhwrn was down in the floor, in great pain and fear as he looked at the Reaper. Before he can plead to be spared the reaper shoved it's hands inside of the man, making him have a heart attack. As the necromancer tried calling for help no one came, the cameras that were malfunctioning due to his magic were the only life line he could have had but he severed it.

The old mage would die a few minutes later, his pain extended by the reaper to make his passing excoriating and drawn out. The reaper would pull out the soul of the necromancer, a silvery orb with a misty cloud surrounding it, Azoth visibly coming out as a form of color changing wisps of energy. The reaper would send in the orb inside it's "robes" where it would vanish. "I thank you for assisting me with my revenge. This is where we part ways." it told her.

---

Inside the apartment the main room would be best described as spartan, only having what was essential for each room. The living room only had a couple of sofas and a table with a tv standing on a large cabinet. Opening the drawer on the table would yield little results however they would find a curious item within it, an old flip up cellphone. No doubt it once belonged to the victim back when they were the latest trend in technological development before being superseded by current smartphones. They would find a note next to it, the note had what appear to be the address and street name for a specific location.

The dining room wasn't much interesting save for an old phone book being used to support the ts le due to a broken leg. However both room did have bases with plants to give the full rooms some life and color. Looking closer at the floors however they would find that save for the small catucs on the living room table the rest of the plants were fakes.

The kitchen was also unremarkable as well. Looking inside they would find many food items and drinks stored, yet of the food in the kitchen they would note a large presence of instant ramen in the cabinets. They would read from the price that these were most likely brought due to cheap affordability. Infact one would get the feeling that the previous occupant probably picked this place for rent for a similar reason.

The three men investigation in the seemingly unremarkable apartment would take a turn when all three would hear loud noises coming from the bathroom.

[Jraden]

Secrets of the Raven
"Well this has all been quite the excellent adventure my Dementor-looking friend!" Skylar said with a wide grin on her face. "And here I thought you were quite the baddie when I first met you, you weren't so bad after all! I can't say the same for him though." She said, looking down at the corpse of the Necromancer, nudging it with her foot. "That one was a real jerk. Anyway, I guess this is goodbye, it was nice knowing you!" She then decided to give the Reaper a goodbye hug, which oddly enough, it reciprocated. Unfortunately for Skylar, she felt unbearably cold afterwards, and she could have sworn she saw it smile and laugh at her misfortune. It began to fade away in her arms, and before it finally left, Skylar called out "Will I ever see you again?"

Meanwhile, at the Hotel, an exhausted Simon and Elizabeth were being given hot chocolate (Complete with marshmallows) by Hope, who was not traumatized and tired, she was still full of energy, and the lack of conversation and communication with her father was making her incredibly anxious, as she was unable to hold still, and repeatedly attempted to make conversation with little success, that is until she asked why her mother looked blood stained when she was being attacked by the Reaper.

Simon softly responded "It's how she looked when you were born." It was how she looked the day she died. Were the unspoken words in that sentence. Hope also became much more solemn as she sat down beside her father, intertwining her hand with his as she rested her head against his shoulder, easily falling into a comfortable position as they held each other close. It was a nice sight, and if Elizabeth commented on that, Hope would say "Well you're more than bappy to join us and make a group huddle!"

"Like penguins!" Simon added, finally becoming cheery again.

"Exactly like penguins!" While it was a female Kent who said that, it wasn't Hope-it was Skylar! She had suddenly appeared, phasing through the wall and dressed in her usual clothes-A denim jacket and jeans over a white t shirt. While she was smiling broadly, she marched her way to Elizabeth, her body language not smiling at all. She carefully took the hot chocolate out of Elizabeth's hands (Assuming she hadn't already put it down) and before she could react, Skylar bitchslapped the poor girl hard across the face, much to the protest of Simon and Hope.

"Sorry about that love, but you deserved it. Anyway, the Necromancer's been dealt with it, and I alertas slapped the shit out of you like I promised, so that means I need to interrogate you. Now if I remember correctly..."she was pacing back and forth in front of Elizabeth as she began to count on her fingers. "You hired the necromancer to banish me, but you didn't plan for him to become a prick who sent a Reaper after us, correct? And all of this just to get that thing in the back of our SUV?"

Simon's face lit up as he said "Oh, I forgot to mention, sorry Elizabeth, we lied to you. We have both the key." He pulled a key out of his pocket. "And the password!" Hole added, as she pretended to pull something out of her pocket and hold it up. "I know I'm not pulling anything out, just pretend it's the password!"

Simon looked at Elizabeth with sorrowful eyes as he said "Apologies about the lying, but how else would we have convinced you to help us out? And in the end you saved Skylar from the Reaper, so it all worked out in the end!"

"And you did kind of lie to us to." Hope added. "So it evens out after this, now we can start over!" She said with a smile, holding out her hand, clearly so Elizabeth could shake it. "I'm Hope!"

"I'm Simon!"

"I'm Skylar! Also, I'm a-"

"Ghost Mom!"

"Guardian Spirit! Specter!"

"All that and more!" Skylar answered with a wide smile on her face, looking at her family with nothing but love and adoration in her eyes. "Seriously Liz, trying to separate me from them, my Anchors?" She shook her head as she made a tsk tsk tsk noise.

"But in all seriousness, what's the only thing stopping me from getting that thing in the SUV you want so much..."she leaned in over Elizabeth, her much taller body entrapping The much shorter Elizabeth, who was stuck on the couch. "And bashing your face in with it?"

If it wasn't for the fact that Skylar had repeatedly nearly killed and threatened her, Elizabeth would have probably been turned on.

[Brusia]

Terminus
Admiral Torel J'Ren, Vice Admiral Marcus Nelson, the Founder, and General Tova Gorr
Voth Fortress Ship Heresy's Bane
Near Vega II

The Communication's Officer on the Heresy's Bane relayed the AI's message to Admiral J'Ren, who then ordered that a response be sent answering the "Commercial Federation's" questions and declaring their peaceful intent. As the Communication's officer sent the response however, the officer at the Conn stated: "Sir, we're picking up a massive energy reading nearby!"

"Bring it up on the main viewer" J'Ren ordered. As the large viewscreen on the Bridge zoomed in on the location of the energy spike, many nearby vessels could be seen approaching, and the Conn officer informed J'Ren that they were arming their weapons. "I don't like the looks of this..." J'Ren stated, before turning to the Communication's Officer and stating: "Order a fleet-wide red alert, and keep us back away from that energy surge." The bridge officers complied, and just in time: as they moved away from the resonance spike, a rift began to form and an armada soon began to punch through; shredding many of the defending vessels as the massive flagship punched through the defender's lines and barreled towards the nearby planet.

J'Ren braced himself as some stray shots from the Abomination vessels impacted the shields of the Heresy's Bane causing it to shake slightly; even at long distance it was difficult to keep the massive vessel from being hit. The Romulan rubbed his eyes as the Conn officer informed him that other stray shots were striking the planet below, killing thousands of innocents where they impacted; the whole situation reminded him of the Elachi's brutal surprise attacks on Romulan colonies during their war with the elusive species. When the Communication's officer informed the Admiral that a new message was coming in over the holo-communicator, Torel approached the device and listened to the Captain's request for assistance. With a heavy sigh, Torel opened a channel and replied: "Acknowledged, we'll provide what assistance we can and keep a channel open directly to our Communication's officer. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you could send us any data you have on these 'abominations' and particularly any information on weaknesses we might be able to exploit. Admiral J'Ren out."

As the Romulan stepped away from the device, Nelson approached him and asked: "Are you sure about this Admiral? Our Prime Directive would advise against interfering in this sort of situation, and in the history of the Federation, violating the Prime Directive seldom seems to end well."

"I'm familiar with Starfleet's Prime Directive" Torel replied "But I don't see how it benefits anyone to allow countless innocents to die and alienate a potential ally in a universe we know almost nothing about." Though he disagreed, Nelson nodded, and J'Ren continued: "Now than, I suggest we return to our own ships to better coordinate the fleet. For now we'll take a defensive posture and engage the enemy at long range until we get that data on the enemy's weak points to formulate a better plan; at least that will hopefully pull some of the pressure off of the planet's defenders and get these 'abominations' to fire away from the planet itself..."

With that, J'ren, Nelson, and the Founder beamed back to their respective flagships, and shortly after a small vessel with another different Quantum Signature began attacking the foe, the fleet maneuvered to 300,000 kilometers away from the Abomination armada, at which point it laid into the enemy vessels with a blinding array of phaser, disruptor, polaron, and anti-proton beam and cannon weaponry. To try and pull the enemy flagship away from the heavily outgunned defenders, the Heresy's Bane launched a massive barrage of hundreds of transphasic torpedoes, capable of largely bypassing almost any unadapted shielding and dealing damage directly to an opponent's hull, at warp speeds towards the massive ship to get their attention. With any luck, the 134.5 kilometer long Voth dreadnought would force the enemy flagship to try and pick on someone its own size...

[Kentucky Fried Land]

Lamar and Ryder
Investigation
Secrets of the Raven

As the old Irishman eyed them up after their journey to Ashley’s apartment, Lamar scowled. “Sup.” He flicked his head up the man as he passed, Ryder shaking his head and smacking his gums. “Dumb mothafucka…” He muttered.

They entered the apartment. It was rather unremarkable, dusty and unkempt, Ryder approaching the kitchen cabinets. He flipped through them, eyes behind his tac glasses scanning the food inside. “Look like she was one poor motherfucker, with her ramen and shit.” He then reached into the fridge, rooting around before pulling out a can of Coca-Cola. “Bitch won’t mind if I just take this…” He mumbled, cracking it open and sipping from the aluminum.

Lamar was more interested in the TV, and by extension, the items located in its stand. “Yo, Trevor, check this shit out.” He pulled out the note and the phone, glancing over the items with peculiarity. “Looks like an address and a name. Don’t mean shit to me though.” He handed the note over to the man, before turning his attention to the phone. “Yo, this shit is old school man. Fuck was this chick doing with something like this?” He flipped it open, grinning like a madman. “Might just keep this for myself. Be a good burner.”

Ryder was busy sipping the Coke he had swiped from the fridge as he entered the dining room. He leaned down after another gulp of carbonation, looking over the phone book the woman had used to prop up her table. “What kind of ghetto shit is this? Bitch can’t afford a damn table?” He shook his head, setting his Coke down on the floor and carefully tugging the book from its spot. After setting the broken table down as carefully as he could, he picked up the book and his Coke, setting them both on the kitchen counter. He listened in on the conversation in the living room, taking note of the… note, amidst Lamar’s boasts. He figured they could at least look up the name in the phone book, if they had to.

Before he could approach the other two about this, a noise rocked them from the bathroom.

“The fuck?” Ryder swore, something not uncommon in the man’s vernacular. In the living room, Lamar had already pulled his pistol from his waistband and aimed it up at the bathroom door. “The shit? Trevor, back me up here.” He whispered, tugging his feet towards the door.

***

Jacket
An Attack
Respite

Jacket saw the attack, and reacted almost accordingly. He dodged back but not quick enough, the shortsword hitting his rifle and tossing it from his hands. The man fell onto the ground, backing away from the scene as the other attacked him and the plague doctor. Julyan yelled something, but Jacket was already seething with rage. He jumped back up, judging the situation before making any sudden movements that might cost him his life.

***

Ash Williams
Vega II
Terminus

His eyes opened, mouth already in a white grin of beauty and awe. This was a short-lived moment of joy for the poor Ash Williams; his endeavor against evil had yet to end. He looked around the city, his right hand a bit more weighty than he remembered. He pulled it up, an all too familiar chainsaw on the end. “No, no no no no no… no, they sent me too far forward, oh God, no no no no no, they sent me to the wrong place!” He cried out in the streets, not even acknowledging any of the confused populace glancing over him as he stumbled past them. “Oh come on! Why’d you have to do this again, I just wanna go back, I just wanna go back!” He cried, onlookers ignoring him now in favor of the spectacle of the sky.

“Out of my way!” He yelled at the pedestrians, shoving them inside with his remaining hand and looking for anybody else who seemed out of place. Everyone seemed so focused on the damned thing above them, something else he was sure belonged to the Deadites and their eternal torture of him. He looked about, before his eyes settled on a woman and a man huddled up under a roof, very much so out of place. He approached the two, noticing the gold chains on the man’s neck and his relative unresponsiveness to the situation around him. “You two! Mind telling me just where in Hell I am? This is starting to get annoying.”

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

"If we do meet again pray that the souls I collect are ones that aren't close to you." it told her, giving an ominous warning to reminds her that regardless of their friendship he can't abandoned his job for any being. "But maybe we would meet again in less sobering times." it said as it finally vanished, returning back to its job on collecting more souls. This time as a free agent of death.

Elizabeth in the meantime was eyeing at her mug of hot chocolate, almost checking it for any signs of tampering even though she saw Simon making it. When Simon finally spoke that was the same time Elizabeth took small sips of the drink. "Sorry to hear that." She said. Granted the words wasn't needed as the mother was still around as a wraith, a phenomenon that isn't as rare as Skylar would probably think but in Elizabeth's experience most wraiths aren't as powerful as her when they haunt their still living family. She thought to herself on how many wraiths would give to be like her, to be so powerful as to seemingly alive in the world and touch everything in the Skinlands, including their loved ones.

When they began to hug each other and even asked if she would like to join the witch never had a chance to speak until Skylar returned. When she approached Elizabeth the detective looked up at her, giving the wraith a glare. When the mug was removed from her hands she didn't try to fight against it. When the wraith slapped her she got a shocked reaction from Elizabeth. As Skylar spoke Elizabeth rubbed her now redden cheek. "Pretty much. I also didn't expect him to try and kill me either." She added in. Just when she felt that she was done with the Kent's messing with her they revealed that she was lied too and that Simon and Hope both had the key and password all this time, they just needed to convince her to help them.

Elizabeth's eyes twitched as she gave the family a look of pure shock. When the family introduce themselves Elizabeth finally got over the feeling of being bamboozled to speak to give them her name. Yet soon she found herself caught between the couch and the tall wraith. In her current position she knew that most they would either be intimidated or aroused by the situation, Elizabeth was on the former due to everything that has happened between the two. "How the hell that bloke last long enough to shag her and never called an exorcist when she came back?"

After Skylar threaten her and asked why she should give Elizabeth the item the detective flashed her a charming grin and spoke in a similar charming tone. "Love, we both know that you don't want to permanently damage this lovely face. Besides your family knows of the dangers of keeping the artifact in their car since I told them about it. Besides I ultimately helped you deal with the necromancer right? Shouldn't that be another reason for me getting that item as a reward."

[Jraden]

Secrets of the Raven
"Well you're right about that!" Skylar exclaimed, her face shifting from an intimidating glare to a wide smile as Elizabeth said Skylar wouldn't want to harm her lovely face. To add onto that, she lightly tapped Elizabeth's nose as Skylar made a "Boop!" Noise to accompany said nose bopping.

Skylar then shrugged and said "I might as well give you it, it's getting very tedious having you constantly trying to steal it from me. While I'm sure that premise would make a lovely sitcom, I really want you to stop trying to break into my SUV."

And then Skylar vanished, only to appear about a minute or so later with the wraith capturing device in hand. "Though if you have any intentions of using that on me, it won't work. The blast that tried to use on me wound up accidentally stabbing himslef in the head with the pointy end." She winked.

[Apto]

Empty Wallets, Kirika Kure
New York Administration District, Fett Kath's Mansion

"Thank you." Was her simple and brief response as everyone else was having their own responses to the approaching bot. Hex told the other group members as Jinx throw a smoke grenade close to the robot, covering it with a thick plume of smoke. The rest of the squad followed Faust's lead and ran towards the window and jumped out to escape from the mansion before the security bot can get them.

"Thank you Ms. Kure. You've done us a kindness today. I'm sure we'll be seeing one another very soon." Cassius leapt out of the already-shattered window and began to fall.

The fur on Aestus’s armor suddenly lit up as it began to glow brightly, caused by bioluminescent microorganisms which inhabited it. A few fish departed from Aestus to try and find any of the non-natives who were in the midst of all of the chaos. “I’m over here, let’s get out of here before something worse happens,” Aestus called out.

Kazooie took this as a 'yes', and seconds later, Ice Eggs were flying across the room, freezing all in their path. And they jumped, leaving the frozen flames and whatever else behind them.

Gosh, so many people were thanking her today that if Kirika were a lesser girl lacking in devotion, she'd blush. Thankfully, she wasn't and all she replied with was a lazy wave of goodbye that was quickly obscured as smoke filled the area, eliciting groans of disappointment from the guests as the Securitybot began marching towards the remaining hostiles, namely the glowing Aestus. While this was ongoing, the accompanying Drones weren't idle. They flew forwards in perfect synchronization, cameras picking up nothing but smoke yet still able to follow the falling hostiles even as some guests and furniture were frozen solid.

Meanwhile, those that fell soon landed on solid ground. The floors were coated in soulless gray, a stark contrast to the rather extravagant pageantry of the vehicles parked there. Everything from sleek motorcycles to hulking monster trucks were put on display, helping Teru's rather humble police car stand out. Some of the vehicles there, curiously enough, had their doors left open, engines rumbling even as the Drones exited the broken window and stayed far above the parking lot, cameras trained at the group below.

---

A Grand Adventure, Jeanne Tart
Wakanda, Birnin Zana

The Sontarans were no match for Jeanne's onslaught. She was too quick and too fierce for any of the soldiers to possibly keep up with. Finally, one soldier spoke over their communications: "Bring out the Stenk Cannon!"

The number of Sontarans that were exiting the ship were beginning to dwindle, but one more marched out of the door that was much bulkier than the rest, and was wielding a massive weapon that took both hands just to hold. The soldier took aim at Jeanne, ignoring any potential damage to his own brethren as he fired a massive bolt of plasma towards the magical girl.

The Magical Girl was, much like before, busy taking her foes out in a blinding pace as her steps left small craters on the concrete ground and her attacks, be it by sword or fist, left sizable dents in the Sontarans' armor, knocking more of the aliens out of the fight. She had found people who shared her cause of fighting the invading menace, but it seemed like that they were far too busy fighting for their lives for Jeanne to interrupt them. Regrettable, but not something she would hold against them.

Then, she noticed it, a massive contraption of incredible size pointed at her, glowing with obvious power and unlike any weapon she had ever encountered. So far, Jeanne had avoided any damage to her person, but getting hit by whatever projectile that cannon was about to spit out might change that. However, if she dodged, the cannon would most certainly hit whatever and whoever was behind her, and she couldn't afford that.

With gritted teeth, the girl faced the cannon head on and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, sword held in a two-handed grip by her side, tip pointed diagonally towards the ground as clouds of dust were left in her wake. Alas, despite her best efforts, she couldn't reach the Sontar in time and the weapon roared with a unearthly sound as Jeanne shouted in defiance, blade channeling as much magic as she possibly could. Finally, moments before the enormous ball of plasma made contact, the girl swung her sword upwards, a transparent barrier of white colored magic emblazoned with fleur-de-lis and crosses colliding with the plasma bolt as Jeanne jumped over the clash, eyes fixed on the Sontar manning cannon.

With one final shout, she landed mere inches away from the alien, her low crouch quickly transitioning into a uppercut that was sure to rattle the Sontar's helmet and knock him out of the battle for good.

---

Secrets of the Raven, Sayaka Miki
The Drinking Crow, Elizabeth's Room

Jacquelyn had lived with action and drama her whole life. It was the entire point of being in a story, after all. Kyle on the other hand was a little more interested in more human needs. "Hey. I have some spending money from the box of fake notes Elizabeth brought in today. Think we should go get something to eat? Something besides water and crackers, I mean."
"Yeah. Maybe. Don't let witchbitch know we spent her money on bacon and eggs."
"Hey, Sayaka! You done in there? We were hoping to go downstairs, see if we can't come up with something to do. You in? At least you'll be away from the eye."

Now how generous would Miss Ashwood be for Alice and the others today? As Alice existed her room and headed for Elizabeth’s room, her nosed twitched as a rotten odor came from Elizabeth’s room. What the hell just happened? Alice carefully knocked on the door as she pinched her nose up to resist that dreadful stench. Whatever happened, she was glad she didn’t sleep in that room last night! “Miss Ashwood are you there?” Alice asked.

"Breakfast would be great!" Came the call from the bathroom, a flash of blue once signalling her clothes change to her school uniform, once again pristine thanks to magic. Sayaka stepped out of the bathroom with the grace of a drunkard, and hurriedly went for the door "Elizabeth gave me some money too, so I think we should shop for clothes after eating." God, the things she would do just to get out of this place.

The door opened to reveal Alice, looking as equally disheveled as the Blueberry. "Morning," Wait, was that an ahoge? "We were just about to grab breakfast and shop for clothes, wanna come?"

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt
A small town in New England

In the attic of an abandoned farmhouse, a black coffin sat in the center. It was decorated with a floral pattern, except for the large skull on the lid. It was disturbing, if not macabre. There wasn't any other furniture around it, save for a worn armoire that held clothes that didn't match the rough shape of the wood. Despite being the early afternoon, there wasn't any movement in the area that someone obviously lived in.

The only sounds were that of nearby animals in the overgrown fields, until suddenly there was what could be described as a mix between a loud crash and something ripping apart. In the attic, the lid on the coffin flew open, pushed by a pale hand. A woman sat up in the box, looking around startled. She climbed out of her resting place, and eased her way to the covered window. She opened the blind a little to see what was outside, but didn't see anything. She closed the blind and grabbed a cloak from the armoire and threw it over her body.

Lilith turned into a cloud of mist and exited the house through a small crack in the window, and turned back into her human form outside, on the ground. She saw what looked like a glowing blue wound on the side of the building, unlike anything she'd ever seen before. "Was ist das?" she said to herself, gingerly approaching it. It was a jagged tear in the wall. which even for the vampire, was something that should be impossible. She took a few more small steps, which turned out to be a mistake.

She got too near, and the force of the rift started to pull her in. She yelled, and tried to turn and run but it was too late. Her vision went blue as the rift consumed her, and she couldn't tell if the sounds she was hearing were the rift or her own screaming.

Branhwrn, Wales

A similar rift deposited her into an unknown spot, causing her to ungracefully fall on her hands and knees on the pavement. She groaned, and looked around. She glanced up at the sky, but winced when the light of the sun struck her skin. She held her hand in front of her face as she pulled her hood back over her head and tied her black scarf around the lower face of her face.

She slowly stood up, trying to figure out where she was. She hadn't seen this area before, and she wasn't even sure what city or even country she was in. There were modern buildings, but they were mixed in with older looking buildings. Some looked... Victorian? Could she be in England? Lilith decided that she had to look around and figure out where she was. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, so she transformed into a Bavarian Mountain Hound, and started to walk out of the alley she landed in. She sniffed the air a few times. I smell blood. she thought. That means people are here. She felt a slight pang in her stomach. Soon she'd be hungry, but she put off feeding until she knew where she was.

[Prusselanden]

Fett Kath's Party
Julian gulped as she tried to formulate a plan as the robot walked towards them. She could grab Aestus and run, but then Jeff would be left behind to the mercy of the robot. Plus....if she turned her back on it there's no telling it wouldn't fire on her. She could duck under a table or behind a piece of furniture, but would that block the bullets?

Julian felt her head spin faster as the robot headed towards them. What would they do? If that thing attacked, they'd probably be shredded to bits in minutes.

Finally, Julian reacted. She did something she didn't think she would do ever. And she didn't know why.

Julian pulled out her pistol and fired at the robot.

[Legokiller]

The Secrets of the Raven

Alice looked at Sayaka with surprised by the news that Jackie is coming along. “Oh please don’t end in disaster.” She thought and hoped. To be honest, she wasn’t sure what could happen with Jackie around this time, but Alice will give her a chance.

“Oh, sure Sayaka.” Alice smiled. She was glad Elizabeth was quite generous and thought ahead for today’s events. “A good cup of English Tea would start our day great.” Alice said. More so than…. Alice preferred not to make any comment on what happened inside of Elizabeth’s room.

[Menschenfleisch]

Secrets of the Raven | Jacquelyn and Kyle

Jack stepped back as Sayaka enthusiastically stumbled past her, practically collapsing onto Elizabeth's door and nearly smashing head-first into Alice. She really couldn't blame the girl, what with the smell. She was tempted to burn the scent out of the air but considering how well the last usage of her powers went... yeah, let's not try that today. Breakfast sounded very good now, even despite her fictional status. Shopping for new clothes was probably a good idea too, considering the appalling state in which she'd be in just a few weeks. It faintly occurred to her that stealing money and clothes was no longer an option at her age and in this kind of company.

"Oh, yes. Getting some new clothes sounds good. I don't want to be seen walking around in burnt rags for the rest of my life."
"Oh dear god. Do we have to go? Need I remind you the only experience we've had with shops is when we've been stealing from them?"
"Quiet Kyle. You don't want to look like a kleptomaniac in front of the audience right? It'll be a learning experience. Probably one of several thousand by the time this is over."
"Whatever. But I'm only coming because there's breakfast."

Kyle could very clearly see the creases on Alice's face, the way she scrunched up her nose. By the looks of it she wasn't a fan of the smell either. Well, at least he wasn't alone in wanting to vomit. Luckily his conscious control over his body meant that he could control his reflexes, at the cost of being acutely aware of every single involuntary contraction his stomach muscles made. How was Jacquelyn so smug in the middle of this? So aware and obsessed with her own fictionality? Playing to the audience? This was getting out of hand. He couldn't wait for Elizabeth to come back.

"Now that the little invitation tea party is over, let's get going. There's only so long you can dawdle before the shops stop brewing fresh coffee."

And with that said, the two turned around and headed downstairs.

Empty Wallets | Cassia

Cassius looked up at the drones flying from the window. The coat-obsessed woman and the suit of armour were still up there, trying to fight them off. The smell of gunpowder and the crack of gunfire were all too obvious. Barrels and digital limbs poked from the receptacle in the wall. Security was going to arrive soon. How'd these droids find them so fast? Did somebody know they were already coming? Ridiculous. What had they done to deserve such deliberate persecution?! If the fact that they'd been identified immediately weren't an issue, the fact that somebody was trying to kill them was!

"What did we do to you? We were just there to enjoy the party! Why are you hunting us down?! I mean, I guess we threw a smoke grenade; broke a window; crushed a couple of cars; appeared out of nowhere; threw endothermic grenades all over the party floor; are in possession of dangerous military equipment... okay, you know what? Fine, we're armed and dangerous criminals. But that's on you for bringing us all to your stupid party, alright!?"

Cassius stole a glance to his side, looking at the team of six soldiers milling about. Others were falling from the window now, some taking their landings with more grace than others. They'd have to escape, fast. A high-speed car chase through a futuristic and unfamiliar city wasn't his idea of baroque entertainment but it was the only option they had. He prepared to react to whatever came next, a long translucent glaive emerging from his wrist and layers of carbon overtaking his forearms. Defensive options, if worst came to worst. He spoke out of the corner of his mouth, hoping somebody would take the initiative.

"Hey! Have we got a plan here? Or are we just taking these cars and booking it as fast as we can? We could probably hold off these drones for a while but I don't see us coming out of this one in any particularly favourable circumstances."

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

Being threaten to suddenly getting a boop on her nose was a sudden change for Elizabeth, so sudden that her brain was still processing the quick tone shift. "Wha... What?" The occultist muttered out, her confusion clearly evident on her voice. Yet regardless of her feelings towards the bipolar wraith when the spectral figure left and quickly return back with a strange device the witch was jubilant, all of the setbacks in her plan didn't prevent her from succeeding from her goal.

"Though looking back it is a miracle that is this moment is even happening. By all rights I should have gotten nothing for that botched plan." the conjurer thought to herself, admitting that her plan did not go as well as intended. When Skylar told her not to think of using it on capturing her, telling her the story of what happen to the last poor soul that tried, the witch immediately knew what she was seeing.

"It's a Soul Catcher. This device and a few others were all made by a Victorian inventor who wanted to prove the existence of the afterlife. The poor sod was in a dark place when he made that machine. Incidentally that device was his last one as he died in his sleep due to "natural causes." Well, as natural as being slowly killed can get." She explained to the family. "Before you ask no, I don't know the full mechanism of how that machine is able to catch and store souls. Just how to use it to perform its intended job thanks to the stories surrounding it."

As Elizabeth held on to the Soul Catcher she turn it around so the syringe-like spike was pointed at her. "Thank you for giving this to me. I don't know how you found this device and what those people wanted to do with souls but you did both every living and dead soul a favor by giving this thing to me. I can't leave this town now but I can still hide it so no one would get their hands on it." As the witch explained her intention to the family she suddenly felt yet another disturbance, one that she knew all too well what it means now. "God damn it, another one now of all times?" Elizabeth shook her head.

"I need to leave now. If you three somehow find another strange artifact try reaching me so I can know if you people can keep it or not." Elizabeth gave the family a copy of her business card and on the hack even wrote down the number of the room she is staying in. Once she said her goodbye she left the room with the Soul Catcher, being hit once more with the foul stench once she reached the hall where her room was located in.

When she saw Alice standing outside with the door open and Sayaka speaking to her the mage spoke. "Great timing you two." Without any warning Elizabeth shoved the Soul Catcher on to Sayaka's hands. "I need to deal with something quickly so can you two find somewhere to hide this thing? Preferably I would want a box but the only one in my room has an eyeball in it so that one can't be used. Don't get stabbed by the syringe and just like the eye don't let anyone outside of our group see it." Before any of the two can say a word the detective left the two of them alone with the steampunk looking contraption.

Elizabeth left the Drinking Crow just as she saw a white truck arriving through the parking lot, the people sent to figure out the source of the foul smell and to eliminate it finally arriving. Elizabeth walked around the town, keeping her senses alert for any signs of anyone or anything that wasn't her usual brand of weirdness. Elizabeth's senses soon guided her to the location where a large brown dog was. The witch saw the aura of the dog, it looked mostly normal but she still spotted some signs that gave her hints that the dog wasn't what it appeared to be.

Elizabeth tasted something strange in her mouth the longer she looked at the aura, she wasn't sure what the taste was but she knew that was just confining more about her suspicious about the dog. "Well let's see what sort of crazy hijinks I'm gonna get myself into this time. Maybe we will have a talking dog on our side?" Elizabeth chuckled at the thought of her little team being like the Scooby Gang. "We have the brains of the team in the form of me and the stoner thanks to Lamar, all we need now is the cheerleader and a gay guy." the witch thought as she saw a vendor selling fish and chips, giving her an idea.

After Elizabeth brought some she approached the dog, taking a chip (or fry) she presented it to the dog. "Are you hungry boy?" She asked it, speaking it to the same tone a typical dog owner would use when talking to their dog. "I got something just for you pouchy." Elizabeth began to move the chip to get the dog's attention on it as she slowly began to move back, wanting to take the dog away from the public space to figure out what it is.
---
Abigail's Apartment

When the three men open the door they would hear the noise getting louder. Looking up they would find pipes on the upper corner, close to the ceiling. The pipes were colored orange due to heavy rust, they would see some drops of water leaking from the old pipes. One of the pipes connected to the shower heads while others kept on going through the wall. The noise was coming from the pipes as they groan out due to the torrent of water flowing through them.

The bathtub was covered by the shower curtains were a white sheet. The walls close to the pipes had water trails on them and the floors were tiled. In the bathroom they would find a hamper and the sink would have four cabinet drawers with a central large one that would lead under the skin and a final one behind the bathroom mirror. Next to the toilet was a small trash can that had a few papers, a tampons, and something orange sticking out from a hole in the wads of papers.

---

Empty Wallet

When Delta Buckler finally landed on solid ground they looked around the parking lot they were in. "Who the hell would leave their doors open? You are just asking for someone to steal your car." Conman said as he observed the vehicles with open doors. "A bunch of fools who just saved our asses." Hex replied back as she began to look through the vehicles for her group to use.when they found a large van.

"Jinx, hotwire that van. Faust, Conman. You two are with me, we are gonna make sure no security bots get in our way. Curse you stay close to zinc and Trick you guard those two." The group agreed with the orders and as both Hex and Trick vanished before the groups eyes as they sprint to positions Jinx ran to the open van and began to hotwire the vehicle.

In a few minutes the group heard the engine being turn out. "Get in everyone!" Jinx shouted.as the group ran towards the van Hex stopped as she saw one particular motorcycle. Hex got some looks from her team when they saw her stopping and all looked at the motorcycle. "So you want to leave in style huh boss? I can't say I blame you." Trick said to her, slightly teasing his squad leader for her clear interest in the motorcycle.

Hex was silent as she walked to the motorcycle and got on it, finding much to her great joy that the owner left the key to the ignition behind. Turning it on Hex used their telepathic link to order the group to ready to leave, but not yet ordering then to do so. She wanted to see if the other members of the group would join them or if they will fall to the security back in the party.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt
Alleyway

Lilith smelled the person coming closer, though she didn't immediately react on seeing her. She watched her buy food from a fish and chips vendor, which definitely confirmed that they were somewhere in the United Kingdom. The woman's accent wasn't immediately familiar, so she wasn't in any major cities like London or Glasgow, unless she wasn't a native.

The woman seemed to eye her suspiciously, so either she knew something was up or she didn't trust strange dogs. She asked waved the food, trying to tempt the vampire. Truth was, Lilith was hungry, but not for what was in the woman's hand. Maybe she lives alone? Lilith thought. Or will try to take me somewhere alone. If the woman in the trench coat isolated herself, Lilith could overpower her easily and drink from her. It was a cruel plan, but it was how she survived.

She walked slowly towards the woman, not showing interest in the Fritten in her hand. She whimpered a little though, to try and draw the woman in emotionally, so that she doesn't leave her. After walking towards her for a few steps she laid down flat on the pavement and whined.

[Naval Monte]

Secrets of the Raven

"That's it boy, keep following me lead." She told the dog as she lead it down the street, earning a few odd looks from the crowd as they watch her lead the dog. Elizabeth decided she needed to do something different to keep the dog's attention on her. So she took another chip and ate it in front of the dog, making a moaning sound to let it now it tasted good.

Now that I think about it I haven't eaten anything. It's very tempting to just eat this stuff now but I only have this dog's attention because I have the food right in front of him.. or her.." Elizabeth heard the dog whimper and the the witch could feel herself being charmed by the dog. "Just keep following my lead and you will get some food."

Elizabeth would take a turn into an alleyway that she knows was a short cut to the Drinking Crow. The dog would soon go down on the ground whining, making Elizabeth squee internally. "Feeling tired huh? I think we can take a break for now." She said as she knelt down in front of the dog, placing the food in front of the dog as she began to pet the dog. The witch was giving the dog a smile to make it feel calm and relaxed.

[Demincia]

Secrets of the Raven
Lilith von Brandt

Lilith groaned a little to herself. This woman's kindness was making it harder for the vampire to stay to the original plan to attack her. Of course, that kindness was not likely to continue if she knew the truth about the dog she was caring for. Lilith faced a dilemma: if she revealed herself now, she'd likely be attacked, but if she continued this charade, the woman would probably be upset at being deceived.

The vampire decided neither option would end well, so she went with a third option: escape. The dog stood up suddenly and ran past the woman, trying to elude her. She ran down the alley, unwittingly heading right for the pub that was their destination in the first place. She didn't look back to see if the woman had followed her, but she assumed that she tried to give chase for at least a short distance.

Lilith turned a corner and stood behind a building, and when she was sure that she had broken line of sight, she shifted forms from a dog to a small cloud of mist. She rose up, getting to the roof of the building to see if she was followed.