Outside CPU's House: Sei pointed a slender finger up at himself, "Eh, me? I don't really..." His dark eyes caught on a nice, black car that pulled up to them on the side of the road. The window rolled down and a familiar blond head poked out, "Yo...Sei and ladies." Sei waved at the man, "Hello, Trip-san. Are you really going to take us where we want to go?" Trip slid cold blue eyes to the girls behind Sei, "Yup. Wherever Sei wants to go." Belle prodded Sei's shoulder and he nodded, "And you won't tell Virus-san?" Trip paused for a moment before a small smile spread over his lips, "It'll be our secret. You have secrets with Virus, don't you? No...don't answer that. C'mon...get in, Sei and ladies." Sei smiled warmly at his sisters, "Onee-sama, let's go." The door opened and Trip slid over. It was spacious inside the car, enough so that all eight of the women could fit inside. "So, where to?" Hesitating, Sei gripped Belle's phone tighter in his hand, "Yuuko Ichihara's shop." Trip's eyes glittered with amusement, "Ho~ Yuuko-san's, huh. Alright." Closing the door after each of the girls had slid into the car, the driver pulled away. Inside: Virus looked past the gathering of angry Oracles and Histoire to Ranmaru. "Kurosaki-san, please come in and take a seat. You arrived with Noire-chan....did you show that message to Noire-chan before you came here?" Ranmaru glared at Virus, "No. Sly Blue gave detailed instructions of who to show it to." Virus' smile faded and he drew Histoire's hand to his lips, "Histoire-chan, I'd appreciate it if we could speak in private. Hersha...watch the young ladies here and Kurosaki-san." The black snake that had coiled around Sei's feet now slithered among the group, keeping keen blue eyes on the girls and Ranmaru. Quietly, Virus drew Histoire up to her bedroom and shut the door, "That message is clearly fake. I know where Aoba-san is." Mario Bros. House: Kise happily kept smiling, "You go there too? That's great! Maybe we'll see each other around then." Balancing the pizzas in his hand and on his shoulder, Kise waved to the mario brothers, "Tell pops thanks for the pizzas. I'll definitely get the date for our next practice match for you guys!" He spared a warm smile for Rosalina, "Nice meeting you, Rosalina-chan, you really don't have to thank me for the magazine." "Kise-kun...the pizzas are tipping." A monotone voice alerted Kise to the leaning tower of pizzas and the blond teetered around to get them back in a perfect line. Behind Kise, stood a short blue haired boy wearing the same Nintendo High uniform. He turned round blue eyes to Rosalina, "Konnichiwa, hajimate desu." Kise handed him a few pizzas off the top, "Kurokocchi~! What're you doing here?" Kuroko peered over the top of the pizzas he was holding, "You were taking too long. Kagami-kun threatened to eat Midorima-kun's bento..." he paused for Kise to catch up, which wasn't happening, "It's his lucky item for today." Kise nodded knowingly, "I see. Ah, bye-bye, Rosalina-chan." Leaving the shop, Kuroko looked up to the blond, "Who was that?" "A fan." Despite Kise's usually happy reply, his expression was quite serious. Channel 5 HQ: Director's Office: The door opened after Fuse mentioned the pair of poor, unfortunate souls that were now employed at Channel 5 and those said members entered the room. A bored looking man wearing blue and glasses and a young, cyan haired boy inclined their heads to Fuse. "I'm Mikaze Ai," the cyan haired boy placed a hand on his chest, "A member of the idol group Quartet Night. I'm only doing this part-time as directed by Shining Saotome-san. I was ordered to do some enhanced programming for the station and other odd jobs that your...ordinary and frankly pathetic, producers cannot do." The man next to Ai smirked and chuckled under his breath. Taking a step forwards, he touched the hilt of a saber at his hip and made a flourished bow, "Fushimi Saruhiko of Scepter 4...I don't expect you'd have heard of it." He straightened and shrugged, "I'm basically security here. But..." he turned slightly and slid his gaze out the door to the security bots outside, "Your robots could use an upgrade." Abandoned Apartment: With White Bomber and Mega Man falling down to the basement right behind Shinobu and the pair of Tengu, Shinobu jumped a foot in the air and shrieked, "YIKES!" One after the other, the tengu moved in between Shinobu and the newcomers. "Who're you? Oi, answer me unless you wanna be lunch," one barked. The other set a calming hand on his twin's shoulder, "Hazuki...I don't think they're a threat. Plus...we don't eat humans." Looking at his twin, Hazuki pulled off the brown tengu mask he wore and frowned at him, "Kagetsu...you're too nice to strangers! I was just gonna scare them a bit. And it would serve them right! They frightened Shinobu." Kagetsu pulled off his own, identical, brown tengu mask and smiled gently at Hazuki and the pair of newcomers, "Shinobu is frightened by a lot of things. If he wasn't...he'd just act oblivious. It's good that he was startled." They turned and found Shinobu's pursed lips and deep frowning brows and fondly patted his shoulders. Interrupting the serene moment a loud banging noise came from further in the darkness of the basement. The trio rushed towards the noise, carefully avoiding the fallen beams and glass that littered the floor. They stopped short when they came up to a steel door plastered with talismans and sacred rope marking a clear line in front of it that something had been sealed within the room beyond. "What the...?" Shinobu started and jumped when a large dent appeared in the door as if something inside were trying to punch their way out. More dents appeared and Hazuki pushed Shinobu behind him, "Stay back, Shinobu, Kagetsu!" Hazuki picked up a long, wooden pole from the ground and twirled it around, "Is this what Satomi-san said for you to do when you got here, Shinobu?" Shinobu shook his head, "He didn't say much of anything. Just...that there was an evil presence building here and I should check it out." A fourth larger dent appeared in the door. It looked more like the upper half of someone's body had been thrown rather roughly against the door. Following came a scream much like someone experiencing a great amount of terror. The scream reverberated off everything metal in the basement, intensifying the sound, forcing Shinobu and the tengu to cover their ears in pain. "What is that?!" "I...don't know." Crystal Order HQ: Quietly entering the room a man stared at Astral's disembodied head for a minute. Flipping open a cell phone, he turned it around to show to Astral as he advanced on the head. The image on the screen depicted a brilliantly captured shot of Mario and Luigi leaving the scene where they'd fought Astral. "Nice battle...it was really interesting to watch. Though...I figured you'd lose." Izaya grinned mockingly and tapped on the glass holding Astral's head. "It's really a shame you didn't wipe out any of the pieces on the board though... I could've done without Fuuka Yamagishi." Patting the side of the glass cage, Izaya tucked the phone away, "If you help me...I'll help you." Magic woke to the sound of Arfoire's growling. Sitting up, she looked around and glowered at a wall, "Who's there?! This is Arfoire-sama's private time. Leave!" Separating from the shadows, a black haired young man stepped forwards, his hands in the pockets of a black hoodie, "Not very friendly, are you? What kind of youkai are you?" CFW Magic glared at the man, "We're not youkai," she spat, "We are Arfoire-sama's loyal servants!" The man tilted his head to the side, "I don't see a difference." A pair of men dressed in pin-stripe suits came up behind him, "Matoba-sama, we'll be late if you take any more time here. These beings aren't youkai." Matoba gave them a blank stare, "Huh...my mistake." Within the room were Gray Mann, Blank and Bagular spoke, several figures lingered around the edges of the room unwilling to step into a better light and reveal their faces. Short, tall, female, male...people of all sorts loitered quietly. Train: Reiko inhaled calmly, her sharp gray eyes following 3.0's movements. She moved her head to the side a bit and flicked her wrist, decapitating the robot in one smooth movement. Watching his body fall to the ground, she caught the head, "Game, set, and match. Looks like I win, 3.0." Shinjuku Central Park: Thane and Tali exchanged looks and shrugged. Coughing, Thane gestured to KOS-MOS, "Aren't Drell in your assumptions of who's a threat?" Tali poked his shoulder, "Do you want to be considered a threat?" Mordin shifted, "Educated theory suggests threat level mentioned in comparison to androids not human beings." Thane nodded, "Makes sense then." Turning her attention to Shion, Tali sighed, "Anyway...Shepard said you have information about the battle in Toshima. So those things all over the news aren't a new kind of...what was it? Pokemon?"
Hospital: Izaya's Plot~ Izaya smiled and waved goodbye to the girls. He wasn't surprised Toadsworth knew about him. Everyone who traveled through Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro knew who he was quite well. The shady business part stung a bit, but he held back in a retort about how his business has always been shade-free. Kairi's willingness to ask questions was promising....but he'd have to pursue it when the other princess wasn't around. Reddish-brown eyes watched the girls communicate with Thor and that little group of oddballs. Humans really were...interesting. "On to..." "You!" Turning, Izaya found himself looking at the doctor, Yashamaru, and his accusing glare. "Oh, Yashamaru-kun...right?" Yashamaru frowned, his glance moving to the kids behind him, "What are you doing here, Izaya? You don't look hurt and no one you're familiar with is staying here." Touching his heart, Izaya pouted, "That hurts, Yashamaru-kun, I was just--" "Please stop calling me that. I'm older than you are." "Yashamaru-san," Izaya amended, silently reminding himself how quick this person could make up his mind to kill someone, "I was just here to see if a cute little girl that was attacked is doing alright. I can't be worried about those from that school?" his smile turned into a sneer and his words bit deep, "Come now, you're being too overprotective of them, don't you think? Each of them deserves to walk their own, unaltered, path." Yashamaru pursed his lips tightly, "I'll ask you just once. Please, leave." An odd memory started to surface, pushing for attention and Izaya shoved it back down. Lowering his head slightly, he started for the exit, "As you say. I'm not here to cause friction. Be seeing you, Yashamaru-san." Izaya stopped briefly at his home, tucking away the star-shaped gem he carried around. "I'm going to go see your little friend, Astral. I have a few things to ask him to do for me." Shinjuku Central Park: Tali, Thane, Mordin, and Nihlus stood waiting in Shinjuku's Central Park. Since it was still a weekday, the place was sparsely filled with office workers taking a break. Nihlus was busy chatting with Liara through the old channel she and Shepard and the gang still used. "You're sure?" "Yes, as far as I can tell there are quite a few Soul Reapers posing as ordinary citizens in Tokyo. At least..." she hesitated and Nihlus pushed, "What is it?" "I'm not really sure they are Soul Reapers. Most of these people were weeded out by obvious reasons such as age, schooling and were-abouts the day you remember being resurrected. For now, even if I can't trust all the information I get from Izaya's agents, I'll keep looking. I'll upload you a file with a list of names of people who might know where to find one." Nodding, Nihlus tapped his Omni-tool, receiving the list, "Thank you, Liara. I still can't believe you're the Shadow Broker. Times sure have changed since I've been gone." Ramen Place: Minato visibly flinched when Yu mentioned they were avoiding Mitsuru. "Ah...w-well..." Poking his cheek, Minako grinned, "He's got a point. You can go see her first. I want to take a look around and find Aki. Oh! Then we can go find Fuuka-chan! Maybe she'll make something yummy for us!" Minato's face pulled down into one of dread, "Do you always think about food? Though I'd rather avoid eating Fuuka's food... Sis, will you make something too? M-Maybe as a present for Sanada-senpai?" Minako drifted off into her daydreams about food, "You think about it just as much as I do! But...hmm...I guess I could. Cooking with Fuuka-chan was always fun!" Naoto laughed at their odd behavior, "Minako-san, does that mean you can cook?" She nodded, "Mhm...I was in the cooking club with Fuuka-chan. Though...I didn't get special lessons from Shinjiro-senpai." Naoto gave Yu a look as if to say, 'Look...a woman who can cook normally.' Minato waved goodbye to Yu, Teddie and Naoto, "I'll head off to see Mitsuru then. Minako, take care of the bill you glutton!" Fleeing, Minato didn't want to see his sister empty her wallet. Japanese Railway: Reiko narrowed her eyes at 3.0 as she blocked his feet with her arm. "The hell's that supposed to mean?" Shrugging it off as simple banter, she sliced upwards to cut through 3.0's leg joints, "I guess we're doing this the hard way then." Transforming her motion, Reiko spun around, ducking under 3.0's legs and smashed her open palm into its back in a forceful jab, "Robots will never learn, will they... Your attack patterns are simply that...patterns dictated by binary code. I've spent my entire life competing with someone who memorized Pi at age seven!" CPU's House: Virus watched the girls usher Sei upstairs, vowing they wouldn't leave the house and rest. He sighed, "Children sure are interesting. Not the least bit fun, but interesting." It was then that Kei stood up from her place at the table, "Now I remember who you are! Virus..." Virus turned a charming smile towards her, "I'm honored you remember my name, Kei-chan. If I recall correctly, you're distantly related to that idol...Ren Jinguji, yes?" Kei stiffened, "Distantly related. That's not the issue here, Virus. Speaking of issues..." she looked around as if looking for another person, "Where's Trip?" Virus watched her with the same cold smile on his lips as he would watch a trapped animal in a bear trap struggle to chew its leg off for freedom. Kei refused to squirm under his gaze, "I asked you a question." "Trip isn't here, I should think that would be obvious. I don't really care where he is." Ranmaru stood awkwardly in the entry way. He didn't really care for all the family drama and it seemed Noire had fled to her room so he wouldn't be able to question her any more about what happened in Toshima. There really was something wrong with this family. Sei nervously looked down at Vert as she jumped out the window. "We're going to jump out a window? Why?" Belle patted his shoulder, "Because your onee-sama are worried about you and your brother. This Aoba is also our brother now. So we're going to find him for you. Kuro-chan...would you...?" Kuro helped Sei ease himself onto the window sill and hopped down to Vert. Belle and Kuro stared at his fragile back as he stood up and smiled up at them. "Good, he's okay. Alright...let's go!" Belle chuckled, "How cute, Kuro-chan is getting into this." Once all the siblings were on the ground, Sei borrowed Belle's cell phone, the game he'd given them opened up and the little warrior in blue opened a chest revealing the very same message Ranmaru had shown them. "Ranmaru-san had good intentions showing me this. I'm positive the person in the video was Aoba...but Virus is right too....he's acting strange. Not once in the video did he call me brother. I'm not sure...where to go with this." Belle bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, "...woman..." "Eh? Belle?" "That woman that saved us at Glitter! Her name was Yuuko. We should ask her. She seemed to know everything that was going on that was strange. I think she mentioned she had a shop somewhere around here." Sei nodded and was about to profusely thank his sisters when a familiar ringtone startled him. "That's..." he lifted his arm up and a holographic screen appeared out of a small bracelet he wore, "My Coil? Ah! Trip-san!" If he ignored Trip's call, he'd call Virus, and Virus would know he was leaving the house without him. Anxiety eating away at his stomach, he answered the call, "Trip-san..." "Oiiiii, Sei-san, your GPS says you're not very close to Virus. Where are you going?" Sei's body reflexively flinched at the question, he couldn't disobey Virus and Trip. "I'm going to look for a woman named Yuuko-san." Trip hummed, "Ohhhhh? Without Virus?" Sei nodded, "Yes." A few minutes of silence and Trip's voice came again, "Alright, I'll come get you. We wouldn't want our precious Sei-san to get hurt." Sei panicked, "Ah, no, you don't have to do that--!" But the call had ended. "I don't suppose it would be alright to let Trip-san come along... It's not like he tells Virus-san everything." Mario Bros' House: Kise took a small step backwards to put some space between himself and the girl. She was really strange but she kind of...glowed. "Kise Ryouta. I'm a first year at Nintendo High. I used to play for Kaijo High but...well that's not important. Uhhh...maybe you've seen me before?" From his back pocket, he pulled out a rolled up magazine with him plastered all over the cover in stylish clothing, "I model for this magazine a lot. You can keep this, I've got a dozen." Overflowing with charisma, Kise smiled at her, "What about you? You got a name?" Council Chambers: Saren's reformation complete, he stood and looked around. "An S-Type?" Narrowing blue eyes on the pair he idly thought about his situation. Revived but as an S-Type, whatever that was. His memory was a bit hazy from when he'd died, but he was sure it was Shepard he last saw. The Reapers weren't around...or they hadn't gotten to the Citadel yet? A part of him wished someone would explain things to him. How long was he dead? What year was it? Then the pair said something about a portal to take him to where Shepard was. "Earth..." He stared into the portal and walked through it.... Abandoned Apartment: A boy wearing a crisp, new Nintendo High uniform stood outside of the abandoned apartment, "Y'know they say a kidnapper took some kids here and one of them was killed." From behind him, a long haired man wearing a Tengu mask hugged the boy, "That sounds scary. Are you sure this is the place Satomi-dono said he felt the evil presence?" An identical man poked his head out from the doorway, "This is the place alright. Reeks of something awful. Shinobu, you'd best stay here with Kagetsu. I'll take a look around." Shinobu pouted, "Hazuki...we're here together for a reason! You can't just leave me and Kagetsu here!" Hazuki lowered his head and lifted the Tengu mask he wore, "Sorry..." Suddenly a boom resounded from inside and the trio pushed their way into the abandoned apartment. Kemonotsuki House: Akashi's eyes opened to an unfamiliar ceiling. Sitting up, a wave of vertigo washed over him, making the room blur. Taking a deep breath and waiting for it to pass, he examined his surroundings. The room was nicely furnished with surprisingly modest taste. Beside the bed were his clothes he'd been wearing. Looking down at his self, he frowned at the yutaka he was wearing and plucked a stray brown hair from it, "Kitsune...?" "Oh, he's awake! Fetch Kaname-sama, quickly!" Looking towards the door, Akashi's eyes landed on a fox standing on its hind legs wearing a purple yukata of it's own. "Oi, Kitsune..." he called out and the fox jumped in surprise, "Where am I?" The fox tapped its paws together and bowed respectfully, "This is Kemonotsuki House... Kaname-sama and Satomi-sama are the only ones who live here currently. Kaname-sama brought you here from the church after you were brought in by a woman in black." Akashi narrowed his eyes. Lulu brought him here? On Izaya's order most likely. "Hmph, I see. Arigatougozaimasu." The fox smiled faintly, "We changed you to keep your clothes from wrinkling. Lunch will be prepared shortly for you and Kaname-sama." Behind the fox, a young man with golden hair smiled at him, "It's good to see you awake. You kind of scared me when you were brought to the church." Patiently, Akashi watched him enter the room and take a seat in a chair next to the bed, "Are you feeling better?" He nodded, "Yes. I'm sorry I troubled you." The man laughed, "You don't have to be so formal. My name is Osaki Kaname. Satomi-san is out right now so I'm the only one here to talk to. If you have any ques--" "Do you know a man named Izaya Orihara?" Kaname blinked, "Uh...n-not really. Is that a friend of yours?" Akashi flung the covers off himself, "No, he's a person that will understand soon that I always win." Getting up, Akashi picked up his clothes and started to dress. Kaname and the foxes carefully watched him and followed him out of the room shortly after dressing. "Um..." "Kaname-san," Akashi paused as if picking his words carefully, "You're not normal are you. It's obvious from the kitsune that follow you around but also by your attitude. Does having the kitsune have something to do with the Kemonotsuki House?" Kaname chuckled, "You're quite smart. Kemonotsuki...or Sacred Beast, is exactly what it is. I was born to be possessed by the five foxes you see following me. Satomi-san is possessed by Yatsufusa, a Sacred Dog. There are two others who used to live here, but they've chosen to live elsewhere for the time being. Still...there is a wing in the house that is sealed for a reason. Please do not enter it." Akashi nodded once, "Fair enough. Do you intend to use my presence here to manipulate the Akashi name to gain more influence for your church?" Again, Kaname laughed light-heartedly, "No way! Japan is a multi-religious country. Over half of the populace is Shinto-Buddist. The religion we preach. The cathedral is large and pretty, yes...but there aren't many Japanese citizens who are Christian here...especially so in Tokyo. If you asked most would probably say they don't practice any religion and only visit a shrine once a year for the New Years." Akashi knew his words were true, he, himself, wasn't particularly fond of any religion. "The Kemonotsuki Houses host many of the festivals here in Tokyo," the idle piece of information dropped from Akashi's lips like it was nothing. "Yes. Satomi-san is in charge of a lot of the organizing. Doesn't that make him really amazing?" Receiving the cold shoulder, Kaname shivered and thought, 'Ohh...this kid is really similar to Satomi. I'm not sure if I should be afraid or amazed at how similar they are.' "I won't be staying long. I do have other responsibilities."
Reserving: Alexandra Garcia (Kuroko no Basket) Masako Araki (Kuroko no Basket) Matoba Seiji (Natsume Yuujinchou) Natori Shuuichi (Natsume Yuujinchou) Hiiragi (Natsume Yuujinchou) Hinoe (Natsume Yuujinchou) Misuzu (Natsume Yuujinchou) Benio (Natsume Yuujinchou)
Hospital: Izaya's Plot~ Spoiler Stopping a few feet away from Peach and Kairi, Izaya Orihara watched the pair curiously. A slow smirk spread across his face as something devious hatched in his brain. Letting one hand swing free from his pockets, he trailed his palm against the wall as he advanced the remaining few steps towards the princess duo, "Feeling a little helpless? I agree with your blonde friend here...very brave what you did in Toshima." He gave his best sincere smile and flipped a card from his sleeve and held it out to Kairi, "Izaya Orihara, Information Broker, at your service. I was on my way to do a little business when I came across such a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie." He was lucky Shizu-chan hadn't actually managed to damage his body just yet. Kairi's mumbled words hadn't escaped his hearing. Allowing a sly chuckle escape, he shrugged dramatically, "Your suspicions may be right about those creatures you fought. Would you like to know? What exactly they are? I can help you, you know." Subway train: Reiko stared at Kai as she almost flew to her rescue, "Kai-san... Understood!" Turning to fully face 3.0, Reiko fixed her harsh, gray gaze on it, "Metal Sonic 3.0...you are in possession of critical information." Tapping her blade against a metal pole used for holding on inside the subway car, Reiko flicked her wrist and the pole split in two, "Hand it over and I promise I'll do minimal damage to your tacky body." CPU's House: Sei's face flushed bright red, "Ah...nee-sama... I just...didn't want to lose any more siblings." From the doorway, Ranmaru watched the girls cling to Sei. "So you're Sei Toue, hm?" Sei flinched visibly at the mention of the surname he'd taken. Gently slipping out of his sisters' embrace, Sei faced Ranmaru, "Kurosaki Ranmaru-san... How nice to have an idol from Quartet Night in our home." Ranmaru scowled at him, "Whatever. You are Sei Toue, yes?" Sei nodded and Ranmaru lifted his phone up for him to see, "This is from Sly Blue." Virus stiffened as the message played out, showing a young man wearing pure white. His skin held no pigmentation and his hair was as white as his clothes. "Sei, I heard you were alive but I never imagined I'd be able to see you again. Had I known Virus and Trip had found you after the Oval Tower collapsed, I'd have come get you. I asked Ranran to find you for me until I can get back to Japan. I'm going to find you, Sei, I want to bring you home with me." Sei sniffed, rubbing tears from his eyes, "Aoba nii-san...!" Virus grabbed the phone, even though Sly Blue was still talking, "Enough of this! Who told you to give this message to Sei?" Ranmaru narrowed his piercing gaze on Virus, "Sly Bl--" "Sly Blue doesn't exist!" Sei took a step towards Virus when a long black snake slithered into the house, wrapping around Sei's ankles. Sei frowned down at the snake, "Hersha... But, Virus...Sly Blue was Aoba's username in Rhyme. Why are you so against Aoba meeting me?" Virus sighed, showing him the phone with the message paused, "This is not Aoba." Sei took one more look at the zero-pigmentation person in the video, "That's Aoba's other self...but Aoba, nonetheless." Fiddling with the phone, Virus played the message again, without picture, "Listen closely, Sei. I know you didn't spend much time with your brother, but even you can tell that this is not Aoba's voice." Sei listened once more and nodded firmly, "This is Aoba's other self...my brother has experienced a shock and allowed his other self to come to the surface. I can help him...I will go to him." Ranmaru caught his arm as he headed for the door, "From what Sly Blue told me about your abilities, there are a lot of people looking for you...including people in the government." Virus shot a look at Histoire, "This is true. Aoba does not realize that your abilities are valued on a world-wide basis, Sei. I brought you here to protect you from them. Aoba would never risk your safety for this." Belle hugged Sei from behind, "Sei-kun...would you allow me to contact your brother? You want to meet him...I understand that. I've wanted to meet my twin sister for the longest time since I learned of her existence." Sei clutched at her hands, "I know a few people who can help. Clear-san and Noiz-san. They were friends of my brother's." Mario Bros. House: Kise smiled brilliantly when Luigi appeared until he mentioned the price. Looking like a wounded puppy, Kise frowned and reluctantly pulled out his wallet, "Ahhh, I can't believe I let them order 37 pizza's... Most of this will be consumed by Kagamicchi. Seriously, you should see how much he eats." Seeing all the pizza's first hand made Kise pout. He spotted the post-it note and frowned, "Y'know, we're not the Kiseki no Sedai anymore... I mean...the six of us are but...I play for Nintendo High's team now. Ohh, I know!" Handing over the money to pay for the pizza's to Luigi, Kise bounced in place, "Why don't you guys come watch us play?! We don't have an official game for quite a while, but a practice game should be enough! Then you guys can see how awesome Kurokocchi is! I'll ask coach when our next practice game is and you guys can come and...and...." he trailed off from his excited talking when his eyes landed on Rosalina, "I didn't know there was a lady in the building." He stared a bit longer at her before picking up the stacks of pizza's, "A-Anyway...thanks for the food. Kagamicchi gets grumpy when he's hungry." Ramen Place: Minato flipped open his phone, "Good idea. Being partners is more than just fighting beside each other. It's coming to one another's aid when they need it. Give us a call when your friends get here." His phone beeped as the transaction went through. Minako held her phone up a bit reluctantly, "Pharos...is a good kid. I'm sure if you need him, he'd come if you called him too. I believe...Pharos carries with him a piece of the Dark Hour. He's always been apart of us, that's why we can use our Persona's freely." She and Minato repeated their transaction with Naoto. Citadel: Under Council Chambers: From the mass of flesh and metal, a figure finally formed. Popping its shoulder back into place as a piece of armor re-positioned itself on its body and finally standing up, it uttered one word: "Shepard." A black cloth formed and settled over its head and blue eyes shifted and settled on the pair before it growled at them, "Where is Shepard." A gray turian stood before them, dressed in black and gray armor and cloth. His voice still rough and half garbled from still forming vocal cords. The spark of reforming biotic implants jerked his head to the side. Spoiler
Reserving: Kotobuki Reiji (Uta no Prince-sama)
Toshima: Levi retracted his hand away from Nano's shoulder before he could touch him, "Ah, not exactly. Mr. Premier is a member of the Diet. I've often been put in charge of escorting him from his home in Igura to Tokyo." Nano lowered his gaze from the sky and stared for a long time at the General and Levi, "Nicole Premier. And the answer to that question..." Levi looked to the General, "Question? Did he ask you something?" Ramen Place: Minato smiled, "You are very close to your friends. I'm glad that those with our kind of power are never alone. It's a bit odd to think that I'm actually about...hmm, lets see Amagi-san was in middle school when we met...and you look about her age and you're a second year so...about two years older?" He frowned down at his appearance, "I still look like a second year myself." Naoto blushed at Yu's memories. To hide her embarrassment, she pulled down the brim of her hat and scowled, "What's this about a door? I'm sure it must be another thing that's shared between you three so I won't pry," standing, she stuck out a hand for Minato to shake, "I also have to thank you for offering our friends lodgings. If you're so sure Kirijo-san will put them up then I would very much like to repay you however I can." Shaking her hand, Minato sighed, "You don't have to be so formal. I'm not--" "I have quite a few favors with the local information broker. If you ever need any sort of information, you can come to me and I'll get it for you." she cut him off bluntly. Minako pounced on the detective, grabbing her hands and holding them tightly, "Really?! Then...you can find out more about that creepy white dude and the meanie in black that hurt my brother!" Surprised, Naoto stared at her with large blue eyes, "Uh...w-well, yes." 'A man in white and a man in black....so those are the two responsible for Minato-san's condition.' She nodded, "I'll find out what I can, but I wouldn't expect much with that little of information. Do you have a name perhaps?" Minako chewed on her bottom lip in thought, "Umm, oh! He called the one in white Albedo." "He?" Nodding happily, Minako pointed to her hair, "The man with fluffy, silver hair!" Minako's vague descriptions were starting to give Naoto a headache, "Right..." Coffee Shop: Ranmaru paused as he stood up. A little girl was threatening him. Goddess or no, one day he'd have to teach her a thing or two about threatening him. "Listen, I never said anything about hurting anyone, did I? I only said I have a favor to fill for Sly Blue. Do you really think I'd go to a house filled with girls just to hurt some nobody?" Clicking his tongue, he reluctantly held a hand out towards Noire, "Here...we need to get going." Outside, Ranmaru pulled Noire along at his own pace when he passed by a TV crew rushing towards a rather packed amphitheater. The voice that rang out from the echoing oval was familiar to Ranmaru. He paused with a good view of the stage and peered at it. Scowling, Ranmaru pushed on his sunglasses and tugged down the hat he wore. Spoiler He growled low in his throat, "Trans Winter..." On the stage, a blue haired young boy sang, danced and occasionally made subtle passes as the cheering female fans. There were quite a few male fans among them, most likely misguided fools believing the performer to be a young girl. Mikaze Ai, a member of Quartet Night, and fellow Idol alongside Ranmaru, was well received with the new additions of Trans Winter and Negai Boshi to his singles album. "Hmph, more publicity than we need at the moment. With Reji still overseas and Camus back home, we're hardly our former selves." Realizing he was talking too much, Ranmaru clammed up and continued on, letting Ai's song linger in the air around them. CPU's House: Belle smiled at her sisters' explanation of the battle. She was going to keep Sei's moment of heroism as a fond memory. Pushing through her sisters, she met Virus' gaze, "By-the-way...where is Sei-kun?" Virus, who'd been entertaining the thought of actually going to Histoire's side after she'd collapsed, blinked and turned his attention past the girls to the stairs, "He used too much of his ability in saving you, as you recall it. Sei is a fragile entity. To allow him to use such an ability out of the blue like that is inexcusable." Kuro glared at him, "If Sei hadn't helped us, we'd be dead! Sei did a good thing and I'm going to thank him in person!" she snapped, turning on her heel and heading towards the stairs. Virus slipped in front of her, "Let him rest, Kuro-chan." "Ah, good, you're all back," a voice behind Virus drew the girls' attention. Sei, supported by only the railing, stood on the stairs weakly smiling, "I'm so glad Usui was able to help." "Sei-kun..." Brushing past Virus, Sei found himself being suffocated in Belle's chest by her warm hug, "Sei-kun, you really saved us!" she started to cry noisily. Mario Brothers' House: It wasn't long after Papa Mario had left the building that a bright and vibrant blond stepped into the home. Seeing no one immediately, he tapped his palm on a bell to attract someone. "Ahhh~ I can't believe lost. I wanted to play on Kurokocchi's team~!" he whined to himself before tapping the bell again, "Oi~ is anybody there?! I'm here for...uh, 34 extra large, supreme...eh? Supreme?! Extra large?!" A defeated sigh left him and he bonked his head down on the counter, "...Pizzas...." Train: Reiko was ready when 3.0 launched itself at her. Blocking a majority of the shots at her body, she felt the sting from hard metal punching her. It was still chattering when a flash of light made her instinctively duck. Her leg shot out behind her and swept around to knock the pair of attackers off balance. Without much room to move in, she was at a slight disadvantage. Numbers on a train were hard to overcome with precision dodges and speed. Shoving her hand into her school bag, she pulled out the hilt of a fancy rapier and flicked it, extending the blade out. Swinging it up and to the right, she aimed more to nick the enemy and gain some room than to damage.
Reserving: Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII/Dirge of Cerberus/Advent Children) Repliku (Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories) Terra (Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep)
Tokyo Cathedral: Satomi stopped once more before the doors and sighed, "As you wish, but...police would not be enough to subdue the forces that Shinobu will encounter." Leaving, slightly disheartened, Satomi pondered who else he could ask for aid in such short amount of time. Yatsufusa nudged his shoulder and he waved him off, "I know, the cathedral is nothing like the Church we come from. They can't see the ayakashi that roam the streets of Tokyo." Toshima Battle Site: Spoiler Izaya and Nano ceased their glaring match and stared at General Shining Armor, bewildered. Nano's empty, blue eyes slid past the general and to the electrified, barbed wire fence that lay some miles behind the soldiers of the government. This land was his home...it was Igura, the place where the very same government sent criminals to fight and kill other criminals for a chance to fight Il Re and leave here. The fence marked it as so...it was why ASIC had come there. Nano lifted his hollow blue eyes to the sky, "Do you know what it is? What you gain more of by giving to others." Izaya laughed to himself, "Oh, man, a riddle?" he looked around at the battle site and back where the scientists had retreated, "And now I have to go. Ho, before I forget...Mr. General, if you want to know more about this portion of Toshima, you can always email me and I'll give you all the information you wanna know..for a price, of course." Waving happily, he bounced away, "Well then, bye bye!" Nano waved to the briefcase on the ground, "Give this to Shiki. Otherwise...do what you want with this place." He remained standing still, gazing emptily up at the sky, his words held a quiet bite to them. Sliding down the hill, Levi paused for a moment, "General...what's going on here?" he asked sharply before laying eyes on Nano's silent figure. He sucked in a short hiss through his teeth, "Mr. Premier...what are you doing out here?" Nano didn't move or react to his name, prompting Levi to reach for his shoulder, "Mr. Premier..." Ramen Place: Minako looked down at her food, "Must be nice...to have a family, I mean." Minato scowled at her, "Shush, we have each other and our friends." He side-stepped her words and offered a faint smile to Yu, "I don't think you have to worry about where they'll stay. Since we're comrades now, I'll ask Mitsuru if she can spare a few rooms at a hotel owned my the Kirijo Company for them." He nodded with Minato's recap of how they obtained their Persona's, "Must be tough...sharing your secrets like that. I only remember...we all had to face our true feelings and grow a little for our Persona's to grow with us. They changed after a while, I guess mirroring how our spirits have grown and changed too." Naoto hummed, "Yes, I remember my Persona also changing after realizing my own true power. I've only gained this state because of Senpai. I don't think I could've done it alone." Minako jumped from her seat, "We can ask Theo! Theo knows everything about the Personas! We just have to find that blue door!" CPU's House: After the battle had ended, Sei collapsed onto the table without warning and Virus jumped. "Sei-kun!? I told you not to use your power so carelessly!" He pulled him from the room filled with women watching Sei with concern and up to a room he'd prepared for him. Laying him on the bed, Virus fussed like a mother hen over her chick, "What am I going to do if I lose you too, Sei-kun? Aoba already doesn't like that we vanished on him. I don't like being on Aoba's bad side, Sei." Returning to the room, Kei frowned, "Is he alright?" Cold, blue eyes passed over her, "Yeah. Sei-kun's always been fragile. I think meeting so many new people today was a bit much for him."
Tokyo Cathedral: Satomi shook his head, "He hardly needs spiritual help. Even if he did...that's what I'm around for." Handing Yang the photo of Shinobu, Satomi thoughtfully set a hand on his chin, "Protection seems more what he requires. I'd send Yatsufusa but I'll be somewhere else. Someone of your abilities should be enough. If you're not up to the task..." Satomi seemed to toss that option out a window. "My name is Satomi Rio. I represent one of the Kemonotsuki Houses affiliated with the Church. I run a special division...of course not with this church. Inue Shinobu is very special, if anything were to happen to him, the Kemonotsuki Houses would never forgive it." Turning on his heel, he shot an icy glare at Frollo before heading to the door, "Yang, Friday...the abandoned building covered in police tape. Inue Shinobu should be accompanied by two people. You'll know the enemy when you see him. Take care of Shinobu." Ramen Place: Minato spoke around his food, "I've never heard the theory that they were Gods. We saw them only as their Arcana dictated. Y'know...Chariot, Magician, Moon...that sort of thing." Pharos' face pulled into a frustrated frown, "Not...a Shadow... I don't remember," he scowled and slipped off his chair, "I don't want to remember. If they're Gods...and I... Then what am I? Just an Arcana? What's happening....?" He looked up towards Minako before he vanished into a small shadow in the corner. Minako frowned, "Pharos is upset." Swallowing his mouthful of food, Minato patted her head, "I got that," pushing aside his empty bowl, "Your theory is quite possible... After Fusing the Persona...the things they said were oddly nail on the head. I've never thought about it before, since the only Persona's we encountered were from the team...and Strega." "And Pharos," Minako chimed in. Her brother gave her an odd look and she quietly went back to eating, but Naoto caught it. "We could always ask the one who came to retrieve O-chan. Yuuichi Komura. He spoke like he knew something about deities." Minako leaned back, "So these friends of yours...they all have Persona's too? They fought their...uh...other selves too. I wonder what that's like. Everyone we met, already had their Persona." Toshima District: From behind the pair of scientists, Izaya's voice rang, "Bothering more people, Nano?" Nano, the man in brown with the briefcase, shrugged, "I'm not bothering them. I'm just asking a friendly question...and giving a warning." Izaya flipped his coat off his shoulders, spreading his arms with his hands still in his pockets, "You really like playing guardian angel. Is that for Shi-tan?" The corners of Nano's mouth turned up, "Yes, but that's hardly any of your business, Izaya. I'm just being helpful. Two unarmed people standing around Toshima so close to Igra...how can I not want them not to get mixed up in something that doesn't concern them." A dangerous gleam entered Izaya's eyes, "I think it greatly concerns them."
Reserving: Aoba Seregaki (DRAMAtical Murder) Takashi Natsume (Natume Yuujin Chou) Madara/Nyanko-sensei (Natsume Yuujin Chou) Jonathan (Shin Megami Tensei IV) Flynn (Shin Megami Tensei IV)
I have Roy Mustang.
Ramen Place: Minato and Minako devoured bowl after bowl of ramen like they were glasses of water. Naoto's face creased in displeasure as she watched the pair eat. "This is worse than watching Senpai eat that beef bowl." Pharos chuckled lightly at Yu's mutterings, "But eventually they do." He poked at his food with disinterest, "You said something that I feel like I should've remembered before....but I can't recall anything like it. A Shadow named Izanami gave you your power?" he lifted his hand and stared at it, "So there are Shadows that weren't man-made. Hmm...I wonder what that means my purpose is now." That serene smile returned to his face, "After all, I was only created to bring about the End." Blue eyes stared at Yu the more he spoke, "Are you sure your friends will make it in time for the End?" Tokyo Cathedral: Satomi Rio looked up when Yang spoke to him, but his attention lie on Frollo. Yatsufusa growled low as Aldrich passed him, "The stench of evil is not something that washes off with a few minutes spent inside Holy grounds." Though his words were directed at Aldrich, he spoke loud enough that his voice filled the cathedral. Turning to Yang, Satomi folded his arms and stood, "Actually, I was intending to send someone from the Church to do some hard labor around here. There's an old building not far from the High School that was used as a criminals' hideout recently. I have a favor to ask of you, Yang Fang Leiden." He pulled out a picture from his pocket and held it up, "This is the boy. Inue Shinobu," the picture showed a white haired, blue eyed boy no older than twelve, "He will be alone. If I could acquire you to look after him during his job...." He let his words hang as their meaning was quite clear. "I can pay you, if that's what's holding you back." Toshima District: Crunching over broken pieces of rubble from the battle, a brunette eyed the pair of scientists chattering away. Setting a briefcase down on the ground, the brunette tucked his hands into his pockets, "You two don't belong here. Being so close to the Igra Tournament is dangerous. Especially to those not entered." Nudging the briefcase with his foot, he settled brown eyes on the pair, "Toshima's not like it used to be. Igra's taint spreads, day by day...and there are things like what happened here. S-Type...there's a word I haven't heard in a while." Coffee shop: Ranmaru scowled at Noire, turning his face away as she spouted praises. "I don't talk to girls this much. They're annoying." Flustered by her flattery, Ranmaru took a drink of his coffee, burning his tongue on the hot liquid. "Listen, I didn't bring you here to chat about my music or whatever else you do in your free time. That Goddess crap better not be a lie, young lady. I owe a favor to a demon named Sly Blue. He's been calling in that favor recently and I tracked down the person he's been asking about. Someone named Sei is living with you. I need you to give him this message or find a way for me to get in your house without being seen to give it to him myself." Train: Reiko half turned, feeling a stare on her back and located the source of her discomfort. 'That would be 3.0. Because it's here and obviously staring at me, it has to be here to take me out of the picture. I would do the same thing if I were in its position,' she allowed a small smile to spread across her lips, 'You picked the wrong girl to follow home, 3.0. All I need is the head...don't damage the head.'
Reserving: Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4/Golden/Animation)
Reserving: Inue Shinobu (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East) Kagetsu (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East) Hazuki (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East)
Tokyo Streets: Minato briefly remembered Strega. "Actually, one of our own does...still. Shinjiro Aragaki." Naoto immediately pulled out a small recording device, "Shinjiro-san is one of yours then." Lifting one eyebrow, Minako eyed the recorder, "What're you recording for? Are we supposed to say something incriminating?" Giving Minako a chilly look, Naoto nodded, "You might. Shinjiro-san was reported to have been shot twice and in a coma and on the day he wakes up...he runs to your old high school. Looking deeper...I found Shinjiro-san was the one who murdered young Ken Amada's mother during the time which you call the Dark Hour." Neither Arisato twin denied her words. Minato stopped in front of a ramen place, "Mind if we eat ramen?" Naoto grabbed his arm, "You're not going to deny it?!" "Why would I? Plus...it was before we arrived on the island. We weren't there to see what happened..." he inhaled the scent of ramen, "Shinjiro can't control his Persona. It was a long time ago...back when it was only Mitsuru, Sanada-senpai and Shinjiro were in SEES. I wouldn't bother blaming Shinjiro about it though... Ken already forgave him." An awkward silence fell over Minato and Naoto even as Pharos placed a hand on her wrist. Jumping from Naoto's shadow, the Osaki Fox landed on her shoulder, bristling and hissing down at Pharos. Both unearthly beings glared at each other until Naoto let go of his arm. "You're allowing a murderer to remain in society." Minato looked at Yu and back to Naoto, "You think it's my choice? Society labeled Amada's mother's death as an accident. Things that happened during the Dark Hour don't exist in the world normal people see. My parents were also killed during the Dark Hour by Death...would you arrest Pharos for something that was beyond his control?" She struggled to respond and Minato pointed to the ramen place, "Now...can we eat? Officer Kurosawa didn't arrest Shinjiro...I'd imagine, since you know what it's like to be attacked by Shadows, that you'd hold a bit of sympathy for our senpai. It's not like he hasn't been beating himself up every day for what happened." Ruffling Pharos' short hair, he pushed Minako and the little boy into the ramen place, "You should really stop digging up the past, Shirogane-san. It's not healthy." Coffee Shop: Ranmaru listened to Noire quietly, "Not the weirdest thing I've heard. I wouldn't tell Ai that story of yours. He'd probably want to run tests on you." With her words in mind, he ran out of things to talk about. Scowling, Ranmaru pulled off his sunglasses, "What's a Goddess doing being a fan of an idol? Don't you have your own idols?" Ordering coffee for the both of them, he watched her in silence. 'What the hell... Goddess...? Is she mocking me?' Unknown Location: Reiko sighed, 'She's joking...she has to be joking. I realize I have until Friday to return to school...but that train ride is practically five hours long. To come back tomorrow...I'm going to need another rare snack for Atsushi to keep him from following me.' Leaving, Reiko's mind went through the lists of snacks she'd seen recently in Akita for one Atsushi wouldn't have already eaten. She blinked back to reality and found herself at the train station already, "I'm screwed... Spending all that money on a snack..." Depressed, she hung her head as she stepped onto the train to Akita. Orihara Apartment: Checking the clock, Izaya nudged Akashi on the floor, "Lulu...it's time. Drop our friend off at the Church." He hopped up, snagging his jacket off the hook and tapped a number into one of his phones, "...Mr. Felix, I'm in need of your services. A dead man seems to have broken my door clear off its hinges. Someone will be there to greet and pay you. I've already sent the address to you, so I'd be grateful if you could have this done before I come home tonight." Lulu reluctantly picked up the high schooler. He was heavy, but defying an order from Izaya could result in several horrible things happening to Yuna or Wakka and her little one. Leaving Legion inside the apartment and seeing Izaya head off down the street, she walked carrying Akashi to the formerly run-down-now-newly-renovated Church quite a distance away from the cathedral. As far as she knew, Izaya was having troubles finding much out about the Church's Head Priest or any of the other people working there. Was this his way of punishing Akashi...or finding something out about the Church? Lifting red eyes up to the Church, it seemed rather ordinary on the outside. Pushing open the double-doors, she felt an oppressive magical barrier halt her from stepping over the threshold. 'Is this why Izaya doesn't come here? A barrier that prevents those with magic from entering? Or is this barrier for something else?' "Can I help you with something?" Turning on her heel, Lulu's eyes landed on a blond man wearing white. "This child needs a place to rest and I cannot take him home." The man smiled warmly at her and touched a hand to Akashi's forehead, "Is he sick?" "Not that I'm aware of." He pried open one of Akashi's eyes, "He looks pretty healthy...not at all like an orphan should." Akashi's hand shot up, grabbing the man's wrist in a tight grip, "I'm not an orphan." His golden eye glowed vibrantly as he snarled at the priest. Surprise flitted across the man's face before spreading into a smile, "You're still unconscious and you still respond, huh?" Shaking off Akashi's grip, he took the boy from Lulu and smiled at her again, "We'll take care of him until he actually wakes up." He stepped past her and Lulu was reminded of her duty, "Your name?" "Osaki Kaname, Miss Lulu," his brown eyes narrowed as he smiled over his shoulder, "You work for Izaya Orihara. I hope you're not working for him because he's threatening a family member." Lulu ignored the rest of his words and turned back to the street, "Take care of the boy. You wouldn't want his father as the Church's enemy," and quietly left Akashi in Kaname's care. Spoiler Tokyo Cathedral: Spoiler Quietly entering the cathedral a pale blond man dressed in all white took note of those praying and for a moment seemed conflicted, though the emotion didn't show on his face. Looking around more, he saw Yang, obviously someone who worked with Frollo. He sat, quietly watching those that were praying. It was strange for a priest to incite a riot like that. To the blond, it was plain odd and qualified as something he'd have sent Shino to look into but he didn't exactly have a reason to send the stubborn boy. The cathedral was quiet enough and Yatsufusa hadn't alerted him to the presence of another spirit so it obviously had turned into something he absolutely couldn't send Shino to do.
Reserving: Inuzuka Shino (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East) Inukawa Souske (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East) Satomi Rio (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East) Osaki Kaname (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East)
Leaving Hospital: Minato, Minako, Pharos and the following three of their kohai left the hospital in rather high spirits. Minako prodded Teddie, "You're a Shadow...who became a human...and can use a Persona? I find that very weird." Minato glanced over his shoulder as he walked, "We had Koromaru, who's a dog, use a Persona. You didn't find that weird." She huffed, "Koro-chan had the potential." "Potential?" "Ah, it's...the ability to use a Persona. I thought...everyone who used a Persona had the potential. You...didn't know about it...?" Naoto frowned, her brow furrowing under her hat, "Afraid not. We were all thrown into the TV and faced our Shadows to gain our Persona's. Whether we had the potential, as you call it, we wouldn't have known." Minato gnawed on the inside of his cheek, fiddling with his mp3 player, "Yu...did you hear anything about a pill that Persona-User's took when you were doing your investigation?" Pharos smiled, "They wouldn't have known. Inaba is still a long ways away from Port Island. You don't have to worry, Minato, none of Narukami's friends have been taking that medicine." The Arisato twins sighed, relieved. "Still...I'd like to hear it from your own mouth, Yu. There's a medicine that suppresses a Persona. Have you heard of it?" Tokyo Streets: Ranmaru watched a mass of emotions and thoughts cross Noire's face, even watching her walk a ways away from him. 'Musician...is that all I am to this girl? Ridiculous... Ah, she's coming back...' He laughed through his nose at the expression she wore. Pushing his sunglasses back up to hide the amusement in his eyes, Ranmaru turned on his heel, waving over his shoulder, "Then let's go. There's a pretty low-key coffee shop near here." Fully expecting her to follow him, he kept walking, occasionally looking back over his shoulder, "By-the-way...I'm not just a musician. I'm a professional idol. It's literally my job to make girls like you fall flat on their faces and look stupid. So you can quit acting like you don't give a damn by talking to me." Successful in finding the coffee shop, he opened the door, waiting for Noire to enter first. "I saw what you did before you left the restaurant. That transformation thing. The hell was that, anyway?" Unknown Location: Reiko huffed, fixing Kai with her dull gray gaze, "Honestly, if I didn't know better I'd say you weren't looking at the big picture," flicking a hand through the air dismissively, "Not that it matters at this point. I don't have enough information to point any of our agents at and say 'go get 'em'." Her gaze sharpened, focusing on Kai's words, "Keep an eye out for? Are you saying we're not going out there to find this thing immediately?" She turned on her heel, facing towards the door, "Fine... Your orders, Kai?" Tokyo Streets: Madara and his army gathered off the main streets and were removing the people who'd been trampled and killed from the riots and Madara's temper when Izuna and Levi returned to the main force. "Broth-- Madara, I've returned with Captain Levi." Madara glared down at Levi's short form with irritated Rinnegan eyes, "Report!" Snapping into a salute that wasn't something Madara taught his troops, but Levi's own, personal, salute with one fist over his heart, calmly spoke, "The riots ended without casualty on other streets. I also bore witness to a massive-scale battle in Toshima, close to the Igra Tournament. Creatures called S-Types were fighting against several people. A few I identified as Kamen Riders and such. I believe they work for the Prime Minister. The rest I didn't recognize, but based on their stature and manner of speech, they appeared to be high school students." Madara's glower intensified, "And the end result?" "Toshima sustained moderate damage, nothing that can't be repaired. The S-Types retreated. The victory going to an obscene display of power from an Italian pair in green and red." Clicking his tongue, Madara shifted his glower to his brother, "Izuna, take the troops back to the garrison. We're finished here. Anything else to report, Captain?" Levi's face didn't change, "Il Re...Igra's notorious champion...was spotted involved in the battle." Izuna looked from Levi to Madara quickly. "Hmph..." Turning away, Madara waved for his men to return to stand-by, releasing Levi from his report. "Return to your station, Captain." "Understood."
Leaving Toshima: Tekken lifted up a beaten and bruised Falcom and Cybercon and shuffled into IF's car. Broccoli, however, shook her head, "No thanks, nyu. I didn't come here just because of Kei-san's call, nyu. I came because...I've taken a page out of Marvelous' book, nyu. Shiki-san is dangerous...I'm keeping a careful eye on him, nyu." Belle helped Noire up, nodding along with Broccoli's words, "That power of his was intense...I've never seen a human regenerate so quickly. Broccoli-chan, would you keep me posted on what you find out about him?" Broccoli nodded once, "Yes, Lady Belle, nyu." Fuuka frowned up at Bowser, "But...I'm not an innocent bystander. My name is Yamagishi Fuuka...I'm..." her head lolled to the side and she passed out. Tokyo Streets: Leaning against a wall a man wearing sunglasses and a hat perked up as Noire approached. Pushing off the wall, he lifted a hand to wave to her, "Yo, you're Noire, right? The girl at Shinjuku Restaurant." Glancing down the street, he leaned down to her and lowered his sunglasses. Purple and silver heterochromia eyes coldly watched her reaction, "Name's Kurosaki Ranmaru. I expect you already know who I am so that saves proper introductions. I wanted to talk to you. Do you have somewhere we can talk in private?" Unknown Location: Ashinuma took the list, reading it over before chucking it onto the desk, "That's it? That's all the people we could find with connections to the Crystal Order?! You're slipping, Kai." She rubbed her temples, flopping into her chair, "We have no information... Supposition is crap." Pulling on her bangs, she lowered her eyelids, slipping into her mind. 'The Crystal Order...a terrorist group with connections to companies with a broad range of abilities. The S-Types...alien creatures, obviously only here for mass destruction and carnage. We have only about three examples of their kind that have the ability to rationally make decisions. Their hierarchy seems to be based from those who can speak with those who act more like mindless animals as the lesser branches. If we make the jump to connect the Crystal Order with the S-Types...can we assume that those in the Crystal Order would be considered the trunk of this? How far does the darkness go in society...?' Standing, Ashinuma announced, "I want eyes and ears on those on that list. I, Ashinuma Reiko, will find out how far this goes if I have to get involved myself." Hospital: Minato chuckled, "Good luck...I don't know what that is, but I'm sure Minako could eat it without trouble. She's like a bottomless pit..." Minako huffed, setting her hands on her hips, "Look who's talking! Mr. I-Can-Eat-100-Burgers-In-One-Sitting!" Naoto frowned, "Uh, maybe I've heard wrong, but...did you say one hundred? H-How much do you two usually eat?" Minato shook his head, pushing his sister into the bathroom with her clothes, "Quite a lot. You could say it's...a side-effect of our ability. The Dark Hour...extended periods of time spent fighting...all of it took a lot of energy that we replenished with food. Sleep became obsolete for a while... Of course, we avoided venturing into Tartarus when any of us were tired or sick from lack of sleep but I can't remember any time that we slept more than necessary." Exiting the bathroom, Minako wore the same school uniform as Minato (cept the girl version). "You don't remember because the Dark Hour only came at Midnght. Remember that time when that typhoon hit? We were soaked and slept for three days straight." Dismissing her argument, Minato waved his hand at her, "That doesn't count. We were sick, Minako. Aigis even told us our fever was incredibly high." Naoto folded her arms, "So this isn't the first time you've been bedridden." He shook his head, "No, but that hardly matters right now. We're good to go...do you three know a place were we can get something quick to eat?"
Reserving: Mayuzumi Chihiro (Kuroko no Basket)
Toshima: "A monster, nyu." Frozen solid to the ground, Shiki was about to break free when Astral spoke a name he hadn't heard aloud for years. The familiar blood lust he'd felt before vanished along with the odd purple aura. To Broccoli, it appeared as if their Dark Horse had simply given up. 'Akira, hm? A name familiar to Shiki, nyu,' she thought as she watched the Mario brothers tear Astral apart. Having been beaten and additionally burned by Aoi, Magic was nearly unconscious by the time the S-Types pulled back. Once ASIC and the S-Types had vanished, Shiki broke free from the ice and without a word to Broccoli, headed off further towards the ruined portion of Toshima where the Igra tournament was still being held. She watched him leave and quickly rolled over to the CPU's, "Are you all alright, nyu? I didn't know Goddess' could actually lose a fight and still make it look like they won, nyu." Kuro whimpered, "That hurts, Broccoli...you shouldn't say such cruel things when we were just beaten to a pulp." Ignoring her, Broccoli looked back at Marvy and waved her over, "We should gather up the Goddess' and take them back to their home, nyu." The woman in blue from earlier landed beside Neptune and extended one of her multiple hands down to her, Sei's voice still echoing from the non-speaking woman, "Nee-sama...I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help...breaking you all out of that container and surviving that attack took most of my energy. I'll have Usui here help bring you all ho--" Usui flickered and faded away as little pixels before she could off her help. Radiating pain, Fuuka willed her eyes to open for more than a few seconds after the enemies had vanished. Her powers informing her of the lack of malicious intent for the time. "Oh...good...everyone's safe...." She looked up at Bowser and smiled weakly, "Did you save me...? Thank...you..." Cybercon struggled as she wobbly stood for a while before dropping her daggers and collapsing back onto her face on the ground beside Falcom. Unknown Location: Behind the black desk, a black haired girl stood watching the video, dark gray eyes intense as she followed the battle to the end. Sliding her gaze to her companion who'd addressed her, she smiled hesitantly, "Please don't offer me one of your cigars...the taste isn't to my liking." Brushing a long pigtail of black hair over her shoulder, she examined the map, taking in what her companion had said and slowly pulled a pack of Menthols from her skirt pocket. Placing one cigarette in her mouth and lighting it, she crossed her arms over her chest, "From the vid just now, it's plausible to say the S-Types are working with this group we saw in the video. I did a little extra research on them and found their group name to be ASIC...I'm not even going to waste my breath explaining what it stands for because it's just that stupid. From the data we were able to gain from their previous attacks...not all of them are intelligent like this Astral." Ashinuma gave a look to her companion and took over the keyboard, pulling up screenshots from the attacks on Nintendo High and Shibuya 109 building of the S-Types and people involved. "There are a lot of factors that don't match up. Such as these two..." enhancing the picture of Fuuka and Tekken from the Shibuya 109 building attack, "Yamagishi Fuuka and Tekken were present at one other attack, but not the first." Sliding to the pictures of the S-Types, "These creatures did not think for themselves during the battle. They acted upon survival instinct to attack and avoid attacks. Other than that...there was no indication of attempting to communicate with our skilled fighters. Someone else is pulling the strings...issuing orders." Exhaling a puff of smoke, Ashinuma felt her phone buzz and lifted it to her ear, "Ashinuma here..." A loud voice came through the speaker nearly deafening Ashinuma, "Numa-chin~~ Can you hear me?" Holding the phone away from her ear for a moment, Ashinuma ground out her cigarette, "Yes, Atsushi, I hear you. Did you need something of me?" The voice adopted a childish tone, "Numa-chin, Muro-chin said I needed your permission to use club funds for snacks." Hanging up the phone immediately, Ashinuma stared at the map of Tokyo again, "All that's left....is to piece together how the Crystal Order are connected to the S-Types...or even if they are connected. And to predict the next place they'll attack..." Hospital: Minako's stomach growled loudly and she flushed a bright pink, "Ah...ehehe...looks like I'm hungry again." Almost ignoring his sister, Minato pulled off his shirt and reached for his old school uniform. The lack of wound or scar on his body from the sword attack caught Naoto's attention, though her cheeks turned slightly pink as she looked at him, "Um...I read in your file that you were admitted here because you were stabbed...but there's no wound," she quickly turned to Yu, "N-Not that I was staring." Minato probed the area, "Yeah...weird. Pharos...uh, Pharos?" He looked around for the odd boy when Pharos' voice came from behind Yu. Pharos stood clinging to Yu's jacket, "Major wounds will heal like that because a piece of your souls are still attached to the Great Seal you placed on Nyx. But each time you get hurt like that...the both of you will feel the pain of your regeneration." Nodding, Minato donned his old school uniform, attaching his Evoker onto his belt, "Makes sense... Yu Narukami...can I call you Yu? We're the same age physically...but I guess you're my kohai. I'd like to see Mitsuru again and get the rest of the missing pieces of our memory sorted out and what's happened since we've been asleep...but I'd like to meet you guys again. Maybe when we meet again, we could have a mock battle or something." Pharos released Yu, padding back to Minako's side, "You guys should team up. In order to overcome this new Ordeal...I think you'll need as many allies as you can." Minako nodded, pursing her lips, "Yeah, we should be friends!" Orihara Apartment: Silence stretched long in Izaya's home as Akashi expertly played game after game of Shoji against himself and Izaya kept tabs on the battle. He seemed neither pleased nor angered that the S-Types had lost. Clicking out of an email, his eyes slid to Akashi. "Can I get you another cup of coffee, Akashi-kun?" Akashi looked up from his game, "Please, do." Heterochromia gold and red eyes followed Izaya into the kitchen before returning to his game, his thoughts everywhere except on the game. 'What's going on? He hasn't moved in the past hour from that computer and now he wants to refill my coffee? An odd behavioral pattern...or is it...?' The sound of a cup clinking down on the table beside his hand pulled Akashi from his thoughts. Lifting the white cup to his lips, he drank about half of the hot beverage before a numb feeling spread through his body. His hand dropped, crashing the cup into the table. Lifting a shaky hand to his face, Akashi's vision blurred. "Ugh...Izaya!" Attempting to stand, Akashi's legs gave out and he fell to his knees on the ground, "What...did you do?!" Izaya grinned, "I've decided to give you what we discussed, aren't you happy?" Akashi forced his numb body to fall into the rhythm he kept himself in when he played basketball. His heart rate and breathing would remain steady and he wouldn't fall past a light state of sleeping if he lost consciousness. "You drugged me! What for? Unhappy with your payment, Izaya?" Crouching beside Akashi, Izaya happily spoke, "Not at all. It's just...we're too much alike. The fact that neither of us can win a game against each other is proof enough of that. We both can see and predict our next moves ten moves ahead of where we actually are. This becomes an issue in this state of affairs. You're fascinating, Akashi-kun. But working with you would make this...'our' war instead of my war. I won't share the end result with you for the reward is only meant for one person." Anger seared through Akashi and his golden eye started to glow, "You make me sick..." Izaya backed up a step, "Oooh, scary...the Emperor Eye in all it's glory." Through Akashi's Emperor Eye, he saw every muscle contraction that occurred in Izaya's body, his breathing, his pulse...all of it was normal. "What do you gain from drugging me, Izaya." Izaya shrugged, "If I told you...it'd ruin the fun of finding out. You're helpless, Akashi-kun. You can glare at me all you want from down there...I will stand above you." Despite his numb body, Akashi pushed himself up using the Emperor Eye to tell which of his muscles to contract and move to get himself up and reached for Izaya, "I'll kill you... If you oppose me, I'll kill you, no matter who you are." "Try." Unfortunately, the drugs worked faster the more Akashi willed himself to move around and he fell to the floor, unconscious. Sitting in Akashi's spot on the couch, Izaya placed a Shoji piece called the Sacrificial Pawn in the center of the board and stole the King from Akashi's side, "And now...the fun can begin, right, Seijuro-chan?" Striking a match, Izaya tossed the lit match onto the Shoji board and watched it burn as he dangled the black star-shaped gem on a cord above the fire, "Try to make this interesting, alright?"
