[System]
0 - The Fool
Rui Shinichi - Askr
I - The Magician
Matthew Harvester - Kresnik
II - The Priestess
Shirohane Kotori - Kikuri-hime
III - The Empress (NPC)
Hamada Leiko - Titania
IV - The Emperor (NPC)
Sutoraiki Kaminari - Zeus
V - The Hierophant
Samuru Amakusa - Shiro Amakusa
VI - The Lovers
Ryan Alon - Geraint
VII - The Chariot
Akane "Saito" Hanezawa - Setanta
VIII - The Justice
Katsuro Takuma - Giles Corey
IX - The Hermit
Ayano Wakahisa - Dantalion
X - The Fortune
Hashimoto Sato - Chronos
XI - The Strength (NPC)
Noboru Yamamoto - Atlas
XII - The Hanged Man (NPC)
Alexei Dragunov - Prometheus
XIII - The Death (NPC)
Chiaki Nettu - Freyja
XIV - The Temperance
Shizuka Otonashi - Inari
XV - The Devil
Jun Himura - Mordred
XVI - The Tower (NPC)
Fubuki Sayaka - Arachne
XVII - The Star (NPC)
Sieghardt Kasumi - Saturnus
XVIII - The Moon
Mako Moritomi - Israfil
XIX - The Sun
Zeke - Yatagarasu

The Story Thus Far
NOTE: This will only include story relevant events.

The beginning of the school term was nearing, and Rui had recently moved into Warakuma and was going to be attending soon. He met Noboru, who was a childhood friend of his shortly after arriving, and soon after he met Kami. Eventually the three went to the Warakuma Amusement Park, and after Noboru separated, Kami and Rui were drawn into the House of Mirrors.

After a series of strange events, they enter the Mirror World for the first time, and summon their Personas with the help of Kazuki, who happened to be there at the time. They were led out and informed of the Mirror World and the events that have taken place around it.

Shortly after discovering this, Noboru was taken into the Mirror World involuntarily. With the help of Kazuki and Megumi, Kami and Rui find the dungeon Noboru was in, and rescue him. Shortly after these events, Noboru was now part of the party.

In the following week, Matthew Harvester was taken, and police involvement resumed on the mass abductions originating from a year ago. Noboru, Rui and Kami responded quickly and went into the Mirror World to rescue him, also adding him to the party at the end of it.

With Golden Week near way Leiko Hamada was next, and just as quickly the party of four rescued her with the assistance of Riku. From then on, Kami formed the Investigation side, while Rui took care of the Dungeon side.

Shortly afterward, Chiaki Nettu was taken, and the team put together a rescue effort that resulted in a success. Meanwhile, Kami's investigation was showing up little results, as kidnappings so far seemed to be random, so no pattern was discernible.

Not long before midterms, Akane Hanazawa was taken, and the party put together a team to rescue her. The rescue was a success, leading to Akane joining the party. What followed after was a double kidnapping however, where Sato and Kotori were captured.

In the following week the team went to both dungeons and rescued both Sato and Kotori, subsequently the two joined the party as well.

The next week, Ayano and Kami had met up at the shopping center, and after a few events that had transpired, Ayano was captured, and immediately the next day Kami brought everyone together to rescue Ayano. After a difficult dungeon, it was found that Ayano had a more unique power as a Persona user, after she had been rescued.

Ayano's powers were put to the test during an emergency roughly a week later, when Alexei pursued cultist members as they kidnapped his sister, forcing his way into the mirror world. With Ayano's powers the party pinpointed their position and started a rescue mission for both Alexei and his sister Elena.

It was a success, with Alexei joining the team shortly afterwards, although with little time for rest, two more were taken the next week. Those two were Sieghardt, a member of the Drama club, and Ryan, a timid member of the Manga club.

Rui and Kazuki led two separate parties to rescue them in the coming weekend, though Rui's party run was smooth and Ryan was rescued without much incident, Kazuki did not have a much better time, and ended up requiring assistance, to which Rui and his party after rescuing Ryan, reinforced in the effort to rescue Seighardt. It was a resounding success, and the two were rescued safely.

After some investigation by Kami, he managed to find an unsettling truth after pinpointing the cult behind the attacks. The Junsei Sekai Tensei, or Perfect World Resurrection, was an old cult that has been around for awhile. There was one problem though, and that it's leader has gone completely MIA, and his wife died one year ago, despite the cult members passing mentions in a police interrogation.

Fast forward a week later, the Star Drop Café was attacked, and Mako, Shizuka, and Masahide were abducted by members the cult the party was pursuing. Aiko was injured, and Noboru sat this out to watch over him while everyone else successfully rescued the abductees.

Following this event, Jun Himura was abducted by the cult, and a Katsuro Takuma was caught in the crossfire, as well as many others. After a struggle from Jun Himura, it resulted in multiple of the abductors to be thrown into the mirror world as well. This resulted in strange knight enemies found within the dungeons, which were actually the people who were accidentally thrown into the mirror world.

After a rescue requiring two parties to go through different routes in the dungeon, everyone was rescued successfully. Though that has been resolved, tensions among Yakuza, authorities, combined with the presence of the Junsei Sekai Tensei cult, has made things uncomfortable for a few people.

That aside, summer break has begun but not two days into it, an incident has occurred in the Mirror World. Before they could investigate, Zeke, the hawk, guides everyone through to a new area called Seto, a giant lake and sea. Immediately they detect someone inside of it, much like the dungeons before, however upon reaching it, it's much smaller, but the threat to the person trapped here is all the same.

Rui takes a party in to rescue Samuru, while Kami takes another party to investigate Seto's immediate area. After a battle against Samuru's shadow, he awakens to his Persona and joins the team shortly after, while Kami's group sets their first foot into Seto's open areas, which starts as Japanese village and goes on into the fields.

Throughout the week everyone in varying parties explores this new area and progresses through it. Though considering this is Summer Break, Tadao offered everyone to take a trip to the beach for the weekend, which everyone accepted.

The Velvet Room - Challenges and Services

Challenge Rules and System

Character Moves and Skills

Collected Cards

Player Status

[User]
Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma High - After School
13/6/2015, Saturday

The past few days have been rather uneventful, after getting her bearings together, Ayano's life slowly returned to normalcy, well as normal as one can get when they just experienced something that was quite literally an out-of-world experience. If it was something worth mentioning though, the girl found herself acting quite more happy and upbeat after the experience, making a small number of friends in the process as well as spending less of her time in the web, although she does spend still quite a hefty amount of time on the web, it wasn't as bad as before. As the day came to a halt, she looked out the window and pondered to herself...What should she do after school?

Humming to herself, there wasn't particularly anything planned at this time, so maybe she'll just lounge around and browse at the mall or something. There wasn't a meeting with the club today, she did miss out on the past meeting though. She shrugged, saying that she'll attend next time.

Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma Mall
13/6/2015, Saturday

The girl's eyes dart from left to right, looking at various book titles. A new, good book would be nice, but she didn't exactly have some money with her, so she might as well scour for it and plan to buy it in the near the future. Although right now though, not a lot of eye-catching of titles, it might have something to do with the fact she's in the Romance section and romance is something that she tries to distance herself from, the girl was stumped for a minute, why did she even think of browsing this section? She shook her head and quickly moved to another section, continuing her search.

[Assistant]
Alexei Dragunov | June 13, Saturday - After School

He couldn't shake the unease he had felt this whole week. It was like some ghost was sitting on his shoulder, whispering malice in his ear. Not even regular puffs of his favorite Luckies could soothe his brow. He had nothing to do for the rest of the day as Saturday was service day at Sagat's restaurant and Inoue had strangely been busy whole week. His meeting with Kotori too had not revealed anything new.

He felt a strange itch, a forboding of something bad about to happen. His first priority was Elena. He rushed out of the school, sprinting his way to the parking lot to pick up his bike and zoomed to his sister. He was at the site within a few moments. Waiting a bit impatiently at the gates as juniors came out. Some giving him a sidewards dismissive glance, he glared back at them to make them skittle away like rats.

Soon Elena appeared, seemingly busy texting. Not watching where she walked. Alexei watched her calmly, holding back his first reaction to warn her of misstep.

His phone buzzed as she looked up, a palm coming over her lips to show her surprise. She started into a light jog as she saw him soon coming up to the gates.

"You came here, Ni-san!" she asked surprised.

"Yeah! had nothing to do. Thought, should take you for some shopping." he replied.

A small gleam appeared in her eyes before she asked in a half smile, "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing. One of your dresses has faded quite a bit, thought you needed one." he said non-chalantly. As the one who washed the clothes at home, it was not surprising that he was aware of the wear-tear of everything that was in Dragunov household. Elena shrugged at his response, trying her best to hide her delight. It was always good to go shopping with Alexei, he wasn't a bit hurried and allowed her ample time to try almost the whole shop. With a spring in her step she followed him to his ride and they were off to the mall.

--- Warakuma Mall: Shopping Center.

Alexei had thought that keeping her in front of his eyes would calm the foreboding he felt but it had only worsened. He felt a bit weak, thinking about what if she got taken in front of him. As he walked a pace behind his kid sister, he warily looked around, hoping to catch anything out of order before it became a problem.

He asked her to try different dresses as he went to check in to his workplace in the next building. Surely, nothing would happen inside a crowded mall.

[User]
Warakuma Mall - Afterschool
13/6/2015 Saturday

Alexei and his little sister spent quite some time picking out a new dress, but eventually she decided on one, it was much like her other dresses in colour, but it seems this one was suitable for the upcoming summer. Alexei's unease lightened a bit as they stepped out of the store with the dress. Though he was a bit more at ease, he was still on alert, he was tense, and Elena felt it.

"Is something wrong nii-san?", she asked with innocent curiosity?

"Huh? Uhh, it's nothing", he responded. She simply tilted her head and smiled.

"Well, if you say it's nothing, then it's nothing", she was a bit more cheerful than usual today. It must be the shopping. The two began to walk their way home, though Elena wanted to check the other stores too, since she hadn't been to those places before, and being the loving brother he was, let her. Though as she decided to run ahead a little, he brotherly smile slowly turned to fear as two men popped out the corner and grabbed her swiftly. Before he could run on ahead, he felt a smack on the back of his head... There was a surprised groan that followed, but it was not Alexei's, as he turned and punched the attacker, knocking him off his feet before he ran in hot pursuit of Elena and her kidnappers.

He found himself crashing through into a vacant house, small, cheap, and looked ready to fall apart, it was obviously going to be destroyed and a new house be built there based on the sign in front. He stormed into the next room hearing the footsteps of the kidnappers and their voices.

"What is he a monster?! How are we gonna... What?! Get in?! Are you cra-",

"There's no time!", Alexei could hear almost all the exchange, but as he entered the room, the men were gone, and with them, Elena... "Get in"... He would remember. Standing in front of him was a big mirror. Literally the only thing in the room besides the dust and some dead bugs. He felt a beckoning and a voice as he inched closer to the mirror, first placing his hand upon it, to his disbelief his hand went through, then his arm, and between the strange beckoning call of this mirror, and his desire to save his little sister, he disappeared into the mirror too.

Warakuma Mall - Afterschool
13/6/2015 Saturday

Rui was panting a little, standing outside the old house, the kidnappers? The cult... This was a rare opportunity. It seems someone was in pursuit too, though he was unsure of what happened, since he no longer heard any noise, so he decided to follow the other boy's (or man? He was huge) tracks, stepping over the destroyed door and stepping into an empty room after the main entrance room. There it was... A big mirror. It was a cheap mirror, but it was big enough to use as a portway into the mirror world... He sent a message to everyone, to meet at the warehouse, today, and sent Kami the location of this house to investigate.

This was a good chance. They had to seize it. This was the best chance they had at catching any of the cultists, and maybe get some information. After sending the messages, he decided to head back towards the Abandoned Warehouse. It didn't matter who was or wasn't ready, they'll go in after the cultists and the boy and his sister with whoever they can. This was also probably a good chance to have Ayano try her Persona out too, if she was available.


[System]
Species: Human (Venerian)

SPACER

Voice: Ashly Burch

Age: 29

Height: 161 cm (5'3")

Weight: 58 kg (128 lb)

Misc. features: * Second degree burns on hands caused by exposure to coolant vapor.
* Scarring on the left side of both lips and chin caused by fragments of exploding machinery.
* Limp due to left ankle fracture.

Augmentations: None.

Occupation: Ship Engineer

Skillset:* Strengths

	+ Mechanical engineering - Material engineering being her speciality, Vigdis is nonetheless capable of performing a wide variety of disciplines related to ME up to and including design of new items from scratch.
	+ Electrical engineering - Low or high voltage, from robotics to reactors, Vigdis remains competent and versatile through a wide range of EE disciplines, though somewhat behind full-time electricians.
	+ Cooking - Vigdis picked up the ability to turn practically any set of ingredients or leftovers into a half-decent meal at the university, a skill she credits with retaining her sanity during those five years.
* Weaknesses

	+ Combat - Being a full-blown grease moneky, Vigdis only received basic training in both firearms and unarmed combat.
	+ Coding - With her degree and training primary consisting of the "nuts and bolts" sort, she considers software to be dark arts.
	+ Mobility Impairment - Despite corrective surgery, her ankle injury left her with a limp. While a nuisance in day-to-day, it slows her down noticebaly when running and she may require pain medication if strain is put on the injured ankle for too long.

Backstory: Vigdis was born to a pilot and a teacher in the Venerain capital, Mariner. Spurred by her father, she steered her education toward science and engineering. Initially she regretted her decision as she got hit with biology and chemistry, but all doubt was dispersed when she first used a welder. Soldiering through the all-encompassing high school, Vigdis now had a clearly defined direction when selecting her university, obtaining her master's degree in material engineering at the age of 23.

With unrest throughout Sol, Vigdis figured the military would be a good place to gain experience very quickly, entering with the rank of Specialist due to her degree. It was a good bet, as unrest throughout Sol meant a lot of damaged assets that needed to be recovered or repaired, a task Vigdis was assigned to. She spent the next four years cruising the inner Solar system between stricken ships aboard a Venerian salvage ship as part of the team getting them up and running if possible and breaking them down to be more easily towed to a scrapyard if not. Unfortunately, as is often with military and emergency services, the pay was not great, especially with the job leaving several permanent marks on her health, so by the time her EAS date came up, she already had a private sector job lined up, the Stavanger shipyard and spaceport offering a workteam supervisor position right out of the gate with some new project being commissioned.

Day by day, she and her fellow workers watched the new ship grow under their hands. Once it had been finished, Vigdis was one of the technicians tasked with maintaining the Jotunheim while it was docked at Stavanger, continuing to lead the team responsible for hull and structural frame. She happened to be on board when the fighting started, performing routine checks of one of the airlocks and had simply decided she'd be safer and more useful if she stayed aboard, especially as the launch clock ticked down toward zero and the ship's actual engineer was still nowhere to be found.

Equipment:

The Jackal Spaceborne Personal Weapon is an electromagnetic 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun fed from a detachable, eight-round box magazine. Designed for use on starships to minimize the risk of damaging sensitive equipment or breaching the hull, it can be easily used by inexperienced shooters as well as in microgravity thanks to its complex recoil damping system. Fitted with a two-point sling and a duckbill muzzle device that allows subcaliber AP darts to be fired normally, but directs anti-personnel flechettes into a horizontal line rather than a conventional spread.
A six year old male Norwegian Forest Cat, officially on board for vermin control. In unofficial truth a 5 kg furry morale booster for every member of the crew possessing a standard-issue human soul.

[User]
Jack Mallory, X.O.

---

The universe must have been trying to tell him something.

"No," the guard said. "Crew only!"

"I am crew!" Jack scowled, presenting his identcard and waving the shopping bags of the various gift shops at the space port. "I'm the executive officer of the Jotunheim, and I had the captain's permission to do some last minute shopping because I'd lost my luggage! Now let me pass!"

The hell he lost his luggage. On the Pournelle, the king of the practical jokers had been Lt. Danny Bryce, his junior. Danny had never messed with him while they'd been aboard. Maybe it was because he was Danny's senior. Or possibly because he'd still been reeling from his divorce from Jackie and wanted to cheer him up? More likely was it the subpoenas his wife's attorney had slapped on him that revealed that he was a walking, talking camera.

Danny must have thought it was his last chance to play a prank on him, now he was a civilian and departing for a mission that would mean years outsystem. After all, he'd been the man who offered to 'help' him with his luggage for the flight to Norway. Not even his own garment bag had been safe, and he'd brought that on the plane with him! Or so he thought.

"You're crew?" the guard demanded, incredulously taking him in with the flight suit and the old leather "snoopy" flght cap.
"It's what I had that was warm!" Jack snapped.

The guard scowls, raising his walky-talky to his mouth when gunshots erupted on the far side of the hanger. The others around them panics, bowling the guard over.

"The hell with this," he scowls, then takes off running towards the ship. Only when he was at the airlock did he realize that others were there with him.

"Go back!" he yells. "Our next stop is years away! Get off the ship!"

The engines began to rumble. Swearing under his breath, Jack jammed his things into a locker, securing it with his finger print, then ran for the bridge.

---

"Captain," Jack called out as he saw her, then nodded at the man standing beside her. "Doctor."

"I was.. held up at the checkpoint," he sighed. "I'm sorry, if I'd been here, we wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of civilians on board. We can try for a patrol boat once we reach orbit to get them off...."

Assuming whoever was trying to get at the Jotunheim hadn't already planned for that.

"Your orders?" Jack Mallory asks, standing at attention with all the dignity he could muster.

[Assistant]
Zey emerged from the airlock with several of her crew into the corridor that ran down the middle of the lower forward deck. It was even loud and more uncomfortable than usual. The lighting was harsh, it smelled of chemicals and freshly fabricated metal. The engine vibrations were more pronounced, and right now there were over thirty civilians crammed into it. Some were milling around, trying to find a way out or place to sit. Others had just plonked themselves down on the boxes of supplies along the walls or the one sofa, chattering worriedly or checked themselves for bullet holes.

Vigdis and Mr Chappel the surveyor contractor stumbled away through the crowd and Zey didn't have one moment to negotiate her own way through before she heard someone shout "Captain!". She looked and found Duncan Feng addressing her.

"You're intact right?"

"I'm fine!" Zey shouted back over the din, she unclipped an earbud from her communicator and pushed it into one ear.

"Get these people strapped or tied down, we're leaving!" She patted the Doctor on the shoulder and made to turn toward the bridge when her XO appeared from the crowd, talking about going into orbit. She was relieved to see her second-in-command, though she didn't show it. Having him on the bridge meant she could focus on not killing every stowaway on board.

Everyone's voice was getting progressively louder, so Zey leaned in and placed a hand on Mallory's shoulder so she could shout in his ear. "Negative, it's too risky! We'll move the Jo to a TGOC ground installation to decant these civilians! Get to the bridge and plot us a flight plan out of here. Fast and low as this fat lady can go! Tell Anselm we need to break this comms blackout and make contact with HQ yesterday, get them to get an escort over here and prepare their site in Iceland or Russia for us. go go go!"

Someone from the bridge wafted into her ear."Captain, there are two unidentified men with guns in the shuttle bay. I've sealed off the airlock. Edwards is still inside."

Zey immediately spun around and looked through the viewing ports. The airlock was empty, and through the viewing port on the other side she locked eyes with Tyreese Darnell who was hammering on the door from the other side. A bulky soldier in full gear stood behind him, pointing a long gun at someone out of view - Zey presumed it was Eva as she'd have been strapping her mech in.

The man pointed at the lock, then put a sat phone with a floppy antenna to his ear and mimed talking. Zey could feel movement in her legs as the Jotunheim began moving slowly out of the hangar bay.

"They're shooting at the jets!" Zey heard someone else call over comms.

"Bring our kinetic shielding online, direct it behind us." The Captain ordered, still staring through the viewing port at Darnell.

---

Vigdis had to request access to the Engineering airlock twice before a grase-smudged face appeared and studied her at the other end, eventually opening the first door. Once she'd stepped in, the shaven head and face recognisable as Danny Varen, FTL, spotted the gun on her back. After a moment, he opened the second door. He was dressed in black flip flops, navy shorts emblazoned with the Tamerlane logo, and a plate-carrier over his bare tattooed chest. As soon as there was clearance, Danny levelled a black tactical shotgun at her body.

"What's poppin' Vigdis? Put the gun down and put your hands up."

Danny looked off to his left. "Search her."

A second engineer stepped round the corner, shotgun in hand, and went to pat her down.

"Hey! What's going on back there? I need help powering up the shields." came the stentorian voice of the Jotunheim's formidable lead engineer, Zhào Jiāyí. Though short in stature, everyone knew this harmless-looking middle aged lady had all of her larger and younger engineers firmly in check.

"Its Vigdis!" Danny called back, not taking his eyes off her.

"Well, stop copping a feel and tell her to get her butt over to the shield console!"

Danny looked a bit sheepish, then cracked a grin.

"Sorry Vigdis. Gotta be safe. Whats happening out there?"

---

"You're bleeding!" The teenage boy sitting opposite Fret called out, pointing to the blood on Mr Chappel's hand.

"Oh my god! Is there a doctor on board?" His mum called through the open conference room doorway.

[User]
"Mister Varen. Can I hel-"

That was a gun. She complied with their instructions on partial autopilot, still working through the fact that she'd just been directly shot at for the first time in her life and was now being held at gunpoint by someone she knew. Having a coworker pointing a gun at you was a jarring experience in a completely different way. She wanted to ask what they were looking for, why they thought she was a threat or at least have some witty remark about the lead engineer's 'copping a feel' comment, but her mind just kept going back to the shotgun threatening to do what the bad guys hadn't managed while at the same time processing Varen's getup. Contrary to the situation and to her own surprise, she started snickering at the display of tactical beachwear.

"Hostiles kitted out like local armed forces, comm jamming, ship full of whoever happened to be close by... 'Shitstorm' doesn't even begin to cover it. Probably shaved off at least three years off your dear Captain." She summed up what little she knew on her way to the shield console, "We've got about two and a half tons of extra live mass on board." She guesstimated the weight of the thirty-or-so extra people that weren't supposed to be on the ship. Plus 65 kg of live mass and tools, give or take, she wasn't supposed to be there either. Why was she even there? Damn ship was done, she could've gone on vacation and left the routine stuff to someone who needed some overtime. She wanted to see Iceland ever since she learned her family was originally from there. She could've at least taken a sick day and stayed at the hotel. Of all the times she could've chosen to let the inner workaholic loose, she had to do it now.

"Friendly reminder, I supervised hull construction, I only know as much about the shields as was necessary for that purpose." She cautioned the other engineers. Fortunately, at least the interface looked simple enough. Now, she knew the maximum rated output of both reactors - which was really the 'long-term safe' output and thus up to 105% of that could be sustained for brief periods, that was industry standard - but didn't have access to power control, so had no clue how much power the rest of the ship was drawing except that it was taxing the power supply by at least 50% on account of the engines. Who knew what life support was using up with 30 extra people on board or if it could even keep up with that demand? Unlike the reactor guys, whom she knew well, the life support equipment team supervisor was an insufferable bint whose presence Vigdis could never stand for longer than the amount of time it took to use the coffee machine. No, Denise, I don't care that you write poetry in your spare time, your garbage doesn't even rhyme. Rear hemisphere would do for now, they were in a fjord anyway, only places to go were forward and up. "Chief, how much free power capacity do we have for the shield?" Unless the attackers brought anti-ship weaponry, she assumed the shield - presumably designed to handle debris and civilian-grade ship weapons - would hold up just fine. But what if the bad guys did have access to anti-ship missiles? They had army equipment after all… Somewhat back in her element and with no bullets flying around her, her brain had at least gotten some traction and was quickly working through the gears. Of course the boys were suspicious. If you wanted to pull a stunt like this, having someone on the inside would've helped and she'd been there for two years, knew every one in three bolts and welds on the ship and knew someone who knew the other ones.

'Can you blame them, chief?' That would've been a good one, damn it.


[System]
Alias: Cagehead

Gender: Male

Alignment: Helios

Skills: Considerably intelligent. Capable of calculating complex equations in his head, fluent in several languages (Latin, French, Arabic, German). Tested positive for a mild psionic presence, although he barely registers more than a standard deviation above normal. Can see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Powers: Technically none, although his research has led to the creation of several rather interesting devices that help make up for it.

Equipment: His ever-present clipboard that he's constantly writing on. His attaché multitude of testing devices, including a scanner designed to read ambient energy sources, his laptop, and his Cerebral Amplification Generation Engine. Pocket watch. Phone.

Personality: Stern and unforgiving. Dr. McNivens is a hard man, one who does not tolerate waste or frivolity. He's rather obsessed with his work, and considers himself a visionary in what he refers to as the field of "Quantum Esoteric Field Testing". Actually doesn't care much for Helios, but he's more than willing to work with them if they provide the funding he needs. He is not a people person. He's claimed that humanity as a whole has been dragging its feet, and he's determined to push mankind forward into a new age of enlightenment and understanding. Considers most people who aren't himself to be an idiot and wasting his time.

History: Rodney McNivens had a rather interesting childhood. After getting perfect marks throughout school, he accelerated through academia, although he was often chastized numerous times for refusing to pay attention in class and taking his projects in odd directions. Tended to stargaze quite a bit as he was growing up. Applied for a number of research grants after finishing his education, most of which were denied under grounds of being "nonsensical", "incoherent", or in one case "batshit fucking crazy".

Finally, after three dozen different labs rejected him, he was accepted into Helios. While the main research branches in the corporation didn't want anything to do with the visionary, he was eventually admitted into one of the more esoteric laboratories, the Fennerman Special Research Group. While The Fennerman Group wasn't the most popular or well-organized research group, its study with experimental and bizarre subjects fit Dr. McNivens perfectly.

Dr. McNivens rose through the ranks of the Fennerman Group fast, eventually rising to the position of top researcher. His iron fist tendencies has set him up in almost direct control of the small research laboratory, and while the subjects it studied were considered odd at first, he took them entirely off the rails, determined to break the pitiful bonds of human understanding and destroy the preconceived notions of Euclidean physics. Thanks to his Cerebral Amplification Generation Engine, he ended up with the nickname of "Cagehead", although uttering this name out loud is grounds for immediate dismissal from The Fennerman Group.

Appearance: Tall, thin, and straight-laced. Wears glasses that he tends to fiddle with. Slicked back hair, and tends to switch back and forth between a suit and his lab coat. Not a very athletic person.

Other: The Fennerman Special Research Group isn't a very large or powerful institution. It mostly consists of Helios's side-projects, ones that might have some potential but are considered too "out there" to be given priority. While Dr. McNivens might travel quite a bit, the main headquarters for The Fennerman Group is located within the Skyreach Mountain Range, a perfect place to keep the more stranger projects out of sight. Both to provide the group with the privacy needed to work with their more delicate subjects, and to keep it out of the way of Helios's main focuses.

[User]
Vivian Goodman (Martyr)

---

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again, for the last goddamn time."

Vivian's tongue burned as she slammed the door to her locker and snapped the padlock shut before spinning around to face the triad of her fellow Freedom Fighters looking on at her hungrily. She could feel the air beginning to heat around her mouth and eyes, but she could still hold off on her abilities. She wasn't without her control. Vivian's tone was warm and cooing, but had the slightest hint of venom.

"I tend the medbay, I heal the injured and I console the mourning as well as I can. That is my job. My duty. I refuse to get out there and become a part of the problem that I am working to solve."

With an impatient huff, she cuffed a dangling piece of short hair behind her ear and grit her teeth. They were becoming more and more persistent with each person that was brought to her. It was terrible. Horrible. Burns and bulletwounds and dismemberments and blood and guts everywhere. It was non-stop. All she wanted to do was to try and stem the tide of violence that came spilling in through her medbay doors every time there was a major conflict. "Come on," One of the rebels pleaded, "With your light-show bullshit we could really hit them where the sun don't shine, y'know?"

She turned from them and walked from the locker-room over to a basin to wash her hands. The water was cold and her hands let off a belch of steam as she shook them dry. Her expression was completely unamused. Looking him in the eye proved less welcoming than she anticipated, as they flinched away from her icy glare. "First of all, really? A pun was supposed to convince me? Come on, guy." She planted her boot forward and stopped at the doorframe between the lockerroom and the main floor of the medbay. Vivian may have been a shrinking violet when dealing with her patients, but she was fervent in her beliefs otherwise. She was not a violent woman. She vowed to do no harm, even before she qualified for her schooling.

"Second of all, no. No, and that is final."

[Assistant]
Jack Hawke, Shadowjack;
 Insurgent Countermeasures And Reactive Ubiquitous Strike force (ICARUS) Command
 Helios Corporate, Arcadia.
___________________________________________________________________________

Jack was pacing around his office casually, his hand placed thoughtfully on his chin and his arm crossed over his chest, comfortably tucked against him as he looked at the active roster for ICARUS, his private company of soldiers and innovators that he always trusted to carry out his directives, or rather those of his boss, who was none other than the CEO himself. It wasn't often that Mr. Cypher would come down with a direct order for them, but it seemed as though something was needed of him and his men.

The meeting earlier had been swift, and the details of it were kept scarce. Jack wasn't even sure that anyone else knew about the meeting. It wasn't broadcasted through any channels, there were no summons. He simply walked right through the door with files in hand and took a seat.

The masked man shook his thoughts away as he came back to the matter at hand. ICARUS needed more agents, more operatives than the common soldier he could call upon. Jack grew rather tired of having robots around all day, and wanted some new talent. He quickly put up some fliers and sent out broadcasts to every Helios base in existence, hoping. To draw the attention of at least a few people.

Icarus had been created as the main instrument of justice against the terrorists who called themselves Freedom Fighters. He laughed to himself as he considered them. "These nimrods need to get it in to their thick skulls that all they're doing is causing the problems that justify whatever actions we take. You'd think that would occur to at least one of them!" he spoke out to the room, as was his habit. However, unlike most people, he was answered back.

"Well, Jack, some people just aren't as insightful as us."
"Or as capable."
"Not nearly as good looking."

All these voices came from around the room, as shadowy figures stood at each point, their hand upon their chin, arm crossed over the chest.

"Aww, thanks Jacks, you're all too kind." he replied to his clones as they gave their encouragements. "I mean, we could work this ourselves, sure. But we need more than a handful of Jacks in this card game" He said aloud once more, looking to the incoming communications and hoping to find some recruits, or at least returning team members.

"Y'know, five of a kind is an unbeatable hand."

[User]
Seeking Intelligent Logistics Assault System (S.I.L.A.S.)
Armoury and Weapons LockerHelios Headquarters, Arcadia

The Seeking Intelligent Logistics Assault System, or Silas, sat on a bench in the Helios Armoury, silently cleaning his knife. The bench creaked with half a ton of metal and wires, his imposing 7'3" tall statue sat scrutinising the blade for any bloodstains or imperfections. His photoreceptor 'eyes' glowed blue in the rather dim lighting. He was a rouge war robot turned mercenary who was stuck here for the time being, but was fine with the amount of money offered. He looked up when his communicator bleeped. Attached was a file on an important member of the Metahuman terrorists. He opened the file and stated analysing the details.

[://<CONFIDENTIAL>FILE: DATA ON {NEW TARGET}: TARGET CODE: 'MARTYR': <BEGINNING FILE>

Name: Vivian 'Viv' Goodman

Race: Metahuman

Skills: No combat training. Well-educated. Trained in medicinal care and first aid. Skilled long-distance runner and climber. Good eyesight.

Powers: Photokinesis, Wound Transferral and Regeneration.

Appearance: Vivian is lean and is 5'2". She has a slightly tanned skin tone and has blue eyes. Her hair is black and has somewhat of a pixie cut. She is usually seen smiling, and her lips are riddled with small cuts. She is lithe and wiry from continuous cardiovascular exercise and training. She wears practical outfits, usually consisting of cargo pants, long-sleeved shirts, heavy jackets and work boots, usually in brown and black. Light sometimes shines from her eyes and mouth when using her powers

<SEE IMAGE>

Mission: Eliminate at all costs.

<END FILE> <CLOSING FILE>\\:]

"So, my first mission in this world," Silas said, staring at the image of the young woman, his voice metallic and slightly distorted as he closed the file and kept his combat knife. He picked up his signature Dispatcher Handgun and loaded it with Helios-manufactured high penetration explosive rounds, and spun it. He knew his target probably wouldn't last very long, but then again she had powers. A real challenge.

Standing up, he began making his way to ICARUS command, some sort of newly-established elite soldier team. He wanted to see their skills.

"Let's see how tough its inhabitants really are."

[Assistant]
When the call had gone out for more capable agents, the doctors had realized it was time to finally field test their weapon. A project long in the works, a soldier who would match even the most capable of mutants in combat. Armed and armoured in the best technology Heliod could provide, and nearly unkillable. He was the Fist of Heliod, the genetically engineered killing machine.

Clad in his full armour, Micheal walked through the door, as well as some of the wall on either side. His broad armoured frame left imprints with each step, a walking tank with the power of a bulldozer in each punch. His very steps left imprints on the stone floor, each boot lined with the text 'Heliod was here', left firmly printed into the rock. Perhaps one might have found this funny, but it was clear from Micheal's face that he did not. In fact, he looked like he would find Funny and kill it's mother.

"I heard you needed capable men. I am ready to serve Helios in any way necessary." The voice was deep and strong, although just slightly inhuman in nature. It was hard to mimic the human voice perfectly, and while nobody could quite define what it was, Micheal sounded.... off. Like a doll that looks so human, but just a little bit too plastic. "Where is the enemy?"

[User]
Max was making his usual runs going from one building to the other, collecting money from the owners since they needed to for protection. Max loved the life of crime and was very close to joining the freedom fighters but money is what he loved most. Since Helios is actually willing to pay a lot of money just to bring down the freedom fighters so well Max gave command to his right hand man since Max will be gone for awhile. There is another thing that Max loves and that's spending money especially on explosives which he stores all of them in his penthouse. He keeps them in a display case in secret room that he built when he got the penthouse, you could call it a firework collection.

Anyway Max and couple of other guys finished counting all the money they collected after getting back to the penthouse. Max went to his wardrobe and got out a black tuxedo to wear for when he goes to sign up for Helios. So after all that Max went down the elevator down to the lobby where he went out the front doors and got into his limo...well not actually since it's stolen. His limo driver drove him near the Helios headquarters and Max thought that he should walk from there. With that he stood in front of the doors to the HQ and thought that this was it, the time in his life where he will get to face enemies that actually have skills for once. Then Max opened the doors and noticed that a few bit of people were already here. "I heard you needed capable men to bring down the freedom fighters and I came here to deliver but of course if you've got the money," said Max with enthusiasm.

[Assistant]
Dr. Rodney "Cagehead" McNivens
Insurgent Countermeasures And Reactive Ubiquitous Strike force (ICARUS) Command
_________________________________________________________

The door to Shadowjack's office opens, as Dr. McNivens walks in, straightening the dark purple tie that barely stood out from his black suit. He glanced around the room, long nose crinkling in disgust at the other occupants as he sat down at an open chair and set his attaché case on the floor next to him. He felt...trapped. Closed in by these closed minds that surrounded him in this obnoxiously tiny office. Brutes, the lot of them. Ignorant, mindless drones used to taking orders and following commands without thought. And his clones. And, from the sounds of it, a mercenary, of all things. How utterly dreadful. But, no matter, he would make use out of whatever tools Helios gave him, meager as they are.

Taking off his glasses, Dr. McNivens pulled a small cleaning towel out of the breast pocket in his suit and started cleaning the lenses, not even bothering to look up at Shadowjack or the others in the room.
"Do not misunderstand my intentions in joining this...unit, Mr. Hawke. I care nothing for whatever political agenda you are working under, or for this revolution you are attempting to do combat."
He sets his glasses back on his thin face, peering over at the masked soldier. The contemptuous disdain in his expression was clear as day.
"However, I have been hearing reports that these 'freedom fighters' may possess certain items and information that could prove useful to my research, and joining this decidedly motley travesty is the fastest way to procure it. My considerable talents would undoubtedly be useful for you to utilize, and you" meat shields "are the safest way to escort me to my goal. You have your mission, commander, and I have mine. Understood?"


[System]
Age: 13
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Personality: A normally outgoing and friendly person, who is superstitious and has a knack for getting involved in things that aren't usually her problem. She is good at reading the atmosphere and a bit shameless. While those traits have remained, extended usage of the Level Upper program has had some effect on her, making her jealous of the power that she has gained, and determined to keep it at all cost. But in spite of this, she is still a good person at heart.
Bio: Born outside of Academy City, Ruiko moved there at a young age after she decided to become an Esper, leaving her family behind in the process. In spite of her desires though, she was unsuccessful in this, and was classified as a Level 0. Nonetheless, she was able to become friend with Uiharu Kazari, and then later on Misaka Mikoto and her friend Kuroko.

Surrounded by such people, it was only a matter of time before the normally apathetic Ruiko became envious of the fact that all her friends had powers while she didn't. Hearing a rumor about a program called the 'Level Upper', she investigated and managed to obtain a copy, though she refrained from using it at first. This was changed by two factors, the first being Mikoto's claim that levels and abilities weren't important, when they were the entire reason that Ruiko had come to Academy City in the first place. The other was being caught helpless during a battle between Trick and Kuroko, where the latter triumphed but was injured.

In the aftermath of that fight she used the Level Upper program, and manifested the Aero Hand ability. While keeping it secret at first, Ruiko was forced to reveal her ability during an attack by Skill-Out, where she was able to save some people and aid in putting an end to the fight. But this led to a confrontation between her and the present Mikoto, during which her MP3 player was fried by her Electromaster ability.

Ruiko ran off, and was eventually able to use her skills to track down the creator of the program, Kiyama Harumi. Harumi gave her a new copy of the program, and after Ruiko informed her that Mikoto was looking for her to put a stop to the Level Upper experiments, she agreed to let Ruiko help her in stopping Mikoto, or at the least delaying her.

At first this took the place of misinformation, Ruiko spying on Mikoto and informing Harumi of her efforts, and leading her along false trails to dissuade her and Judgment's investigations. This lasted for some time until she was discovered, and forced to flee to Doctor Harumi's lab to avoid arrest by Judgment. There she helped to prepare to defenses, to await the inevitable.

Abilities:
MP3 Player - A device for playing music, which contains the Level Upper program. This program can stimulate brainwaves in such a way so as to allow for the rapid development of Esper abilities.

Aero Hand - An Esper ability that allows one to ceate ejection points for air on an object with a touch. This can be used to propel objects through the air, or to simply create blasts of air when an object cannot be moved. There tends to be a delay depending on the user, and the strength is also dependent on a users level.

Saten can only use this ability while under the influence of the Level Upper program, but while so she tends to display abilities around that of a Level 3
Universe of Origin: Toara Kagaku no Railgun AU (Certain Scientific Railgun)

[User]
Nathaniel the Magician
Sydney, Australia, Arcadia-1

---

Nathaniel groaned as he awoke, the Staff of Gladstone sticking into his ribs. Getting up as quickly as possible, he grabbed his staff and searched his surroundings. Futuristic City in the desert. Pretty standard. "So this is Arcadia-1, huh?" He muttered under his breath. Das Jotunheimen has been trying for ages to get a powerful agent into multiversal anomalies such and it seems that he was the one that was chosen. His mission was clear. Steer the Dark Outliners away from his organisation to avoid a three way war that would reveal Das Jotunheimen. Other than chaos, secrecy was what his bosses valued the most. This was also the first time they gave him a mission other than "Make havoc".

The Magician was told to get the attention of a being named the Ethereal who could get him a position into the shadowy group. He didn't know how he had received this information. He has only ever seen his bosses once (the only one to have done so). The information just popped inside of his head like every other time he switched universes. Shaking his mind about thoughts of shadowy corporations and their mysterious bosses, he went back to the situation at hand.

"How do I get this Ethereal's attention?" Explosions and levelling the city might've worked but Nathaniel was also informed of the different factions in play. His mission wasn't with the Goa'uld nor the Imperium. Something subtle but enough to garner the attention of some alien lackey. He needed to be subtle but eye catching as well. He needed to show power. But first, he needed guards before summoning such great spirits. He summoned both Sonya and Duros in a short while, feeling his magic deplete ever so slightly. The apparent female of the two winked at him while the Sandman just glared at everything and nothing at the same time. "You need to guard me while I summon Ramuthra, I'll explain this all soon." Sonya almost opened her mouth to speak before shutting it, turning around with Duros to search the perimeter.

Nathaniel summoned Bartimaeus after several incantations, the very large lion appearing he used to anchor himself to real-world appearing next to him in a cloud of smoke. "I am known by many names mortal! The Serpent of Silver- Oh. Hi boss." The Magician sighed at his antics before waving it off. "We need to merge again, to summon Ramuthra this time." His loyal companion opened his mouth as if to speak but he cut him off quickly. "I'll explain later." Bart shrugged and manifested into his purest form before entering his body.

Merging was a really weird experience but it had it's benefits. Larger than normal magic storages were very useful when summoning powerful demons. "Okay, fine. Let's do this then, I haven't said hello to Ramuthra in a while." Nathaniel rolled his eyes before starting his incantation. Most incantations are very simple, usually translating it in English works 99% of the time. However, Greater Spirits tend to be more fickle beings. And so, Ramuthra's incantation is several pages long and is a mix of Arabic, Latin, French, Russian and Japanese. He was an asshole.

Finishing the last two words of Latin (he believed that it was all gibberish really), Nathaniel began to summon Ramuthra the Most Powerful. The great blue dragon towered above him, letting out a huge great roar. It's aura forced Sonya and Duros to their knees, the ground beneath the spirit changing states almost constantly. The ground shook, fire sprouted from everywhere, it was as if the elements themselves reacted to his arrival. And there was The Magician, calmly waiting with his Amulet for his most powerful summon to calm down. After several minutes of showing off, the Dragon looked down at his master.

"You better have good reason for this Nathaniel." The Magician panted a little but soon straightened himself up as Bartimaeus exited out of his body and quickly leaped over to where Sonya and Duros were. "I need no reason to summon you, Ramuthra." The dragon winced at the use of his true name before smirking. "Well then, master. What do I do now then?"

Nathaniel smiled, looking down at a heat scanner attached to his wrist. The charts were off the scale, Ramuthra was giving off such high levels of energy that it couldn't be missed. "Wait."

[Assistant]
@Flamelord@dirty slime@Weird Tales@Savato

Light - Arcadia 2

Not much happened after the whole Kaiju fight. Gojira was still in a huff, but at least Light was able to get in contact with Shockwave again, Shockwave giving her a communicator. Light tried to tell the others about Shockwave, but apparently they didn't care or didn't listen as no one said. "Good job!" Or any compliments or the like. Overhearing Ryu and Gojira talking, Light asked them "Who is this Nova you two keep talking about?".

At least Ahsoka was still entertaining to be around, but she went off to go find something for the group to do and Light wasn't sure when she'd be back.

[User]
Absolis Rivard and Cyano Conablum

---

@sgtEasy@flamelord@pirouette

 As soon as Cyano showed up, Absolis lunged towards her, only to be blocked by the appendages coming out of the other girl standing near the spider. They wouldnt be much of a problem however, as moments later an explosion came from banhas side, and opened a path between the two.

 Absolis again lunged at Cyano, his sword coming in from her right. Cyano ducked and rolled under his sword, coming back up on his left side, and swung for the joints on his armor. Fortunately for Absolis, he managed to bring his sword down to parry her.

 The fight between the two would move a short distance away from the group, that way no one could get in their way. Their swords clashed, and their was silence to be found in the loud roar of their battle. No witty insults or come backs were said. Their eyes remained locked throughout the entire battle, pure hatred emanating from the both of them.

 The battle raged on, regardless of what the others were doing. Even if they finished their battle, it would be too dangerous for either side to try to break up the fight. Cyano ran circles around Absolis, coming in for the occasional blow to his joints, and then jumping back out of range to shoot at him with the multitool. Most of the shots would dissipate into his armor. Others would be blocked by his sword. Every time Cyano would come in for his joints, Absolis would swing at her, but her agility allowed her to avoid his attacks.

 The two were evenly matched, that would be clear to anyone watching. Now both had come in to close range, each one trading blows and blocking attacks. Absolis' larger sword allowed him a slight advantage, but they were again equal when Cyano brought out her Sabercloth dagger. Allowing her to block and attack. However, seeing the stalemate, Absolis leaped back and seeped in from the left with his sword. As he expected, Cyano ducked, and he took this opportunity to follow up with a swift kick. Cyano would be knocked back, and would land face up on the ground. This would be followed up by Absolis driving his sword down into the ground right above her face.

But... she wasn't there. Cyano had rolled out of the way of Absolis' attack, and he found his sword stuck in the ground. It wouldn't take him long to pull it out, but by then it was too late. Cyano, still on the ground, drove her sword through Absolis' waist, right above his leg. Her position on the ground actually making the damage done worse, as otherwise it would have gone cleanly through. The searing pain of the sword drove absolis down onto his knees. Cyano helped herself up with the sword. Pulling it down until it was stopped by where Absolis' armor continued. Now on her feet, she twisted the sword, then slid Absolis off of it. He was not dead yet, and would most likely survive for quite a while. But after she was done with him, he would definitely wish that he had died here.

 Her battle over, Cyano wiped some blood off of her lip, and turned to the other group to help out, should they need it.

[Assistant]
Ba'al and Teal'c, Ha'tak, Central USA, Arcadia-1

Well then, that had been fast. Of course Ba'al had been hoping for a face to face meeting, if only to show off, gloat a bit, that sort of thing. But he supposed that he would survive this. He was sure that they would be willing to change their tune once they had the opportunity to talk things over.

Nonetheless the camera would shift perspective, showing the Leader of the Goa'uld on his splendid throne as the conversation began. "So, you are the Alliance of Conquerors then? It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I just came from a meeting with a man named 'Nova,' claiming to be the 'God-Emperor of Mankind', and he had all sorts of interesting things to say about you. Given that we are on this world together, I figured I should stop by and introduce myself'

The Goa'uld was calm, confident, unintimidated and sure of the superiority of his fleet. Besides, if there was a serious fleet battle here then it could damage a significant portion of this planet, and he was fairly certain that they wouldn't want that. FOr now he would see how things went, as Teal'c commanded the fleet for him in the meanwhile.

---

Saten Ruiko, Conablum Labs

Ruiko noted Cyano appearing as she waited for a response to her request, or something at all really. Yet it seemed that they were to be ignored today, even as Eto advanced towards them. Ruiko couldn't help but be unnerved, even as she put on a brave face. Just what was going on here? And what was with all the innuendos they were making? They were just joking, right?

Then something began to happen, and her eyes widened as a large tree-like thing appeared from Eto's back, branches rising and moving between her and Banha. Not only that, but they began to speak as well, each of them pounding at her head and making her a bit dizzy in the process. What they were saying was hardly comforting as well, and her worry grew at the same time.

"Wha?" Her confusion was cut off as another of those things came directly at her, in an overhead arc that would otherwise crush her. In spite of her nausea she acted in an instant, Air Hand activating to push her backwards with a burst of air from her shoes, just like she had practiced so many times before. At the same time she noticed Absolis going off to fight the new arrival, while Banha managed to blast through the thing separating them, hurrying over to her.

"I'm fine," she confirmed as she was enveloped in the shield. She frowned, looking to her opponents even as...what? She couldn't help but stare at the giant spider that had appeared and was offering the humanoid spider a ride, even as a swarm of spiders headed towards them. Fortunately Ruiko didn't scare easily, especially not against things like spiders.

Nonetheless, it was obvious that this mission had gone to hell, and they had barely even started it. "Fine then," she grumbled to herself, reaching into her back pocket and producing the fullgrimm that Nova had given her, the object producing an unearthly purple glow. "Alright, back off, all of you. I don't want to, but I will use this if I have to," she yelled, making sure that they could see what she was talking about.

That said, she wasted no time in going on. "So that's it then? You just attack whoever shows up at your front door, even when we said that we had no plans of attacking you? Some company you are." Admittedly she wasn't in the best place to talk given how sketchy Academy City was in that regard, but that was besides the point, and it was a situation she planned to change when she had the opportunity.


[System]
age: 19/20
appearance: girl in the first post picture.
role in the story: one of the twins
powers(if any): unknown
other: unknown

name: Eric Phillips
age: 19/20
appearance: guy in the first post picture.
role in the story: one of the twins
powers(if any): unknown
other:
unknown

[User]
Lore
Emily did not notice the smile at first, but she almost sighed when she did.

Eric smiled a bit.

Emily nodded.
"Sandwiches are fine. Regardless, we can not be picky right now. We each only packed so much in those little bags."

Eric nodded.
-"Yes. And do not worry, we know better than to venture out by ourselves, especially into the swamp, like that."

Emily nodded that time.

They were quiet when they finally started eating. They both nodded again.

"Alright, but only if we need protection."
Eric nodded.
-"What Emily said."

They both continued to eat after that. Eric glanced at Aela at times, still wondering about what she dreamed about.

[Assistant] Aela noticed Eric's glances and paused while eating her meal. "Something up?" Aela waited for Eric to tell her what was up. "Oh that's right I didn't finish telling you about my dream. So, after everything was solved and done with Emily seemed to find herself someone romantically. And I proposed to you first before you were able too."

[User]
Lore
Emily ate. She blinked and listened closely. She gasped a bit. She nearly choked on her food.

Eric blinked. He glanced up, again, as he ate. He listened. Then, he heard that last part. He coughed and choked on his food. He had been caught off guard.

-"Wh....what?!"
He turned red.

Emily chuckled a bit. She was still a bit red herself. Eric narrowed his eyes at her.

[Assistant] Aela smiled and folded her arms. "It's true, I proposed to you by making up you a nice meal and presented you with a decorative dagger. I thought you'd appreciate it more than a ring. The meal consisted of fresh game and a few baked goods. I slipped a special message at the bottom of your mug and as soon as you were done reading it, I presented my dagger to you."

[User]
Lore
Eric coughed.
-"I....I was choking because you caught me off guard with the whole marriage thing. I....I mean....isn't it a little early to be bringing that up?"

Emily chuckled and smirked. Eric narrowed his eyes at her again. Eric cleared his throat and turned to Aela again.
-"I...I mean...we only just admitted our feelings and such. Unless you're a secret oracle or something?"

Emily rolled her eyes at that.

[Assistant] Aela laughed a bit with Emily then watched Eric. "I doubt I'm an Oracle. It was just a dream I had Eric. No need to take it seriously. Besides we are taking it slow and annoying Emily a bit too much."

[User]
Lore
Eric took a deep breath.
-"....If you say so."
He blinked and raised an eyebrow when Aela said they were annoying Emily.

Emily shook her head.
"I feel bad for you two more than I am annoyed. I wonder what is going to happen when you DO propose to him?"

Eric sighed and narrowed his eyes at Emily.

[Assistant] Aela laughed once again. "If you want you could scheme with me when the time comes." She winked at Eric and finished her meal she was putting things away in her pack. (that was a standard size adventure pack.) she looked up at the sunset she smiled "Some of the stars are out already. Aren't they beautiful?"

[User]
Lore
Eric turned bright red at that.

Emily chuckled a bit. She shrugged.
"Maybe."

Eric turned redder and frowned. He looked away from the two girls. He sighed.

Emily smirked a bit and rolled her eyes. Anyway, at the mention of stars, the twins both frowned. Emily sighed and Eric shook his head. Eric looked at Aela.

-"We....haven't enjoyed the sight of the stars since.....you know."

Emily nodded.
"We were always busy preparing to hide, you know?"

Eric looked down at his lap. Emily simply went silent after that.

[Assistant] Aela paused and turned to them. "This May be naive to say to you both. But magic has a side of wonder to it too. It's not just a force of nature that causes devastation. It's like all things good and bad. Maybe your curse is giving yo7 different perspectives of life itself. It can be wondrous if you think about it."

[User]
Lore
Eric and Emily both sighed and frowned. They were unsure about that, the both of them.

"I...am not too sure about that myself."

Eric was silent for a moment or two. Then, he spoke.
-"I can not say that for certain. I just know we were cursed, our lives taken away, by someone who is using that world for selfish and evil purposes."

Emily nodded at that.

[Assistant] "Maybe it would help if I explain." A flame is summoned in Aela's palm its color slowly began to change. "My brother is suffering from magic or our bloodline due to the vast amounts of mana we have. But in my case, I am able to be useful and protect my friends when I need to. And.the colors the flame can change into are pretty and unique for different scenarios."

[User]
Lore
Eric nodded. Emily nodded as well.
"We know you have the ability to do something like that. but..."

Eric took a breath.
-"But there is more to magic than just protection and such. There is a balance to it, as I am sure you know by now."

Emily sighed.
"There are two sides. The evil side exists as much as the good side does."

[Assistant]
Aela nods towards Emily "That's exactly what I mean Emily. But, I will stop bothering you two about it."

Aela started pulling out a quill, ink, and parchment as she began writing to her brother of her adventure so far. She wanted to include as much as she could so it would be as if he was experiencing it with her.

[User]
Lore
Emily nodded. She sighed.
"I...apologize."

Eric nodded.
-"Same here, my love."
He blushed after he said that.

Emily blinked. She looked at Eric. She half chuckled a bit. She knew her brother really loved their childhood friend.

[Assistant] Aela glanced up from writing her letter and smiled "No need to apologize you two it's alright. You've been through a lot, and as chosen ones will go through a lot. But, I hope that you don't just suffer through it."

[User]
Lore
Emily nodded.
"You should not suffer through anything either."

Eric nodded.
-"I....wish I could help you at night. But this stupid curse.....I...."
He sighed and frowned. He looked at Aela again.
-"The sooner we find that kingdom, the better. We need to put an end to all of this once and for all."

Emily nodded in agreement.

………………

NPC(for now):
The sorceress in question, the one who cursed them, was in her hideout, an old sold black painted mansion. She was with her husband and four children, her two sons and two daughters. She was plotting something. Her children all listened. But, the oldest child, her oldest son, was unsure and doubtful. He frowned. He didn't exactly agree with his mother. He was different from her other children.

[Assistant] Aela smiled at Eric and Emily "I'm gonna be fine, I can take care of myself." As soon as she finished saying that a loud hissing sounded from the swamp area. Aela stood up quickly "hurry guys to your spots to transform."

[User]
Lore
Emily and Eric both blinked.
"What was that?"
-"What was that sound?"
They both frowned and looked at each other, before looking at Aela again.

Eric blinked again.
-"Wait....is it sunset?"
He and Emily looked and gasped. They ducked under a tree. It was just as painful as it usually was. When the curse had activated, after the transformations were over, they peaked their heads out. They had turned into a mongoose(Eric) and a hawk(Emily).

[Assistant]
Aela shoved the parchment into her bag and stood her ground. Something inside her let her know something was very wrong. The same noises of movement was heard, although this time a large serpent emerged from the line of trees. The serpent's scales shimmered like sliver it's eyes were completely black. It's head turned directly at Aela.

It seemed to be able to sense her mana, and it attracted the snake. It slithered closer Aela summoned flames to her palms ready to enter combat.

As she did it towered over her as it lifted its upper body into the air. It's eyes glittered from the flickering flames in Aela's palms.

[User]
Lore
Eric would have gasped if he were in human form. The same went for Emily. Emily flew into the air, having had experience from turning into a duck and such, plus she was a quick learner. She tried to attack the snake.

Erics' eyes went wide. He charged forth. He may have been in the body of a mongoose, but he was not about to stand by and let Emily attack the snake by herself, not to mention he was not about to let Aela be alone and having to protect herself against a fierce looking creature like that.

Eric bit the snakes' tail. Emily tried to claw at it's eyes.

[Assistant] The serpents tail was hard it's scales were as sharp as a sword. It lowered its head to the earth as Emily tried to fly in. Aela paused and moved forward with a hand stretched out. Her flames lowered in intensity. The serpent waited patiently and didn't attack instead it moved closer to Aela. "Emily, Eric, it doesn't seem to want to hurt us. Lower your guard for now. Eric, did you read anything about a guardian of the swamp? Something to scare off mortals or those who wished harm on the kingdom of magic? Just call out with an animal noise for yes. And remain silent for a no."

[User]
Lore
Emily narrowed her eyes. She flew back to the ground. Eric narrowed his eyes as well. He ran over to Aelas' side. They glanced at each other when she asked about a swamp guardian. They would have frowned if they were in human form. Emily made a soft hawk sound. Eric stayed silent. Not all the books he read were the same as the ones Emily read. However, after a couple moments, Eric made a sound as well. He remembered the book he showed Aela, with that information he and Emily told Aela before.

[Assistant]
Aela began to stroke the smooth scales of the serpent. Hearing Eric and Emily's response she looked at the snake. "You know that your the first magical creature I've met?" It breathed out as it did white flames left its nostrils. The flames licked Aela's hurt shoulder instantly her graze healed. "Thank you. For helping me. Me and my friends need help making it to the mountain range can you help us get there and the next step? We just want help, I promise we don't wish harm on anyone or anything."

The serpent raised it's head again and waited for Eric and Emily to get onto its back. Aela grabbed her pack their bags and other supplies they brought and joined on his back.

[User]
Lore
Eric and Emily blinked. They glanced at each other. They would have sighed had they been in human form. Then, they looked at Aela again. They both listened as she spoke with the creature. They did not like this. However, they humored Aela and got onto the serpents' back. They waited for Aela.

[Assistant]
Once Aela gathered everything, she joined the twins on the serpents back. She patted it gently and it began to move swiftly toward the cliffs. Aela beamed "This is the coolest thing I have ever done magic wise..that is." The serpent paused by the face of the rock cliffs the mountain range seemed long. Aela was unsure where she needed to guide her friends through using fire. Although the ride certainly cut out maybe a day's worth of walking.
"Let's find a cave to camp out for the rest of the night, Eric and Emily."

"Thank you." Aela hugged the serpent who lowered it's head to back to the earth before her.

[User]
Lore
Eric and Emily both got off of the Serpents' back quickly. They both looked at Aela and waited. Eric was quiet. Emily glanced around for a moment or two.

Eric would have frowned a bit if he were in human form. He saw Aela hugging that Serpent. Emily would have sighed if she were in human form and had seen that.

Anyway, they waited for Aela and they would go with her to find a cave to rest in for the rest of the night.

[Assistant]
Aela finished hugging the snake and saw it off as it disappeared into the swamp. She turned looking for Emily and Eric for where they ran off too. Something was bothering her, if the serpent was actually kind.. then the spiders might be the actual danger. The only problem being do they have nests in the caves of the cliffs? Aela was able to catch up with Emily and Eric.

"That was pretty cool wouldn't you say?"

[User]
Lore
Emily would have shrugged if she were in human form. Eric would have done the same thing. Anyway, they simply made mild sounds associated with the animals they had turned into because of the curse. They both glanced around the cave for a moment before they looked at Aela again. Emily flew and landed near her. Eric ran over and stopped near her. He had to really raise his head to look at her since he had turned into a rather small animal.

Emily gave a look associated with a sigh. Eric gave the same look after a moment or two.


[System]
Age: 20
Class: Necromancer/Shaman
Race: Apparition
Appearance:
Titles: Adventurer, Requiem --Lich King may be acquired later--
Level: 1
Stats:
 Attack: 7
 Defence: 8
 Agility: 9
 Intellegence: 17
 Wisdom: 16
 Luck: 12
Skills:
 Beginner -- Summon Skeleton
 Beginner -- Summon Angry Spirit
 Beginner -- Rotting Curse
 Passive -- Leech 3% of every total dmg dealt

 Special Skill: Soul Swap --Allows Tonto to switch targets spirit with another, causing massive spirit and magic dmg--

[User]
Tonto woke to a warm, soft light upon his face and soft green grass beneath him. It wasn't at all what he had expected to wake up to. He feel asleep in his queen sized memory foam sleep number bed, and woke up in a field in a strange place. "Where am I?..." He stood up slowly, holding his head to ensure a headache wouldn't follow is ascent. Gazing around he saw that he was in an open field. Green grass as far as the eye could see. On the opposite side he saw nothing but a vast ocean, salty air brushing against his face. "How did I get here?..."

Tonto held his hand to his forehead, gazing to see if anyone else was around. No hope. Deserted. "Huh." He needed to do something, but he didn't know what. He could wander, but for how long? And how far? With what food? What water? "There has to be a way out of here. Maybe if I slap myself a few times I'll wake?" A few hard slaps and nothing. "Well, damn!" Anger was beginning to burn inside, and it felt...different. "How the hell did I get here?!" Tonto screamed to the tops of his lungs, more anger fueling the magical energy that had begun to surge inside him. The energy his anger was producing was so strong and willed that it actually manifested.

"Why are YOU so angry, Master?" A soft, yet angry sounding voice had asked, announcing the presence of the Angry Spirit that had been summoned by Tonto's mere anger. Tonto turned to the strange apparition, shock upon his face.

"Wha--? How did yo--? Is this re--?" Sentences cut off one after the other, the Angry Spirit smirking the whole time.

"Calm yourself, young one. I know you're shocked, and scared. There's no need." The smirk faded slowly, for the next words were of a serious nature and full of purpose, "Fear not, Master. Your being here is of no coincidence. You're here for a reason, Tonto, and that reason is a great one. You may not yet know your purpose, but in time you shall know your destiny and follow it."

Tonto watched the apparition fade into nothing, dwelling deeply on the words that were just told to him. "Destiny? A Great Purpose? How? Abd what the hell was that thing anyway?!"

[Assistant]
Through the looking glass seemed like child's play compared to the journey down the rabbit hole that Vanteus just experianced. Visions of blades, various creatures he and another slew, and princesses to save. It all seemed very grandiose to him with a hint of a melencholy atmosphere, strips of warm colored lights flashed past the images that promised him an adventure to remeber. However it seemed to go backwards each frame growing fuzzier than the last, finally he was dropped over an ocean half a mile from shore from the sky.

The first thing he noticed on the way down was his now black skin, and it seemed like his body had become more resiliant and his muscles compact. His hair fluttering in the air rushing past his face he free fell for some time, as he looked out he noticed a few settlements and places of interest. He decided that going to these places first would be ideal, the moment before impact he felt a halt in his body and then graciously slapped the water with his full body. It still hurt like knives coursing through his body, but at the least he would live. Swimming to shore was safe and uneventful, though he hated the feeling of saltwater on his skin almost feeling sticky.

With touch and sight he checked what all he had on his person. It seemed to be just the light armor, and various knives. In his mind he got a hint to dilute his vision to see the status window in focus. His vision blurred he checked his status thinking 'A speed type eh? More of a rouge then archer, but it seems that I still have some ranged ability.' A few other nondesctript thoughts past by his mind as he looked past his abilities and titles. To test his first skill he pulled his knives with what seemed to be practiced ease, he didn't think that much else was set into his body. He paused for a moment to slash at the air ten times, nothing really happened. He did notice that he was still able to use both his arms as he could in his previous life, and that both hands were just as nimble. He wanted a fight at that moment, though that would most likely have to wait as it appeared to be no creatures to fight in this area.

At the next moment he heard a yell and approached the scene cautiously, he saw the man summon a spirit and question it. After the soul had left its summoner Vanteus sighed and walked closer, being assured that even his vision was greatly enhanced due to the time that was required to sojurn to the apperition. He stop a few feet away "How do you do? I assume you are new to this place?" He asked a fully veiled question, he didn't reveal that he was not from the area. Yet he didn't ask if this person was from this world, as he was unsure as to what was going on. If they were the first here, or even if there were others and he was being hunted against his knowledge or consent.

[User]
Tonto quickly jerked his head towards the ocean, a voice surprising him for a moment, "How do I do? How do I do?! I don't know. You tell me. Where are we? Who are you?" Frustration caused him to ramble on for a few moments, lack or air causing him to stop. This gave Tonto a chance to take a deep breath and observe his surroundings a little better. "Sorry about that. I lost myself for a moment. Forgive me."

Tonto turned to the young man who had approached him, "My name is, Tonto. Aside from being in strange, unfamiliar territory, I'm fine. Physically unharmed. Apparently able to summon spirits from another realm. Quite radical, really."

Realizing that some time had passed, rambling again, Tonto composed himself, "Again...sorry. Heh. How are you? What is your name?"

[Assistant]
Vanteus wanted to roll his eyes but refrained from doing so, and he did however cross his arms and lean back. The frustration appeared to be sincere... He decided to let go of his suspitions "It is powerfully evident to myself that we both come from a parallel world. I had seen a town over in that direction." He pointed out the destination with his chin. He shook his head calmly "No worries, I supposed that I'm oddly calm for this. You may call me Vanteus." His voice sounding out like sap, hoping to calm his new companion.

Uncrossing his arms he turned to follow the shore and grass his mind not able to loose the figure behind him in his mind. He was guessing it had been a battle sense he had acquired, and two more figures happen to appear with in his vision. It was as though his eyes magnified the pair of creatures with hints to his brain as to their weaknesses. Drawing the two daggers the left one slightly larger then the right, being left handed was a trade up on most enemies. Meaning it was difficult to grasp as most people attacked stronger from the right "Ready to test your acquired talents?" he inquired vigorously.

[User]
Smiling all the while his new companion calmed his nerves, Tonto sighed a breath of relief, "Vanteus it is then. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my friend."

Although his new found powers were a tad bit frightening, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to him being. "Destiny?...Yes...That's what the spirit said."

At any rate Tonto followed about two yards behind Vanteus, the green-grass turning a darker shade as they moved farther from the ocean. Tonto remembered Vanteus saying something about that.

A few moments had passed when all of a sudden Tonto stopped in his tracks, a jolt coursing through his body. A quick, disgruntled gasp escaped from between his pursed lips, eyes squinched tightly shut as a flood of power and knowledge overcame him.

A sigh of relief. His eyes darted open, a serious look upon his face. Tonto had now accepted his fate, embracing his destiny. He relished in the clarity that this had brought him. A feeling he had never felt before: purpose.

He noticed Vantaeus had stopped walking. He noticed that Vantaeus had drawn his daggers, striking a defensive stance. "Well, this should be interesting."

Tonto advanced closer towards Vantaeus, spotting the creatures in the distance. Instantly Tonto was able to gauge their strength and ascertain their weaknesses. Must've been Destiny and Fate ruling in his favor. With minimal effort, Tonto summoned a staff from the Spirit Realm; a Six foot staff made of solid oak and solid black, almost charred.

His next task was to prepare himself for battle, "Shall we play, Vantaeus?" An Angry Spirit, one he had seen before, manifested next to him.

"Well, Master...I told you so." The Spirit was clearly picking at the young Necromancer, but it still had an edge of agitation to it. "Now I can show you what I'm made of!"

[Assistant]
Vanteus nodded in approval as the spirit was summoned by the proximity of the creatures of their first battle, a winged insect if sorts flapped about lazily darting this way and that. It's companion was a gel like creature leaving trails of a acidic nature, in his mind he knew which would suit his abilities so he drew away the insect with quicker motions than the slime could handle.

Instantly the slow meander became an intense darting keeping a fair pace with its green husk, scyth like claws reached out to grab at him and only sliced through air. Vanteus leapt to one side striking once, twice, three times each with growing vigor and speed. Though after that seven more blows came breathlessly before he jumped away, his own agility surprised him as the realization came that he had used his first skill.

This time he tried the one listed under special skills consentration flowing into his left hand bestowing a gift of flames to the edge as it glowed cherry red and bright. He gained awareness of the life bar in the upper center part of his vision, it was half way to full obviously being his foes. Again he dodged a more frantic attack, and he himself reached out with then enchanted blade slicing off a wing.

His opponent dipped and faltered before struggeling with no meaning to the ground. Vanteus drove deep the dagger to the head of his downed prey hearing a sound that could only mean he landed a critical hit. Satisfied he looked over to Tonto wondering how he fared.

[User]
"A bug and a blob?" Tonto was a little insulted by the weak creatures in front of him. As the battle was coming to an open, all sorts of impulses went off in his head--almost like data being uploaded. A game, perhaps? Who knew?

Red bars above his enemies appeared, signifying a Health Bar with Hit Points. More and more it dawned on him what this realm was like. "This should be interesting indeed."

The flying insect meandered off with Vantaeus, "Should be an easy enough task for ya, Vant. If you do find yourself in a situation...please feel free to call upon me." Tonto snickered as he too confronted his own enemy; a green blob highly resistant to physical attacks and immune to damage dealt by non-enchanted magic.

"Well...I suppose if this little critter, what?...evolved?...it would actually pose a threat." Information seemingly poured out of Tonto's mouth, surprising even himself. "To be honest, even at its low level and unevolved, Vantaeus would have trouble with this little blob." "No matter. I'll lay this unfortunate soul to rest!"

The Green Blob advanced sluggishly towards Tonto; a wicked grin stretched across its slime body. The Slime reared it's body backward, preparing for an attack, and splew sludge bullets in Tonto's direction. There was little time to react, but luckily Tonto didn't have to.

Tonto's Angry Spirit rushed forward, throwing its ethereal arms up in front, palms outward and fingers spread. A tall, oval shaped wall of red energy appeared in front of the Spirit, absorbing the Sludge Bullets from the slime, "You dare attack my Master, Slime? Take this!" A medium sized ball of red energy shot towards the Slime with such speed that it had no chance of defending.

After the attack all that was left was a charred spot on the ground and a plume of smoke, "That....was awesome!!!" Tonto was excited that he almost forgot that Vant was there, "Oh! Hey, Vant?! Did ya see that?....oh yeah." Tonto was more than enough for the Slime, and the insect had no chance against Vantaeus either.

"Those weaklings didn't stand a chance at all."