At the edge of the ocean, the eternal ash cloud covering the land thinned. One could even see glimpses of blue sky near the horizon.
Not that that changed how dreary and desolate the land was. Even without the rivers and lakes of lava one could glimpse farther inland, the ground was dead, with the only life being sparse patches of algae and some blades of hardy brown grass, withered with the lack of water. Towering over this hellscape were the ruins of ancient, decrepit buildings, only held together the edges of window panes, crumbling brick, and rusted steel. Across long abandoned streets lay rubble and the remains of cars. Many looked torn apart and melted, like some great heat had descended upon them and ripped them to shreds. All told, this was not a place where the living intruded... at least not usually.
A rumble of thunder from overhead, and flashes of emerald light appear all over the abandoned city- Some(@Laplace , @Dust and echoes , @Lt Darkhound ) in the long-destroyed parking lot of what had once been a shopping mall, some ( @GradeonMagus, @Mew, @Malbutorius, @Takoe) finding themselves in the ruins of what had been the ground floor of a skyscraper that had survived... mostly intact, even if the roof was lying right outside the door, and some (@Lunaryon, @Insufficient Dakka, @EternalStruggle) landing in what had obviously once been a pizza place... if the burned, broken remains of tables meant anything to them.
Beyond them, there were no others in sight. How would they fare, in this dark and inhospitable world...?
Name: Mugman
Universe of Origin: The Isle of Ink (Cuphead in "Don't Deal With The Devil!")
Description: A living cartoon in a colored 1930's style, Mugman has a small coffee cup for a head with a blue and white striped straw sticking out of it, has smaller eyes than Cuphead and a large blue nose. He wears blue shorts, long white socks, brown shoes and white gloves.
Gender: Just take a gander at his name!
Backstory: Him and his best friend Cuphead lived in the isle of ink under the careful watch of the Great Elder Kettle. One day him and Cuphead ended up on the wrong side of the tracts and found the Devil's Casino. Cuphead and him quickly found themselves on a winning streak! Their winning streak was so great that the owner of the establishment, the Devil came to offer them a private game. Should they win, they would get all of the money in the Casino, but should they lose, the Devil would have their souls! Before Mugman could stop him, Cuphead filled with greed rolled the dice and came up snake eyes!
They begged and pleaded with the Devil for mercy, and he made a deal with them. Collect the souls of all of his debtors, and he would spare them. Quickly, they went home to the Elder Kettle for advice, he gave them a potion that granted them their most reliable and simplest of attacks, the humble Peashooter.
They then went on through the isle of Ink, defeating the debtors and collecting their soul contracts, when entering the second isle the Elder Kettle rushed to them with an answer. Their battles were making them stronger, and soon they would be able to face even the Devil himself! So when the time came, they would do the right thing.
Finishing the last of the Isles, and defeating many foes, they eventually came upon the Devil's Casino once more. King Dice, the Devil's right hand man attacked them for their contracts, playing a giant game of craps they fought and defeated him. And afterwards, they fought the Devil on his throne. It was a long and hard fought battle, but eventually they reduced him to tears and took back their souls and the souls of everyone else by force. They freed the souls of all those in the isle of Ink, and had a great party!
And then there was a green portal and Mugman heard a voice.
Motivation: Mugman is, quite honestly, a good person, and wants to help people.
Abilities:
EX Charging: As Mugman attacks opponents and parries attacks he charges up energy that can be used for heavier EX attacks, or Supers if he gets enough of them! With Coffee in his head he slowly generates it over time.
Parrying: While jumping, Mugman can potentially parry certain attacks, usually indicated as such by their pink coloring in Mugman's vision. Parrying sends him higher into the air, being the only way for him to get additional height in a jump.
Air Dash: Mugman can quickly dash a short distance in a singular direction.
Toony: Mugman can jump a fair distance into the air, run for extended periods of time, and has three hits to his life rather than actual physical health with a short period of time between each hit where he's immune to harm. Should he die, his soul will start to float away, although a quick witted individual can jump up and slap him back into his body. Although repeated deaths in quick succession makes it harder and harder for him to hand on to the mortal coil.
Discriminating Friendly Fire: Mugman has a knack for not hurting friends, his shots might as well just phase straight through them!
General: They always do at least a little bit of damage regardless of opponent durability, take up no energy, but there's only enough room in Mugman's head for two shots at a time. All shots are fired from Mugman's fingers like a classic finger gun.
Peashooter: A Straight, rapid fire machine gun like attack that shoots small blue bullets. It does average damage, and is fast, long ranged, and consistent so long as he can hit the target, a good all around weapon. It's EX Move is a heavier blast attack. Tastes like soda water.
Chaser: A long ranged homing green arrow attack, it does low damage but it doesn't require aiming and is excellent for more annoying opponents. It's EX Move is a shield made up of Chaser Shots. Tastes like Whiskey.
Spread: A Short ranged shotgun like spread of eight red bullets, it does excellent damage at close range. It's EX move fires eight large bolts of energy in all directions. Tastes like Cider.
Lobber: A medium ranged shot that fires a bouncing purple ball, does better than average damage per shot, although it's attack rate is low. EX Attack is an even bigger bouncing ball. Tastes like wine.
Roundabout: A long ranged attack that fires a light blue boomerang that deals decent damage. Shortly after firing it turns back and flies past it's user. It's EX move is a buzzsaw that flies the same path. Tastes like Rum.
Charge: An Orange fire attack, after a few moments of charging it fires an attack that does damage roughly equal to the Peashooter's Mega Attack. It requires precision and timing to be more useful than it however. It's EX move is a large explosion centered on the user. Tastes like Moonshine.
General: Takes a full five EX charges to use any of them. They attach to his head, so he can only have one at a time.
1: Fires a massive cannon attack from Mugman's head.
2: Grants Mugman a short period of invulnerability.
3: Summons a great spirit that spin attacks an opponent, following Mugman's directions.
General: An additive for flavor to Mugman's drink. He can only have one at a time.
Heart: An obsolete charm. It adds an additional hit to Mugman, but reduces his damage notably. Tastes like pork.
Twin Hearts: A straight upgrade to Heart, granting two additional hits to Mugman and reducing his damage less. Tastes like beef.
Smoke Bomb: Changes Mugman's dash into a short ranged teleport, usually chosen when preparing to fight a boss. Tastes smoky.
Coffee: Fuels Mugman's EX Charges continuously and makes him feel excited. Tastes rich.
Whetstone: Grants Mugman an Axe! Excellent in a parry attack, but also deals heavy damage against opponents. Tastes like iron.
Sugar: Makes Mugman feel so hyper he can't help but parry more often and even faster! Tastes super sweet!
Equipment: All Shots and Charms come from beverages and drink mixes respectively that he can use outside of battle to change his loadout.
Airplane: A Plane given to him by a friend, it has fully automatic bullets and a loadout of bombs. It can shrink to move faster but fires smaller weapons while small, and can turn into a huge missile when the EX charge is maxed, detonating on contact and giving Mugman mercy invulnerability for a few seconds.
Other: Mugman is generally more cautious then not, and has gained a great deal of skill fighting the Devil's Debtors and the Devil himself.
Mugman, was confused. He was in what looked like a wrecked lobby to some building. The strangest thing however was just how dull everything looked, although to be fair some of the people here were also rather colorful.
"Looks like we're not in the Inkwell Isles anymore Cuphead." Mugman says, expecting a reply before looking around and realizing his best buddy wasn't there.
"Cuphead?" Mugman says, getting up and starting to walk around, he was sure to find him, they were like glue. They always stuck together through thick and through thin, nothing in the world could break them apart. At least he had his Charge and Peashooter Shots loaded into him in case he met some thugs, he doubted the Twin Hearts would be needed right now though.
in the long-destroyed parking lot of what had once been a shopping mall, some ( @GradeonMagus, @Mew, @Malbutorius, @Takoe) finding themselves in the ruins of what had been the ground floor of a skyscraper that had survived... mostly intact, even if the roof was lying right outside the door,
Name: Xantara (formerly Paige Shepard) Universe of Origin: A dark, (un)regrettably lost section of the Kamen Rider multiverse that can kinda be called the Inoue-verse... or Early Heisei-verse. Description:
A dark haired, pale skinned Caucasian woman who barely looks in her 20's. Her hair is a curly mess that barely falls past the nape of her neck and doesn't seem to have any particular style. Eyes are a dark, muddy brown, though when hit with a bright light seem to light up an unnatural gold color. She has an average build and stands just 5' 3".
When transformed, it's impossible to even recognize it's the same person until you hear her speak.
Amazon Delta stands 6' 3" in height, upright and humanoid but could certainly never pass as human. Skin has become thick plating resembling the scales of a fish or reptile, though more geometric akin to actual armor. Head is noticeably inhuman, with large eyes, a fanged maw, any other facial features sunken into a blunted muzzle akin to a snake - and adding to that look, a flared crest attached to the neck resembling the hood of a cobra. Hands and feet terminate into 1/2" claws with heavier armoring around the lower arms and legs resembling gloves and boots. There is no indication of what gender this creature is. It's primarily neon purple with golden-orange stripes and matching eyes, though a patch of white starts at the chest and rolls down the central part of the torso, terminating at the belt line. As for a belt, there is a strange black contraption with matching gold eyes wrapped around her waist while in this form with two horizontal handles.
Gender: Female
A lot of shit happens when you decide to pick up and move cross country after dealing with 30 something years of bullshit from... well, let's just say 'all angles'. Of course, when you set off on a journey like that, you kinda don't expect to be shanghai'd in a Wendy's parking lot somewhere out in Texarkana by two bikers that turn into grey armored statue monsters, dragged into the foothills of the Ozarks and forcibly recruited into a world-spanning terrorist organization seeking enlightenment through doing creepy ass Nazi occult science experiments that actually work.
...Yet here we are.
When I awoke after the initial dosage of... whatever and the crippling pain that followed... I had never been more hungry in my life. My body burned with a fever the likes of which I'd never experienced, forcing me to wobble with vertigo as I stumbled through the strangely empty facility, driven by a powerful coppery smell... only to find strangely sleek, hulking, green monstrosity with glowing red eyes crushing the life out of a... it looked like a man, but I clearly remember it dissolving into some kind of foam. When the monster stalked towards me, a clawed hand reaching out, I... kinda freaked the hell out. The fever in me rose, and I felt something like... fire rushing through my veins. There was a voice, too... soft and kind...
I didn't know at the time it belonged to the monster as I passed out.
Hours later, I was out in the woods somewhere in a sleeping bag and some young Japanese man watching me from the other side of a camp fire. Once he'd noticed I was awake, he fed me and tried to get an explanation out of me as to why I was there... only all I could remember was the abduction and the pain. He was rather reassuring in telling me he'd help me. Too bad the guys who did this shit to me had other plans.
We attempted to run from them, fleeing across the country, but... issues arose.
One being that I couldn't be in major metropolitan areas for long. I... craved something horrible. Every human I saw, I saw as a walking piece of meat. It terrified me. I spent many hours in a panic, not even eating or sleeping until I passed out and was force fed by the young man, Haruka.
The other... we were fleeing from an army with eyes everywhere. This organization - SHOCKER - had powerful allies in the form of all sorts of horrible once-human beings. There was no rest, no relaxation, no 'mental days'. So... I broke in the worst way possible.
I became one of those things. My body literally exploded with flame as flesh and bone warped into a mutant killing machine. If not for Haruka... I'd never had made it back from wherever my human mindstate had gone. He managed to knock me out and drag me to another safe house. When I awoke, he was strapping something to my waist he called 'Delta' and talking about training.
I wasn't having any of that shit - I wanted to get the hell away from him... but then he told me about how he felt when he'd discovered his Amazon self. Seems he knew all about how I felt... and didn't try any of that 'well I had it worse' shit.
So. I agreed to learn how to harness this into a weapon against the real monsters.
In the month that followed, I learned how to balance instinct and logic, to slice through hundreds-year old trees with a single swipe of my arm, to soar what felt like a mile through the air and land directly on a target. It would be useful the day I heard a rusty voice croak out from the shadows of our latest camping spot:
"Naze watashi no shin'ainaru Nanaha no yōna nioi ga shimasu ka?"
When the Red Amazon - Alpha - appeared... Haruka ordered me to run, and run like hell I did. I still caught some claws in my back as the insane Amazon kept screaming something about 'Nanaha'. Unfortunately the only place nearby to hide... was filled with the one thing I needed to stay even more the hell away from - humans.
Las Vegas at one time would've been impressive, but the shit I'd gone through in the past two... three months? I didn't give a shit anymore. The human throngs annoyed me, the lights and sounds hurt my eyes, the food looked disgusting... I didn't know how long I could hold out.
Not that it mattered much when the red Amazon came back, dragging Haruka's bloodied and near dead body with him as he continued to screech about 'Nanaha'. I was probably going to die doing this, but the world needs more people like Haruka... I couldn't just let'm die like that.
Except my life seems to be just a big ol' bullshit sandwich. As I approached Alpha in the back alleys of the Sunset Strip... an emerald light descended on me and I was ripped from this world into...
...
...Fucking furry land or some shit, I don't know.
Motivation: "The only thing that's gonna keep me sane after I've been turned into a monster... is to use that power to protect those that ain't got any. But... it's not that simple. Whatever shit they put in me... it's still changing me, and I don't know what kind of Resident Evil bullshit I'll explode into if I throw away what little humanity I have... but it's better than wallowing in self pity.
...Of course, why the fuck did I have to wind up in Furry central? ...Is it okay to eat cow and chicken furries?
...I-is there still booze?!"
Abilities:
Consumptive Regeneration - Xan can regenerate from near death by simply eating a whole hell of a lot of meat! The 'having her chest cavity carved through' to 'sleeping off a mild cold' window is about 24 hours... if she gets some food in her fast.
Predator Sense - Xan can sense killing intent from any sapient being, regardless of their makeup, within a reasonable distance such as across a street or behind a few doors.
Explosive Transformation - When Xan transforms into Amazon Delta, the Amazon cell transmutation causes a massive release of heat, enough to flash boil ice cold water within arms length. Great for getting an annoying enemy off of you, terrible for your team mates!
Super Strength - Amazon Delta can easily flip a bus, or shred through 1" thick steel as though it were butter.
Super Speed - Amazon Delta can easily keep up with a sports motorcycle on foot, but her real strength is her reaction abilities... what with being a Cobra Amazon. She can dodge bullets in flight and cause whipcracks with her strikes when moving at full speed.
Natural Armor - Amazon Delta is fairly resilient - maybe a bit less than her mentor, Omega, but still can shrug off bullets from most conventional weapons. It takes a specialized high calibur round to even do any real damage... and even then, that takes a few well placed shots to cripple her. Or, y'know, be hit with the same level of force she can dish out.
Acrobatic Grace - Amazon Delta can soar through the air with leaps that can easily cover a kilometer and moves with sinuous grace akin to a serpent.
Amazon Senses - Delta has enhanced senses, particularly sight which allows her to pinpoint targets moving at high speed... from blocks away.
Bio-electric Surge - Controlled by the Driver at the moment, Delta can charge a massive amount of electricity into her body to do one of the following:
-Electrify her attacks.
-Double her movement speed for a few crucial seconds.
Using this ability is dangerous thanks to the fact that... I mean, come on. Electricity. In her body.
Equipment:
The only reason Xan can control herself while transformed into Delta is thanks to this thing. It's a weird ass device that looks like a face with a moustache and purple eyes that have an orange-ish glow to them.
To put it as simple as possible, it has special processing stuff inside that fine tunes everything about her Amazon form and lets her consciously control it... well, as long as she doesn't lose herself to anger.
The two major functions of the Driver, other than the refinement thing are:
Acceler Gripper - Left grip, twisted to transform initially, but also twisted again while transformed to cause Bio-Electric Surge. When executing a supercharged attack, the belt growls out "VIOLENT PUNISH". Y'know, as if she needed anymore vicious shit.
Battle Gripper - Right grip, can be pulled out to literally yank a morphing weapon out of her own body. Forms include a spear, whip, sickle and small sword, each made of some unbreakable carbon bullshit or... something. Her weapons have this noticeably weird gold color to them and seem to glow when used in a Violent Punish attack.
Camping Shit: Multitool, pop up tent, sleeping bag, mess kit
A weird ass red motorcycle. No seriously:
What the fuck.
This bad boy can hit 440 kph/270 mph, never needs gas, and can be telepathically summoned by Delta to run people the fuck over. It's also ridiculously durable and has tires that automatically change to fit whatever terrain it's driving on.
It just... looks stupid. ...Don't tell Xan that, she'll get offended.
Other:
Amazonz, especially the wonderful Lysogenic breed that Xan is, require protein.
As in meat.
Human meat preferred, but normal kinds of meat will do. Just... Xan is always hungry, which puts her in a pretty shit mood a lot. On top of having zero tolerance for 'kawaii uguu' or 'lol so random and zany' bullshit akin to DBZ Abridged Vegeta... ... ...yeah, she's in for a !!FUN!! time.
As soon as the lights died from the human woman's eyes, her gaze shot around the strange new hellscape, eyes blazing a faint gold as she growled out in a low tone... that rose slightly in pitch as a sense of dread filled her, "Haruka?! Haruka... where... what the fuck is this...?"
Name: Mugman
Universe of Origin: The Isle of Ink (Cuphead in "Don't Deal With The Devil!")
Description: A living cartoon in a colored 1930's style, Mugman has a small coffee cup for a head with a blue and white striped straw sticking out of it, has smaller eyes than Cuphead and a large blue nose. He wears blue shorts, long white socks, brown shoes and white gloves.
Gender: Just take a gander at his name!
Backstory: Him and his best friend Cuphead lived in the isle of ink under the careful watch of the Great Elder Kettle. One day him and Cuphead ended up on the wrong side of the tracts and found the Devil's Casino. Cuphead and him quickly found themselves on a winning streak! Their winning streak was so great that the owner of the establishment, the Devil came to offer them a private game. Should they win, they would get all of the money in the Casino, but should they lose, the Devil would have their souls! Before Mugman could stop him, Cuphead filled with greed rolled the dice and came up snake eyes!
They begged and pleaded with the Devil for mercy, and he made a deal with them. Collect the souls of all of his debtors, and he would spare them. Quickly, they went home to the Elder Kettle for advice, he gave them a potion that granted them their most reliable and simplest of attacks, the humble Peashooter.
They then went on through the isle of Ink, defeating the debtors and collecting their soul contracts, when entering the second isle the Elder Kettle rushed to them with an answer. Their battles were making them stronger, and soon they would be able to face even the Devil himself! So when the time came, they would do the right thing.
Finishing the last of the Isles, and defeating many foes, they eventually came upon the Devil's Casino once more. King Dice, the Devil's right hand man attacked them for their contracts, playing a giant game of craps they fought and defeated him. And afterwards, they fought the Devil on his throne. It was a long and hard fought battle, but eventually they reduced him to tears and took back their souls and the souls of everyone else by force. They freed the souls of all those in the isle of Ink, and had a great party!
And then there was a green portal and Mugman heard a voice.
Motivation: Mugman is, quite honestly, a good person, and wants to help people.
Abilities:
EX Charging: As Mugman attacks opponents and parries attacks he charges up energy that can be used for heavier EX attacks, or Supers if he gets enough of them! With Coffee in his head he slowly generates it over time.
Parrying: While jumping, Mugman can potentially parry certain attacks, usually indicated as such by their pink coloring in Mugman's vision. Parrying sends him higher into the air, being the only way for him to get additional height in a jump.
Air Dash: Mugman can quickly dash a short distance in a singular direction.
Toony: Mugman can jump a fair distance into the air, run for extended periods of time, and has three hits to his life rather than actual physical health with a short period of time between each hit where he's immune to harm. Should he die, his soul will start to float away, although a quick witted individual can jump up and slap him back into his body. Although repeated deaths in quick succession makes it harder and harder for him to hand on to the mortal coil.
Discriminating Friendly Fire: Mugman has a knack for not hurting friends, his shots might as well just phase straight through them!
General: They always do at least a little bit of damage regardless of opponent durability, take up no energy, but there's only enough room in Mugman's head for two shots at a time. All shots are fired from Mugman's fingers like a classic finger gun.
Peashooter: A Straight, rapid fire machine gun like attack that shoots small blue bullets. It does average damage, and is fast, long ranged, and consistent so long as he can hit the target, a good all around weapon. It's EX Move is a heavier blast attack. Tastes like soda water.
Chaser: A long ranged homing green arrow attack, it does low damage but it doesn't require aiming and is excellent for more annoying opponents. It's EX Move is a shield made up of Chaser Shots. Tastes like Whiskey.
Spread: A Short ranged shotgun like spread of eight red bullets, it does excellent damage at close range. It's EX move fires eight large bolts of energy in all directions. Tastes like Cider.
Lobber: A medium ranged shot that fires a bouncing purple ball, does better than average damage per shot, although it's attack rate is low. EX Attack is an even bigger bouncing ball. Tastes like wine.
Roundabout: A long ranged attack that fires a light blue boomerang that deals decent damage. Shortly after firing it turns back and flies past it's user. It's EX move is a buzzsaw that flies the same path. Tastes like Rum.
Charge: An Orange fire attack, after a few moments of charging it fires an attack that does damage roughly equal to the Peashooter's Mega Attack. It requires precision and timing to be more useful than it however. It's EX move is a large explosion centered on the user. Tastes like Moonshine.
General: Takes a full five EX charges to use any of them. They attach to his head, so he can only have one at a time.
1: Fires a massive cannon attack from Mugman's head.
2: Grants Mugman a short period of invulnerability.
3: Summons a great spirit that spin attacks an opponent, following Mugman's directions.
General: An additive for flavor to Mugman's drink. He can only have one at a time.
Heart: An obsolete charm. It adds an additional hit to Mugman, but reduces his damage notably. Tastes like pork.
Twin Hearts: A straight upgrade to Heart, granting two additional hits to Mugman and reducing his damage less. Tastes like beef.
Smoke Bomb: Changes Mugman's dash into a short ranged teleport, usually chosen when preparing to fight a boss. Tastes smoky.
Coffee: Fuels Mugman's EX Charges continuously and makes him feel excited. Tastes rich.
Whetstone: Grants Mugman an Axe! Excellent in a parry attack, but also deals heavy damage against opponents. Tastes like iron.
Sugar: Makes Mugman feel so hyper he can't help but parry more often and even faster! Tastes super sweet!
Equipment: All Shots and Charms come from beverages and drink mixes respectively that he can use outside of battle to change his loadout.
Airplane: A Plane given to him by a friend, it has fully automatic bullets and a loadout of bombs. It can shrink to move faster but fires smaller weapons while small, and can turn into a huge missile when the EX charge is maxed, detonating on contact and giving Mugman mercy invulnerability for a few seconds.
Other: Mugman is generally more cautious then not, and has gained a great deal of skill fighting the Devil's Debtors and the Devil himself.
Mugman, was confused. He was in what looked like a wrecked lobby to some building. The strangest thing however was just how dull everything looked, although to be fair some of the people here were also rather colorful.
"Looks like we're not in the Inkwell Isles anymore Cuphead." Mugman says, expecting a reply before looking around and realizing his best buddy wasn't there.
"Cuphead?" Mugman says, getting up and starting to walk around, he was sure to find him, they were like glue. They always stuck together through thick and through thin, nothing in the world could break them apart. At least he had his Charge and Peashooter Shots loaded into him in case he met some thugs, he doubted the Twin Hearts would be needed right now though.
She froze upon seeing the bizarre mug-faced cartoon character waddle right out of the Uncanny Valley and into her sights. Her lips twisted into a snarl of disgust at how offensively out of place this... this creature looked. Xan's dirty, tanned fists balled up as she stood aside, just watching the aberration silently.
"I don't think we're in the vault anymore, Lilac."
As usual, her best friend was being a mistress of the obvious, which clearly didn't help much. It was quite obvious that this ruined room wasn't exactly the same ruined room as before. If only because the ruined room they were in previously had been deep underground, in a research facility while this seems to be an office foyer with windows. That and last she knew, there wasn't much in the way of volcanic atmospheric conditions near the research facility.
Speaking of said beings, one was a lavender dragoness in a black and blue jumpsuit, the other a green feline in a... quite skimpy outfit and with a massive blade attached to her back. Both looked equally bewildered at their new location. Every once in a while, the air shimmered around them, hinting at the existence of the shield force fields that were keeping them from inhaling the volcanic matter that was almost certainly saturating the air everywhere around them.
The dragoness, a certain Sash Lilac (better known to her friends as simply Lilac) quickly took notice of where they were. The obvious, namely that they were in a ruined structure of sorts, one that was above ground, and that they weren't alone, quickly came to her. Given that their last location was an abandonned dragon research center, having accidentally triggered some sort of teleporter prototype, it occured to them that they might have been warped to another area. Was this one of the Outer Nations? Sure, the Brevon Crisis left much of the planet in years but in the three years since, surely no major city would look like this? Is this a major city? Is this even Avalice anymore?
In fact, for an office foyer, there wasn't much in the way of people. Where's the employees? Security guards? For the matter, shouldn't she hear birds singing outside? Insects chirping? The dragoness actually stopped blocking out most sounds and couldn't help but notice that she could hear the characteristic rumbling of lava. That... was not normal in a city. At all.
There's something awfully, awfully wrong with this place.
"Pangu, analyse the air composition." she said quickly.
The blue jellyfish-like machine floating in the air near her had its lone optic flash a few times and then, a female synthetized voice came from it. "Air composition analysed. Significant amounts of volcanic matter found. Long-term exposure without protection may be hazardous. Shield systems should remain active for life support conditions to be maintained."
"Well, ain't that just great." went the green feline, having heard that. She looked about, noticing the weird cup-headed man who seemed right out of a cartoon alongside with the odd ape things. "Given the reactions of the weird ape-like people nearby, I take it we're not the only one who just had a teleportation-related accident. And given I never saw ape-like things before, I bet that darn thing must have flung us halfway accross the galaxy."
There was a moment of silence, as the swirling green energy dislodged it's traveler...
A brief fragment of a moment, before the unwitting traveler was disgorged - before that traveler was finally part of the new world that she had been brought to.
Following that moment, there was a brief feeling of discontent, as gravity took hold, and the traveler dropped like a stone.
*THUMP*
And the silence was broken by a groan of pain, annoyance, and confusion, all mixed together. "Wha-?" The girl pulled from her world laid there for a few moments, just doing nothing. Trying to pretend that whatever just happened, hadn't happened, and that she was still in her bed.
...
...
But it wasn't working. Slowly, the girl blinked, before rolling over, and stumbling up to her feet. The girl rubbed her eyes as she looked around the location that she was in.
"Da fuq?" Was all the girl said, as she tried to get a grasp on her surroundings.
Rene Petit
-------------
The Templar appeared a foot above the cracked asphalt, landing in a perfect three point landing. As he got up, he flicked a speck of dust from his shoulder pads. There wasn't any, of course. He just did it to look cool like the twat he was. Rene looked around.
Grey skies. A cold breeze. Bombed out shells of buildings. A crackle of thunder. All told, not that different from the cities where the Lost held sway. There was a Reaper and a Templar, standing around also.
The feud between the two factions was one that the Templars kept a lazy eye one. Most of their assets were tied up in desperatly trying to stem the development of the Elder's Psionics and fending off the Chosen assults. But still, even after two missions, he discovered one thing.
Mox and Winter just bitched at each other. All day, all night, yap yap yap. He didn't complete missions with them often, after he called Mox's ripjacks pathetic and they ended up dueling each other on top of the Avenger.
Mugman wasn't having any luck finding his best friend, he felt sad for a moment, but oh well! He was sure he'd turn up sooner or later! They havn't gone through everything they have for some green portal to separate them! He's sure that Cuphead is getting help from all the people who they helped to help find and save Mugman. And, until then, Mugman would meet with the people he'd been slightly ignoring in favor of looking for Cuphead. He felt embarrassed at that fact, before looking around and taking the appearances of the others in.
Two gals in what he'd say weren't exactly the most decent of clothing, but he had to admit they were dolls like that, the purple scaly lizard girl with her bright eyes and the green feline and her big beautiful eyes, they were lookin' and talkin' to some kind of blue squid thing. He almost caught himself staring before shaking his head and looking at the other two, it's rude to stare at a lady after all, even ones with such intricate coloration. Where would he be without his manners!
There was a gal that was lookin' at him mighty angrily, her glare making him flinch and turn away. There was also a man that looked pretty boring looking? He couldn't tell much. So, with further thought for a moment, he headed towards the two people who looked most familiar to him, even if they looked nothing like him... Did that make sense? Oh well. He was interested to note that they were notably taller than him, oh well, most of the gals he met were taller than him.
"Howdy! Did you get picked up by a green portal too? In all honesty I've never been off Inkpot Isle before, so I'm plum lost." Mugman says, hooking his thumbs in his pants as he rocks back and forth, eyes roaming upwards for a moment a thought occurred to him.
"Oh gosh! I almost forgot! Where are my manners, I'm Mugman!" He continues, cheerfully giving his name with a grin as he leans forwards giving a bow and extending a hand to shake.
At the edge of the ocean, the eternal ash cloud covering the land thinned. One could even see glimpses of blue sky near the horizon.
Not that that changed how dreary and desolate the land was. Even without the rivers and lakes of lava one could glimpse farther inland, the ground was dead, with the only life being sparse patches of algae and some blades of hardy brown grass, withered with the lack of water. Towering over this hellscape were the ruins of ancient, decrepit buildings, only held together the edges of window panes, crumbling brick, and rusted steel. Across long abandoned streets lay rubble and the remains of cars. Many looked torn apart and melted, like some great heat had descended upon them and ripped them to shreds. All told, this was not a place where the living intruded... at least not usually.
A rumble of thunder from overhead, and flashes of emerald light appear all over the abandoned city- Some(@Laplace , @Dust and echoes , @Lt Darkhound ) in the long-destroyed parking lot of what had once been a shopping mall
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
A dismal world greeted the eyes and ears of the Reaper as the small XCOM taskforce landed. Ahead of him, Smalltime made a spectacularly useless three point landing. The flash of emerald that had graced his eyes was gone, but still left Alex on edge. A ruined city with green flashes? The Lost had to be here, even if he couldn't hear their typical howling.
At the edge of the ocean, the eternal ash cloud covering the land thinned. One could even see glimpses of blue sky near the horizon.
Not that that changed how dreary and desolate the land was. Even without the rivers and lakes of lava one could glimpse farther inland, the ground was dead, with the only life being sparse patches of algae and some blades of hardy brown grass, withered with the lack of water. Towering over this hellscape were the ruins of ancient, decrepit buildings, only held together the edges of window panes, crumbling brick, and rusted steel. Across long abandoned streets lay rubble and the remains of cars. Many looked torn apart and melted, like some great heat had descended upon them and ripped them to shreds. All told, this was not a place where the living intruded... at least not usually.
A rumble of thunder from overhead, and flashes of emerald light appear all over the abandoned city- Some(@Laplace , @Dust and echoes , @Lt Darkhound ) in the long-destroyed parking lot of what had once been a shopping mall, some ( @GradeonMagus, @Mew, @Malbutorius, @Takoe) finding themselves in the ruins of what had been the ground floor of a skyscraper that had survived... mostly intact, even if the roof was lying right outside the door, and some (@Lunaryon, @Insufficient Dakka, @EternalStruggle) landing in what had obviously once been a pizza place... if the burned, broken remains of tables meant anything to them.
Beyond them, there were no others in sight. How would they fare, in this dark and inhospitable world...?
Mox blinked, and was suddenly somewhere else. He was dimly familiar with the sensation, Advent teleported likely had the same effect, though the memories were fuzzy, decayed by the removal of the psionic chip once firmly lodged in his brain.
Grimacing in distaste beneath his helmet, he shifted his SMG up onto his shoulder and scanned his surroundings. An abandoned, dusty city street, the empty husks of building lining either side of the road with their empty windows. He himself was standing in the middle of a field of cracked concrete. Once a parking lot apparently. And with him-
Mox grumbled to himself, cursing in the alien tongue out of habit.
With him were the two "teammates" that made him wish he had never left ADVENT in the first place. That insufferable Templar, and the cocky Reaper. This- whatever it was- was going to be interesting to say the least. And that was assuming they didn't outright kill one another, here and now.
"Kasanov." He growled, his windpipe re-engineered to not take well to the English language. "Petit. How.....interesting to see you again."
Mox didn't lower his gun. "As for the Lost, I'm noticing a distinct lack of petrified bodies. This may simply just be a ruined city."
"I don't think we're in the vault anymore, Lilac."
As usual, her best friend was being a mistress of the obvious, which clearly didn't help much. It was quite obvious that this ruined room wasn't exactly the same ruined room as before. If only because the ruined room they were in previously had been deep underground, in a research facility while this seems to be an office foyer with windows. That and last she knew, there wasn't much in the way of volcanic atmospheric conditions near the research facility.
Speaking of said beings, one was a lavender dragoness in a black and blue jumpsuit, the other a green feline in a... quite skimpy outfit and with a massive blade attached to her back. Both looked equally bewildered at their new location. Every once in a while, the air shimmered around them, hinting at the existence of the shield force fields that were keeping them from inhaling the volcanic matter that was almost certainly saturating the air everywhere around them.
The dragoness, a certain Sash Lilac (better known to her friends as simply Lilac) quickly took notice of where they were. The obvious, namely that they were in a ruined structure of sorts, one that was above ground, and that they weren't alone, quickly came to her. Given that their last location was an abandonned dragon research center, having accidentally triggered some sort of teleporter prototype, it occured to them that they might have been warped to another area. Was this one of the Outer Nations? Sure, the Brevon Crisis left much of the planet in years but in the three years since, surely no major city would look like this? Is this a major city? Is this even Avalice anymore?
In fact, for an office foyer, there wasn't much in the way of people. Where's the employees? Security guards? For the matter, shouldn't she hear birds singing outside? Insects chirping? The dragoness actually stopped blocking out most sounds and couldn't help but notice that she could hear the characteristic rumbling of lava. That... was not normal in a city. At all.
There's something awfully, awfully wrong with this place.
"Pangu, analyse the air composition." she said quickly.
The blue jellyfish-like machine floating in the air near her had its lone optic flash a few times and then, a female synthetized voice came from it. "Air composition analysed. Significant amounts of volcanic matter found. Long-term exposure without protection may be hazardous. Shield systems should remain active for life support conditions to be maintained."
"Well, ain't that just great." went the green feline, having heard that. She looked about, noticing the weird cup-headed man who seemed right out of a cartoon alongside with the odd ape things. "Given the reactions of the weird ape-like people nearby, I take it we're not the only one who just had a teleportation-related accident. And given I never saw ape-like things before, I bet that darn thing must have flung us halfway accross the galaxy."
Name: Mugman
Universe of Origin: The Isle of Ink (Cuphead in "Don't Deal With The Devil!")
Description: A living cartoon in a colored 1930's style, Mugman has a small coffee cup for a head with a blue and white striped straw sticking out of it, has smaller eyes than Cuphead and a large blue nose. He wears blue shorts, long white socks, brown shoes and white gloves. He's about 3' 7.5" tall or theresaboughts.
Gender: Just take a gander at his name!
Backstory: Him and his best friend Cuphead lived in the isle of ink under the careful watch of the Great Elder Kettle. One day him and Cuphead ended up on the wrong side of the tracts and found the Devil's Casino. Cuphead and him quickly found themselves on a winning streak! Their winning streak was so great that the owner of the establishment, the Devil came to offer them a private game. Should they win, they would get all of the money in the Casino, but should they lose, the Devil would have their souls! Before Mugman could stop him, Cuphead filled with greed rolled the dice and came up snake eyes!
They begged and pleaded with the Devil for mercy, and he made a deal with them. Collect the souls of all of his debtors, and he would spare them. Quickly, they went home to the Elder Kettle for advice, he gave them a potion that granted them their most reliable and simplest of attacks, the humble Peashooter.
They then went on through the isle of Ink, defeating the debtors and collecting their soul contracts, when entering the second isle the Elder Kettle rushed to them with an answer. Their battles were making them stronger, and soon they would be able to face even the Devil himself! So when the time came, they would do the right thing.
Finishing the last of the Isles, and defeating many foes, they eventually came upon the Devil's Casino once more. King Dice, the Devil's right hand man attacked them for their contracts, playing a giant game of craps they fought and defeated him. And afterwards, they fought the Devil on his throne. It was a long and hard fought battle, but eventually they reduced him to tears and took back their souls and the souls of everyone else by force. They freed the souls of all those in the isle of Ink, and had a great party!
And then there was a green portal and Mugman heard a voice.
Motivation: Mugman is, quite honestly, a good person, and wants to help people.
Abilities:
EX Charging: As Mugman attacks opponents and parries attacks he charges up energy that can be used for heavier EX attacks, or Supers if he gets enough of them! With Coffee in his head he slowly generates it over time.
Parrying: While jumping, Mugman can potentially parry certain attacks, usually indicated as such by their pink coloring in Mugman's vision. Parrying sends him higher into the air, being the only way for him to get additional height in a jump.
Air Dash: Mugman can quickly dash a short distance in a singular direction.
Toony: Mugman can jump a fair distance into the air, run for extended periods of time, and has three hits to his life rather than actual physical health with a short period of time between each hit where he's immune to harm. Should he die, his soul will start to float away, although a quick witted individual can jump up and slap him back into his body. Although repeated deaths in quick succession makes it harder and harder for him to hand on to the mortal coil.
Discriminating Friendly Fire: Mugman has a knack for not hurting friends, his shots might as well just phase straight through them!
General: They always do at least a little bit of damage regardless of opponent durability, take up no energy, but there's only enough room in Mugman's head for two shots at a time. All shots are fired from Mugman's fingers like a classic finger gun.
Peashooter: A Straight, rapid fire machine gun like attack that shoots small blue bullets. It does average damage, and is fast, long ranged, and consistent so long as he can hit the target, a good all around weapon. It's EX Move is a heavier blast attack. Tastes like soda water.
Chaser: A long ranged homing green arrow attack, it does low damage but it doesn't require aiming and is excellent for more annoying opponents. It's EX Move is a shield made up of Chaser Shots. Tastes like Whiskey.
Spread: A Short ranged shotgun like spread of eight red bullets, it does excellent damage at close range. It's EX move fires eight large bolts of energy in all directions. Tastes like Cider.
Lobber: A medium ranged shot that fires a bouncing purple ball, does better than average damage per shot, although it's attack rate is low. EX Attack is an even bigger bouncing ball. Tastes like wine.
Roundabout: A long ranged attack that fires a light blue boomerang that deals decent damage. Shortly after firing it turns back and flies past it's user. It's EX move is a buzzsaw that flies the same path. Tastes like Rum.
Charge: An Orange fire attack, after a few moments of charging it fires an attack that does damage roughly equal to the Peashooter's Mega Attack. It requires precision and timing to be more useful than it however. It's EX move is a large explosion centered on the user. Tastes like Moonshine.
General: Takes a full five EX charges to use any of them. They attach to his head, so he can only have one at a time.
1: Fires a massive cannon attack from Mugman's head.
2: Grants Mugman a short period of invulnerability.
3: Summons a great spirit that spin attacks an opponent, following Mugman's directions.
General: An additive for flavor to Mugman's drink. He can only have one at a time.
Heart: An obsolete charm. It adds an additional hit to Mugman, but reduces his damage notably. Tastes like pork.
Twin Hearts: A straight upgrade to Heart, granting two additional hits to Mugman and reducing his damage less. Tastes like beef.
Smoke Bomb: Changes Mugman's dash into a short ranged teleport, usually chosen when preparing to fight a boss. Tastes smoky.
Coffee: Fuels Mugman's EX Charges continuously and makes him feel excited. Tastes rich.
Whetstone: Grants Mugman an Axe! Excellent in a parry attack, but also deals heavy damage against opponents. Tastes like iron.
Sugar: Makes Mugman feel so hyper he can't help but parry more often and even faster! Tastes super sweet!
Equipment: All Shots and Charms come from beverages and drink mixes respectively that he can use outside of battle to change his loadout.
Airplane: A Plane given to him by a friend, it has fully automatic bullets and a loadout of bombs. It can shrink to move faster but fires smaller weapons while small, and can turn into a huge missile when the EX charge is maxed, detonating on contact and giving Mugman mercy invulnerability for a few seconds.
Other: Mugman is generally more cautious then not, and has gained a great deal of skill fighting the Devil's Debtors and the Devil himself.
Mugman wasn't having any luck finding his best friend, he felt sad for a moment, but oh well! He was sure he'd turn up sooner or later! They havn't gone through everything they have for some green portal to separate them! He's sure that Cuphead is getting help from all the people who they helped to help find and save Mugman. And, until then, Mugman would meet with the people he'd been slightly ignoring in favor of looking for Cuphead. He felt embarrassed at that fact, before looking around and taking the appearances of the others in.
Two gals in what he'd say weren't exactly the most decent of clothing, but he had to admit they were dolls like that, the purple scaly girl with her bright eyes and the green feline and her big beautiful eyes, they were lookin' and talkin' to some kind of blue squid thing. He almost caught himself staring before shaking his head and looking at the other two, it's rude to stare at a lady after all, even ones with such intricate coloration. Where would he be without his manners!
There was a gal that was lookin' at him mighty angrily, her glare making him flinch and turn away. There was also a man that looked like he was mostly metal? He couldn't tell much. So, with further though for a moment, he headed towards the two people who looked most familiar to him, even if they looked nothing like him... Did that make sense? Oh well. He was interested to note that they were notably taller than him, oh well, most of the gals he met were taller than him.
"Howdy! Did you get picked up by a green portal too? In all honesty I've never been off Inkpot Isle before, so I'm plum lost." Mugman says, hooking his thumbs in his pants as he rocks back and forth, eyes roaming upwards for a moment a thought occurred to him.
"Oh gosh! I almost forgot! Where are my manners, I'm Mugman!" He continues, cheerfully giving his name with a grin as he leans forwards giving a bow and extending a hand to shake.
Xan's eyes drifted from the cartoonish abomination to the two more humanoid things... with... animal features and skimpy clothing. Immediately her mind fell to something from her pretty damn dead past - furries. Fucking furries. And this fucking cup thing. Her eyes dulled to their usual muddy brown as a twang of anxiety set in, realizing not only did she no longer hear the voice of the blind, red Amazon calling her out mockingly... she didn't feel them either. Furrowing her brow at the mention of the green tunnel, she spoke up in a croaking voice, "...I'd like to know what the fuck that was, too. It interrupted something... important."
Rene Petit
------------
Rene rolled his eyes, making a mastubatory gesture with his left hand. "Jaggoff," he muttered, low enough so that no one would hear. He unholstered his plasma pistol, idly turning his head around. "Mox, for once in his genetic mistake of a life, appears to be correct. There's none of that green gunk around here."
Rene Petit
------------
Rene rolled his eyes, making a mastubatory gesture with his left hand. "Jaggoff," he muttered, low enough so that no one would hear. He unholstered his plasma pistol, idly turning his head around. "Mox, for once in his genetic mistake of a life, appears to be correct. There's none of that green gunk around here."
"False." Growled the Skirmisher in response. "I was correct before, in my assessment that you are an insufferable bastard."
"Insult me again, Templar and I will end you." Mox idly scanned the empty windows staring from the dead buildings. "I am not in the mood." He finished bluntly.
"False." Growled the Skirmisher in response. "I was correct before, in my assessment that you are an insufferable bastard."
"Insult me again, Templar and I will end you." Mox idly scanned the empty windows staring from the dead buildings. "I am not in the mood." He finished bluntly.
Rene Petit
--------------
Rene stared at the Skirmsher. "That's what your mother said last night," he breathed behind his hand. "As I was saying! That building over there looks particularly stately," he continued, waving his hand at random at one of the buildings. "We are exposed out here, and I fear that my brilliance will soon draw the attention of everyone here, so I suggest that we move into that building."
Rene Petit
--------------
Rene stared at the Skirmsher. "That's what your mother said last night," he breathed behind his hand. "As I was saying! That building over there looks particularly stately," he continued, waving his hand at random at one of the buildings. "We are exposed out here, and I fear that my brilliance will soon draw the attention of everyone here, so I suggest that we move into that building."
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
"Your brilliance?" Alex laughed. "You're about as bright as a psionically dead Sectoid in the middle of the goddamn night." That said, Alex moved like a snake and faded into the shadows nearby.
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
"Your brilliance?" Alex laughed. "You're about as bright as a psionically dead Sectoid in the middle of the goddamn night." That said, Alex moved like a snake and faded into the shadows nearby.
Rene Petit
------
That said, Alex did not move like a snake, for his spine did not bend and twist like a snake. However, he did move very quietly, that, Rene, could give him. He looked at Mox. "See? That's what jealously looks like. Some pasty idiot in a coat. Come, let's follow." He started walking after him, Psi-Blades ready to extend out at any moment, the machinery flickering with psionic sparks.
Mugman wasn't having any luck finding his best friend, he felt sad for a moment, but oh well! He was sure he'd turn up sooner or later! They havn't gone through everything they have for some green portal to separate them! He's sure that Cuphead is getting help from all the people who they helped to help find and save Mugman. And, until then, Mugman would meet with the people he'd been slightly ignoring in favor of looking for Cuphead. He felt embarrassed at that fact, before looking around and taking the appearances of the others in.
Two gals in what he'd say weren't exactly the most decent of clothing, but he had to admit they were dolls like that, the purple scaly lizard girl with her bright eyes and the green feline and her big beautiful eyes, they were lookin' and talkin' to some kind of blue squid thing. He almost caught himself staring before shaking his head and looking at the other two, it's rude to stare at a lady after all, even ones with such intricate coloration. Where would he be without his manners!
There was a gal that was lookin' at him mighty angrily, her glare making him flinch and turn away. There was also a man that looked pretty boring looking? He couldn't tell much. So, with further thought for a moment, he headed towards the two people who looked most familiar to him, even if they looked nothing like him... Did that make sense? Oh well. He was interested to note that they were notably taller than him, oh well, most of the gals he met were taller than him.
"Howdy! Did you get picked up by a green portal too? In all honesty I've never been off Inkpot Isle before, so I'm plum lost." Mugman says, hooking his thumbs in his pants as he rocks back and forth, eyes roaming upwards for a moment a thought occurred to him.
"Oh gosh! I almost forgot! Where are my manners, I'm Mugman!" He continues, cheerfully giving his name with a grin as he leans forwards giving a bow and extending a hand to shake.
Sash Lilac and Carol both turned to the odd cartoon character. Sash instantly put her most winning smile and spoke with confidence. Carol meanwhile... looked completely confused.
"You too? Funny coincidence that a teleportation accident brought you here too. Hopefully, Pangu will be able to figure this out."
She was a bit confused about the hand being offered but then remembered that many people from the Outer Nations greeted one another this way instead of bowing. So she held into the hand and shook softly, keeping her strength in check. She had to lean a bit to shake hands but that wasn't much of a problem.
"I'm Lilac and this is my best friend, Carol!" She said, letting go to point at the green feline by her side. She then pointed at the blue robot. "And this Pangu."
"We're glad to meet you, mister Mugman! Say hello, Carol."
Carol suddenly became obviously very annoyed, slumping over and glaring openly at the dragoness. "Lilac, you better not be picking him up. Seriously, stop dragging into our adventures every single remotely cute-looking kid or alien you run accross. Milla is enough already."
"Carol..." groan-hissed the dragoness, obviously angered.
The feline didn't care one bit and just rolled her eyes before turning to Mugman. She posed in a way that was meant to be cool, smirking confidently. "Anyway, as Lilac over there said, I'm Carol Tea and we're ninjas for hire, at your service! While we may look a bit young, I assure that we are professionals."
Xan's eyes drifted from the cartoonish abomination to the two more humanoid things... with... animal features and skimpy clothing. Immediately her mind fell to something from her pretty damn dead past - furries. Fucking furries. And this fucking cup thing. Her eyes dulled to their usual muddy brown as a twang of anxiety set in, realizing not only did she no longer hear the voice of the blind, red Amazon calling her out mockingly... she didn't feel them either. Furrowing her brow at the mention of the green tunnel, she spoke up in a croaking voice, "...I'd like to know what the fuck that was, too. It interrupted something... important."
While Carol was boasting to Mugman, Sash turned her attention to the weird ape-like thing. Internally, she sighed at the look of disgust. She guess her kind must be familiar with dragons. Even after becoming famous for saving the world, she still regularely run into people who judge her because she's a dragon and well, does as a dragon does. Still, if this look of disgust is indeed one of prejudice and is due to that person's kind having run into dragons, then they might be in luck.
"I can sympathize. We were in the middle of a mission to protect a bunch of scientists when an ancient teleporter prototype malfunctionned and sent us here. I have no idea how we may get back yet but I'll try to figure out a way."
Rene Petit
--------------
Rene stared at the Skirmsher. "That's what your mother said last night," he breathed behind his hand. "As I was saying! That building over there looks particularly stately," he continued, waving his hand at random at one of the buildings. "We are exposed out here, and I fear that my brilliance will soon draw the attention of everyone here, so I suggest that we move into that building."
If one listened closely, they might hear a solid, crunching noise, like bone being stressed, steel bending- or teeth being ground together with incredible force. However, if he did hear the Templars retort, and the sound did come from the Skirmisher, he gave no physical evidence as such, besides a withering stare through the optics of his helm at the unbelievably, engagingly proud idiot.
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
"Your brilliance?" Alex laughed. "You're about as bright as a psionically dead Sectoid in the middle of the goddamn night." That said, Alex moved like a snake and faded into the shadows nearby.
Mox didn't even try to follow the Reapers movement. He wasn't quite sure how the man could hide in a flat, empty parking lot, but hide he did. It was an annoying skill that all reapers shared.
Rene Petit
------
That said, Alex did not move like a snake, for his spine did not bend and twist like a snake. However, he did move very quietly, that, Rene, could give him. He looked at Mox. "See? That's what jealously looks like. Some pasty idiot in a coat. Come, let's follow." He started walking after him, Psi-Blades ready to extend out at any moment, the machinery flickering with psionic sparks.
"Where are we going then?" Replied the peeved Skirmisher, gesturing down the road with one armored limb. "While you two may be used to wandering off in random directions and pretending to know what you're doing, Skirmishers do not operate as such."
"Where are we going then?" Replied the peeved Skirmisher, gesturing down the road with one armored limb. "While you two may be used to wandering off in random directions and pretending to know what you're doing, Skirmishers do not operate as such."
Rene Petit
------------
"Oh, non. Non non non," Rene replied, in a horrifically insulting caricature of a French Accent. "As a wizard, I am always correct. My magic senses," he paused dramatically, "are tingling." Another pause, this time significally shorter. "Or that's just the Elerium coffee. Off we go."
"Where are we going then?" Replied the peeved Skirmisher, gesturing down the road with one armored limb. "While you two may be used to wandering off in random directions and pretending to know what you're doing, Skirmishers do not operate as such."
Rene Petit
------------
"Oh, non. Non non non," Rene replied, in a horrifically insulting caricature of a French Accent. "As a wizard, I am always correct. My magic senses," he paused dramatically, "are tingling." Another pause, this time significally shorter. "Or that's just the Elerium coffee. Off we go."
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe the horrific attempt at making a pretty Sectoid can use his grapple hook to get up on a building and get some actual reconnaissance. I'll check out down one of the paths down this a-way." Alex called from the shadows, somewhere to the other's left.
Aleksandr Kasanov
~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe the horrific attempt at making a pretty Sectoid can use his grapple hook to get up on a building and get some actual reconnaissance. I'll check out down one of the paths down this a-way." Alex called from the shadows, somewhere to the other's left.
Immediately distracted from considering wether or not to plant his ripjack directly between Renes shoulder blades, Mox seemed to swell, and turned to his gaze to the patch of shadows. Of course he couldn't see the reaper, but he could guess...probably.
"Say that again cowardly sneak-thief, and I will be using your rib cage as a set of wind chimes within the week." He roared, then added something in the alien tongue, completely ignoring the fact that doing so did not help his case in the finest.
After failing to locate the indescribably annoyingly invisible Reapers location, Mox spat some phrase or another in their general direction, leveled his left arm at a nearby building. With a sharp snap and this hiss of rope, he was gone.
Sash Lilac and Carol both turned to the odd cartoon character. Sash instantly put her most winning smile and spoke with confidence. Carol meanwhile... looked completely confused.
"You too? Funny coincidence that a teleportation accident brought you here too. Hopefully, Pangu will be able to figure this out."
She was a bit confused about the hand being offered but then remembered that many people from the Outer Nations greeted one another this way instead of bowing. So she held into the hand and shook softly, keeping her strength in check. She had to lean a bit to shake hands but that wasn't much of a problem.
"I'm Lilac and this is my best friend, Carol!" She said, letting go to point at the green feline by her side. She then pointed at the blue robot. "And this Pangu."
"We're glad to meet you, mister Mugman! Say hello, Carol."
Carol suddenly became obviously very annoyed, slumping over and glaring openly at the dragoness. "Lilac, you better not be picking him up. Seriously, stop dragging into our adventures every single remotely cute-looking kid or alien you run accross. Milla is enough already."
"Carol..." groan-hissed the dragoness, obviously angered.
The feline didn't care one bit and just rolled her eyes before turning to Mugman. She posed in a way that was meant to be cool, smirking confidently. "Anyway, as Lilac over there said, I'm Carol Tea and we're ninjas for hire, at your service! While we may look a bit young, I assure that we are professionals."
The Lilac girl sure was friendly! Mugman couldn't help but smile cheerfully as he met them. He felt half annoyed at being called a kid, and half embarrassed at being called cute by such a pretty dame, but he shoved down his embarrassment my hooking his thumbs in his pants and glancing to the side for a moment. And then he heard they were ninjas.
"Wow! Real life ninjas? Golly! I've never met ninjas before! The Great Kettle told me about them once, how they were all sneaky like. Boy, I hope I can pull my weight to keep up with you!" He says, with childlike excitement in his voice as he bobs up and down in place.
Xan's eyes drifted from the cartoonish abomination to the two more humanoid things... with... animal features and skimpy clothing. Immediately her mind fell to something from her pretty damn dead past - furries. Fucking furries. And this fucking cup thing. Her eyes dulled to their usual muddy brown as a twang of anxiety set in, realizing not only did she no longer hear the voice of the blind, red Amazon calling her out mockingly... she didn't feel them either. Furrowing her brow at the mention of the green tunnel, she spoke up in a croaking voice, "...I'd like to know what the fuck that was, too. It interrupted something... important."
Mugman flinched at the women's aggressive wording, The Great Kettle always said that you shouldn't say things like that because it shows disrespect to those you're talking to, like you don't care about them. Mugman's opinion of the women went down a notch.
While Carol was boasting to Mugman, Sash turned her attention to the weird ape-like thing. Internally, she sighed at the look of disgust. She guess her kind must be familiar with dragons. Even after becoming famous for saving the world, she still regularely run into people who judge her because she's a dragon and well, does as a dragon does. Still, if this look of disgust is indeed one of prejudice and is due to that person's kind having run into dragons, then they might be in luck.
"I can sympathize. We were in the middle of a mission to protect a bunch of scientists when an ancient teleporter prototype malfunctionned and sent us here. I have no idea how we may get back yet but I'll try to figure out a way."
Mugman made a funny thought about what they were doing when it happened at lilacs comment "Well, all that was happening near me when the portal popped opened was a party for me and my best friend Cuphead for saving the town's residents. Shucks, guess I was a lucky one then, I'm going to miss that party though." Mugman says, awkwardly scratching the back of his mug as the liquid splashes around in his head, he takes a sip from his straw, his mouth did feel dry after all.
Gormaw held his head in his hand, rubbing his bald scalp as he adjusted to the poorly done tellyportation.
"Ooh, me zoggin 'ead..." He muttered, slowly standing. looking over himself, he was somewhat comforted by his slapdash scrap metal armour, slugga pistol, and chain choppa held in a crude harness on his back. He'd payed good teef for those, would need to teach whoever brought him here a lesson if he lost them. Who had brought him here, anyway? He remembered being talked to about some git who looked like he worked with the spikies, then something went wrong with the tellyporta, and now he was here. Some sort of building, filled with tables but uninhabited. Or...almost uninhabited. Two others were in the building with him, and his slugga was immediately drawn and fired into the ceiling with a BLAM to get their attention.
@Lunaryon@EternalStruggle
"Oi! You two gits, wotz we'z doin' 'ere? You'z the ones wot brought me 'ere?" He asked. Looking them over, one was a sneaky-looking git with armour all over his body and a fancy shoota on his shoulder, while the other, at first looking like a runt of a pinkskin or panzy, actually had green skin. Must have been a digga, then. Gormaw'd never met one, but he'd heard stories about them from the traders he worked for over the years, and he could probably use their view of orks to his advantage.
Gormaw held his head in his hand, rubbing his bald scalp as he adjusted to the poorly done tellyportation.
"Ooh, me zoggin 'ead..." He muttered, slowly standing. looking over himself, he was somewhat comforted by his slapdash scrap metal armour, slugga pistol, and chain choppa held in a crude harness on his back. He'd payed good teef for those, would need to teach whoever brought him here a lesson if he lost them. Who had brought him here, anyway? He remembered being talked to about some git who looked like he worked with the spikies, then something went wrong with the tellyporta, and now he was here. Some sort of building, filled with tables but uninhabited. Or...almost uninhabited. Two others were in the building with him, and his slugga was immediately drawn and fired into the ceiling with a BLAM to get their attention.
@Lunaryon@EternalStruggle
"Oi! You two gits, wotz we'z doin' 'ere? You'z the ones wot brought me here?" He asked. Looking them over, one was a sneaky-looking git with armour all over his body and a fancy shoota on his shoulder, while the other, at first looking like a runt of a pinkskin or panzy, actually had green skin. Must have been a digga, then. Gormaw'd never met one, but he'd heard stories about them from the traders he worked for over the years, and he could probably use their view of orks to his advantage.
As the voice spoke, Luna snapped upright, body frozen for a short moment as the girl's mind snapped out it's still slumber-addled state.
She wasn't alone.
A hand snapped up, fingers running through her hair, and pulling free a long, thin vine of leafy green. She whirled about, turning to face whatever was here with her, as the hand with the vine snapped out. The vine seized and flexed, straightening out as it darkened, shifting towards a wooden brown color as it formed into a staff.
There were a lot of things that Luna might have expected. After all, she was being trained by a super hero, and while she hadn't had the chance to go out and test her mettle... She had heard stories.
What she came to face was none of those things. It was a massive mountain of a man... thing. With skin of green and covered in bits and bobs of metal. It was unlike anything that Luna had ever seen before. "Who... who are you?" She asked, as her mind reached out, feeling for the familiar touch of the Green.
A touch that wasn't there.
How... how could the Green be gone? Luna could feel her body start to shake, though she did her best to keep the feeling hidden from the giant across from her. She reached out, further and further, grasping wildly, hoping to find something... anything that would tell her why the presence that had been with her since her rebirth was suddenly, and painfully gone.
...Wait... Something soft feathered across her senses, and it took a moment for her to recognize the feel of the Green, even a strange, weakened and depleted Green.
The Green was small, and the Green was weak.
That wasn't right. That shouldn't be.
But as important as that fact was, she had to deal with the things right in front of her, before she tried to deal with the things wrong with the world.
As the voice spoke, Luna snapped upright, body frozen for a short moment as the girl's mind snapped out it's still slumber-addled state.
She wasn't alone.
A hand snapped up, fingers running through her hair, and pulling free a long, thin vine of leafy green. She whirled about, turning to face whatever was here with her, as the hand with the vine snapped out. The vine seized and flexed, straightening out as it darkened, shifting towards a wooden brown color as it formed into a staff.
There were a lot of things that Luna might have expected. After all, she was being trained by a super hero, and while she hadn't had the chance to go out and test her mettle... She had heard stories.
What she came to face was none of those things. It was a massive mountain of a man... thing. With skin of green and covered in bits and bobs of metal. It was unlike anything that Luna had ever seen before. "Who... who are you?" She asked, as her mind reached out, feeling for the familiar touch of the Green.
A touch that wasn't there.
How... how could the Green be gone? Luna could feel her body start to shake, though she did her best to keep the feeling hidden from the giant across from her. She reached out, further and further, grasping wildly, hoping to find something... anything that would tell her why the presence that had been with her since her rebirth was suddenly, and painfully gone.
...Wait... Something soft feathered across her senses, and it took a moment for her to recognize the feel of the Green, even a strange, weakened and depleted Green.
The Green was small, and the Green was weak.
That wasn't right. That shouldn't be.
But as important as that fact was, she had to deal with the things right in front of her, before she tried to deal with the things wrong with the world.
The ork's beady red eyes noted the staff form from a vine before narrowing in suspicion. Some sort of weirdboy digga? Having them was always a risk with orks, but maybe an oomie weirdboy was safer. There weren't any gribblies coming to get them at the moment, anyway. Either way it'd probably be best to let it know he was a genuine ork right away. The fungal monster jammed a thumb into his armoured chest.
"I'z Gormaw, Gormaw Teefsnatcha. I'z green, like you is. You'z green, ain't ya, li'l digga boy?"
The ork's beady red eyes noted the staff form from a vine before narrowing in suspicion. Some sort of weirdboy digga? Having them was always a risk with orks, but maybe an oomie weirdboy was safer. There weren't any gribblies coming to get them at the moment, anyway. Either way it'd probably be best to let it know he was a genuine ork right away. The fungal monster jammed a thumb into his armoured chest.
"I'z Gormaw, Gormaw Teefsnatcha. I'z green, like you is. You'z green, ain't ya, li'l digga boy?"
Luna's face grew pale, before she flushed a deeper green, as she pulled her staff close, doing what little she could to emphasize her rather modest bust. "I-I-I'm a Girl!" She stuttered out, "N-not a boy."
