Portrayed by expansive skylines and concrete jungles, urban is comprised of cities and densely populated areas, often with more modern structures and more industrialization to fit the theme.
Adapting to Change[]
Give or take an hour, the two new arrivals finally make their way to civilisation - a bit taken back by how... Primitive everything is compared to the environment they're accustomed to. Daikeim takes this moment to look at Drake.
"<Well, hopefully they're not as hostile as the people we got... Introduced to.'>" Daikeim then looks back at the citizens. "<We'll need to change our clothes as well, we'd stick out with this on.>"
Drake rolls his eyes. "<Right so, clothes first, then we eat?>"
"<Yes, then we eat.>" A sigh escapes Daikeim's mouth as he begins walking the streets, scanning for a suitable place to enter.
Amongst some of the buildings there's one that says "Davy Jone's Locker."
"<Well, guess there's no better place to start.>" Drake eyes the sign before entering the building, Daikeim following behind.
Inside the building, it looks like a decrepit street with graffiti on the walls. The clothes are hung on racks and organized by shirts, pants and accessories, they even have novelties.
"<Alright then... I guess I'll go one way and you go the other.>" Drake suggests before heading off, leaving Daikeim to simply wonder. Give or take a few tens of minutes, the two arrive back - Drake already with an outfit he prefers.
"<Black jacket, white shirt, black jeans... Very simplistic, aren't you?>" Daikeim says with a grin. "<So now we pay...>"
"<Oh don't give me that crap, blue boy>" Drake replies back, smirking. "<And yeah, we do-- ...Oh, right. Currency.>" He looks around and notices the changing rooms, he turns to look back at Daikeim and gestures towards the room.
The expression on Daikeim's face is best described as disapproving but Drake drags him into the same cubicle with him. "<Ok so, why don't we just wear this stuff and get the fuck out?>"
"<Because I think tags are still a thing on here, so we'd get caught.>" After a moment of thinking, Daikeim looks at the clothes he and Drake are wearing. "<Maybe we could sneakingly 'trade' this stuff?>"
"<Sounds like a plan... Now get out of my cubicle and let me change.>" Responds an already undressing Drake, taking off his jacket before shoving Daikeim out, leaving him to go into the next room over.
The two later exit, dressed in their new attire, Drake meanwhile grabs the old sets and looks around before placing the clothing onto the shelves. "<Alrighty, now can we get out?>"
Daikeim silently nods as the two begin to exit the building.
A voice calls behind them "Hey you two."
The two immediately stop, Daikeim sighing. "<Alright then, your call.>"
"<You fucker.>" Drake cuts Daikeim a look and turns his head towards the voice. "Uh, yeah?"
They turn to a middle-aged man sitting behind a register counter, "You two need anything?"
"Oh, sorry - we're newcomers to the city and we're just touring, sadly we have no money to buy anything." Drake replies while forcing a innocent smile.
"Well welcome to town. Um feel free to browse around. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thanks! We'll grab something to eat then we'll come back." After a short wave, Drake turns and the two leave the building. "<We are never going back into that damned place.>"
" Daikeim stops and looks around, turning his head down one high street. "
Drake nods towards Daikeim. "<Alright, you'll probably know where to find me.>" And with that, the two split, heading their own ways throughout the city.
While walking around town, Drake notices some of the civilians are looking at him, tilting their head as they do so.
"<The fuck are they staring at?>" He mumbles as he approaches a bar, he smirks as he can smell the alcohol leave the windows. "<Well, drunks are always willing to get petty shit done for a price.>" Drake enters the building and is hit by the intense scent of sloppy food and drinks.
Drake sees everyone on the very front of the stage where a man is playing a sax are dancing and hollering wildly, even though the sax player is playing rather soothing.
"<That's music? My God...>" He cringes at the tunes but makes his way towards the bar, taking a seat while glancing over at everyone. "Uh... Something strong."
The bartender points over to a tall man with very noticeable biceps happily rough-housing with the other men.
Drake cuts the bartender a unamused look. "I meant a drink..."
The bartender walks turns around and pulls down a green transparent bottle and pours it into a cup, then hands it to Drake.
"Thanks." He takes a sip and shrugs. "Not as strong as I'd thought..." Drake takes a look around once more, before taking another sip.
"You don't look all to familiar. You someone new?"
Drake looks over to see someone wearing a pink vacation shirt and wearing a steton, taking a sip out of a glass.
"Yeah, you could say that - New to the city at least."
"Itsa town. Not really watcha city. So what all brings you here?"
"Just here on a tour, sort of... That and to get money."
"Looking for a job then? What're you good at?"
"Where I'm from - I've been a mercenary for a while, so I have quite the experience in that regard."
"I thought so. I can see it in your eyes. Sharp. Like knives. You could poke person's eyes out with those."
"I'm more of a guns kinda guy... So, if you're asking - I suppose you have something you want done?"
"Nah, not really. But I got a holographic catalogue-a 'holologue' if you will-for you to check out yourself."
The person slides a tablet over his way.
"Check that out and see what catches those sharp eyes of yours."
The tablet skids to a stop right in front of Drake, he takes a look at the list. He raises an eyebrow and turns the tablet towards the man. "The one selling off scrolls... So what, just burn the scrolls, break his hands and arms or?"
"Kill him. Take the scrolls from him. Then, do whatever you want with them. You can sell'em yourself, that'd be extra money in your pocket. A magic scroll is worth thousands. Well, depedning on what it does."
Drake eyes the tablet then smirks, sliding the tablet back to the man. "Done. Do we know where he is?"
"Sadly not. Most of those people you find in this holologue get around alot. They know their tails are gonna be hunted, so they do business on the run. But since this is for like secret exchanges/auction, try a dark alley or an empty building."
"Oh... How typical, alright... Ok, if you pay for my drink, I'll have his head within a few days." Drake replies, downing his drink in one go.
"Sure thing, newcomer."
The person takes out a card, Drake notices the person's hand is rather skinny and gives it to the bartender. The bartender scans it with a device embeded into the counter and returns it back
"Happy Hunting"
And with that, Drake eyes over whatever details he can gather about the scroll seller before making his way out of the bar. He looks around the city then sighs. "Alright, so empty buildings and dark alleyways... Lets get going." He blends into a nearby crowd and starts his job.
Meanwhile on the opposite side of the city, Daikeim just roams, taking in all of the sights until coming to a stop in front of a museum of sorts. "<Well... This seems like a good place to start.>" With no real other option, Daikeim enters the building.
Daikeim walks into a building with a sleek marble exterior. He sees various people looking at all the holograms and historic replicas of long-times past. There's a counter in front between him and the entire museum. The person behind the counter is looking down at something
He approaches the person. "Hello there, could you tell me what this place is dedicated to?"
The person looks up at Daikeim. "The museum is dedicated to world history in general."
"A great place to start." Daikeim replies before thanking the person before heading down one of the isles, approaching a display case holding a replica and looking down at the holographic screen.
The replica shows that of a woman with heavenly white robe near a tree, where one side looks perfectly normal and the other side is streamed with blacknes. The lackness etches out onto the other side of the tree and into the form of a snake with a humanoid body. They are posed to where the snake is handing a woman a fruit of some sort with an eerie smile. The woman is posed in acquiesce, her hand going towards the apple in uncertainty. The holographic screen reads: "This is a replica of the Deception of Eve. The serepent offers the woman fruit from a forbidden tree.The woman is reluctant to eat of it, but the serpents silver tongue and silver lies tempt the woman to ultimately eat of this forbidden fruit,which lead to the downfall of man from the graces of Heaven. The serpent here is said to have been the first mythological creature in existence but it is still very much debatable today."
With a raised eyebrow, Daikeim focuses on the serpent. "Mythological... I suppose that's what they mean by 'Myths' then." After examining the display, his attention is turned to the display case beside it.
The next display case shows a replica of flock of winged descending from the shining sky above towards shaggy, dirty men dressed in animal skins. One winged man and one other man reach their hands towards each other.
Daikeim steps over and once more looks down at the holographic screen.
The holographic screen says: "Legends say that the Angels of Heaven felt sympathy for the fallen men of the Earth. They defied their creator and took matters into their own hands. They made their new homes amongst Man."
A small chuckle leaves Daikeim. "Feels way too close to home." After taking another look around, he sighs. "Getting to understand the history is helpful but I feel like I'll need more... General information." Daikeim leaves the exhibit in hopes to find something more recent.
Daikeim comes across one painting. This painting shows battleships firing at several giant serpent-like creatures, who have men riding on their backs. Some of these men jump off the creature's back onto the battleships.
"How adventurous..." Taking note of the previous displays, Daikeim begins to grasp of an abridged version of the history between man and Myth. "Oh sir. Sir."
Daikeim turns to see the man from the counter walking towards him
"My apologies, but you do have to pay to see the exhibits."
"And you only decide to bring that up now?" Daikeim says, clear annoyance in his tone.
"My apologies, sir. It's just that my mind has been elsewhere today."
He sighs. "Well, nevermind that. I've seen everything I wanted to see." Daikeim turns and begins to walk past the man. "Thank you for letting me see the displays."
"If you want to know more, there is a local library across the street and two blocks down."
A faint smile grows on Daikeim's face as he nods at the man. "Thank you, and don't worry, next time I arrive here I'll pay double the asking price." He then exits the museum and goes straight towards the library.
Inside the library, there is an elderly person sitting behind a counter and behind the librarian, there's several aisles selves with books of all sorts on them.
Daikeim approaches the eldery person. "Hey there, I was wondering if you have anything detailing a... War? I'd like to give more information but I got ejected from the museum rather quickly."
"Did you pay admission to get in?"
"To say that I'm new around here would be an understatement... I don't have the right currency."
"Well lucky enough for you, you don't need to pay anything here. Unless you have an overdue book. You said something about a war, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I'm assuming the most recent one? The one is a museum showed me people riding serpents..."
"Ah, THAT one. Not exactly recent, but it was the most destructive. The most wild."
The librarian gets up from behind the counter.
"Follow me, foreigner."
The librarian begins to make her way through the isles.
Daikeim follows behind. "So how long ago was it?"
"A hundred or so years ago." The librarian looks through the books on one shelf.
"Not as distant as I thought, what sparked it?"
"A stray migration of mythological creatures came into the world, people paniced and technically began a giant witch hunt which escalated and branched off into different phases. Very chaotic it was."
"Oh..." Daikeim says, hushing his voice.
"Ah. Here we go." The librarian pulls out a large book titled " The Fantasy-Reality War: The Dreams That Became Our Nightmares."
Upon seeing the size of the book, his eyes widen. "That's... Quite the read. Creative title I suppose."
"This book should have what your looking for and then some. Since you dont have a membership here, I'm afraid you cant take this book out the library; so I'm afraid you can only read it here."
"That's fine, thank you." Daikeim takes the book and finds a seat, opening up the book to begin his read.
The first page of the book says: Note: What you are about to read is historically accurate events and reports taken from one of the most destructive and world-changing events in Earth's history.
Daikeim shrugs off the warning, his curiosity taking over while he begins to read.
Daikeim read the Introduction. The first page has a picture of blue featurless humanoid giants towering over an entire village, some of the villagers are running away from the giants, while some others have guns pointed at the giants.
"The first mythic contact man has had in decades is with the Swedes encounter with a stray migration of mythologicl creaturse called Endlos. They made their way from Gate No.1 in Oppland, Norway to the Swedish village of Canninsmosh in January 1,1901. It is unknown how these Endlos got seperated from the rest of their kind, but the were met with violence by the villagers. The Endlos were unfazed and in the end, the Endlos simply walked through the village, destroying in the process as if it were not there. It is unknown what had happened to them after this event, but most speculate they might have died sometime once the war picked up. The surviving villager fled towards their distant neighbors and told them what had happened. They took heed to these words as some of these creatures had been sparcely recorded through-out history, especially in Europe and Asia. Word spread through-out Europe and a witch-hunt for all non-humans began on January 24,1901, and in their efforts to flush out these creatures that lived amongst them; they succeeded. They revealed themselves to their hunters and soon began to retaliate against them. In January 28,1901, Almost all of Europe was now locked in combat with the monsters that lived among them."
"Wow... Because of one thing, they hunted down every single one they could find... And with that organisation, safe to say the war is still happening just behind closed doors." Daikeim mumbles to himself.
Meanwhile in a more derelict part of the city, Drake wonders about, his eyes tracing over a few choice buildings. "<Where is that motherfucker... Empty buildings and alleyways, right...>" After a moment, he peers into a boarded up window that leaves just a small enough gap for him to see what's inside.
Inside he sees an completely empty room and three males standing in the dark.
"Yo' one you turn on yo' lights on! It's dark as a muthafucka in here!"
"Like for real though, why didn't we just go back to your place to do this."
"I told you, man, we just partook in some illegal shit. You know we aren't supposed to have shit like this!"
"Tch. America. The Land of The Powerless."
"Land of the Idiots. Stuff like this is illeagal cause a whole lot of us will abuse the shit out of it. No moderation,man."
A light turns from some rectangular object in one of the males hands
"Alright, let's see if this works."
One of the men pulls out a roll of papyrus paper from his back pocket.
Drake just stands there, still peering through while reaching for his firearm.
"Alright, you ready?"
One of the men sighs, "Yeah I'm ready."
The other man then pulls out a gun and shoots him in the leg. Blood splatters across his leg with a black hole in his leg.
"MRMMMMM!"
The man holding the scroll unravels it and begins to read from it "Vinaquirem gadurm a digas tsaran!"
Soon a golden light shines from the scroll
"Hoooo-ly Jesus..."
The light then wraps around the injured man's leg and soon his bullet wound closes instantaneously
"Bruuuuuuuh, dat was some cool shit."
"Yea...Hey did that heel you with that bullet still in your leg?"
"Huh. I think it did, but I don't feel it though."
"But this is exactly what we need to cure grandma!"
"I don't know man. I mean it healed my bullet wound but that don't mean it'll heal your grandma from her disease."
"He does have a point. That spell healing his external wound doesn't mean it heals internal wounds."
"Come one guys, this is the only option we got. Besides, what healing spell doesn't heal external and internal problems?"
"This one might."
Suddenly two stray lights flash at the three young men
"Freeze fools!"
"Shit!"
"Yea shit! Put your hands in the air!"
The three young men do so. Soon, two M.C.C.P soldiers come into view, moving towards the three young men.
"<Oh good... These fuckers.>" Drake takes a step back and clenching his left fist, reels back and punches the boarded window, breaking into splinters. Taking advantage of the shock, Drake unholster's his firearm and guns down one of the soldiers before tackling past the men and into the other soldier.
The soldeir that had been shot falls over "AAAHH! I've been shot at!"
The men try to take advantage of this oppurotunity and tries to run off
The soldier counters by falling on his back and somersault throwing Drake behind them. The soldier then takes his gun and shoots the one with the scroll and shoot him in the back with stun blunts
"GA-A-A-A-H!" The young man falls over.
"Bro!"
The two other young men turn to try and get their hurt friend but the soldier is surpressing fire at the, forcing them to continue to run. The soldier quickly grabs the other one, hoists him on his back and runs. He swoops up the scroll from the man on his way and makes it out the same way Drake came in.
Drake stands up, recovering from the throw and watching the three escape. "Bunch of fucking annoyances..." His gaze then lowers to the last guy on the floor, Drake's firearm still in hand. "You. Where did you get those scrolls."
"Aahhhhhh...My back..." The young man continues to squirm some on the ground.
The white haired mercenary only responds by lightly pressing down on the man's back. "Did I fucking sutter?"
"...No...But you did mispronounce a word..."
The man can hear Drake growl as he's hoisted up by shirt and pinned up to the wall, firearm pressed to his chest. "
"Alrightalright! I got it from Spelghob, the Magic Plagarist! He's nearly four miles away from here! 2314 Jeffrey Lane! You will find him there! Just stop speaking in angry gibberish!"
"Good." Drake holsters his firearm and pulls the man away from the wall, his fingertips faintly glowing with heat as he inscribes what seems to be an arcane circle onto the wall. After he's done, he holds the man up against the wall and places his own hand on the wall. Causing the circle to glow green and to slowly heal up any recent damage the man sustained.
"So listen very closely, you want to help your dying relative, copy this and use it. I'm going to drop you now and I'm going to get my bounty, when I come back I expect you and the arcane circle to be gone. Understand?"
"Y-yea sure....Thanks!"
Drake silently nods and drops the man, turning towards the window he came through. "<2314 Jeffery Lane... This fucking planet...>"
"Oh, wait don't have anything to write this down with!....Nevermind...I'll find something..." The young man looks over his surroundings
Drake stands outside a gate to a two story house with a somewhat dilapidated appearance. The sign near the corner has the adress he's looking for.
"<Well, looks like a place for people like him... Right, let's try this.>" Drake approaches the door, firearm in hand and simply tries to open the door.
The enrite first floor is covered with books, scrolls, and relics galore from the front the door all the way into the kitchen and almost halfway up to the ceiling.
Drake slows his pace, taking in any unusal sounds as he looks at any open scrolls. "<Right.. I'm collecting so much after this.>" He says quietly to himself, making his way to the kitchen.
He sees that there seems to be more scrolls and books taking up much of the kitchen space, mostly on the counters, the table, in the cabinets, even in the refrigerator.
After a moment of looking about, he looks up at the light bulb. "<No power... The books have dust, and these look ancient... Either this guy has died or the other guy lied and just stole these.>" Drake exits the kitchen and takes the stairs to the second floor.
Upon ascending up the stairs, he sees a clothless, porcelain female doll sitting on top of a stack of book that is setup like shes sitting on a throne. Her eyes are half closed and her mouth is only in a half smile.
Drake stares down the doll, slowly approaching it with caution.
As he continues, he sees the dolls eyes slowly shift up at him, then slowly lifts its head up to look at him.
"<What the fuck...>" Drake aims his firearm at the doll, his eyes fixated on the doll's.
The doll slowly tilts her head to the right, then slowly to the left, then back. Her eyes shine bright orange and a blast of energy shoot Drake and launches him back into the wall behind him above the stairs, Drake falls down on the stairs and the moment he tries to stand to his feet, he's blasted down the stairs and lands on a pile of scrolls. Drake looks up and sees the doll, now twice his height, walking down the stairs and up to him. Her arm transforms into a spike and she aims to stab him.
Within seconds, Drake quickly shifts his body to narrowly avoid the attack. Rolling back onto his feet and firing a few rounds into the doll, all while supposedly cursing in his native tongue.
The doll turns it's head towards Drake, it's other arm transforms into a narrow canon, turns it at Drake, and blasts him out the house. Drake slides on the ground on his back. He lays there for a moment until helooks up and sees two M.C.C.P soldiers looking down at him.
"So. Who's got you beat?
Drake's eyes narrow at them. "Even attempt to arrest me and you're both fucking scraps. Let me do my job." He puffs out a flame large enough for the two to feel the intense heat, jumping back up onto his feet.
One of the soldier begins to flail around the place. While the other just stands
"Ah! I'm hot like fire!"
"Dude, if anything, it should feel humid at best! Are suits are ment to with stand aboce 300 degress Celsius."
"The humidity is reaaaaaal!"
The doll comes out the house.
"Oh hell no! Quick set your gun to lethal!"
"I'm still on firrrrrrrrrre!
"Cotdammit!"
"Y'know for soldiers you're pretty fucking useless!" Drake's cheeks puff up before he spews out a torrent of flames at the doll, while it's engulfed. He reaches for a rock and begins to quickly scribe an arcane circle on the pavement, his head turns to the two soldiers. "If I were you two, step the hell back!"
"How about we move in. Come on!"
"Still! On! Fiirrrrrre!"
"....."
The soldier grabs the other and chucks him at the doll. The doll blasts the soldier and is sent fly over Drakes head and hits a car across the street.
"Uuuuuuggghhh...."
"Fire's out. I'll let you have it from here, stranger."
The other soldier leaves Drake.
"<Like I said, fucking useless...>" He looks back at the doll and places both his hands on the arcane circle he inscribed, it suddenly glows as the doll is sent flying to the back of the house. As it begins to recover, Drake enters and lights a splinter before tossing it into the piles of spellbooks. "Alright you bastard, let's see what else you can pull..."
Drake soon realizes all the scrolls, books, and relics have all disappeared. The house is empty. The doll's linear joints fires a buzzsaw disc at him.
He barely has enough time to dodge as the buzzsaw cuts along his arm, he flinches in pain before gathering enough embers into his hand to create an unstable fireball which he throws straight at the doll, exploding on impact.
Fire and sawdust flies around the place. The doll is no longer to be seen. Drake hears guns shots coming from upstairs.
"<Seriously what is this fucking place!?>" Drake sprints upstairs to the source of the gunshots, firearm already prepared.
The appears to be nothing on the second floor, until he continues to hear various movent still above him.
Drake looks up at the ceiling, pinpointing where exactly the movements are coming from. He then moves a few steps aside and beings to fire up, creating a big enough opening for him to clamber up.
Drake finds that he's in a dusty attic. He hears groaning and sees the soldier that had just left him not too long ago,on the floor.
"Uggggghhhhh....Goodness..."
The soldier tilts his head up and sees Drake.
"Thanks alot you asshole...I almost had 'em...."
"Ok, few questions - one, how the hell do you to deal with... Whatever the fuck that thing is, second of all, can you walk."
"That thing is a ogre...It has great immense physical strength and immense stupidity. But this one is smart...And a hella old...This ogre is ancient. He wont look it when you find him, hes in disguise....My visor picked him up easily and saw right tbrough it...Also, Just give me a moment right quick to catch my breath...Whew...I'll...Catch 'em....In a little bit...And just in case I dont...Just beat his ass...Blunt force is aaalll you need to take him down...But be careful on those attacks, Im not kidding about that "immense strength" bit."
"Blunt force and you're firing your gun?" Drake raises an eyebrow at the soldier. "And yeah, I'm sure you alone are able to take him on... " He sighs and steps over the soldier, clenching his fists and leaving out the gigantic hole in the side of the attic. "Right so, big and smart... Follow a path of destruction, if there is one..."
Drake passes by the other M.C.C.P soldier who is still embedded in the side of the car.
"Uggghhhh....Ma' back...Part of me feels like my bones should...But I'm to winded to question the logic physics...Ugghhhhh..."
"<How... Professional.>" After finding said path, Drake walks among it. Witnessing small skirmishes between the M.C.C.P and the ogre, he holsters his firearm and smirks. "<Brute force... I love this job.>"
"Wait!! ...Weeb!..."
Drake turns around and sees the soldier that was embedded in the car, stand at the far end of the alley.
"You wont be able to find it with your eyes alone... You need this!.."
The soldier points at his helmet before taking it off, then chucking it half way across the alley.
"Whew... Looks like I got more in me than I thought..."
The helmet scatters across the floor, stopping right in front of Drake's feet - he picks it up and looks through the visor. "Gonna assume a scanner of sorts... Thanks." Leaving the soldier to his own, Drake throws on the helmet and continues his search.
The visor marks several individuals in the area and the estimated distance. Theres a vampire, a shapeshifter, a yokai, two werewolves, a fairy, several giants, and several dragons; though they're very far between and a good some of them arent in town.
"<Well... Certainly some stuff here I haven't seen before, but first that ogre...>" Using the intergated scanner and the surrounding destruction, Drake pinpoints the location of the ogre.
The marker pinpoints the ogre to be several hundred feet away from him, walking in the town street. Though he looks like an average man walking nonchalantly with the occasional looking over his shoulder. The diguised ogre then takes a sharp, clean turn into an alley
"<Got you.>" Drake follows suit, picking up his pace as he enters the same alley.
Drake sees the man standing in front of a wall at the end of the alley.
"It had to be the day I was going to leave town." The man dips to of his fingers in a pouch and pulls them out showing his fingers covered in blue powder. Then, pulls out a bottle with unknown fluid in it, pulls the cork out with his teeth, and pours the substance in his powdered fingers and they beging to glow bright blue. He then writes some encryption on the wall with his glowing fingers. When he's finished, the unknown words come together and merge to form into a magnificent arcane seal.
"Well, it's impressive to say the least..." Drake walks towards the man, a smirk on his face. "But I can't let you live another day, to save us both the trouble - on your knees and don't move."
The man turns hastily turns around and sees Drake. "Who are you?" The man immediately sees the helmet Drake's wearing over his face. "Oh...You're one of them. You sure talk haughty enough to be one them."
"Oh, this?" Drake notions towards the helmet. "No no, I took this off of one of 'em... I'm a merc and you're my target, so, I'll tell you again. On your knees."
"A ....mercanary? Heh.Heheh.Heheheheheh! Haahahahahahah! AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oooohhhhh! And here, I thought was done for. Who sent you anyway?"
The merceary doesn't take kindly to the man's words, his eyes narrowing. "That doesn't matter. You're wanted for possession and dealing of arcane scrolls, if you're not gonna do as I say. Then I'll force you to the fucking ground."
The man simply and widely smiles before he begins to morph horrifically. "Sorry, boy." His nose, ears, arms and legs begin to elongate. His skin begins to turn dark green and his teeth slightly sharpen and grow. Soon enough, he's towering over Drake at a wopping 20 feet. The ogre looks more akin to that of a goblin. His arms and legs are spindly but his hand freakishly bigger than his face and are very sharp. The ogre's face is somewhat elongated. His nose and ears hook downward. The ogre looks down at Drake with amusement.
"But you are no David."
The ogre takes one of his hands and reaches behind his back and grabs a long bone sticking out his upper back and pulls it out forcefully, revealing a jagged but sharp bone, he holds in reverse grip.
"And this is one Goliath, you can't bring down."
The ogre raises the sharp bone and brings it down on Drake with much speed.
It doesn't take long for Drake to be able to dive out of the way, missing the attack by mere centimeters. As he stands to look at the giant, flames begin to emanate from his palms. Drake jumps up onto the ogre's hand and races up before leaping off, setting the creature's arm ablaze while doing so.
The ogre looks at his falming arm. "Warm." The ogre shakes his arm and the flames extinguish. He proceeds to advance towards Drake.
The fingertips of Drake's begin to glow with sheer heat as he begins to scorch an unfamiliar arcane circle into the floor, once complete. Drake presses down with his palm, causing the circle to glow. What follows is a barrage of concrete and brick from the buildings beside them that all crunch against the ogre.
The ogre is stuck in between the wall for a moment until he begins to push the walls away as far apart as he can. He then kicks Drake out of the alley. The ogre walks out still keeping the walls apart until he makes it and the walls close behind him.
" It seems you know your way around a spell or two. Mildly impressive."
The ogre raises the bone again before stopping and turns his head away from Drake and sees the civilians who are staring at the ogre in surprise and horror.
"Bah! Curses!" The ogre quickly begins to run out of town, leaving Drake in the road.
"OH NO YOU FUCKING DON'T!" Drake leans forward and burns another rune into the floor, it faintly glows and Drake is sent flying towards the ogre. Not even a few seconds later, the ogre is knocked straight to the ground - Drake on his back and planting ammo into him.
The orge grunts in annoyance and reachs behind his back and grabs Drake by his jacket. He lifts Drake off him and he stands to his feet. The ogre hangs Drake infront of him.
"As much as I would enjoy squashing you, It will only be a matter of time before they come for me;so I will only leave you this advice: 'Try hunting for smaller game next time.'"
The ogre turns back towards town and flicks him a far distance into town. He turns around and sees a metal robot with a bulky upper-body with jetwing-like protrusions coming out it's shoulders and has a cone-shapded face. The ogre kneels down to get a closer look at the machine. "Hmm. A toy of some sort no doubt." The ogre examines it some more and sees an insignia of a headless werewolf with claw marks on it's face. "Ah! It's their toy."
The machine looks up at the ogre.
"Ogre. Reframe and come and proceed to follow me. Do not refuse this clemency or enmity will ensue."
"Oh please. As if a pull-tab off a soda can stop a green giant." The ogre lightly pokes it with it's lone finger nails.
"Clemency: Refused. Enmity: Accepted." The drone raises his fist in the air and a nozzle appears out from it's wrist.
"A pea-shooter? Really?"
The nozzle begins to rapidly fire heavy round into the the ogre's face and green blood spouts out . The ogre stands up hastily to his feet and covers his bloody face.
"GEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
The ogre lifts his foot and brings it down on top of the drone, but the drone quickly raises its other wrist and five thin cords pop out and attach themselves to the ogre's foot and sends a great amount of voltage shock into it; causing the ogre to fall over and writhe in pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!"
On a nearby rooftop, Drake scrapes his landing, growling at the sight. "<...I'm gonna fucking hang him with his insides.>" He runs and jumps across the rooftops, eventually landing down on the neck of the ogre. Heat flourishing off of Drake as a blade forms in his hand and repeatedly digs it into the ogre, filling the gaps with flames that sink into the body of the creature. "JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!"
The ogre screams out in pain once.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH! STOP!STOP!STOPSTOP! WHATEVER THEIR PAYING, I CAN GIVE TWENTY TIMES AS MUCH! PLEASE! HEAR ME, MERCENARY!"
The stabbing slowly ceases as he looks at the ogre, dead in the eyes. "Prove it, bastard..."
The ogre shrinks down to human size, somewhat. The ogre breathes heavily and is on his hands and knees.
"Ogre: Stable, Neutralized. Requesting containment."
The two soldier came up to Drake.
"Overide: 4DI9. Cancel Containment."
"Containment Cancelled."
"It looks like we came in just in time."
"You...Didn't come to contain me?"
"No...We came to partake in the illegalities."
"Isnt that...Against...Your job description."
"It is, unless we stay under the radar."
"We're smart like that."
"That doesn't mean we still won't contain you if you don't comply."
"Then...What do you two need..."
"A shapeshifting spell."
The ogre puts his hands together and pulls them appart, revealing a scroll. He takes it and hands it to the two soldiers.
One of the soldier take the scroll. "Thanks."
"Hey, weeb. Whatcha do with my helmet? My bosses will throw a fit if I'd loose it."
Drake eyes all three of them, before taking off the helmet and tossing it to the soldier. He turns his head back to the ogre, glaring him down. "If you say you can double up that payment, then do it now before I go back to stuffing you with embers..."
"Dang bruh, that sounds abit much, but it ain't like we got to deal with him no more. So, we're off."
"Thanks again, weeb. Come on, drone. Follow along."
The drone does as its told and follows the two soldiers into the city
The ogre sighs. "I didn't say I was going to pay twice as much. I said would give you twenty times as much. I'd still essentially be putting money in your hand. But before I go any further on that, tell me: Who all sent you, and how much were they willing to give you for my demise?
"<As long as I'm getting paid...>" Drake tightens his grip on the blade. "Cloaked man in a bar, withered hand. Offered to pay me for your head within a few days."
"I'm guessing he didn't tell you why. But the scrolls, enchantments, relics, books, spells. All of which I have, all you need to do is ask of me, and you will have it. Just one of which I have is worth enough to buy you a house. A mansion infact. But it's all black market. Humans and registered myths aren't supposed to have them, but I do. I have them all. Anything you need that you can think of, I have it. And if I don't have it, I can get it. You would have access to all the records of magical elements on this planet. You see, I'm worth more alive cause I have many items that are worth billions upon billions, yet my head would only get you a few thousand credits. You're getting cheated out a real deal here, mercenary. What do you say, mercenary? A few thousand credits for my head or several billion credits and then some for my collection?"
After listening to the ogre's reasonings, Drake faintly smirks. "Well, as someone who has a thing for arcane magic, you certainly know how to convince someone. Even my client didn't speak that much about it." With his free hand, Drake reaches out to shake his hand.
The ogre reaches out and shakes Drake's hand. He then forces himself up, puts his hands together, seperate them, and a two scrolls appear. He takes them and hands them to Drake.
"There you are. Two summons. Both of them are your gifts. One is for you to keep. It's to summon me if you require something I might have. The other you can keep or sell as you wish. It's The Ember Marksman. Summons a gun-trotting warrior that fires explosive fireballs to fight by your side."
"Perfect, this is great." Responds the mercenary, as he lays tucks the scrolls underneath his arm and walks beside the ogre, seemingly happy with the exchange. Only for Drake to spin back and lodge the blade into the ogre's chest. "However, I was hoping for an actual pay... But several billion credits would let me retire, and to be frank... I like my job." Drake then proceeds to bring the blade up, slashing the ogre from chest to shoulder, widening the already spacious wound.
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" RRRGGH!" The ogre falls back on his hands and knees "If you still wanted to still make some extra credit from my death, you could've said something! I swear, you mercencaries have very little intuition." The ogre slowly gets up. "Follow me...And I'll show you how..." The ogre begins to slowly walk out of town and into the desert.
Instead, Drake kicks the ogre back to the floor and kneels down on his neck - restricting air. "Not happening..."
"Why not?! I am indesposible! I am worth more than truck-full of goldbricks! The fact that whoever sent you would only pay you enough for you to get five items from the dollar store is thievery! Imagine how much more useful I can be to you alive? What all would have me do for you to spare me?"
"<For fucks sake just die already!" Utters Drake before driving the blade down a final time, leaving it in for a few moments before standing back up - the blade being pulled up with him. Drake waits to see if the ogre is truly finished...
<i've heard this all before, just shut up.>The ogre is no longer moving.
"Finally... Right, now for the head..." Drake kneels down and with the blade, decapitates the ogre and carries it by its hair back to the bar. Eyes scanning the area for the contractor.
The person's skrawny hand raises in the air at the bar counter.
Drake approaches the man, holding up the head of the ogre. "I told you - within three days I'd give you his head... Now, my payment."
"Oh not from me. From the bartender. Tender!"
The bartender heads over to the two.
Drake drops the trophy on the counter. "The contract for the ogre dealing out scrolls..."
The bartender takes the head and weights it. He then sticks his hand expecting something.
The person turns towards Drake. "He's asking for your credit card."
His expression goes blank as he looks at the bartender, mouthing the words 'the fuck is a credit card'. After a moment of silence, Drake seems to fish something out from his jacket - small transparent cube that floats in Drake's hand. "Ok so, whatever you're gonna use to actually transfer the payment, pass it over to me."
The bartender pulls out the scanner he had used previously on the person's card.
Drake takes it out of the man's hands and puts it near the cube, the shape of it changes to include some sort of square disc shape sticking out. And with a simple insert, the transaction is complete - Drake takes the scanner out and passes it back to the bartender. "And there we go... Oh, before I go." The mercenary's head turns towards the man. "My target asked twice or so about who hired me, so I'm curious - have any connection with them?"
"Um, the holologue? You basically hired yourself."
"Well, finding whoever published that would be an interesting meeting... But anyways." Drake stands up, storing the cube into his jacket before heading out the bar. Daikeim waiting outside with a smirk on his face.
"<Well, wasn't hard to find out where you were.>" He chuckles as Drake raises an eyebrow.
"<Oh yeah? What gives you that idea?>" Drake asks, only for Daikeim to look over at the rising smoke in the distance.
"<Yeah ok... So, done sightseeing?>"
"<Yeah, I can fill you in while we can grab something to eat?>"
Upon hearing that, Drake stomach growls. "<Yeah, lets do that... But not here, the music sucks.>" And with that, Drake leads the way to a nearby resturant or fast food place with Daikeim following behind.
The head over three blocks over across the street to a restraunt called "Royal Roses" .
The two enter the resturant and looks around, a bit surprised at how similar the place is compared to their homes.
"<Well, at least they're not eating off the floor.>"
"<Drake... Alright, let me do this.>" Daikeim rolls his eyes as he approaches the assumed host. "Hello there, table for two?"
"Ok." The counterman takes up two menus and two rolls of utensils, then marks down in a log. "Table or windowseat?"
"Surprise me." Daikeim responds.
The counter main leads them to a window seat close to a television. He sets the menus and the utensils across from each other. "Someone will come take your order momentarily." The counterman leaves.
"Alright, thank you." Nods Daikeim as the two take their seat, Drake looks out at the window.
"I think for now, we speak 'normally'... So, care to explain what you did while sightseeing?"
"Oh, well some general info - We're on a planet called Earth, on it's only continent called Neo-Pangea and we're in a country called America and the city of Texas. Next some history - this place is in a middle of a struggle? Between the humans, and beings known as Myths... Apparently there's some place called Fantasy as well but the book never really delved into that." Daikeim begins to explain the what he read in the book to Drake, who - while paying attention, is looking at his cube.
A waiter comes up to them with a notepad and a pencil. "What will y'all have to drink this afternoon?"
"Meat." Drake says quickly, completely interupting what Daikeim was going to say.
"...Yeah... Just a small meal, thanks."
"Ok well what do you all wanna eat?"
"...Meat." Drake responds again. "Steak, sauce and whatever goes well with it."
"I'll have just... Oh, this." Daikeim points towards a main course meal on the menu.
"The Chicken Nachos?"
Daikeim's brows lower. "Now... I have no idea what those are but that sounds... Childish - just..." He sighs. "Whatever some aristocrats would order."
"Ill...See what I can do...What all do you want to drink?"
"I'm fine with whatever you have--"
"Something sweet, alcoholic." Drake says with a light smirk, with Daikeim cutting him a look.
"Really? Alcohol already?"
"I finished my job and I'd like a drink."
"Beer or wine,sir?"
"...Beer...?" Drake says relatively confidently.
"Alright. Give us a moment." The waiter leaves and enters the kitchen.
"Thank you," Daikeim says. "So back onto topic, for now - we're classed as Myths."
"But... We're not. I mean, I hope people here know that there is other life out there besides themselves."
The only thing Daikeim can do at that point is sigh. "Yeah I know just - As far as the humans are concerned, you and I are Myths, ok?"
"Fine fine..."
After awhile the waiter comes out the kitchen with two plates and a glass of beer in his hand. The waiter sets a plate in front of Drake and the other plate infront of Daikeim. Drake's plate has chicken-fried steak with toast, eggs, and a biscuit. The waiter puts the glass of beer next to his plate. Daikeim has two pancakes with eggs, toast, a bistuit, two sausages, and two strips of bacon.
The two nod their head in appreciation at the waiter before digging into their food, Drake more surprised than expected. "<Well shit, I would've thought that this would be terrible... Glad I'm mistakened>"
Daikeim smiles but rolls his eyes. "Ahem..."
"Oh, right - sorry."
After a moment, the waiter comes back. "Everything good over here?"
"Mhmm!" Drake muffles, greedily eating as much as he can on his plate to which Daikeim looks at the waiter.
"Yes, it's great. Thank you."
"Let me know if their's anything else need let me know."
Drake's food-filled mouth can only indicate a muffled 'alright'.
After the waiter leaves, Daikeim takes a look outside the window. "Earth doesn't seem as bad as we thought..."
After a giant gulp, Drake nods his head. "Well, despite those MCCP bastards... It seems we'll do fine, I can keep doing my mercenary stuff so money isn't an issue. However what will you do?"
"Not entirely sure, I think we either find a place to stay or drift from town to town - but for now, we simply just get by."
"Seems like a plan." Drake then digs back into his food, leaving Daikeim to lightly laugh and tuck into his own meal.
Nightlife[]
Drake looks out the window across from him. It's pitch dark outside with only a few holographic lights on. He believes he can see a half-opened eye near one of the lights. Whatever it is seems to be staring in at him.
"<...The fuck?>" Drake raises an eyebrow and look out the window, directly at the eye.
The eye is elevated above Drake and is looking down at him with. Suddenly it shines and blast fires through the window and into Drake. The kitchen staff come into the dining hall and before they knew it, the eye blasts at the staff vaporizing them. A porcelain pot comes through the gap, followed by another, revealing it to be the doll from before, her upper right side being completly gone, its body twitching some due to the previous damage.
"Oh my FUCKING GOD!" Drake flips back onto his feet, eyes blazing red as Daikeim leaps out of the way of the ensuing fires.
"Someone from your job, Drake?!" Daikeim exclaims, blue embers encasing his hands.
"Yeah, you could say that... Just be ready, thing hits hard." The mercenary's hands are enveloped in flames as he stands before the porcelain monster. "<This time, I'll make sure you fucking shatter here.>"
The doll twitches some before raising its arm cannon and fires at Drake.
Drake is able to slide under the blast, quickly rising back up with a barrage of flames. Daikeim circles around the doll to get to its back, waiting for a strike.
The doll sees Drake and bends its knee and two buzzsaw blades launch out at him
As the blades fly towards him, a blade and his firearms appear in his hands and manages to delfect the blades using the weapons. At this moment the back of the doll gets engulfed in blue flames as Daikeim looks over to Drake. "Prepare a circle! I got this covered!"
Drake nods and with the knife, begins to etch arcane writing into the floor, leaving Daikeim to deal with the doll.
The flames burn at the doll until there's nothing but it's metal spinal chord with one-fourth of it's face still attached. It stands on one foot and its toes flip down and a sharp thin spike pops out. It then bends it's other foot and lunges itself at Drake.
Before the doll can impale Drake, Daikeim speeds to its side and knocks it off course. The spike cutting past Drake's arm in the process.
"Ah! Daikeim, fucking handle it!"
"I'm trying but it's really interested in you right now!"
The doll barely manages to get up. It quickly turns its head and fires another blast from its eye at Drake.
At this point, Daikeim wasn't fast enough to react as Drake gets flown across the room, causing massive debris. A moment after, Drake stands, cuts and brusies from splinters and the blast. "Alright, fucker... You're getting dismantled right here."
The doll stands on the spike and lifts up its other foot. Its toe flip down and another sharp thin spike pops out. It bends its leg and lunges itself at Drake. This time it spins itself with both both spikes pointing out towards Drake.
The doll unfortuently lunges over the incomplete arcance circle, within seconds. It's ravished and tethered by lightning-like chords, ensnaring it as both Daikeim and Drake lay into it. While Daikeim's blue flames coat what's left of the doll, Drake takes careful aim and shoots out the eyes.
Th doll is twitching violently as it tries to save itself from further damage, but the rest of its body begins to loose full functionality. Its movements begin to still.
Soon after, the arcane circle fades and the doll rests on the floor. Angered, Drake walks up to it and proceeds to stamp down on its head. "PIECE. OF. FUCKING. MAGIC. JUNK. STAY. DEAD!" He keeps stomping until Daikeim rests a hand on his shoulder.
"I think it's time to stop, it isn't getting back up from that... Hopefully..." Daikeim eyes the doll, then turns to look at the resturant. "Oh we've done a bit of damage..."
The restraunt has spots of flames and broken wood structues layed out and in piles across the floor. Several citezens come by to see what all had happened and begin to ask what happened once they see the damage.
"You explain or do I have to." Daikeim looks over at the pedestrians, Drake sighing in annoyance.
"<Fine...> Ahem, alright - what you saw was a crazy fuckin' doll trying to kill us, we dealt with it. Return to whatever you were doing."
"Smooth..."
"Shut up."
The people enter the restraunt looking around the damge. Some of them still steal glances at Drake from the corner of their eyes.
"Seems like you're popular." Daikeim sniggers. "<But, I feel like we need to go now before anyone really takes advantage>." To which Drake just nods, after a final moment of looking about. The two exit the resturant, taking off into the streets under the night sky.
Meanwhile at the M.C.C.P
Jonas is in the facilities own bar/brothel: The Steamy Engine,sitting at the bar as numerous of soldiers behind him are watching and cheering on an exotic dancer who enters on stage. Jonas is feeling his head in distress as he stares into his hot cup of coffee as he thinks about how to go about this situation regarding the "extraterestries". That Administrator isn't playing with him. As him being regared as one of the best Weapons the M.C.C.P have, comes with WHOLE lot mor respnisbility than just wearing it as a badgeof honor. Granted, everything has been smooth sailing for him for almost a good year since he's been out of Cryo. But now things just took a sharp turn south for him as now he's got to hunt down two visitors from beyond the stars that are out and about in public. He would've tracked them immediately had the forest above them wasn't so drenched in mist. But none-the-less, he might be worrying too much. The Administrator didn't give him a set time to capture them. So he should be in the clear for now. He just needs to make all this count is all.
A soldier comes through the entrance and looks around for a second before spotting Jonas sitting at the bar counter, then proceeds to head over to the counter and sits next to him.
"Sir, we've been getting numerous calls of disturbance from one of the neighboring towns."
"Geeewd,gewd. What dew de cawls de-tail?" asks Jonas
"Each of the calls said something about a white-haired individual roaming the streets, causing a little bit of an uproar as some of the calls says they saw him take on a giant goblin-like ogre."
"Mmmmmm." a sly smile builds up on Jonas' face "Dat's wun'a dem. If aye can fine wun, Aye can fine tuu. Wich town?"
"Eureka. About fourteen or so miles South West"
"And rightfilley so." Jonas says as he gets up from his seat and drinks his hot coffee in one gulp. He exhales the smoke from his mouth and grinds wildly with his teeth bare." Caws sumthin' dus cumta mine. Aye'll ralley suma y'all up ta cum wit'. An dontcha worry. We ani't goin' unnarm'd." Jonas exits the Steamy Engine.
Meanwhile back in Eureka, Daikeim and Drake are discussing about their plan.
"So, we never really decided what to do... So I was thinki--" Daikeim cuts him off.
"No, I already know what you're going to say." He says sternly, looking directly at Drake.
Drake returns the look, giving his friend an annoyed expression. "I feel like we've had this conversation before, why aren't you as mad as I am?"
The two make their way towards a rather empty street as the moon rises into the sky.
"Maybe I am as mad as you are and I have a better time hiding it, I told you that they'll have their reasons and I have to put my faith in them. I trust them, don't you?" Daikeim leans his head up to the sky, counting the stars.
"Those fuckers threw me onto a primitive rock, why would I trust them?" Drake hisses back.
After a moment, Daikeim smirks. "Well, maybe an extended vacation is what you need... You weren't exactly the best behaved." His white-haired friend looks like he was about to say something, but comes up short and rolls his eyes.
"Fine, whatever... Let's think of something we can do here on.. Urth." Drake pulls out the holographic cube and lays it on the palm of his hand, its shape changes into a translucent screen that he goes through.
"It's... Earth. Not whatever you just said."
"I couldn't care."
The two soon hear hear a car alarm go off nearby. They then hear someone shouting.
"DARCYYYYYY! NOOOOOOO! GET OFF OF HER YOU DAMN DIRTY ANIMAL!"
Soon they hear some sort of thumping sound head that soon fades into the distance. Soon they hear someone weeping.
"Don't worry, girl.... We'll make sure that thing pays for what it's done to you..."
The two look at each other, Drake throws his holographic cube into his jacket and rushes towards the noise along with Daikeim, they arrive seconds after.
They see a man crying next to a sleek-looking vehicle, Drake looks down at the man. "Wanna explain what we just heard?"
"Some damn monster done....Did THIS to my Darcy!" The man points to the back of the vehicle
The man can see the two ease up, Daikeim walks over to the back of the vehicle.
"I swear, if it's a scratch or something I'll fucking fuse you with that vehicle." Drake groans.
Daikeim then sees alot of thick ooze covering the entire back of the vehichle and dripping on to the ground, his eyes match Drakes. "It's more than a scratch so don't worry... I think."
The mercenary glares the man then looks at the floor, trying to find tracks. "Alright so explain in detail..."
"A goddamn lizard did....THAT to my car!" As the man points to the ooze "Clogged up the exhaust pipe and everything! " the man looks under the car "Broke the axle too!"
"And it ran off in... What direction?" Daikeim slightly raises an eyebrow.
"That way!" The man points in the same direction of the soaked car-rear is pointing.
"That helps, thank you. We'll help you--"
"For a price..." Drake chirps up, causing Daikeim to look at him rather disapprovingly.
"Name it!" says the man.
A devilish grin grows on Drake's face as he starts to ramble. "Oh... It's a lot of variables, I'm not sure if it'll be cheap... But maybe a good five thou--"
"Hundred."
Drake gives Daikeim a death glare, meanwhile Daikeim not phased. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Daikeim walks up to the man and holds out his hand. "We're compromising, we're not sure about the cost for damaged vehicles here but I know that we don't have enough to compensate." His head turns towards the man, leaving Drake silent. "Does that sound fair, five hundred and you won't have an issue with that creature again."
'Done!" The man is quick to take out his wallet and pulls out a holographic-like card and puts it in Daikeim's hand "I don't care what you do to that thing! Just take care of it!"
"Consider it done." Daikeim responds happily and goes first, following the trail with Drake close behind. "Save it Drake, we're not going to swindle everyone we meet."
"Don't know if you realise, we need their currency so that we can get by easier on Earth." Drake retorts.
"Look, if I was a scumbag, I would've took the money and left. But I have morals and you have your mercenary duties, you've been paid, so you got something to do, right?"
A low growl rumbles from Drake. "You fucking owe me, big."
One the way, they come into a surburban area where they see traces of whatever they're looking for has left a trail of vandalism in its wake. Ripped up trash all over lawns, crooked lawn decorations, cars going off, but interestingly also large three-toed footprints. Some of the residents are confused, angry and irrate as they wonder what's going on.
The two look at the footprints. "...This fucking place, of all the places they could've put us." Drake groans as he follows the footsteps, Daikeim rolling his eyes as he thinks out loud.
"So the ooze... Any clue what that could be?" Daikeim looks over at Drake, who shrugs.
"Not really, the guy said it's a lizard... Whatever that means, all we know is it likes to wreck shit and it's big."
The two hear further comotion coming further down the street.
"Well let's hope that it's easy to take down." Daikeim rushes towards the noise, Drake following behind.
They can here several of the residents yelling angrily out their windows and doors at something walking on all fours, it scurries from yard to yard.
"<Oh don't check the situation or anything, lazy bastards... Daikeim, go up the street, I'll go through the back.>" Daikeim nods as Drake speeds into one of the back yards, giving chase. Daikeim makes his way to the top of the street, preparing an ambush.
The shadowy hulk continues to scurry about, seemingly sniffing about.
There's a sudden shout and some sounds of broken fencing as Drake blasts himself using a controlled explosion, going directly at the beast. "GET HERE YOU PIECE OF CRAP!"
The beast skids across the ground into someones yard. It gets up and begins run away, whimpering and running across more yards.
"Oh come the fuck on... OK FINE!" Drake's arms get coated in flames as he lunges forwards, the fire forming beams that latch onto the limbs of the beast. "YOU'RE STAYING RIGHT THE FUCK HERE WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT!"
Meanwhile Daikeim makes his way around, being able to see what's happening. "Well, he certainly has it handled doesn't he..."
The beast whimpers out loud and tries to limp away from Drake.
"Alright! That's enough!" Daikeim makes his way over, Drake closing in behind. The two able to get a better look at the beast.
The beast turns out to be a dragon walking on all fours and wings on its back. Its bright grin with red teritary spots on it. The dragon appears to be around about Drake and Daikeim's height. It continues to whimper away almost losing its balance from time to time
While Daikeim seems shocked, Drake can hardly believe it. Using the ropes of flame, he tugs the dragon to stay in place while he can properly examine it. "<That's a...>" The two look each other, stunned.
"<Well, you have the traits, Feral...>" Daikeim says, looking at the dragon. Drake passes him the ropes to hold, to ensure it stays there.
Drake walks in front of it and looks directly at the eyes of the dragon. Standing his ground.
The dragon's eyes are like giant black marbles with very little white showing. It's eyes appears to be watering as it continues to whimper.
"Your call." Drake sighs, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Wait what?"
"What do you want to do?"
Daikeim goes quiet as he looks at the dragon, deciding to drop the ropes as the flames dissipate. Drake nods and opens his eyes again, he opens his holographic cube and pulls out his spellbook and some chalk. He inscribes some markings on to the dragon's side and an arcane circle to boot. It takes a moment but the markings and circle glow green as any wounds on the dragon slowly heal.
"That should do it..."
The dragon continues to lay there and breathes heavily only shifting its head slowly.
"Well, so much for getting paid..." Drake groans, a tone of annoyance in his voice.
"I guess that's a shame, but we need to deal with this first... We need to get it away, got any idea how?"
Drake nods and flicks through a few pages in his spellbook, until stopping on a double page template of an arcane circle. He copies the template onto the floor in front of the dragon, once completed there's a bright light and the circle opens up to reveal a portal, Drake looks at the dragon and notions towards the portal.
The dragon looks at the portal for a moment then turns away and begins to trod the other direction from where it came from.
Daikeim sighs. "Well, I guess it's fine... Close the portal." Drake rolls his eyes and breaks apart the circle, closing the portal.
"Come on, we've done what we can... Let's just go."
The two hop a nearby fence and delve deeper into the city, leaving the imediate area.
Jonas is sitting in a dark room with a hologrphic board layed out in front of him. The layout is of the city of Eureka, where the two Cyanics are.
"So wut aye' can du, i's propably lur' deese tu owt da' sidy, hav' lika diverse-shun.Cood haf anutha' wepin' ova dair an' propably ster upa storm. Naw, maybee nodda wepin'. Won't be lukin' all tu gewd den. De Admin be reeeely haf maye skin den..." Jonas shivers "Kay...Den." Jonas puts is finger on the board,in front of the city and strokes his finger across it. Several holograms of trucks with a plow-like attachment in front and rocket launchers attached to the back appear. "An' I have a hoooole blokaid rite in front ov da' sidy, an' wen dem' extraterrestries, I present dem' wid wun ov dem "Ultimaiddums". So, dependin' on wut hapens, I can blow de tu ta smidareensan' stil keep da' foke's saif frum da comoshun."
"Or you could have someone else do it for you."
Jonas turns to the voice to see an M.C.C.P soldier sitting next to him. "How long euw ben dair?"
"I was always here. These are my quarters, sir."
"Oh...My apologeez fur entruudin'." Jonas says in sincerity
"Oh, no problem, sir."
"Euw say sumthin' ubowt sumwun els' handlin' dem extraterrestries?" Jonas asks
"Why yes. I happen to know some fellow compatriots that could get the job done."
"Reely now?" Jonas says with a hint of childish curiosity "Hoo mite dey bee?"
"It's for the best you don't know, sir. The only thing I can tell you, that those two won't be problem anymore" the soldier says with firm certainty
"Well den, if dat's de case." Jonas gets up from where he's sitting "I'm off to maye own cwatas to res' my ol' noggin' frum all diss stressin' I've been doin' ova dose tu. Let me' know when dem tu eitha give in or give up, will ya'?"
"Sure thing, sir"
Jonas leaves the room.
Once Jonas is gone. Two claps can be heard and the lights turn on to reveal a man sitting on a bed with only his underwear on. There is lump under his bed covers, it shifts some and a woman looks over her shoulder apparently tired.
"Why did he comes in here?"asks the woman tiredly
"I really have no idea, but other than tha--" The man stops as he turns to look at the woman "You're not Corinna."
"And you're not a size ten. I guess we're both dissappointed." The woman then rolls back over trying to sleep
The male soldier shifts himself slighty to put a hand on his hip and is apparently supposed to be making a face, but his helmet doesn't show his expression.
Two soldiers are walking down with doors on each side until a door opens and woman covered in covers stumbles out and falls over. Her gear is thrown out at her.
"Fuck you!" spats the woman
"Joke's on you, you already did!" says the male soldier as the door closes
The womans gets up, takes her uniform, and walks down the hall angrily.
The two other soldiers look at each other confusidly
The soldier returns to his room and begins to pace back and forth.
"Silent mode On" The soldier says "Enable Private Channel Search. Search and Contact frequency: 94.0002. " The woldier waits for a moment
"Hm. It's that time again, huh?" A gruff masculine voice asks the soldier
"Yea. It is." answers the soldier
"No one's hearin' you, right?" asks the stranger
"Ofcourse not" The soldier says with certainty
"Good. So is this another myth related "incident" you need us to take care of ?" Asks the stranger
"Sort of. There's these two male individuals in Eureka, Nevada-"
"Ain't that your territory?" Asks the stranger "A liiitle too close for comfort ya' know?"
"That's how important this job is. You need to move quick and hit hard on this job here. There's these two individuals in Eureka, Nevada that destoyed out property, more specifically our resources. They escaped and as far as we know are still in Eureka. Rumors are spreading that these two are aliens."
"Damn. First we gotta deal with vampires, fairies, and dragons; and now we got people descending from the stars coming to get a piece of the action. Earth is just a melting pot for freaks. How you want us to go about this?"
"You still have those verticle missle launchers we gave you, right?"
"Oh yea, we still do. Works lika charm."
"How many do you have?"
"As many as you gave us."
"Good. Use them and surround the town. Demand those two surrender themselves and if they don't, rain hellfire on their asses."
"Damn, that's alooooot of casualties."
"Oh please, it's only population of like what? 300, 400? We've dealt with far worse."
"Like dearing the Yokai Wars?"
"God damn the Yokai Wars...But yea, you know what I mean. Either bring those two to us and or turn the whole town into a mass gave."
"What about payment? I heard you say something about your resources getting destroyed. How you plan on paying us for our troubles?"
"We're getting a shipment of new resources from the OutBrig as we speak"
"Oooooohhhh, the OutBrig. That special alloy they got would suffice real well. Plus the security controls and even their tachyon tech. That would do so nice. But."
"But?"
"We've heard some other proxy armies have been attempting to get their hands on some of the goods there at the OutBrig. I guess their ambitions have grown over the past several years."
"If you mean more than one of them are trying to salvage the scraps of OutBrig, then..."
"Territorial strifes. Even if we hit the jackpot of the Arabian treasure of the century, it's hard for anyone to decide on what to really take. Cause some of us PAs don't have any real means to patent the materials to our own facilities. And some of what we do want, is still difficult to find and not everyone wants to stick around rummaging and risk suffocation. Or encounteringa Myth. So going to salvage anything from the OutBrig is more trouble than it's worth. I hope you sent a squad just in case."
"Yeeaaaaa we did..."
"Alright then, We'll mobolize tomorrow and we'll get there in about 2 days."
"Alright. I'll contact you again incase anything changes."
"Sounds good. Be seeing ya'"
Silence fills the the room.
The two eventually find a place to relax for a while: a relatively quiet abode where the activity isn't fequent. Suggesting it's been abandonded for whatever reasons, the room they're in is still furnished... If a bit dusty. Drake stretches across the sofa, Daikeim sits on the arm rest of the sofa, looking at the white haired alien. "Well, that was... Interesting."
"Tell me about it... Do you think they're considered it a Myth?"
"I think so, oh, and if I recall correctly - They call that a 'dragon'."
Drake smirks. "So, I'm part alien, part dragon and full Myth on this planet?" The rhetorical question gives Daikeim a moment to chuckle.
"I guess so..." Daikeim looks around the room. "This place isn't occupied is it? I mean it's dusty but who knows?"
"Who knows who cares we may as well stay here for a while, just until another job pops up." Drake says, closing his eyes to momentarily rest. Daikeim shrugs and rests his back against the wall that the sofa is pushed up against, him also letting himself cool out.
They two aliens then hear some commotion from under them, like the sounds of paper and metal getting kicked around.
"Oh come the fuck on I just want to rest... Daikeim, you check it."
Daikeim can only roll his eyes as he hops off of the sofa, trying to find an opening from to the floor underneath them.
As he get closer they begin to hear what sounds like mumbled voices.
After finding a small opening, Daikeim manages his way to the floor underneath, hiding in the shadows while listening in on the conversation.
"Yea, but that's what had happened today."
"Tch. I find it really hard to believe that someone as cautionary as Spelghob would've met his end like that. This is myth that's lived a thousand years and has accumulated a fortune through his business with the Black Trade. Hell, he knows ALL of the spells he amassed. From summons, to powers, to travel, to conceptualization. And a good bit of myths who weren't able to integrate into human society without his magics. And even several assassins, bounty hunters, and mercenaries were well equiped with those old treasures of his. And you're telling me a random-ass myth came about and killed him under a minute?"
"That's what several people who didn't piss and ran saw. But you understand the detriment this causes to the Trade, right? Spelghob was the go-to for getting magics and relics alike. All of 'em as old as time and cost over three times their own age. Not only do we not know what all happened to his magics, which is money gone down the drain. The trade has no real business. The lesser magic providers might prosper, but their products are all low quality, and they're a hella expensive for no real reason other than to make rich as fast as possible. They don't even have what the people want. People want power, people want answers, people want oppurotunities, and that is exactly what Spelghob had for 'em. Good quality and affordable. Now that he's gone, the world of shadows have nothing to offer. That makes the trade little to useless.And it's all thanks to that white-haired bastard."
"There's no way whoever that guy was found him on his own. Spelghob always knew how to step over trap tiles. No stranger just knows where he is and kills him. Someone fed him to the wolf."
"That's why we're hiring you. Find who gave him away and find who killed him. And return the favor to the both of 'em."
"Mmmmhmhmhmhm. What about who placed the bounty?"
"Whoever did must've died ages ago. That bounty on Spelghob is as old as he is. I'm just surprised they still had it up."
"Well at least he knew he was that big of a deal before he died. Alright. I'll be finding them tomorrow. And I'll serve 'em to you the same way that bastard did."
"Heheh. Good to here. I'll be sure to pay you to all that in full when you do. Goodnight."
The sound of metal and paper moving can he heard until it stops after a moment
Daikeim's expression can simply be described as surprised as he climbs back out from the opening he entered from, getting into the same room as a spellbook reading Drake. Daikeim sits on the arm of the sofa and looks at the cover of the spellbook.
"<So, turns out your little hit has had quite the echo. Some people aren't happy with what you done.>"
Drake lowers his spellbook just enough that his eyes are peering over the edge, looking at Daikeim with a raised eyebrow. "<I'd say that you're joking, but considering that we're speaking with our native tongue that means you're serious... So elaborate.>"
"<Well, the guy you killed turns out to be a magic master and collector who's been around for a long while... Apparently no one's decide to raid his wares so not only have they lost their product, but they've hired someone against you.>" Daikeim explains, chuckling at the fact that a mercenary has a hit on him. Drake only rolls his eyes and focuses on his book.
""
Daikeim reaches over and closes the book. ""
"<...Alright, I'm listening.>" Drake grins, but only for Daikeim to laugh back.
"<Tomorrow, we need to rest. You have an apparent bounty hunter to take care of.>" Daikeim sits down, leaning comfortably against a wall while Drake just shrugs, putting the spellbook into his holographic cube before slowly passing out - Daikeim following shortly after.
Day Two of "Normal"[]
A misty day approaches, the sun rises slowly as rays of light peer through the building. A ray of sunlight shines onto Daikeim's face, slowly stirring him awake. He pulls himself up and yawns, rubbing his eyes.
"That... Wasn't as comfortable as I would've thought, way too short..." Daikeim takes a moment to get his bearings, afterwards he looks around. Noticing Drake absent from the room, however not far away, sounds of impact and breathing can be heard. "...Oh."
Meanwhile in one of the further away rooms, Drake is going to town on one of the concrete supports. Forearms, hands and legs grazed and bleeding, his jacket and shirt hung up somewhere, the support is clearly cracked and with fist sized chunks chipped off. Drake's fighting style suggests that he's a reckless brawler, however with his movements also suggesting that he's very refined in his animalistic style. Amidst the training, Daikeim steps into the room, sighing.
"You know you do have an apparent fight on your hands, you don't need to spar with rock.." Despite this, Drake continues working on the support.
"Well, fight or not, I'm not abandoning my training because we're on a different planet. This is the closest thing I could find to work on anyways." Drake replies, now shifting around the support, attacking it from all sides.
"How long have you been training for?"
"Hell I don't know, time goes by faster here... Probs an hour or two in our time? It was dark when I woke up, that's all I can really tell. So, your plan?"
The sudden question causes Daikeim to laugh. "I wasn't expecting you to remember, but then again I did leave it on a cliffhanger. To put it simply, we find your first target's living quarters and we sell off the scrolls... After you write them down in that little book of yours."
Drake's sparring slowly comes to a stop, sweat dripping down as he looks at Daikeim. "And after we deal with the supposed hit on me, right?"
"Naturally..." Daikeim reaches over and grabs Drake's jacket and shirt, throwing it to him. Drake catches it and once he cleans himself of the sweat, dons his attire and smirks. "So, we waiting on them to jump us or?"
"They'll be following you steps, so we'll retrace them. Where exactly did you find him?"
"...An old house, 2314 Jeffery Lane. Let's go." Drake gets prepared and leaves their accommodation, Daikeim following suit.
Given enough time, the two are wandering the streets, making their way back to the house Drake started his hunt.
Once they reach the house, they see a construction crew setting up their equipment
"Yeah no I'm not dealing with this shit..." Drake just walks straight ahead, walking past the crew. "Don't mind me just getting some stuff of mine." Daikeim just stands back and watches in slight awe.
One of the crew members grabs him by the shoulder. "Sir, there's construction going on, you can't be here. Plus, we've already done a thorough sweep of the what's left of the building, there's nothing else here."
"Well you better tell me where you've put my belongings." Drake warns.
"There was nothing in there. It's empty." says the the crew member with certainty.
From afar, Daikeim notices Drake getting a tad... Hot.
"Absolutely nothing? You fucking sure?"
"A hundred percent. I mean hell, you can ask some co-workers. Hey Casey, did you see anything in this house."
"No" says a crew member putting small flags in the ground
"Have you, Lennon?"
"MmmMmm. No." says a crew member getting in a smooth construction vehicle of some kind.
"And what about you, Riley?"
"Nope. Well, unless you count this quarter I found. I'm surprised we still have these around." says a crew member moving a barrel of burnt, broken wood down the steps and towards a pile of more wood.
"See? Nothing is in this house. At least not anymore if your so sure that there was."
Drake simply gives the crew a stare of death and flames before shoving past them, looking at Daikeim. "<They were as useful as the fucking dirt.>"
"<Yeah I'm sure... Where to then?>"
Drake clears his throat. "There's a place before this, we'll go there... Let's go."
The two then fade into the crowd, later coming across the building that a few MCCP troopers raided.
"Well, looks comfy." Daikeim says, noting a boarded up opening that has a giant hole in it. "Left your mark then..."
Drake hops through the hole, Daikeim following in.
An MCCP patrol walk around an old hospital building. One of the soldiers is pacing back and forth seemingly interrogating a young adult with an elderly lady stretched out on a medical bed behind him
"Go on say it! Say you got illegal shit! Say! You got! Illegal shit or it's about to get serious up in here!"
"I'mma throw a fucking fit!" Another soldier takes a small empty trash bin and throws it to the ground
"Is this what you want?!"
"No! No, it's not what I want!" Says the young adult.
" Nieto, Nieto..." The elderly woman calls out.
The young man goes over and kneels at the elderly woman's bedside " Sí, abuela...estoy aquí ..."
" Ven aquí, niño ... " The elderly woman says.
The young man leans in closer.
"Cerca..."
The young man leans in closer...
"Cerca..."
The young man leans in even closer, a few seconds pass until, the young man finds himself in a headlock and is now being slapped on the head repeatedly by the elderly woman
"¡Si no le dices a estas personas dónde están buscando, así puedo tomar esta maldita siesta!" The woman yell at the young man as he's struggling to break free.
The soldiers watch and look at each other in confusion.
She lets him go after a moment "Niño, soy demasiado viejo y estoy demasiado cansado para tener que aguantar este desastre..."
The young man rubs his head in hurt and embarrassment as he moves pass the soldiers, removes a tile from the floor and pulls up a papyrus scroll. The young man hands it over to one of the soldiers.
"Thanks..." Says the soldier awkwardly
"Yea, yea..." says the young man, still feeling some sort of way.
The soldiers slowly begin to leave in an awkward silence.
Given only a few steps, the soldiers can hear an echo of a voice.
"I swear, this place wasn't as big as it looked when I first came here..."
"What exactly did you do here?"
"Shot down some of those MCCP drones and helped some guy."
"How... Lovely."
The soldiers halt at the sight of Drake and Daikeim.
The two stop and look at the soldiers, Drake just smirks. "Well, beating up that pillar was one thing. Let's up my training a bit."
Daikeim rolls his eyes and blue fire coats his hands. "...Sure, let's spar with them.
The soldiers aim their weapons at the two aliens.
"Freeze, filthy space people!" Says one soldier.
The others look at their comrade in silence.
"Just...Don't make any sudden moves." Says another soldier "Alert the rest."
"Attention local personnel, Contact has been made with the extraterrestrials. Home in on our position." says another soldier.
"<So, which ones do you wanna take?>" Drake glances over at the soldiers.
Daikeim seems to be thinking, before smirking as well. "<i'll flash, you engage, I'll follow up.>"
"<Alright, let's do this...>"
Daikeim claps his hands together and the blue fire ignites into a pseudo flashbang. Blinding the soldiers, with this distraction Drake dives out of the flash and tackles one of the soldiers into the wall while Daikeim sweeps the floor with azure flames to keep some soldiers at bay.
The soldiers open fire at Daikeim, while Drake is having a wrestling match with the soldier he has against the wall. The soldier grabs Drake from under his armpits and knees him in the gut, then door-stop kicks Drake off of him. The soldier goes in to deliver a punch to Drake's face.
A hail of bullets grazes Daikeim's skin as he raises the flames and crashes it over the soldiers, coating them in flames. Meanwhile Drake jumps back up to his feet and ducks the punch, he grabs the arm and pulls the solider down. Bringing up his knee to collide with the soldier's chin, before throwing him through the flames.
"YOU BASTARDS WANT TO PLAY WITH GUNS? OH I'LL VERY MUCH JOIN IN!" Drake's firearm forms in his hand as he begins unloading into the soldiers.
The soldiers run, some manage to make it outside while the others try to get cover inside wherever they can.
The young appears surprised, "Yo, what the hell is going on here?!"
"What the hell are we doing? What the hell are you doing?! You don't go towards the sound of gunfire! Get outta here!
The young man sees Drake and Daikeim and instantly recognizes Drake. "Oooooh! You're that vato."
A few more shots from Drake's firearm barely misses the young man and into the back of the soldiers, incapacitating them. He looks over at the young man and gives nonchalantly waves. "Oh, hey."
The young man is shocked by the sudden action, but he composes himself "So..... an extraterrestre, huh?" He asks nervously
"Booooy, what are you still doing here? Don't you have a grandma in the back!?" Says a soldier who takes a few shots at Drake
"Don't worry, she's asleep" says the young
"That doesn't mean she's safe!" yells the soldier
"No, it means I'm safe." responds the young man
"FROM WHAT!? You are in the middle of a shoot-out!" the soldier yells in a more perplexed and furious tone
"Sir, I don't like your tone."
"AND I DON'T LIKE YOUR STUPIDITY!"
Suddenly Drake dives through the fire and knees the soldier in the gut, disarming him and emptying the rest of the clip into his chest and the rest of the remaining soldiers. "WHO'S FUCKING NEXT! COME ON!"
At this point Daikeim has more or less been a spectator, looking over at the young man. "You're way too confident to be new to this situation."
"Oh trust me when I say, I am more scared of my grandma than I am getting shot. I know that's hard to believe, but that's just how it is for me."
They hear a cars closing in before they know it, several armoured vehicles park just outside. Numerous soldiers come out and take cover on the opposite side of their vehicles. They have their weapons aimed.
"Contacters, are you still there." asks a soldier
All that can be heard is small, uneven breathing The soldier sighs. "Be right behind ya... Enable Speaker Mode. This you're last chance to surrender! Don't make this any harder for yourselves! You can't defeat us all!"
"Drake, I think the best thing to do is to run and find a place to lay low..." Daikeim suggest, Drake thinking it over which leads to an eventual sigh.
"I think you're right... Too many and we only came here to grab something, which reminds me." Drake looks towards the young man. "Got any scrolls and such on you?"
"Only the one I got from Spelghob. It should be one of those soldiers over there."
"<Fantastic.> Well, I'll deal with that." Drake begins to finish off the soldiers, all while trying to find the scroll, meanwhile Daikeim looks down the hallways.
"What's the quickest way out of here without getting attention brought on ourselves?" He asks the young man.
'There's a few ways actually. The closest one is over there." The young man points over to the nearest bathroom and goes inside, removes a large wooden board and reveals another large hole in the wall. He then goes through it.
Daikeim chuckles and calls Drake over, who's storing the obtained scroll into his HSC. "Alright, we have a way out, let's go."
The two begin to follow the young man, going through the bathroom and the hole in the wall. Drake has his firearm primed and ready while Daikeim has his hands coated in flames.
The young man traverses through the small tunnel until they see another wooden board in the way. He moves it aside and steps out into a dark hallway with the only light coming though a glass door. "Through there."
"Guessing you built these tunnels then?" Drake asks, wiping away any blood on his jacket.
"Kinda, sorta." The young man replies as he goes to the glass door and unlocks it, suddenly multiple bullet shots can be heard as if it were rain and multiple explosions that shake the ground.
"If they're behind this door I'm going to go fucking nuts." Drake groans, while Daikeim looks behind them to make sure they're not being followed.
The young man opens the door. "It's open." The man runs out as the ground continues to shake and they find themselves in the streets of surprised and terrified civilians who hear the commotion.
"So, blend into the crowd and make our escape?" Daikeim says, Drake nods and looks at the young man.
"Hey, thanks for helping us but we need to get away from here. If I see you again, I'll make sure to get you something, alright?"
"That sounds muey grande! Be seeing, you vatos around." The young man jogs of into the crowed of idle citizens and then yells "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR?! RUUUN!"
And with that, the streets of the town are filled with screams of mass panic as people stampede through the streets as the gunfire ensues.
On cue, Drake and Daikeim flee into the crowds and eventually makes it back to the old building they were before as Drake basically leaps and lies down on the sofa, laughing. "That was way too much fun! It's a shame it wasn't so long though..."
"That's because they have more guns and a lot more men than us, and besides your one on one fighting? You don't have much to rely on." Daikeim retorts, slumping down next to a wall.
For a while, the sound of combat had been quiet, but steadily the two begin to pick up the sounds of troops in the surrounding neighbourhood, the questioning shouts of MCCP agents as they seem to be persistently searching.
Daikeim looks out a window, noticing the noise. "Well, looks like they're not done with us... Drake, get some arcane circles up." He looks over to Drake who has already been inscribing them across the floors and walls.
"Two steps ahead of you, you want to provoke them or should I?"
Daikeim soon sees the soldiers gathering around a large machine with large treaded wheels and a long, hollow barrel that eerily reminds them of a gun, but unlike any they've seen. While barking orders, one seems to climb inside, and what happens next makes Daikeim's skin crawl: the barrel slowly begins turning in their direction.
"<...Oh. Fuck me.>" Daikeim takes a few steps back as Drake looks at him with confusion.
"How bad is it?" The arcane circles faintly glow, awaiting Drake's command.
"Very. Be prepared for anything..." Daikeim's hands glaze themselves with blue fire, awaiting the worst.
What could only be described as a tremendous explosion shakes the air, and before the two can properly react to the force of the blast, the front half of the house itself seems to implode as what seems like a huge bullet blasts right through and sails through the other end of the house, the whole building beginning to shake and collapse within moments, and the ground begins to shake as the huge vehicle begins to rumble its way toward them and into the debris, what looks like a mounted gun swivels toward them and begins to rapidly fire, while the soldiers close in from the sides.
"<FUCKING HELL WHAT WAS THAT?!>" Drake yells a the top of his lungs, looking at Daikeim for an answer.
"<HOW SHOULD I KNOW? JUST FIGHT!>" A golden aura shows up around some of the debris, rising up and being flung back at the tank and soldiers.
Drake on the other hand, presses his hand against one of the arcane circles, it glows and arcs of lightning shoot out, defending the two from anyone getting close while dealing with some soldiers here and there.
The debris seems to largely bounce off the tank save for the largest of debris, which barely dents the ironclad machine. Meanwhile, some of the soldiers are flung into the air in an almost comic fashion, screaming as they go, while more soldiers continue to pour in, some screaming as they are hit by lightning. However, the tank continues undeterred, and many soldiers use it as cover while taking pot shots at Drake and Daikeim.
While this is happening, faint sounds of combat far off are heard.
"<This isn't working! We have to go!>" Daikeim while keeping up his attack, has been pushed back a few times. His back against the wall, he looks at the support beams then to Drake. "<Detonate this place and we'll run!">
Drake doesn't hesitate, wiping away some of the glyphs on the arcane circle causes it to pulse red, along with the rest of the circles sprinkled about the area. "<LET'S GO!>"
The two jump out an opening just before the arcane circles detonate, the entire building coming apart in an explosive display. "<You think that worked?!>"
A moment of silence passes.
"Aw man our tank! It was my favorite too!" A soldier cries out.
"Don't worry! We got another one!" A soldier replies just as loudly as another tank seems to bulldoze its way through the wreckage after them, some soldiers waving their guns as they ride its back, cheering like idiots.
"Wheeee! I LOVE TANKS!" One shouts, promptly being hit on the head by his compatriots.
"We're supposed to take our job seriously! Fire!"
They begin to shoot at them in conjunction with the tank's machine gun, though the two now hear the combat getting louder, and the sounds of injured soldiers coming from a nearby street.
The two run as fast as they can, machine gun fire just skimming and in come cases, slicing past them. "<HOW EXACTLY ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT THAT THING?!>" Daikeim shouts as he starts to manipulate the earth, rising thick walls between them and the tank.
"Aw crap! They blocked us!" A soldier cries out.
"Don't worry! We gotta tank!"
"Ah, right!"
BOOM!* The tank fires its main gun, shattering the walls of earth, and begins to continue, though they did buy a little time, it looks like they are aiming the barrel right at them this time, but as the shell is fired, a huge wave of viscous water surges into the street and catches the shell like a hand, then slings it back at the soldiers and tank with surprising force, destroying the tank and sending soldiers flying or outright killing them.
The soldiers look toward the source, and begin firing down the street it came from as well as at Drake and Daikeim. The soldiers seem frustrated though, as if their bullets aren't working on the unseen source.
"How is she doing that with just water?!"
The two turn back to look at the soldiers, Drake smirks as his firearm appears in his hand, he rises it to eye level and cocks the firearm. "<Now, our turn.>" He begins unloading his weapon, taking out a sizeable chunk of the soldiers, laughing while doing so.
The earth around the solders' feet loosen and solidify, sinking them down to their knees, immobilising them while the water and Drake's gun happy moment finishes them.
A soldier runs out of the alley from where the water came from, but he doesn't get far as a woman runs after him, pouncing and forcing him to the ground, quickly taking off his head with a long blade with a blue hilt. The two vaguely remember the same style of sword from the masked man in the MCCP headquarters, but his hilt was black.
The woman stands, soaking with blood. Her hair is long in the back, but wrapped up in a ponytail. Her hair and irises are black, while her pupils are white. She appears to wear some manner of robes.
"Come before the apes bring more tanks." She intones, before running back down the alley.
"<...This fucking planet...>" Drake holsters his weapon but Daikeim takes the lead, chasing after the woman. Drake gives off a low growl and follows suit.
The woman says nothing, merely running, with a plan seemingly in mind as her movements seem planned and not panicked. She appears to be leading them towards the outer parts of the city.
Daikeim looks at the woman. "Thank you for the help."
"If you know how to disguise yourselves, I would start doing so. White hair, red eyes, people will notice you. I don't know what you're doing in this city but now they are stirred up, you will need to find somewhere safer.
The less people are captured and studied the better. They are not but animals those humans...
Drake's expression changes to annoyance upon hearing what the woman has to say. "Fuck off, like I asked to look like this?"
"If that is what you take from my words then so be it, but remember that for when you are faced with more tanks."
The woman becomes less responsive and moves faster, as though wanting to get things over with.
"So... Are you escorting us out of the city?" Daikeim asks, looking back at the carnage and security of the MCCP locking down the city.
"Mm." She grunts, seemingly a yes. They appear to be in a spot where they could choose a path on their own out of the city.
She stops, turns at them, and looks at Daikeim.
"Safe travels. Try not to consort with the pigs if you can. Humans can be such loathsome creatures." She doesn't acknowledge Drake at all as she begins to return the way she came.
Drake just curses in his native tongue and Daikeim cuts him a look, his head turns towards the way out of the city. He sighs. "<Well, let's hope that we can get to a less populated area...>"
"<Guess that is our only choice, probably less of those guys there as well.>" Drake looks behind him as Daikeim begins to walk. "<Have I mentioned that I don't like this planet?>"
"<Yes, and if you haven't - I can tell.>" Daikeim responds, stiffing a smile as the two evade their way out of the city...
An Overseas Message[]
The screens are all broadcasting the same thing, the Japanese and Russian ships all by standby, agents and staff are running about trying to get as much information as possible. The noise fills the rooms until a man orders silence throughout, everything mostly stops and heads turns to the voice. He takes stand behind a pedestal bearing the United Earth Initiative, both hands grasping it tightly.
"Get my voice on every speaker on those ships, immediately!" He orders as men and women scramble and contact the Russian commanders to give the man a pass through so he may speak with either the Japanese representative or even their Emperor.
They patch the man through to the commanding officer.
“They seem to be heading for the nearest port city sir. We think the Japanese are going to dock. We’re putting you on the intercom now.”
Suddenly the voice of the man echoes out from the Russian ships to the Japanese ships...
"You're hearing the voice of Samuel Windsor, head of the United Earth Initiative. You are in foreign waters, state your reasoning immediately."
There is a silence for a while, but what can be seen is a few soldiers on the lead ship enter the inside, and after a few moments, a white haired young man with piercing blue eyes is escorted out of the interior of the ship, Samuel knowing who he is immediately: the Speaker of Japan. It was true, this is an imperial level matter.
The Speaker seems to regard the Russian warships with almost disdain, before the signal light on his ship flashes blue: the signal indicating peaceful approach, before his flagship begins to move up beside one of the lead Russian Ships.
After what seems a fierce exchange between the Speaker and Captain, the Speaker is brought aboard with two Japanese escorts, and taken to the captain’s quarters, where he is seated in front of the monitor, letting him see Samuel and Samuel see him.
“Nihon apologizes for the abruptness of our arrival. We are headed to the agreed port of transit for diplomatic voyage. From there, I will be personally arriving in London’s Embassy. Nihon has a message for you and the UEI, that will be delivered upon arrival. We trust that our embassy has remained in expected care, and intend to arrive in three hours.”
There is silence for a moment before Samuel speaks again. "Very well, as per the usual - Your ships once docked, will be protected for the duration of this... We will speak again soon." The feed cuts off, meanwhile Samuel looks at his staff who are all looking at him.
"Such an abrupt arrival... Prepare the embassy for the Japanese." With that said, he steps away from the pedestal and through a set of doors, leaving his staff to tend to preparations.
After about three tense hours, the Japanese fleet begins to arrive and dock at the northern most Russian port. A crowd has gathered at the docks to observe. The Flagship, having arrived and docked, begins to play heavy drums in a slow, rhythmic manner as a large squad of thirty armored men and women, armed with what appears to be highly embellished shotguns or rifles in their hands, with sheathed blades strapped to their belts walk out from the interior of the ship and march in two rows off of the boat and stand at attention, split from each other as a white haired man walks out last.
The man is wearing a western tux, with soft white hair but piercing blue eyes, a single sheathed blade rests on his hip, but he doesn't need it. His presence is commanding and draws immediate attention, as his stoic gaze is enough to make people at a distance take a step back from him. The way he carries himself and his subtle movements convey a noble, regal air befitting of the one man who speaks not solely on behalf of Japan, but of its leader. Indeed, the Speaker of Japan, Li, is second in command to the Emperor, but as far as the world is concerned, the Emperor himself had just stepped foot on Russian soil.
Speaker Li regards the crowd a moment as he disembarks the ship, passing through the rows of armed soldiers, standing just in front of them, but accompanied by two soldiers whose faces are hidden by helmets, with an odd crest on their chests. He stands silent, looking on the crowd, and is about to speak when a haggard man breaks through the crowd and starts to yell at the man.
"Get out of here, you Japanese scu-" The man all but chokes when like a force of nature, all of the Japanese soldiers including the ones standing beside Li have their guns trained on his chest. In unison, they shout,
"Remove yourself from the Speaker's gracious presence!" The command is mighty and forceful, and they have already removed safeties and cocked their weapons. The man shrieks and scrambles away, only to be grabbed and dragged away by Russian soldiers, who curse at the man in Russian.
Li merely shakes his head, and with a glow of blue, he and the soldiers all suddenly vanish, without warning appearing before the Japanese Embassy in London in a matter of moments, and without pause heading inside, the televised media in the mean time have been in an absolute fervor over the entire series of events.
This doesn't concern Li, who once inside, walks to the personal office designated to Japan's Speaker. Inside, he seats himself in front of his desk, checking his clothing for imperfections, straightening it, and then begins to broadcast a message for all members of the UEI.
"I am the Speaker of Nihon, Speaker Li. I am appointed by the Emperor themselves, and it is with their authority and the will of Nihon that I speak to you today. Please hear the words now of the Emperor of Nihon:
For a number of years since the Northern Island Crisis ten years ago, Nihon has willingly participated in the UEI World Summit in the interest of seeking to better our relation with you and to rectify the great divide that exists not only between us in the form of the ocean, but in the form of our minds.
Many Summits later, and Nihon does not feel as though our voice is heard. We do not feel as though Nihon truly matters to the UEI. What is good for the UEI, we do not see as good for Nihon. We have voiced our concerns, and have faced insult and trickery in the attempt to change who we are. Indeed the last bill proposed to us would have seen us trade the rights of beings we consider our citizens for little to no benefit to Nihon, but gain for the UEI.
Nihon has been patient, but its patience is finite. Which is why today I declare the end of Nihon's participation in the UEI World Summits."
Speaker Li pauses, with the intent to allow all those hearing to fully absorb what he had just spoke.
And they heeded his words, heads started to turn, some were smiling, some were outraged, but everyone was talking. Of course this grabbed the attention of Samuel who was in his own office, looking down at his monitor, going quiet and digesting every word Li has spoke. "...Very well." He mutters to himself, before pressing a small button - letting his voice echo through speakers in the embassies. "Speaker Li, I am thankful that you've voiced your concerns and while I'm not pleased with the outcome. I'm sure something down the line, there will be something that can restore the tension between us. You may go."
“The Emperor gave to me two messages. One the UEI has heard. But they had a message for Chairman Samuel Windsor...
For while I believe these things, I believe that if we show the world who we are, then and only then can you speak with Nihon on equal terms.
To which I declare an invitation for the first time in hundreds of years, to you, Chairman Samuel Windsor, to set foot on Nihon’s soil and see firsthand our way of life, our culture, and our people.
My Voice, Speaker Li, will remain in our embassy and handle affairs until the end of the month. By that point, if no reply has been given or if denied, he shall depart until the next season of spring, where he shall resume his ambassador duties to the UEI.
Should you accept, we will speak more in person as soon as your duties allow.”
Li pauses once more. “This concludes my public announcement. Any grievances may be taken in appropriate meetings and times. Good day.” The Speaker’s broadcast ends.
Even this takes the Chairman by surprise, the broadcasts are off and his expression is one of surprise. "An invitation... This needs to be thought over." Samuel stands and exits his office, quickly followed by many agents asking him various questions.