Side Story Champions of the Arena III: Cursed Company

[York]

Spoiler: Replies

Team OBLIVION/NEXIUM SCOUTS
"We, I, what is a name?" The Eleven muttered coldly, stepping up and away from his bench. "I do have other business to attend to... Important business..." With a click, his doctor's bag snapped shut. With a heave, he lifted it up off of the table and swiftly marched towards the door. "I don't intend on sticking around... don't worry. I'll oversee the start of this little mission of yours. After that... you'll be on your own. Free to carve your own path... Just as I carve mind..."
"Thank you kindly, Gramps..." Jacob smirked, tipping his hat to Shang and following in the Eleven's footsteps. "I try. I think you'll find that I am much better at making plans that most men might have you believe. I'm the unassuming type, you see." The Assassin tapped the side of his nose knowingly.
View attachment 9166
"It's always 'you don't get to make the plans, Jacob'. It's always 'your plans always end with gun fire, Jacob'. It's always 'your plans always end up threatening the Great British Economy, Jacob--"
"--They get the idea..." The Eleven interjected, with a twitch. "They get it..."
"But that's just what I want them to think." The Assassin continued on, willfully ignorant. "It's all about image. It's all about reputation. You've got to stay three steps ahead if you want to--"
***
BANG!
Contrary to his reputation, Jacob's plan started with gunfire. In accordance to his reputation, it threatened the local economy. Commanded by a flash of his pistol, Frye's mod of drunkards, would-be revolutionaries, outspoken philosophers and bored vagrants rushed the Prime Minister's morning address. A wave of flying fists and wailing voices collided with a wall of blue vested policemen. Batons bonked skulls, and teeth struck necks. With a laugh and a roar, Jacob joined the fray.
View attachment 9164
"Ladies and Gentleman, this is your new boss, speaking!" Jacob's voice rattled the windows of the parliament hall. "Please, keep your arms and legs inside the mob at all times. If you need to vomit, don't! Try to focus on the rozzers and let the crowds disperse! They might have voted for the bastard, but we're ousting Arcade, not his public!"
On the roof of a nearby building, the Eleven buried his head in his hands.
"He was supposed to wait for this signal! The signal!" The Elven whined, running his fingers through his thinning hair. Back at the hall, a parried baton was sent hurtling through a stained glass window. "He's ruining everything! Breaking everything!"
"Come on down! The Riot's fine!"
A red headed man dressed in a white tailcoat stepped through the doors of the Parliament Hall. His eyes bounced between his palm cards and the riot in a rhythmic cycle. They eventually settled on the riot. With a sigh, he stamped his cane down upon the cobblestone path. In a which flash, it transformed into a level. He prepared to give it a yank.

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// EVIE FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^


Team PRUDENCE/ NEXIUM
"Then we're in agreement..." The Master's trailed off into a laugh. "Albion falls... I'm starting to like you already, Mr. Henshaw..." His hand returned his jacket, fingering his map. "Shall we go? We have much yet to accomplish..."
***
"Move along!" The voice of an aging, frustrated police office rang louder than the bell that marked the pair's exit from the café. "I want everyone to move along!" He gestured for the rabble to retreat with a pair of open, gloved palms. "We don't need an audience!"
"Let us see 'em!"
"Another one? Another body? What do ya do all day? Why aren't you keeping us safe, huh?"
"Please! Move along!" The Officer shouted over the cries of the crowd. "Let us do our jobs! We're doing all we can to end these grizzly murders, but we can't do that with you all trampling the evidence!"
"Should never have happened!"
"You're not doing enough!"
"Was it the Ripper? The Foreigners? The Hun?"
"The Prime Minister is making a statement on the status of this case shortly. If you're looking for answers, please, head down to the Parliament Hall!" The Officer wheezed, sensing what little control he held over the crowd slipping. "Mr. Cade will be able to give you the official story--"
"That's all it's gonna be! A story! Fiction!"
"Tell us the truth!"
"Who is it this time? Who have they killed this time?"
"All we know now is that the body doesn't appear in any of our records, dental or otherwise. Evidence suggests that he was one of the foreigners who appeared in the Royal District early yesterday morning!---"

"Hm. Would you look at that..." The Master sighed, peeking over the heads of human-sea that barred them from returning to the sewers. "Our path appears to be blocked. Care to solve this little puzzle, Mr.Henshaw?"

In the shelter of an alley, a young pyrokinetic was waking up from a long, wrestles slumber. Lost in a crowd of thousands, there was nothing to guide her back towards her wounded ally but a trail of dark, hardened blood. Floating in the sea of heads, Ifrit could just make out the conspicuous face another supposed ally of hers, the Cyborg Superman, in conversation with a bald fellow she did not recognise.

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// EVIE FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^

Team NEXIUM/SCOUTS
"A 'mess' sounds about right..." 17 muttered, his smile unchanging. Rhodey's fog was starting to dissipate. Pretty soon, they'd have a chance to greet their new guests, and when they did, the Android didn't want to disappoint them with a quivering frown. He tightened his fists and lowered his stance. "I have some ideas. But they rudimentary. Fight or flight. Our plan of action will depend whether you'd prefer to be shot in the face or in the back."
17 placed his hand upon Fushimi's chest and gently guided him out of the path of a speeding carriage and its cursing driver.
"We can go down in a blaze of glory, and laugh all the way to the slab... Unless you want to try playing nice, and brave a Albion Courtroom? You've seen first-hand how they treat foreigners here. I'll follow your lead regardless. Teach them whatever you like. I didn't come here to think."


Eren and Zora's scouting would reveal Team OBLIVION's direction. They, and their mob, were citybound, marching towards the city's majestic Parliament Hall. The towering structure was impossible to miss, but judging by the shuffling speed of their targets, they weren't planning on sticking around forever. Abandoning their posts and reporting back to the rest of Team NEXIUM might cost them their advantage, should Team OBLIVION move faster than anticipated. At the end of the day, it came down to whether or not the NEXIUM scouts believed that they were fast enough to reach Fushumi, 17 and OBLIVION in time...

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^ ​

Team OBLIVION/NEXIUM SCOUTS

As they hit the streets the man called Shang Tsung had vanished and where he once stood was just another man of the masses in tattered clothes and cloak. He had followed Jacob down into the streets when he spotted the red haired man and the lever. "It's the elite!" The man shouted trying to get the attention of the others to focus on the figure.

The red haired man found if he went for the level that he had a hard time moving his arm. It was almost like...magic.

@Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy @Sark

---

Team PRUDENCE/ NEXIUM

Henshaw used his X-Ray vision to look down right bellow them. If it opened up to the sewers then he'd use his heat vision to burn a hole in the ground for them to enter with out much fuss. If there wasn't a possibility to do it quietly then well...they'd burn that bridge when they got there.

@Sark @Yun Lee @York

Team OBLIVION
"Yeah! What he said!" One of the protesters roared. "Death to the Elite! Death to the Dogs! Death of the Bourgeoisie!"

Perhaps, as his arm froze, another Arcade might have come up with some witty quip to shoot in the direction of his foe. But, safe behind a wall of policemen, Arcade simply sighed. He dropped his palm cards and took hold of the lever with his other hand.
"Amateurs..."

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// JACOB FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^


Team PRUDENCE
A quick scan from Hank's laser vision would reveal that the group they were standing upon was solid concrete. The sewers stood a few dozen meters to the right of where they were standing, and thus accessing them via tunneling would be both impractical and time consuming. The option remained somewhat viable, however, if Hank believed that the Master and the Master alone could hold off a mob scared and angry civilians... whilst completely unarmed.

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

Team NEXIUM
"Thank you, Zora--"
Bang!
One of the militiamen's bullet swizzed overhead. The forceful wake of the shot was enough to send the Cowgirl's had flying skyward.
"--but, as I'm you you've realized by now, we have a more... immediate problem to solve--"
"There they are!" One of the Militiamen howled, his carriage changing directions and hurtling towards Team NEXIUM. "Spotted them! Bring 'em in, gents!"
"A more immediate problem that you arrival has made worse..."

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^
​

Ifrit
@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @Sark @Others?

"H-... Haa...?!" She jolted awake, sore, awake, and that feeling of hunger only seeming to get worse.

Ifrit seemed less lethargic than yesterday somehow, but still very much far from being in peak condition. Turning left and right, she desperately sought for any familiar face, and at least... Saw Hank. He was with Rhodey, so that would be something, right?

Close to the sewers, she was tempted to make a break for it, but seeing that there were people blocking the way, she growled a little, raising the repulsor type object she had managed to pick up, left behind by Rhodey to her face, squinting a little.

"Can't be dead... Can't be..." She muttered to herself.

Her eyes darted towards the crowd blocking access to the sewers, then... Shakily held up a hand, a familiar, almost fiery glint flashing in her irises.

"Said... He'd get to... The sewers. I-... I can... Clear the way...!" She said, half slurring her words.

At least she hadn't actually begun using her flames, yet.​

 

[Jeremi]

Team OBLIVION

"Down with the cowards who don't care to fight for themselves! Down with those who let killers walk the streets!" As 'Arcade' attempted to pull the lever with his free hand a gunshot echoed in the air. One of the policemen with weird green eyes had turned and attempted to shoot 'Arcade' in the arm.

@Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy @Sark

---

Team PRUDENCE

A little chaos it was then. "Then we need to move the sheep," Henshaw replied. "I plan to use my strength to cause a shockwave that will most likely kill a lot of civilians," He spoke about it like he was making a grocery list. "Then you will use your oratory skills to aim those that survive towards the police. Giving us a distraction to escape into the sewers." He looked at the Master. "Unless you have a better idea?"


@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi

 

[Takumi]

JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA
@Sark @Takumi @Atomic Knight @Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @MagatsuNoImouto @Space_Candy @Yun Lee @TeamTrain

View attachment 9168

“You don’t just pick a child up by the brim of his collar,” Josuke said to Sinestro.

“As to what happened... I... I screwed up... I meant to stop the entire train... and... it just folded in on itself...”

Ramuda then brought up the flickering blue light at the end of the tunnel, to which Josuke brought out Soft and Wet.

View attachment 9169

“We wouldn’t know what it was unless we approached it...”

---

ZORA SALAZAR
@Sark @Gummi Bunnies @Ver @Minerva @Crunch

Using Sundial, Zora raised herself up into the air and dialed herself to 17 and Fushimi’s position.

View attachment 9170

“Oblivion’s head’n ovuh to thuh parluh- parl-... thuh big British build’n where dey run thuh cun-tree,”

She just hopes Eren made it back​

Team OBLIVION
"Yeah! What he said!" One of the protesters roared. "Death to the Elite! Death to the Dogs! Death of the Bourgeoisie!"

Perhaps, as his arm froze, another Arcade might have come up with some witty quip to shoot in the direction of his foe. But, safe behind a wall of policemen, Arcade simply sighed. He dropped his palm cards and took hold of the lever with his other hand.
"Amateurs..."

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// JACOB FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^


Team PRUDENCE
A quick scan from Hank's laser vision would reveal that the group they were standing upon was solid concrete. The sewers stood a few dozen meters to the right of where they were standing, and thus accessing them via tunneling would be both impractical and time consuming. The option remained somewhat viable, however, if Hank believed that the Master and the Master alone could hold off a mob scared and angry civilians... whilst completely unarmed.

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

Team NEXIUM
"Thank you, Zora--"
Bang!
One of the militiamen's bullet swizzed overhead. The forceful wake of the shot was enough to send the Cowgirl's had flying skyward.
"--but, as I'm you you've realized by now, we have a more... immediate problem to solve--"
"There they are!" One of the Militiamen howled, his carriage changing directions and hurtling towards Team NEXIUM. "Spotted them! Bring 'em in, gents!"
"A more immediate problem that you arrival has made worse..."

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^
​

"I'm partly to blame for the accident too, I guess. I think I snapped you guys out of that dazed funk you were in and with Mr. Sailor trying to stop the train, and well...it went boom!" Ramuda rolled his eyes a bit before taking another lollipop out of one of his pockets and waved it around in a circle as he spoke, keeping the wrapper on because he didn't want to open it in the gross air right that moment.

"Well, yeah we won't know until we at least got a closer look at it. Besides, there's a possibility the train might have come from it, right?~" The pink haired rapper asked, pointing the lollipop at Josuke as he spoke, before bringing it back and tapping it on his chin with a thoughtful hum.

"Hmm, but at the same time we got no clue what'd happen if we got too close. Like, we can get sucked in and end up in space!" He added, a small dramatic gasp coming from his mouth at the end.

@Sark @Atomic Knight @MagatsuNoImouto @Yun Lee @Capri @Lucky @Gummi Bunnies @Space_Candy @Team Train

Shion had slipped the hood of his worn jacket up at some point as they were moved with the crowd, sticking close to Shang and Phi, at least until Shang started using his magic, and the red eyed man was a bit worried about losing the old wizard among the crowd.

'Alright, even if I had my gun I can't just shoot the man with so many pedestrians and police in the way, that'd just end in a bigger mess.' The man thought as his eyes scanned the area.

@Sark @Jeremi @Space_Candy @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Team Oblivion/Parliament

 

[Atomic Knight]

As their time in the tunnel stretched on, Daniel grew further despondent. At first, it had just been the critical words of those around him that caused him to go silent, but soon enough it was something else entirely. A memory, or perhaps some kind of vision brought upon by exhaustion, had clouded Daniel's thoughts. He had seen something in that imagined space that caused his heart to break in two.

Oh no, no... Please don't!

...

Sean! Why... why?!

Daniel was unmoving, looking almost asleep as the others discussed where to go from here. He had pressed himself against the wall of the tunnel, staring straight ahead at nothing at all. He did not even bother to lift his head at what was going on without him. If the others moved on, he seemed in no state to be following them.

@Sark @Space_Candy @MagatsuNoImouto @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Capri @Yun Lee @Lucky @Train

---

Phi had little choice but to go along with the plan laid out by the others, though it was hard for her to put away a nagging idea that something about all this was entirely wrong. Well, beyond the obvious. Still, she shared the Eleven's vexation with Jacob's tactics, if they could even be called that. She tried her best to blend into the crowd to avoid any unwanted headaches her way.

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy @TeamOblivion​

 

[Sark]

"H-... Haa...?!" She jolted awake, sore, awake, and that feeling of hunger only seeming to get worse.

Ifrit seemed less lethargic than yesterday somehow, but still very much far from being in peak condition. Turning left and right, she desperately sought for any familiar face, and at least... Saw Hank. He was with Rhodey, so that would be something, right?

Close to the sewers, she was tempted to make a break for it, but seeing that there were people blocking the way, she growled a little, raising the repulsor type object she had managed to pick up, left behind by Rhodey to her face, squinting a little.

"Can't be dead... Can't be..." She muttered to herself.

Her eyes darted towards the crowd blocking access to the sewers, then... Shakily held up a hand, a familiar, almost fiery glint flashing in her irises.

"Said... He'd get to... The sewers. I-... I can... Clear the way...!" She said, half slurring her words.

At least she hadn't actually begun using her flames, yet.

Team PRUDENCE
"Witch!" A member of the crowd roared, pointing a trembling finger in Ifrit's direction. The sight of the fire in her eyes was enough to send the crowd into a wild state of panic. They had seen the power men with flaming eyes possessed the day before. Fear. Terror. "She's a witch!"

The mob started to panic and part. For a moment or two, the sea of bodies parted enough for Ifrit to catch sight of the corpse. The victim was an older man. White, thinning hair. Frail body. Broken bones. Judging by the state of the corpse, the poor man had been dead for at least a day. He must have been one of the game's first victims. His cause of death was impossible to determine with a glance. Despite his mangled face, his identity was unmistakable. It was the Eleven...
"But that's impossible..." The Master mumbled. "He should have regenerated... He still had two lives left... And I could have sworn that I saw him... Hmmmm..."

"Down with the cowards who don't care to fight for themselves! Down with those who let killers walk the streets!" As 'Arcade' attempted to pull the lever with his free hand a gunshot echoed in the air. One of the policemen with weird green eyes had turned and attempted to shoot 'Arcade' in the arm.

Phi had little choice but to go along with the plan laid out by the others, though it was hard for her to put away a nagging idea that something about all this was entirely wrong. Well, beyond the obvious. Still, she shared the Eleven's vexation with Jacob's tactics, if they could even be called that. She tried her best to blend into the crowd to avoid any unwanted headaches her way.

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy @TeamOblivion

Shion had slipped the hood of his worn jacket up at some point as they were moved with the crowd, sticking close to Shang and Phi, at least until Shang started using his magic, and the red eyed man was a bit worried about losing the old wizard among the crowd.

'Alright, even if I had my gun I can't just shoot the man with so many pedestrians and police in the way, that'd just end in a bigger mess.' The man thought as his eyes scanned the area.

Team OBLIVION
BANG
A bullet carved a path straight through Arcade's bicep. Where most men would have screamed, he simply sighed.
"You Clowns... You really must learn..." Smarcade's lips slowly twisted into another grin. "I've said it once before, and I'll say it again. Do away with these flesh wounds. Your actions define insanity. Go for the head. Don't play with your food. Next time, go for the head... please! Spare me the agony of your presence..."
Smarcade reached out with his unfrozen arm. He summoned his lever towards him and closed his fingers around its handle.
"You see, now I have to defend myself... And there are so very few defensive tools in definitely-not-Victorian-London. I suppose I have no choice but to organize a slight change of scenery..."
View attachment 9179
"See you on the other side... Toodle Oo!"
Arcade shifted his lever forward a single click.
Selection: 4
[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT INITIATED]

The walls of the Parliament Hall began to ripple and melt, as if they were mere apparitions reflected in a circus mirror. The cobblestones at your feet began to ripple like the pond struck by a stone. The Mob. The Rozzers. They froze. Their features melted from their faces as if they were snowmen in summer. Their batons rusted into dust. Their helmets crumbled to sand. The air around the Prime Minister's person began to fracture and split. He vanished in the growing haze. The spoke crept in like a rising tide, closing in on all sides.
Blindness. Silence.
Sirens. A hand on your shoulder.
Everything was not okay.

[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT COMPLETE]
Welcome to Planet Angleterra. Weclome to OCCUPIED WESTERN CITY 2291

Streetlamps. Sirens. Soldiers. Men in green uniforms filled the shoes of the rioters and policemen alike. Their faces were similar, though not identical, to how they had been before. Their eyes were colder. Darker. Tired. They paid the Conscripts no heed. They simply marched on by, their orders trumping their curiosity. Orders to 'mobilize' and 'rush to the ships' were howled over and over again. Sparks of panic flickered across their faces. Their eyes were constantly darting between the streets and the skies. They had to watch the skies. They always came from the skies.
"I don't know why they bother..." Smarcade clucked, reforming from the fog. "This world's Arcade already gave them the order to surrender... But you know how it goes. Angleterra Spirit lives on. The Zealots defy the call to give in. They keep on trying. They keep on fighting... Keep on dying, no matter what..."
The sirens wailed louder. The soldiers vanished around the edge of Angleterra Garrison. Their cries were lost in the furious roar of an anti-air canon. Through the clouds above the Occupied City, a dark body emerge. A machine gun turret screamed. A great, silver propeller hummed louder than one could possibly imagine. A dozen spotlights turned to face their ultimate foe. Nose of an enemy Airship pierced the clouds. Another appeared. Then another. And another. The people of Anglettera flocked to their planes in droves, ready to engage their foes in a final, hopeless battle. The odds were insurmountable. And yet they fought regardless, ready to die for their homeland, the city without a name.
View attachment 9178
"You taken us to another dimension..." Jacob muttered to himself. "You've taken us out of the game. You've broken your own rules... Why?"
"Because there are no rules, Player..." Arcade sighed, snapping his fingers. His lever faded from view. The Former Prime Minister started to pace the courtyard, willfully ignorant to the enormous, warship that was slowly drifting overhead. With a heave and a groan, it dropped its payload. A dozen, bolder-sized bombs rolled out of its cargo bay. "There's no use in splitting hairs now. You've got much more important things to worry about." Arcade flicked his cane up over his shoulder. With a crimson spark, it transformed into an umbrella, ready to shelter the madman from the incoming explosive hail. "You're going to have to start killing sooner or later, chaps. I want 3 more bodies on my doorstep by tomorrow... I might just have to start revealing some secrets..."

Spoiler: City Map

View attachment 9182

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// EVIE FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^

A little chaos it was then. "Then we need to move the sheep," Henshaw replied. "I plan to use my strength to cause a shockwave that will most likely kill a lot of civilians," He spoke about it like he was making a grocery list. "Then you will use your oratory skills to aim those that survive towards the police. Giving us a distraction to escape into the sewers." He looked at the Master. "Unless you have a better idea?"

"Can't be dead... Can't be..." She muttered to herself.

Her eyes darted towards the crowd blocking access to the sewers, then... Shakily held up a hand, a familiar, almost fiery glint flashing in her irises.

"Said... He'd get to... The sewers. I-... I can... Clear the way...!" She said, half slurring her words.

At least she hadn't actually begun using her flames, yet.

Team PRUDENCE
"Ah! Smart move chap!" A solider planted a firm pat upon the Cyborg's back as Hank's fist struck the street. Unshaken by the shockwave as a result of the dimensional shift, the general simply crouched beside the Conscript and started digging with a small, silver shovel. "We're deepening the trenches, lads! Use ya shovels, helmets, your hands, if you have to! The deeper we dig, the easier our jobs will be!" The city's defenders, weak and weary, slumped forward. Their fingers, already black with mud and crimson with blood, slowly started to scoop out handful after handful of mud. Coughing. Weeping. They did what they could with the limps they had left. "Perk up, lads! His Majesty has sent his finest of his finest to help turn the tide!"
View attachment 9174
"Isn't that right, sirs!" The General, his tired, bloodshot eyes obscured by the brim of his helmet, looked up towards the Cyborg, the Time Lord and flame-wielder. He was putting on a brave face, but God only knew if he could endure another rejection. "You're here to help us... To help save the city! To win the war!"
"Well... we're certainly not in Kansas anymore..." The Master muttered to himself. "If it looks like another dimension, smells like another dimension, and quacks like another dimension... Well, you get the idea. What's that Arcade up to, I wonder... Presuming that this is his doing, of course..."

Although the trio were now standing in one of the city's new 'zones', the path into the sewers, strangely, remained. Its entrance was now obscured by little more than a few sandbags. Although the war-torn zones seemed to have been disconnected from the local gas mains, the Pride Zone remained connected. Detonating the central gas main wouldn't affect the War Zones, but it would devastate Pride City regardless.

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York

Using Sundial, Zora raised herself up into the air and dialed herself to 17 and Fushimi’s position.

View attachment 9170

“Oblivion’s head’n ovuh to thuh parluh- parl-... thuh big British build’n where dey run thuh cun-tree,”

She just hopes Eren made it back

Team NEXIUM
The pounding of hooves came to a sudden stop. 17 froze, anticipating the horses' return. It never came. The Android froze. The silence was chilling. Unnerving. He could only hear... breathing. The rumble of distant explosion. The creaking of distant gears. The crunching of dry rubber. "Get down..." The Android muttered. "Get down!" He repeated with a cry, raising his barrier.
An shockwave. An explosion. Another wave of smoke.
A military grade tank shell shattered the Android's barrier as if it had been made of glass. Panting, 17 slowly lowered his arms. He choked up a lungful of smoke. The groaning gears grew louder. The chunks of shattered concrete that littered the street were crushed to dust. In the stead of the horses and carriages, a fleet of tanks rolled onto the scene. They lowered their guns.
View attachment 9177
CA-CLUNG!
Another shell was loaded into the barrel of the first tank. The driver's voice, echoing around his metallic prison, yelled inaudible, final words. The remained of the tanks continued to advance towards their targets.
"....! ...! ...!"

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^

“You don’t just pick a child up by the brim of his collar,” Josuke said to Sinestro.

“As to what happened... I... I screwed up... I meant to stop the entire train... and... it just folded in on itself...”

Ramuda then brought up the flickering blue light at the end of the tunnel, to which Josuke brought out Soft and Wet.

“We wouldn’t know what it was unless we approached it...”

❝ I-I think we should stick together as much as we can... ❞ Mato stammered timidly, her voice sounding like it was too faint enough to hear. She was like a fish out of water once she transformed back to her normal self. She did take notice of that blue light on the other end of the tunnel, but she figured to let everyone else agree to go ahead. Going off alone was only going to make things more difficult for all of them.

"Name's Ramuda, Mister." He hummed, before letting Sinestro chew Daniel and Josuke out, as the Pinkette's attention turned to their almost murderer and something else that seemed more important at the moment.

"Hey, guys? There's a blue light at the other end of the train. I think the Conductor is dying too. Then again I'm not a doctor and my good ol' Doctor friend Jakurai isn't here either, so I dunno. His breathing's a bit funny." Ramuda commented with a frown and a shrug, glancing through the windows before leaning to the side to try and get a look at the man's face. Clicking his tongue he turned his head to the group.

"Well, what should we do now?" He asked, flicking his chewed lollipop stick over his shoulder and onto the ground. He wanted a nice bath and clean clothes, very very badly. A nap in a nice bed and breakfast sounded good too. As if in agreement, a small growl came from his stomach.

As their time in the tunnel stretched on, Daniel grew further despondent. At first, it had just been the critical words of those around him that caused him to go silent, but soon enough it was something else entirely. A memory, or perhaps some kind of vision brought upon by exhaustion, had clouded Daniel's thoughts. He had seen something in that imagined space that caused his heart to break in two.

Oh no, no... Please don't!

...

Sean! Why... why?!

Daniel was unmoving, looking almost asleep as the others discussed where to go from here. He had pressed himself against the wall of the tunnel, staring straight ahead at nothing at all. He did not even bother to lift his head at what was going on without him. If the others moved on, he seemed in no state to be following them.

Team TRAIN
"As devout as I am in my belief of the principled behind 'strength in numbers'," Sinestro sighed, approaching the Conductor. "So long as our friend here lays dying, division is our only option. My ring can perform feats of minor cellular reconstruction. I'll see what I can do to help him. We have a would-be assassin on our hands... it would be a shame if he were to expire before he has the chance to lead us to his masters..."

Spitfire ran her blood-strained fingers through her hair. With a cautious touch, she pushed the dented train door from its hinges, clearing a path towards the light.

"Then we'll have to split up... I'll head into the light..." She hummed, her enthralled by the glow. "Josuke is right. Whatever it is, we need to get... closer..." She found her feet shuffling towards the light, not know quite why. She just wanted to be... near it. To bathe in its glow. She had to reach it. To touch it. To be near it. "It could be... dangerous.. we'll have to... we'll have to..." Without another word, she stepped into the train.

Sinestro slowly lifted his head up from his patient.
"The Conductor is coming to... Anyone wants to help can..." His eyes drifted towards Spitfire fading shadow. "Wait... Someone fetch her! She's clearly not of sound mind!"
But attempting to stop her would involve looking straight into the light... and looking into the light meant... walking towards it... loving it... needing it...
View attachment 9180
Josuke, Mato and Ramuda were already falling under its thrall. Breaking free of the Light's influence would require an incredible amount of will, perhaps more than a single being could possess...

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

MARRIANE VON EDMUND// JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA// DAN KUROTO// AIZAWA SHOTA// MATO KUROI// CONNER KENT// THAAL SINESTRO// JACQUELINE FALSWORTH ​

 

[Jeremi]

Team OBLIVION

Shang Tsung was once again standing among them. Ignoring 'Arcade' for the moment he turned to face Jacob and the others. "New dimension or not, we are still seeking the real Arcade." He looked past 'Arcade' and into the battlefield. "If anyone has any ideas I am happy to hear them."

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy

---

Team PRUDENCE

"The plan has not changed," Henshaw replied as he started to make his way towards the manhole.

@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York

 

[Ver]

"Well, since the choice is out of my hands now," Fushimi breathed as Zora's disruptive appearance further alerted the surrounding militiamen to their presence, "May as well roll with the cards that fell into our hand!" He exclaimed, about to pull out more throwing knives to fight, before--

BOOM!

View attachment 9185

"Guhgh?!"

In an instant, the situation went from a 5 to a 20 on a scale of 10 as a tank suddenly appeared, easily shattering through 17's defenses without any evident difficulty. This was bad; even at his own best, Fushimi figured he might have been able to take down only a few of the militiamen before it would go south for him as well.

No, "flight" might have to be the better option, between "fight or flight" as 17 had mentioned. It was more important than ever before to regroup as soon as possible with the rest of the team now, and really gather their bearings again. They'd just have to check off "get out of here alive" from the agenda list first.

Forcefully, Fushimi grabbed 17 by the arm in an awkward attempt to try keeping him standing up, while his other arm tightly gripped Zora's shoulder. "Good girl. Now be a better girl and get us out of here before they blow us to Hell!" He exclaimed. Somewhere, anywhere would do at this rate.

@Sark @Capri​

 

[Capri]

ZORA SALAZAR
@Sark @Minerva @Ver @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch

The pounding of hooves came to a sudden stop. 17 froze, anticipating the horses' return. It never came. The Android froze. The silence was chilling. Unnerving. He could only hear... breathing. The rumble of distant explosion. The creaking of distant gears. The crunching of dry rubber. "Get down..." The Android muttered. "Get down!" He repeated with a cry, raising his barrier.

An shockwave. An explosion. Another wave of smoke.

A military grade tank shell shattered the Android's barrier as if it had been made of glass. Panting, 17 slowly lowered his arms. He choked up a lungful of smoke. The groaning gears grew louder. The chunks of shattered concrete that littered the street were crushed to dust. In the stead of the horses and carriages, a fleet of tanks rolled onto the scene. They lowered their guns.

CA-CLUNG!

Another shell was loaded into the barrel of the first tank. The driver's voice, echoing around his metallic prison, yelled inaudible, final words. The remained of the tanks continued to advance towards their targets.

"....! ...! ...!"

"Well, since the choice is out of my hands now," Fushimi breathed as Zora's disruptive appearance further alerted the surrounding militiamen to their presence, "May as well roll with the cards that fell into our hand!" He exclaimed, about to pull out more throwing knives to fight, before--

BOOM!

"Guhgh?!"

In an instant, the situation went from a 5 to a 20 on a scale of 10 as a tank suddenly appeared, easily shattering through 17's defenses without any evident difficulty. This was bad; even at his own best, Fushimi figured he might have been able to take down only a few of the militiamen before it would go south for him as well.

No, "flight" might have to be the better option, between "fight or flight" as 17 had mentioned. It was more important than ever before to regroup as soon as possible with the rest of the team now, and really gather their bearings again. They'd just have to check off "get out of here alive" from the agenda list first.

Forcefully, Fushimi grabbed 17 by the arm in an awkward attempt to try keeping him standing up, while his other arm tightly gripped Zora's shoulder. "Good girl. Now be a better girl and get us out of here before they blow us to Hell!" He exclaimed. Somewhere, anywhere would do at this rate.

"Don't pay-truh-nahz me," Zora said, glaring at Fushimi.

She grits her teeth, hating the fact that she has to use her epithet so much. In an attempt to save the group, she activated it so that every bullet attempting to hit them would stop in midair. She would then try to lead the group outside of the potential blast radius of the tanks.​

 

[Takumi]

Team PRUDENCE
"Witch!" A member of the crowd roared, pointing a trembling finger in Ifrit's direction. The sight of the fire in her eyes was enough to send the crowd into a wild state of panic. They had seen the power men with flaming eyes possessed the day before. Fear. Terror. "She's a witch!"

The mob started to panic and part. For a moment or two, the sea of bodies parted enough for Ifrit to catch sight of the corpse. The victim was an older man. White, thinning hair. Frail body. Broken bones. Judging by the state of the corpse, the poor man had been dead for at least a day. He must have been one of the game's first victims. His cause of death was impossible to determine with a glance. Despite his mangled face, his identity was unmistakable. It was the Eleven...
"But that's impossible..." The Master mumbled. "He should have regenerated... He still had two lives left... And I could have sworn that I saw him... Hmmmm..."




Team OBLIVION
BANG
A bullet carved a path straight through Arcade's bicep. Where most men would have screamed, he simply sighed.
"You Clowns... You really must learn..." Smarcade's lips slowly twisted into another grin. "I've said it once before, and I'll say it again. Do away with these flesh wounds. Your actions define insanity. Go for the head. Don't play with your food. Next time, go for the head... please! Spare me the agony of your presence..."
Smarcade reached out with his unfrozen arm. He summoned his lever towards him and closed his fingers around its handle.
"You see, now I have to defend myself... And there are so very few defensive tools in definitely-not-Victorian-London. I suppose I have no choice but to organize a slight change of scenery..."
View attachment 9179
"See you on the other side... Toodle Oo!"
Arcade shifted his lever forward a single click.
Selection: 4
[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT INITIATED]

The walls of the Parliament Hall began to ripple and melt, as if they were mere apparitions reflected in a circus mirror. The cobblestones at your feet began to ripple like the pond struck by a stone. The Mob. The Rozzers. They froze. Their features melted from their faces as if they were snowmen in summer. Their batons rusted into dust. Their helmets crumbled to sand. The air around the Prime Minister's person began to fracture and split. He vanished in the growing haze. The spoke crept in like a rising tide, closing in on all sides.
Blindness. Silence.
Sirens. A hand on your shoulder.
Everything was not okay.

[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT COMPLETE]
Welcome to Planet Angleterra. Weclome to OCCUPIED WESTERN CITY 2291

Streetlamps. Sirens. Soldiers. Men in green uniforms filled the shoes of the rioters and policemen alike. Their faces were similar, though not identical, to how they had been before. Their eyes were colder. Darker. Tired. They paid the Conscripts no heed. They simply marched on by, their orders trumping their curiosity. Orders to 'mobilize' and 'rush to the ships' were howled over and over again. Sparks of panic flickered across their faces. Their eyes were constantly darting between the streets and the skies. They had to watch the skies. They always came from the skies.
"I don't know why they bother..." Smarcade clucked, reforming from the fog. "This world's Arcade already gave them the order to surrender... But you know how it goes. Angleterra Spirit lives on. The Zealots defy the call to give in. They keep on trying. They keep on fighting... Keep on dying, no matter what..."
The sirens wailed louder. The soldiers vanished around the edge of Angleterra Garrison. Their cries were lost in the furious roar of an anti-air canon. Through the clouds above the Occupied City, a dark body emerge. A machine gun turret screamed. A great, silver propeller hummed louder than one could possibly imagine. A dozen spotlights turned to face their ultimate foe. Nose of an enemy Airship pierced the clouds. Another appeared. Then another. And another. The people of Anglettera flocked to their planes in droves, ready to engage their foes in a final, hopeless battle. The odds were insurmountable. And yet they fought regardless, ready to die for their homeland, the city without a name.
View attachment 9178
"You taken us to another dimension..." Jacob muttered to himself. "You've taken us out of the game. You've broken your own rules... Why?"
"Because there are no rules, Player..." Arcade sighed, snapping his fingers. His lever faded from view. The Former Prime Minister started to pace the courtyard, willfully ignorant to the enormous, warship that was slowly drifting overhead. With a heave and a groan, it dropped its payload. A dozen, bolder-sized bombs rolled out of its cargo bay. "There's no use in splitting hairs now. You've got much more important things to worry about." Arcade flicked his cane up over his shoulder. With a crimson spark, it transformed into an umbrella, ready to shelter the madman from the incoming explosive hail. "You're going to have to start killing sooner or later, chaps. I want 3 more bodies on my doorstep by tomorrow... I might just have to start revealing some secrets..."

Spoiler: City Map

View attachment 9182

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// EVIE FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^


Team PRUDENCE
"Ah! Smart move chap!" A solider planted a firm pat upon the Cyborg's back as Hank's fist struck the street. Unshaken by the shockwave as a result of the dimensional shift, the general simply crouched beside the Conscript and started digging with a small, silver shovel. "We're deepening the trenches, lads! Use ya shovels, helmets, your hands, if you have to! The deeper we dig, the easier our jobs will be!" The city's defenders, weak and weary, slumped forward. Their fingers, already black with mud and crimson with blood, slowly started to scoop out handful after handful of mud. Coughing. Weeping. They did what they could with the limps they had left. "Perk up, lads! His Majesty has sent his finest of his finest to help turn the tide!"
View attachment 9174
"Isn't that right, sirs!" The General, his tired, bloodshot eyes obscured by the brim of his helmet, looked up towards the Cyborg, the Time Lord and flame-wielder. He was putting on a brave face, but God only knew if he could endure another rejection. "You're here to help us... To help save the city! To win the war!"
"Well... we're certainly not in Kansas anymore..." The Master muttered to himself. "If it looks like another dimension, smells like another dimension, and quacks like another dimension... Well, you get the idea. What's that Arcade up to, I wonder... Presuming that this is his doing, of course..."

Although the trio were now standing in one of the city's new 'zones', the path into the sewers, strangely, remained. Its entrance was now obscured by little more than a few sandbags. Although the war-torn zones seemed to have been disconnected from the local gas mains, the Pride Zone remained connected. Detonating the central gas main wouldn't affect the War Zones, but it would devastate Pride City regardless.

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York

Team NEXIUM
The pounding of hooves came to a sudden stop. 17 froze, anticipating the horses' return. It never came. The Android froze. The silence was chilling. Unnerving. He could only hear... breathing. The rumble of distant explosion. The creaking of distant gears. The crunching of dry rubber. "Get down..." The Android muttered. "Get down!" He repeated with a cry, raising his barrier.
An shockwave. An explosion. Another wave of smoke.
A military grade tank shell shattered the Android's barrier as if it had been made of glass. Panting, 17 slowly lowered his arms. He choked up a lungful of smoke. The groaning gears grew louder. The chunks of shattered concrete that littered the street were crushed to dust. In the stead of the horses and carriages, a fleet of tanks rolled onto the scene. They lowered their guns.
View attachment 9177
CA-CLUNG!
Another shell was loaded into the barrel of the first tank. The driver's voice, echoing around his metallic prison, yelled inaudible, final words. The remained of the tanks continued to advance towards their targets.
"....! ...! ...!"

CIRI// SARUHIKO FUSHIMI// ZORA SALAZAR// EREN JAEGER// ALEXANDER ANDERSON// FORGE// ANDROID 17// THE ELEVEN
^ @Minerva @Ver @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch ^




Team TRAIN
"As devout as I am in my belief of the principled behind 'strength in numbers'," Sinestro sighed, approaching the Conductor. "So long as our friend here lays dying, division is our only option. My ring can perform feats of minor cellular reconstruction. I'll see what I can do to help him. We have a would-be assassin on our hands... it would be a shame if he were to expire before he has the chance to lead us to his masters..."

Spitfire ran her blood-strained fingers through her hair. With a cautious touch, she pushed the dented train door from its hinges, clearing a path towards the light.

"Then we'll have to split up... I'll head into the light..." She hummed, her enthralled by the glow. "Josuke is right. Whatever it is, we need to get... closer..." She found her feet shuffling towards the light, not know quite why. She just wanted to be... near it. To bathe in its glow. She had to reach it. To touch it. To be near it. "It could be... dangerous.. we'll have to... we'll have to..." Without another word, she stepped into the train.

Sinestro slowly lifted his head up from his patient.
"The Conductor is coming to... Anyone wants to help can..." His eyes drifted towards Spitfire fading shadow. "Wait... Someone fetch her! She's clearly not of sound mind!"
But attempting to stop her would involve looking straight into the light... and looking into the light meant... walking towards it... loving it... needing it...
View attachment 9180
Josuke, Mato and Ramuda were already falling under its thrall. Breaking free of the Light's influence would require an incredible amount of will, perhaps more than a single being could possess...

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

MARRIANE VON EDMUND// JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA// DAN KUROTO// AIZAWA SHOTA// MATO KUROI// CONNER KENT// THAAL SINESTRO// JACQUELINE FALSWORTH ​

Team OBLIVION

Shang Tsung was once again standing among them. Ignoring 'Arcade' for the moment he turned to face Jacob and the others. "New dimension or not, we are still seeking the real Arcade." He looked past 'Arcade' and into the battlefield. "If anyone has any ideas I am happy to hear them."

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy

---

Team PRUDENCE

"The plan has not changed," Henshaw replied as he started to make his way towards the manhole.

@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York

He was playing with them. He was playing with them and enjoying every second of it. Scowling, the white haired man was very tempted to take a gun from a passing soldier and put a bullet between the redhead's eyes as he kept insisting they do.

'No, that'd be too easy. The Arcade in charge has to be hiding somewhere that he can keep an eye on everyone and everything in this arena...so, killing one of these other Arcades won't make too big of a dent right? Another would take his place, and it'd just repeat.' He thought with an irritated huff. He was starting to care less about the secrets and more about getting home.

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Lucky @Team Oblivion

The conversation around him drowned out to background noise, his blue eyes drifting back to the flickering light a moment. He stared at it, felt it's pull, and before he knew he had been walking towards it.

He faltered, blinked as if remembering something and tried to fight the urge to keep moving towards it, but in the end the rapper's will was beginning to wain and crumble.

"Hey, Onee-san...wait, we gotta do something important." Ramuda called, trying to reach for Spitfire and tug on her arm. He was starting to forget what they needed to do specifically, but he knew in the back of his mind they had something they needed to do. His tugging was insistent, but was growing weaker the longer he tried to remember.

@Sark @Capri @Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Team Train

 

[York]

Spoiler: Replies

Team PRUDENCE
"Witch!" A member of the crowd roared, pointing a trembling finger in Ifrit's direction. The sight of the fire in her eyes was enough to send the crowd into a wild state of panic. They had seen the power men with flaming eyes possessed the day before. Fear. Terror. "She's a witch!"

The mob started to panic and part. For a moment or two, the sea of bodies parted enough for Ifrit to catch sight of the corpse. The victim was an older man. White, thinning hair. Frail body. Broken bones. Judging by the state of the corpse, the poor man had been dead for at least a day. He must have been one of the game's first victims. His cause of death was impossible to determine with a glance. Despite his mangled face, his identity was unmistakable. It was the Eleven...
"But that's impossible..." The Master mumbled. "He should have regenerated... He still had two lives left... And I could have sworn that I saw him... Hmmmm..."




Team OBLIVION
BANG
A bullet carved a path straight through Arcade's bicep. Where most men would have screamed, he simply sighed.
"You Clowns... You really must learn..." Smarcade's lips slowly twisted into another grin. "I've said it once before, and I'll say it again. Do away with these flesh wounds. Your actions define insanity. Go for the head. Don't play with your food. Next time, go for the head... please! Spare me the agony of your presence..."
Smarcade reached out with his unfrozen arm. He summoned his lever towards him and closed his fingers around its handle.
"You see, now I have to defend myself... And there are so very few defensive tools in definitely-not-Victorian-London. I suppose I have no choice but to organize a slight change of scenery..."
View attachment 9179
"See you on the other side... Toodle Oo!"
Arcade shifted his lever forward a single click.
Selection: 4
[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT INITIATED]

The walls of the Parliament Hall began to ripple and melt, as if they were mere apparitions reflected in a circus mirror. The cobblestones at your feet began to ripple like the pond struck by a stone. The Mob. The Rozzers. They froze. Their features melted from their faces as if they were snowmen in summer. Their batons rusted into dust. Their helmets crumbled to sand. The air around the Prime Minister's person began to fracture and split. He vanished in the growing haze. The spoke crept in like a rising tide, closing in on all sides.
Blindness. Silence.
Sirens. A hand on your shoulder.
Everything was not okay.

[DIMENSIONAL SHIFT COMPLETE]
Welcome to Planet Angleterra. Weclome to OCCUPIED WESTERN CITY 2291

Streetlamps. Sirens. Soldiers. Men in green uniforms filled the shoes of the rioters and policemen alike. Their faces were similar, though not identical, to how they had been before. Their eyes were colder. Darker. Tired. They paid the Conscripts no heed. They simply marched on by, their orders trumping their curiosity. Orders to 'mobilize' and 'rush to the ships' were howled over and over again. Sparks of panic flickered across their faces. Their eyes were constantly darting between the streets and the skies. They had to watch the skies. They always came from the skies.
"I don't know why they bother..." Smarcade clucked, reforming from the fog. "This world's Arcade already gave them the order to surrender... But you know how it goes. Angleterra Spirit lives on. The Zealots defy the call to give in. They keep on trying. They keep on fighting... Keep on dying, no matter what..."
The sirens wailed louder. The soldiers vanished around the edge of Angleterra Garrison. Their cries were lost in the furious roar of an anti-air canon. Through the clouds above the Occupied City, a dark body emerge. A machine gun turret screamed. A great, silver propeller hummed louder than one could possibly imagine. A dozen spotlights turned to face their ultimate foe. Nose of an enemy Airship pierced the clouds. Another appeared. Then another. And another. The people of Anglettera flocked to their planes in droves, ready to engage their foes in a final, hopeless battle. The odds were insurmountable. And yet they fought regardless, ready to die for their homeland, the city without a name.
View attachment 9178
"You taken us to another dimension..." Jacob muttered to himself. "You've taken us out of the game. You've broken your own rules... Why?"
"Because there are no rules, Player..." Arcade sighed, snapping his fingers. His lever faded from view. The Former Prime Minister started to pace the courtyard, willfully ignorant to the enormous, warship that was slowly drifting overhead. With a heave and a groan, it dropped its payload. A dozen, bolder-sized bombs rolled out of its cargo bay. "There's no use in splitting hairs now. You've got much more important things to worry about." Arcade flicked his cane up over his shoulder. With a crimson spark, it transformed into an umbrella, ready to shelter the madman from the incoming explosive hail. "You're going to have to start killing sooner or later, chaps. I want 3 more bodies on my doorstep by tomorrow... I might just have to start revealing some secrets..."

Spoiler: City Map

View attachment 9182

SHANG TSUNG// SHION// PHI// MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF// SUIGETSU HOZUKU// EVIE FRYE// GODBRAND// AKUMA
^ @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy ^


Team PRUDENCE
"Ah! Smart move chap!" A solider planted a firm pat upon the Cyborg's back as Hank's fist struck the street. Unshaken by the shockwave as a result of the dimensional shift, the general simply crouched beside the Conscript and started digging with a small, silver shovel. "We're deepening the trenches, lads! Use ya shovels, helmets, your hands, if you have to! The deeper we dig, the easier our jobs will be!" The city's defenders, weak and weary, slumped forward. Their fingers, already black with mud and crimson with blood, slowly started to scoop out handful after handful of mud. Coughing. Weeping. They did what they could with the limps they had left. "Perk up, lads! His Majesty has sent his finest of his finest to help turn the tide!"
View attachment 9174
"Isn't that right, sirs!" The General, his tired, bloodshot eyes obscured by the brim of his helmet, looked up towards the Cyborg, the Time Lord and flame-wielder. He was putting on a brave face, but God only knew if he could endure another rejection. "You're here to help us... To help save the city! To win the war!"
"Well... we're certainly not in Kansas anymore..." The Master muttered to himself. "If it looks like another dimension, smells like another dimension, and quacks like another dimension... Well, you get the idea. What's that Arcade up to, I wonder... Presuming that this is his doing, of course..."

Although the trio were now standing in one of the city's new 'zones', the path into the sewers, strangely, remained. Its entrance was now obscured by little more than a few sandbags. Although the war-torn zones seemed to have been disconnected from the local gas mains, the Pride Zone remained connected. Detonating the central gas main wouldn't affect the War Zones, but it would devastate Pride City regardless.

RAMUDA AMEMURA// YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York ​

Team OBLIVION

Shang Tsung was once again standing among them. Ignoring 'Arcade' for the moment he turned to face Jacob and the others. "New dimension or not, we are still seeking the real Arcade." He looked past 'Arcade' and into the battlefield. "If anyone has any ideas I am happy to hear them."

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Lucky @Space_Candy

---

Team PRUDENCE

"The plan has not changed," Henshaw replied as he started to make his way towards the manhole.

@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @York

Ifrit
@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi @Sark @Others?

One moment, Ifrit's flames were being received as she would expect; by fear, surprise, perhaps even anger. But the crowd had parted just enough for her to catch glimpse of the body. While she couldn't remember the specifics in her hunger-induced haze, the name 'Eleven' rung clear in her head. Given the Master's reaction, it seemed she wasn't the only one wondering just what happened that night...

And then, the landscape began to change. What was once a crowded city street became a bloody battlefield. Not unlike the ones she had been regularly deployed to. Except this time, it wasn't Reunion, or some other organization that was the enemy. Actually, she herself wasn't sure what side she should be on just yet.

Though one of her teammates opted to keep heading towards the sewers, Ifrit herself had other plans. First of all, given what the soldier that had addressed them was saying, she had an excuse to cut loose and use her powers! Second of all, she was still hungry, and that hunger was not going to go away until she had something to eat, preferably now. With that in mind, she made a decision that may work to their benefit, or detriment.

"As long as you got food for me... I... I'm willin' to help you!" She declared, trying her best to keep herself together.

Of course, malnutrition still has her feeling a bit sluggish, but at least she had some rest under her belt. She could fight for a while yet, even if she wasn't in peak condition.

For now, she had all but forgotten about that flamethrower of hers... But that would be a bridge she would cross when she came to it.​

 

[Gummi Bunnies]

It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. It wasn't. Yet, things were constantly changing... quite in an instant. Eren thought it would be a simple "wait for his team to catch up with him" after Zora zipped away, then his job of scouting out Team Oblivion would wrap up nicely, but the literal environment was changed drastically to what appeared to be a battlefield. He was immediately on guard as he saw the countless amount of soldiers marching off to who the hell knows where, but he was further puzzled by how they paid him and the others no mind.

Hell, he didn't even know where his teammates from Team Nexium were, or if he was the only person pulled into this new landscape. With presumably no easy options left to his choosing, Eren gritted his teeth. Was the idea of jumping right in by himself a wise one? Jumping right in to commit a kill a sane idea? Was it good to play by this Arcade's rules to hasten the other's demise?

That Arcade wants bodies... I'll show him bodies, alright... then I'll make him talk!

Discarding the element of being hidden now, Eren shot his grapple wires to the ground near those of Team Oblivion, launching himself straight at them with his blades ready for a swing.

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Lucky @Team Oblivion+Eren

---

❝ Hold on... guys... I just need to see... this a bit closer... maybe a whole lot closer... ❞ Mato mumbled with a distant voice, stepping closer and closer ever so slowly towards the light. Even with Black Rock Shooter's consciousness trying to free Mato from this alluring spell, the high schooler fell victim to it's light.

@Sark @Capri @Takumi @Lucky @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Team Train​

 

[Sark]

"Well, since the choice is out of my hands now," Fushimi breathed as Zora's disruptive appearance further alerted the surrounding militiamen to their presence, "May as well roll with the cards that fell into our hand!" He exclaimed, about to pull out more throwing knives to fight, before--

BOOM!

View attachment 9185

"Guhgh?!"

In an instant, the situation went from a 5 to a 20 on a scale of 10 as a tank suddenly appeared, easily shattering through 17's defenses without any evident difficulty. This was bad; even at his own best, Fushimi figured he might have been able to take down only a few of the militiamen before it would go south for him as well.

No, "flight" might have to be the better option, between "fight or flight" as 17 had mentioned. It was more important than ever before to regroup as soon as possible with the rest of the team now, and really gather their bearings again. They'd just have to check off "get out of here alive" from the agenda list first.

Forcefully, Fushimi grabbed 17 by the arm in an awkward attempt to try keeping him standing up, while his other arm tightly gripped Zora's shoulder. "Good girl. Now be a better girl and get us out of here before they blow us to Hell!" He exclaimed. Somewhere, anywhere would do at this rate.

@Sark @Capri

Team OBLIVION

Shang Tsung was once again standing among them. Ignoring 'Arcade' for the moment he turned to face Jacob and the others. "New dimension or not, we are still seeking the real Arcade." He looked past 'Arcade' and into the battlefield. "If anyone has any ideas I am happy to hear them."

He was playing with them. He was playing with them and enjoying every second of it. Scowling, the white haired man was very tempted to take a gun from a passing soldier and put a bullet between the redhead's eyes as he kept insisting they do.

'No, that'd be too easy. The Arcade in charge has to be hiding somewhere that he can keep an eye on everyone and everything in this arena...so, killing one of these other Arcades won't make too big of a dent right? Another would take his place, and it'd just repeat.' He thought with an irritated huff. He was starting to care less about the secrets and more about getting home.

Team OBLIVION/Team NEXIUM
"I am flesh and bone. I am thought and feeling." The Prime Minster retorted calmly. "I am just as real as you are, Shang Tsung. We are both as real as words on a cosmic screen can be... Still. If you want to meet the Arcade, you're going to have to start playing by the rules. Killing me won't grab his attention. But I'm not the only Arcade in the city."

"What are you suggesting?" The Eleven snapped. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want. Violence. We have already addressed that. I am the Arcade of Albion. I am offering you the location of the Arcades of Free City and Occupied City, two men you'll never find without my help, two men who's death will certainly steal the attention of you know who."

"3 deaths?"

"Just 3. 3 lives to end the game. 3 lives to save 29 more... Sounds like a fair trade to me..."

It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. It wasn't. Yet, things were constantly changing... quite in an instant. Eren thought it would be a simple "wait for his team to catch up with him" after Zora zipped away, then his job of scouting out Team Oblivion would wrap up nicely, but the literal environment was changed drastically to what appeared to be a battlefield. He was immediately on guard as he saw the countless amount of soldiers marching off to who the hell knows where, but he was further puzzled by how they paid him and the others no mind.

Hell, he didn't even know where his teammates from Team Nexium were, or if he was the only person pulled into this new landscape. With presumably no easy options left to his choosing, Eren gritted his teeth. Was the idea of jumping right in by himself a wise one? Jumping right in to commit a kill a sane idea? Was it good to play by this Arcade's rules to hasten the other's demise?

That Arcade wants bodies... I'll show him bodies, alright... then I'll make him talk!

Discarding the element of being hidden now, Eren shot his grapple wires to the ground near those of Team Oblivion, launching himself straight at them with his blades ready for a swing.

"Wonderful!" Arcade chirped. "Would you look at that? We've got some volunteers!"
The Prime Minister snapped his fingers. Shimmering, silver walls erupted from the cracked concrete paths that connected each barrack to the next. Impossibly high. Impossibly deep. Bullets, blasts and blades alike would no doubt bounce harmlessly off of faultless face. Encased in an unbreakable coliseum, Teams Nexium and Oblivion were cut off from the rest of the Arena. Arcade, carefree, leant upon his cane, safe on the other side of the barrier.
View attachment 9191
"Beautiful, is it not? The way it captures the light?" The Prime Minister remarked. "Oh, and of course, the way it captures all of you." Arcade knocked upon the Coliseum's wall. "An element of my own design... or at least, it was designed by one of me. It is truly remarkable. Its presence is enough to sap the juice out of any attack I deem to be... broken. No more teleportation. No more flight. No more reversing time. Not until I drop the barrier... Not unless I drop the barrier."

"Which you won't do. Not unless we kill each other, right?" Jacob sighed, loading his pistol. "Not unless we give you your precious---"

"Three corpses. Bingo." Arcade replied with a grin. "Two Team trapped in an unbreakable box. Three people die, and you get to scurry off back to God knows where. The Team with the most surviving members by the end of this little episode gets the location of the next two Arcades. The losers have their secrets revealed." He swung his hand downwards like a falling flag. "Go."

Team Oblivion Vs Team Nexium. Corporate Warfare.​

Team OBLIVION ​	Team NEXIUM​
Jacob Frye (NPC)​	Android 17 (NPC)​
The Eleven (NPC)​	The Eleven (NPC)​
Suigetsu Hozuku @Space_Candy ​	Eren Jaeger @Gummi Bunnies ​
Mollymauk Tealeaf @Lucky ​	Zora Salazar @Capri​
Phi @Atomic Knight ​	Ciri @Minerva ​
Shion @Takumi ​	Saruhiko Fushimi @Ver ​
Shang Tsung @Jeremi​	Alexander Anderson @Crunch ​

"The plan has not changed," Henshaw replied as he started to make his way towards the manhole.

"As long as you got food for me... I... I'm willin' to help you!" She declared, trying her best to keep herself together.

Of course, malnutrition still has her feeling a bit sluggish, but at least she had some rest under her belt. She could fight for a while yet, even if she wasn't in peak condition.

For now, she had all but forgotten about that flamethrower of hers... But that would be a bridge she would cross when she came to it.

Team PRUDENCE
"Quite." The Master replied, smugly. Were it not for the rugged path the separated the pair from their destination, the Time Lord might have skipped down into the sewer, willfully ignorantly to the plights of the city's soldiers. Perhaps the city would stand. Perhaps the city would fall. He had no intentions on sticking around to find out. Wars were for warriors. Schemes were for schemers. "Onwards. Sewage waits for no man..."

"Food? Ma'am..." One of the soldiers pleaded. "We haven't eaten in days... The Enemy took out our supply lines... We've got nothing..."

"We miss the rats..." Another wheezed. "At least you could eat the rats... The fleas? They've got no meat on them... but the rats..."

"Silence!" The General snapped at his men. "I won't have you eroding our morale further! We just need to hold out a little..." His words trailed off as the Time Lord and Cyborg vanished underground. "Where... where are you going? Sirs! Sirs!" His words became wails, hopeless and lost."

***
The sewers led to more sewers. And those sewers? To more sewers. The seemed to stretch on endlessly, like blood vessels, they carried to pair across the District in its entirety before they finally reached its beat heart. A furnace, white hot and doused in smoke. Cart load after cart load of alien minerals were fed to the beast. Titanic gears forced the smoke the furnace exhaled into the same pipes that had guided the pair in their journey underground, the same pipes with had forced the cyborg to his knees with a single, controlled blast, ready to be transported it across the city. The strange stones that the furnace consumed were highly volatile. A misplaced spark could ruin a month's stockpile, crippling the city's economy. Alternatively, pushing a few carts together could create a more centralized blast, and possibly collapse the District itself.
View attachment 9192
The only security that guarded the furnace came in the form of a few, young workers. The eldest couldn't have been older than 15. Destroying the city had seemed so much easier when the pair didn't have to look their young victims in their eyes.
"Oh, the crushing moral weight of the situation..." The Master hummed, sarcastically. "Never liked children, anyway. Always blabbing. Always crying. Do you have children, Mr. Henshaw? Oh, I said that like knowing your answer might have inspired me to take back my answer. No. I stand by it. Children are decidedly unpleasant creatures..."

//Hank Henshaw// The Master// Marianne// Ifrit
@Jeremi @Sark @Yun Lee @York

❝ Hold on... guys... I just need to see... this a bit closer... maybe a whole lot closer... ❞ Mato mumbled with a distant voice, stepping closer and closer ever so slowly towards the light. Even with Black Rock Shooter's consciousness trying to free Mato from this alluring spell, the high schooler fell victim to it's light.

The conversation around him drowned out to background noise, his blue eyes drifting back to the flickering light a moment. He stared at it, felt it's pull, and before he knew he had been walking towards it.

He faltered, blinked as if remembering something and tried to fight the urge to keep moving towards it, but in the end the rapper's will was beginning to wain and crumble.

"Hey, Onee-san...wait, we gotta do something important." Ramuda called, trying to reach for Spitfire and tug on her arm. He was starting to forget what they needed to do specifically, but he knew in the back of his mind they had something they needed to do. His tugging was insistent, but was growing weaker the longer he tried to remember.

Team TRAIN
"Yes... there was... something..." Spitfire whispered mindlessly. "But I can't remember... Can't remember what... Can't have been important... Not more important than---"
The light bathed the trio. Bliss. Peace. Silence. They heard naught. Naught but the song of the light. Naught but it's soothing voice. Naught but the light. Only the light.

Come to me.
It sung.
Come to me. Covet me.
You.
Are.
Mine.

NEW TEAM
Team LIGHT
MATO// RAMUDA// SPITFIRE//
Welcome to the Light. All who wish to follow are welcome.

I am Temsar. I am Grace given form.
You have been saved.
You have been chosen for a Higher Purpose.
Higher than Arcade. Higher than the Arena.
I free you from my thrall so that you might do my bidding.
So that you might save all that is.
Kill Hank Henshaw. Save the young.
Obey me, and you shall be rewarded with.
Go, now, with the blessing of the Temsar.
Go, and bring justice to the unjust...

With a final sweet, breath, the light faded. Team Light stood at the end of a long sewage pipe, a few hundred meters away from the folded train. Their toes hung over the edge of the ledge. One more step, and they would have no doubt fallen to their deaths. Beneath them sat a large, blazing furnace, tended to by hundreds of young, pale workers, their brows wet and stained with soot, their fingers bruised and blistered. They worked without pause and without rest, pouring cartload after cartload of strange, alien minerals into the furnace's gaping mouth. On the other side of the room, emerging from another sewer pipe, looped a familiar face. The Image of the Cyborg Superman was hard to forget. A vaguely familiar bald Time Lord, who face had once been tired and marked with age, stood by his side, observing the scene. They had both made their intentions clear once before.
The warmth of the Temsar could still be felt upon the skin of its Chosen. Whilst they were now free to do as they pleased, the memory of the Light's presence was still fresh in their minds. To save all that is, Hank Henshaw must die.

YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

MARRIANE VON EDMUND// JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA// DAN KUROTO// AIZAWA SHOTA// CONNER KENT// THAAL SINESTRO//
^ @Yun Lee @Capri @Space_Candy @Gummi Bunnies ^

RAMUDA AMEMURA// MATO KUROI// JACQUELINE FALSWORTH
^ @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Sark ^​

 

[Jeremi]

Team OBLIVION/Team NEXIUM

Again Shang Tsung gave no reply to the Arcade acting like he hadn't even heard him. Crossing his arms into his robe Shang Tsung looked unto the opposing team in silence. Anything Arcade, any Arcade, wished him to do was pure foolishness. The less of them there was the fewer they would be facing the true Arcade.

He knew his foes were too stupid to grasp that, and while he would defend himself when the time came, he wouldn't give this Arcade the pleasure of striking first.

@Space_Candy Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @Capri @Atomic Knight @Minerva @Takumi @Ver @Sark @Crunch

---

Team PRUDENCE

"If they are part of this world," Henshaw remarked casually before in a blur he pushed a number of the carts together for a proper explosion. As he returned to his original spot he held a small piece of the mysterious stone that he tossed to the Master as Henshaw's eyes shone bright red. "They are already dead." His heat vision blasted towards the stockpile he created ready for it to engulf the rest of the stones and the ensuing chaos that would follow.

@Sark @Yun Lee @York

 

[York]

Ifrit
@Jeremi @Sark @Yun Lee @Others?

She had been too hopefull, so much so that she had neglected to read the metaphorical room. They were out of food, and low on morale. Whoever the enemy was, they had long since taken it.

And so, by her strange logic, she thought it was best to take it back, somehow.

"Hmph... Then we're all in the same boat, aren't we?!" She shouted, seemingly ignoring what Hank and the master were up to, even as they slipped into the sewers.

"Your enemy's got supplies, right?! Then let's take em for all they got! I've got some fire in me yet! It's all or nothing!!! Just tell me what to burn!"

The odds seemed insurmountable, but Ifrit was ready to burn through an army or two if it meant she could finally fill her belly with food. And then, she remembered something.

"By the way. Anyone got a flamethrower? Fuel? Helps this go a bit further, you know?!" She practically declared forming a distinct, white hot ball of fire in her hand as demonstration.

Rather than being discouraged by the lack of food on the front lines, Ifrit had the 'bright' idea to double down! Though, if things did get too bad, she might find herself making a mad dash to the sewers. Oh well, yet another bridge to cross when she came to, or so she thought.​

 

[Space_Candy]

Aizawa had been hanging off the train by his scarf for the last while, his goggles helping wind from hitting his dry eyes. He climbed over the metal roof and slid in through an area at the top- landing with a large THUMP.

View attachment 9193

"What did I miss?" He said through heavy breathes, annoyed he never got that coffee.

@Sark @Capri @Takumi @Lucky @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Gummi Bunnies @Team Train
------------------------------------------------------------

Suigestu smirked, after stalking the group for awhile- it was his moment to shine. He jumped in front of the group with his sword, before turning his head to see a large tank barreling at him.

View attachment 9194

"Shit," he cursed before running quickly, dissolving himself to try and move faster.

@Sark @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Space_Candy @Lucky @Gummi Bunnies @Team Oblivion+Eren​

 

[Takumi]

Team OBLIVION/Team NEXIUM

Again Shang Tsung gave no reply to the Arcade acting like he hadn't even heard him. Crossing his arms into his robe Shang Tsung looked unto the opposing team in silence. Anything Arcade, any Arcade, wished him to do was pure foolishness. The less of them there was the fewer they would be facing the true Arcade.

He knew his foes were too stupid to grasp that, and while he would defend himself when the time came, he wouldn't give this Arcade the pleasure of striking first.

@Space_Candy Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @Capri @Atomic Knight @Minerva @Takumi @Ver @Sark @Crunch

---

Team PRUDENCE

"If they are part of this world," Henshaw remarked casually before in a blur he pushed a number of the carts together for a proper explosion. As he returned to his original spot he held a small piece of the mysterious stone that he tossed to the Master as Henshaw's eyes shone bright red. "They are already dead." His heat vision blasted towards the stockpile he created ready for it to engulf the rest of the stones and the ensuing chaos that would follow.

@Sark @Yun Lee @York

Team OBLIVION/Team NEXIUM
"I am flesh and bone. I am thought and feeling." The Prime Minster retorted calmly. "I am just as real as you are, Shang Tsung. We are both as real as words on a cosmic screen can be... Still. If you want to meet the Arcade, you're going to have to start playing by the rules. Killing me won't grab his attention. But I'm not the only Arcade in the city."

"What are you suggesting?" The Eleven snapped. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want. Violence. We have already addressed that. I am the Arcade of Albion. I am offering you the location of the Arcades of Free City and Occupied City, two men you'll never find without my help, two men who's death will certainly steal the attention of you know who."

"3 deaths?"

"Just 3. 3 lives to end the game. 3 lives to save 29 more... Sounds like a fair trade to me..."

"Wonderful!" Arcade chirped. "Would you look at that? We've got some volunteers!"
The Prime Minister snapped his fingers. Shimmering, silver walls erupted from the cracked concrete paths that connected each barrack to the next. Impossibly high. Impossibly deep. Bullets, blasts and blades alike would no doubt bounce harmlessly off of faultless face. Encased in an unbreakable coliseum, Teams Nexium and Oblivion were cut off from the rest of the Arena. Arcade, carefree, leant upon his cane, safe on the other side of the barrier.
View attachment 9191
"Beautiful, is it not? The way it captures the light?" The Prime Minister remarked. "Oh, and of course, the way it captures all of you." Arcade knocked upon the Coliseum's wall. "An element of my own design... or at least, it was designed by one of me. It is truly remarkable. Its presence is enough to sap the juice out of any attack I deem to be... broken. No more teleportation. No more flight. No more reversing time. Not until I drop the barrier... Not unless I drop the barrier."

"Which you won't do. Not unless we kill each other, right?" Jacob sighed, loading his pistol. "Not unless we give you your precious---"

"Three corpses. Bingo." Arcade replied with a grin. "Two Team trapped in an unbreakable box. Three people die, and you get to scurry off back to God knows where. The Team with the most surviving members by the end of this little episode gets the location of the next two Arcades. The losers have their secrets revealed." He swung his hand downwards like a falling flag. "Go."

Team Oblivion Vs Team Nexium. Corporate Warfare.​

Team OBLIVION ​	Team NEXIUM​
Jacob Frye (NPC)​	Android 17 (NPC)​
The Eleven (NPC)​	The Eleven (NPC)​
Suigetsu Hozuku @Space_Candy ​	Eren Jaeger @Gummi Bunnies ​
Mollymauk Tealeaf @Lucky ​	Zora Salazar @Capri​
Phi @Atomic Knight ​	Ciri @Minerva ​
Shion @Takumi ​	Saruhiko Fushimi @Ver ​
Shang Tsung @Jeremi​	Alexander Anderson @Crunch ​

Team PRUDENCE
"Quite." The Master replied, smugly. Were it not for the rugged path the separated the pair from their destination, the Time Lord might have skipped down into the sewer, willfully ignorantly to the plights of the city's soldiers. Perhaps the city would stand. Perhaps the city would fall. He had no intentions on sticking around to find out. Wars were for warriors. Schemes were for schemers. "Onwards. Sewage waits for no man..."

"Food? Ma'am..." One of the soldiers pleaded. "We haven't eaten in days... The Enemy took out our supply lines... We've got nothing..."

"We miss the rats..." Another wheezed. "At least you could eat the rats... The fleas? They've got no meat on them... but the rats..."

"Silence!" The General snapped at his men. "I won't have you eroding our morale further! We just need to hold out a little..." His words trailed off as the Time Lord and Cyborg vanished underground. "Where... where are you going? Sirs! Sirs!" His words became wails, hopeless and lost."

***
The sewers led to more sewers. And those sewers? To more sewers. The seemed to stretch on endlessly, like blood vessels, they carried to pair across the District in its entirety before they finally reached its beat heart. A furnace, white hot and doused in smoke. Cart load after cart load of alien minerals were fed to the beast. Titanic gears forced the smoke the furnace exhaled into the same pipes that had guided the pair in their journey underground, the same pipes with had forced the cyborg to his knees with a single, controlled blast, ready to be transported it across the city. The strange stones that the furnace consumed were highly volatile. A misplaced spark could ruin a month's stockpile, crippling the city's economy. Alternatively, pushing a few carts together could create a more centralized blast, and possibly collapse the District itself.
View attachment 9192
The only security that guarded the furnace came in the form of a few, young workers. The eldest couldn't have been older than 15. Destroying the city had seemed so much easier when the pair didn't have to look their young victims in their eyes.
"Oh, the crushing moral weight of the situation..." The Master hummed, sarcastically. "Never liked children, anyway. Always blabbing. Always crying. Do you have children, Mr. Henshaw? Oh, I said that like knowing your answer might have inspired me to take back my answer. No. I stand by it. Children are decidedly unpleasant creatures..."

//Hank Henshaw// The Master// Marianne// Ifrit
@Jeremi @Sark @Yun Lee @York



Team TRAIN
"Yes... there was... something..." Spitfire whispered mindlessly. "But I can't remember... Can't remember what... Can't have been important... Not more important than---"
The light bathed the trio. Bliss. Peace. Silence. They heard naught. Naught but the song of the light. Naught but it's soothing voice. Naught but the light. Only the light.

Come to me.
It sung.
Come to me. Covet me.
You.
Are.
Mine.

NEW TEAM
Team LIGHT
MATO// RAMUDA// SPITFIRE//
Welcome to the Light. All who wish to follow are welcome.

I am Temsar. I am Grace given form.
You have been saved.
You have been chosen for a Higher Purpose.
Higher than Arcade. Higher than the Arena.
I free you from my thrall so that you might do my bidding.
So that you might save all that is.
Kill Hank Henshaw. Save the young.
Obey me, and you shall be rewarded with.
Go, now, with the blessing of the Temsar.
Go, and bring justice to the unjust...

With a final sweet, breath, the light faded. Team Light stood at the end of a long sewage pipe, a few hundred meters away from the folded train. Their toes hung over the edge of the ledge. One more step, and they would have no doubt fallen to their deaths. Beneath them sat a large, blazing furnace, tended to by hundreds of young, pale workers, their brows wet and stained with soot, their fingers bruised and blistered. They worked without pause and without rest, pouring cartload after cartload of strange, alien minerals into the furnace's gaping mouth. On the other side of the room, emerging from another sewer pipe, looped a familiar face. The Image of the Cyborg Superman was hard to forget. A vaguely familiar bald Time Lord, who face had once been tired and marked with age, stood by his side, observing the scene. They had both made their intentions clear once before.
The warmth of the Temsar could still be felt upon the skin of its Chosen. Whilst they were now free to do as they pleased, the memory of the Light's presence was still fresh in their minds. To save all that is, Hank Henshaw must die.

YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

MARRIANE VON EDMUND// JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA// DAN KUROTO// AIZAWA SHOTA// CONNER KENT// THAAL SINESTRO//
^ @Yun Lee @Capri @Space_Candy @Gummi Bunnies ^

RAMUDA AMEMURA// MATO KUROI// JACQUELINE FALSWORTH
^ @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Sark ^​

Temsar? That sounded like a fake name, and if you switched the letters around a bit...

Ramuda snorted out a laugh, shoulders shaking as he covered his mouth to hide his sharp grin. Which one was it this time? Was it a whole new person, acting as some kinda god?

"Are you playing the game too, Temsar? You got a stake in it or are you just looking for a few souls to be indebted to you? Either way, I make no promises on what I can do to save the young, but--oopsie!" Ramuda hummed, before stopping dead in his tracks once their small party had stopped walking all together and the light faded.

"Uwoah we almost died!~ ☆" Ramuda whispered as he glanced over the edge, grabbing for Spitfire and Mato to gently tug them back from the edge a few steps before his gaze landed on the giant furnace.

Taking out his counterfeit mic, he turned it on and hoped he could get at least some of the kids in here out. He didn't want some 'disembodied voice' yelling at him next, thank you very much!

"Hey Youngbloods, easy R here so listen up. Stop, drop, and run. Home, up top, I don't care much as long as you runts get in gear and move on along."

With that verse out of the way he sighed heavily. It just wasn't the same, but who knows, maybe the two ladies beside him would have better luck with it. Or they'd all die, as people tended to do.

The real question was if any of them could get to safety before Hank fucking killed someone and/or himself in the process, now wasn't it?

"Aalll done! I hope either of you have more of a plan to keep us from going boom cause I only have so many verses in me for those guys down there.~ ♪" He spoke in a sing-song tone, smile strained and taking a step back so he wasn't on the literal edge when shit went south.

"Just know I'm counting on you Onee-Sans!" He added with a small barely audible cheer. They had the powers and shit and he was just a rapper with a knockoff mic after all.

@Sark @Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi

Shion wasn't sure what to do in this situation other than to, well, not die. Again. This time without killer bees and stuff blowing up around him. The three bodies thing sounded like it had a catch to it, if you asked him.

One of the ones without weapons currently, he'd just have to avoid getting shot or stabbed in the meantime--oh wait. He glanced to Jacob then. It was worth a shot.

"Mind letting me borrow a weapon? A knife is enough in the least." He asked, rather calm at the moment despite the situation. At the very least, he'd be able to defend himself. He and Shang Tsung at least, had a similar idea in the case of only trying to harm others if attacked first.

Given how Eren tried attacking them first? It was more likely going to end in a brawl sooner or later.

@Sark @Atomic Knight @Ver @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Space_Candy @Lucky @Minerva @Crunch @Team Oblivion v. Nexium

 

[Sark]

"If they are part of this world," Henshaw remarked casually before in a blur he pushed a number of the carts together for a proper explosion. As he returned to his original spot he held a small piece of the mysterious stone that he tossed to the Master as Henshaw's eyes shone bright red. "They are already dead." His heat vision blasted towards the stockpile he created ready for it to engulf the rest of the stones and the ensuing chaos that would follow.

"Are you playing the game too, Temsar? You got a stake in it or are you just looking for a few souls to be indebted to you? Either way, I make no promises on what I can do to save the young, but--oopsie!" Ramuda hummed, before stopping dead in his tracks once their small party had stopped walking all together and the light faded.

Team OBLIVION/Team PRUDENCE
"In this race, we all hold a stake!" Temsar pleased softly. "Please! You need to focus on Henshaw! The Children shan't be safe until---"

The Spirit's voice was drowned out by Ramuda's verses. His words seemed to pierce the minds of the children, bringing them under his thrall. Their psychic defenses had been weakened by many an exhausting hour spent down bellow. They did not need to be told twice. They abandoned their posts at the drop of a hat. The pounding of a hundred desperate feet echoed around the furnace chamber as the workers fled in all directions.

But they weren't fast enough. Even as 'Onee-San' joined the free, using her advanced speed to usher the children to safety, the sewers were too long, and their legs were too short. Ramuda had given them hope. But what they had really needed was time... and the Cyborg's eyes were already burning crimson.

"Easy now..." The Master hummed, approaching his 'ally'. He raised an open palm and approached the shifting carts. "Easy now!" He repeated, firmer than before. "Are you mad? We can't detonate that whilst we're still down here! We need to fall back! Prepare a trigger! We need to--- You're going to kill us a---!!!!!!!"

BOOOOOOOM

***

***

Aizawa had been hanging off the train by his scarf for the last while, his goggles helping wind from hitting his dry eyes. He climbed over the metal roof and slid in through an area at the top- landing with a large THUMP.

View attachment 9193

"What did I miss?" He said through heavy breathes, annoyed he never got that coffee.

Team TRAIN
"What have you missed?" Sinestro hissed, raising the conductor up into the recovery position. "We were almost liquefied by the nose of this here train, that's what! Unless we can get this conductor to start talking, the reason why such a tragedy almost befell us will never be uncovered. Half of our party were just seduced by some mysterious light and are yet to return. An old man tried to blow as all to Hell, and giant tried to crush us beneath his giant fist. In short, it's been a decidedly miserable affair, characterized only by our continued only by our prolonged suffering and---"

The Yellow Lantern ceased his rambling. His eyes widened. He slowly raised his head.

"Can you feel that?"

A beat.

The air was growing warmer. The tunnel was lightly trembling. Both grew more sever with each passing heartbeat.
"We need to go." Thaal lifted the conductors arm up over his shoulder. "Everybody, on your feet! We need to---ggh---"
Sinestro's next words were lost on their way to his lips, having been disrupted by the jagged shank that now protruded his throat. He pressed his palm to his neck to quash the bloody spray, but its was no use. His strength was fading by the second. He dropped the conductor and slumped down against the sewer fall.
Laughter.
The Conductor, conscious and right as rain, pushed himself out from underneath the dying Korugarian. He plucked his knife from Thaal's neck and wiped its clean with a embroidered, silk handkerchief.

"Forgive the deception. But this is my que..." The rumbling grew louder. The hair grew hotter. Hotter. Hotter! "By the sound of things, my comrades have failed in their mission. Shame. Oh... I think I can feel another fluctuation coming on, can't you? Oh. I doubt you'll be around to witness it. Enjoy your fiery deaths, dear friends. Toodle-oo!"

The Conductor lunged forth. One hand clutched Yashamaru's shoulder. The other took hold of Daniel.
"No you, though... No... We still need you!"
In a flash of blue, the three figures vanished.
From his place on the floor, Sinestro waved his free hand, waving for his Team to flee.
"Go!" He gurgled. "Just go!"
View attachment 9196
Fire. Out of the corner of your eye. It raced around the bend of the sewers, consuming the far end of the train and liquefying it in the blink of an eye. It didn't stop. The explosion, triggered in the all-too-close furnace chamber, charged towards Team Train, unyielding, unrelenting.
"RUN!"

YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// CHASE DAVENPORT// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER// JAMES R. RHODES// IFRIT
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

MARRIANE VON EDMUND// JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA// DAN KUROTO// AIZAWA SHOTA// CONNER KENT// THAAL SINESTRO//
^ @Yun Lee @Capri @Space_Candy @Gummi Bunnies ^

"Aalll done! I hope either of you have more of a plan to keep us from going boom cause I only have so many verses in me for those guys down there.~ ♪" He spoke in a sing-song tone, smile strained and taking a step back so he wasn't on the literal edge when shit went south.

"Just know I'm counting on you Onee-Sans!" He added with a small barely audible cheer. They had the powers and shit and he was just a rapper with a knockoff mic after all.

"If they are part of this world," Henshaw remarked casually before in a blur he pushed a number of the carts together for a proper explosion. As he returned to his original spot he held a small piece of the mysterious stone that he tossed to the Master as Henshaw's eyes shone bright red. "They are already dead." His heat vision blasted towards the stockpile he created ready for it to engulf the rest of the stones and the ensuing chaos that would follow.

Team PRUDENCE/LIGHT
An explosion. In the distance. An explosion that should have taken your lives. You could feel its distant, harmless heat tickling you skin. It was a sight you weren't going to forget anytime soon. It was an all too familiar sight. Another District gutted by flames. Death. Destruction. Unimaginable loss. You were its chosen audience, collected upon a rooftop to bare witness to its chilling beauty.
View attachment 9198
A Cyborg. A Samurai. A Child. A Student. A Superhero. A Rapper. A Time Lord.
A broken grandfather clock laid at their feet. It's creaking pendulum sent its second hand twitching. The same five seconds ticked over and over again. According to the clock, it would be precisely 10:01pm for the rest of time.
View attachment 9202
Dong
Dong
Dong
"I hope you're proud of yourself, Mr.Henshaw..." The Master snarled, his eyes fixed upon the distant explosion. He didn't honor the Cyborg with privilege that was eye contact with a Time Lord. He wiped his bloody hands upon his vest. "You've carelessly wasted another one of my lives! Another one! Regenerations don't grow on trees, you know! I vowed that I would not squander my additional lives... but look at me! Just look at me!"
View attachment 9199
"I'm old, Mr. Henshaw!" He pivoted on the spot, cutting Hank with a cruel glare. "You have aged me with your recklessness! At least I have hair again... as thin as it may be..." The Time Lord froze, his two hearts stopping for a beat. He rapidly patted down his jacket. "The Map. The Star Map. Henshaw. I had a map on my person, back at the cafe, you remember, don't you? Tell me... Tell me I gave it to you before the explosion! My regeneration has scrambled my memory... I need to focus... to remember!"

"Looking for this, stranger?" An elderly man cooed from the edge of the rooftop, a folded sheet of parchment pressed between his fingers. "Interesting piece, this is..."
"Give that back!" The Master howled, marching towards the stranger. "You have no right to rifle through my possessions--"
"No right?" The stranger scowled, inserting the map into his bloodstained robes. "You're walking through the City of the Dead now, dear guests. You're walking through my domain. Whilst I still draw breath, I have every right to live and fight as I see fit. I shall keep your map. I shall study it. I shall learn from it. I shall use its secrets to better protect my city. To make it a greater home for the living."
View attachment 9201
"Unless you object, Stranger? Would you rather keep your secrets from your comrades, your brothers?" The Assassin-General closed his jaw and tensed his brow. He let a long, silent second crawl by. "The Students of Gen bleed and die so that men like you might sleep soundly. Pray that I do not mistake your greed for counter-revolutionary thinking, Stranger... I know not how you came here. I know nothing of the flaming worlds beyond District Omega, but so long as you walk upon Planet Prudence, you will learned to respect your Brothers among the Living."

[Dimensional Shift Complete]
View attachment 9203
Welcome to Planet Prudence. Welcome to District Omega, City of the Dead.

Spoiler: Map 2

View attachment 9204

YASHAMARU// DANIEL DIAZ// HANK HENSHAW// THE MASTER//
^ @Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Jeremi ^

RAMUDA AMEMURA// MATO KUROI// JACQUELINE FALSWORTH
^ @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Sark ^

Shion wasn't sure what to do in this situation other than to, well, not die. This time without killer bees and stuff blowing up around him. The three bodies thing sounded like it had a catch to it, if you asked him.

One of the ones without weapons currently, he'd just have to avoid getting shot or stabbed in the meantime--oh wait. He glanced to Jacob then. It was worth a shot.

"Mind letting me borrow a weapon? A knife is enough in the least." He asked, rather calm at the moment despite the situation. At the very least, he'd be able to defend himself. He and Shang Tsung at least, had a similar idea in the case of only trying to harm others if attacked first.

Given how Eren tried attacking them first? It was more likely going to end in a brawl sooner or later.

Team OBLIVION/NEXIUM
"Hm?" Evie hummed. Yes. Evie. It had always been Evie. "Yeah. Sure." The Assassin reached into her jacket and removed her kukri from her belt. She flipped it around in hand and offered its hilt to Shion. "The blade is curved. Might take a bit of getting used to, but it'll get the job done."
View attachment 9205
"Now, if you'll excuse me..." Evie reached down to her holster and removed her pistol. No. It wasn't her pistol. It was one of Zora's, a trophy stolen from the cowgirl during their last battle. No. That wasn't what happened. She hadn't stolen it. And yet she had it. She had always had it. Even since the scuffle at the fountain. If Zora stopped to check her own holsters, she would find her weapon strangely absent. New memories flooded the cowgirl's mind. Yes. She had lost the weapon during their last encounter... hadn't she? "I'd like to get the rest of my cane back..."

Evie pointed the Cowgirl's own gun back at her.

"The easy way. The hard way. You choose."

Team Oblivion Vs Team Nexium. Corporate Warfare.​

Team OBLIVION ​	Team NEXIUM​
Jacob Frye (NPC)​	Android 17 (NPC)​
The Eleven (NPC)​	Eren Jaeger @Gummi Bunnies ​
Mollymauk Tealeaf @Lucky ​	Zora Salazar @Capri​
Phi @Atomic Knight ​	Ciri @Minerva ​
Shion @Takumi ​	Saruhiko Fushimi @Ver ​
Shang Tsung @Jeremi​	Alexander Anderson @Crunch​

Suigestu smirked, after stalking the group for awhile- it was his moment to shine. He jumped in front of the group with his sword, before turning his head to see a large tank barreling at him.

"Shit," he cursed before running quickly, dissolving himself to try and move faster.

TANKS
The Tank's shell rattled over Suigetsu's head and struck a nearby storefront. Already gutted by an incendiary bomb, the building came crashing down in the ninja's path, showering him in a hail of broken bricks and chipped tiles. A smoky haze settled upon the street, obscuring the Suigetsu's path. For a second, there was silence. Footsteps. Heavy breathing. He could only hear his own--

BOOM

A Tank landed in Suigetsu's path, having been launched by its muscular, almost mammallike legs. It pivoted on the spot, walking upon the legs it definitely always possessed. It tilted its mechanical head, its mechanical senor 'eyes' spotting Suigetsu through the haze. It's side-mounted canons locked onto the ninja's possition.
View attachment 9206
[RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]
The Bipedal Tank's siren shook the street. It's NEXIUM Private Security Emblem flashed and glowed. With a final beep and a squeak, the machine launched a flurry rocket-propelled towards the ninja.
[VACATE THE STREETS//NON-OBLIVION PERSONEL TRESPASSING WITHIN THE DISTRICT WILL BE ERADICATED//NO FURTHER WARNINGS SHALL BE SHARED]
To think that a few moments ago, the Bipedal Tank had resembled a horse and carriage... Hadn't it? No... That couldn't have been right...
@Space_Candy​

 

[Capri]

ZORA SALAZAR
@Sark @Gummi Bunnies @Minerva @Ver @Crunch @Lucky @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Jeremi @NEXIUM/OBLIVION

View attachment 9207

“Yerr gunna regret makin’ dat miss-take ‘dere, pal,” Zora said, fury dancing in her eyes, “Ah swear, imma mayke yew pay”

Evie would recognize the feeling, gravity taking a toll on her knees once again.

Evie was once again immobilized by Sundial.

Taking Evie’s “cane”, she attempted to plunge it between the assassin’s eyes.

---

JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA
@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @PRUDENCE/LIGHT

Josuke couldn’t resist it, the light. He became overtaken. He was thrust into the mission to kill Hank Henshaw.

Ramuda asked them about a plan, he had no clue what to do at this point. He was so confused... but anything to get her back.

View attachment 9208

“If I recall, Hank Henshaw is a cyborg,” he began, “My Stand, Soft & Wet, can steal things with bubbles. Hank Henshaw must have a power source if he is a cyborg, I can... make an attempt at stealing i-”

[BOOOM]

The explosion rang out, the clock rang barren in front of them.

The man appeared and stole The Master’s map. Now... Josuke is completely confused.

View attachment 9209

“What the... what’s happening?”​

 

[Jeremi]

Team PRUDENCE/LIGHT

Whatever the Master was going on about Henshaw seemed to be a thousand miles away. Had death finally claimed him? No how could that be? Death was silence, the eternal void of nothingness. This was another failure. Another disappointment in a long line of disappointments.

"The only living being that concerns us is Arcade," Henshaw seemed to have finally snapped back into reality as he turned to face the purple clad old man. "And we can only find him with that map," He pointed to Gen's hand and the map. "Keep it if you wish, but show it to me one final time so that it is etched into my memory banks."

@Takumi @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Lucky @Gummi Bunnies @Sark

---

Team OBLIVION/NEXIUM

Oh that fool Evie. Always eager for a scrap. Zora would once again find three large flaming skulls coming towards her as Shang Tsung went to whisper something in Eevie's ear. "Keep the woman occupied," He whispered. "I believe I have a plan to finish this with the least amount of bloodshed."

@Space_Candy @Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @Capri @Atomic Knight @Minerva @Takumi @Ver @Sark @Crunch

 

[Capri]

ZORA SALAZAR
@Sark @Minerva @Ver @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch @Lucky @Takumi @Atomic Knight @Jeremi

Shang Tsung would also feel the effects of gravity take a toll on his knees. The skulls would dissipate as Zora slashed away at the skulls.

Yes... now she remembers. She remembers her rampage, the sheer rage, it was embarrassing.

“Next time,” he said once a while ago, “you should aim for the head,”

And so that’s exactly what she did. She aimed for Shang Tsung’s head and attempted to stab it with Evie’s sword.​