Iori, the Purple Tear: The Forests of Ashihara

Earlier that day.

Iori patted off the dirt from her suit with her usual smile. The landing was a bit rougher than she expected, but the fact that she was out here instead of being stuck on a shelf meant that Roland and Angela found the ending they needed.

The whole scheme was a bit of a gamble on Iori's part. If either of them held onto their grudges, she would be worse than dead, and all her plans would've amounted to nothing. Still, never let it be said that the Purple Tear is afraid of risk.

In any case, now's not the time to idle around. It'll be a while before Iori should show herself to Vergilius and knock over another set of dominoes. Until then, everyone in the City would assume she was dead. Which means it's the perfect time to start setting things up.

With that in mind, Iori activated her ability. Purple light swirled faster and faster around her until it exploded outwards, revealing...

Iori standing in the same crater as she was before, her smile slightly faded.

She should've appeared in her safehouses in the Backstreets. Is something wrong with her powers?

Iori concentrated and activated her ability again, aiming for that branch of HamHamPangPang that kid frequents. Same result.

Trying a third time, Iori managed to transport herself from the bottom of the crater to its lip. So at the very least, her powers aren't just refusing to work. Something is stopping her from returning to the City.

Another test, this time aimed towards another dimension she once visited. It was another dud, but at least Iori confirms the problem is on her end rather than the Head banning extradimensional intrusion or something.

"Well, it seems I'm stranded here." Calling these state of affairs less than ideal is like calling District 23 a slightly violent locale. Massive understatement.

It's frustrating, but at least she doesn't have any time-sensitive plans going on right now. She'll have to make it back to the City before Christmas and revise some of her schemes to make up for lost time, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

As Iori set off into the woods, her smile returned. As bad as this situation is, it's been quite a while since she's explored a new world. "Maybe I'll find a new kid to mess with somewhere around here."

The Forests of Ashihara (Yami Yugi)

”Achoo!”

{Yugi?}

{That was weird…}

Arc - Okinoka

"Its hard to say for sure, but odds favor the norm. If three people from different places and even different worlds can end up in yet a third unrelated world as this, chances are there are others. But if we are being guided by an unknown force, who knows."

A royal wedding? That sounds nice and all but it sounds like a situation I should avoid being too involved with. I'd probably have to take off my helmet if I had to attend and I'd probably be better off as a wanted man than a infamous undead monster. Arc nodded to the announcement. At least nobody around here 'should' know about Arc's cooking skill so shouldn't get pulled into that arrangement. Having to present food to nobles would definitely mean showing his face.

"Right, well in any case I suppose it couldn't hurt to find out a bit more about this wedding and keep up to date on what is happening. You are free to come along with me if you like, I suppose we could call ourselves a mercenary party if anyone asks." Besides, I'd like to make sure these kids are safe... wait are they actually kids? Sora certainly acts like one and I'm not sure about Carrie but if they both lived here, how old were they when they were brought here? It hardly matters, but I won't force them to come along with me since we are otherwise strangers.

Edited by StephanReiken on Nov 14th 2022 at 4:02:48 AM

The samurai's minions gave confused looks at the pistols Lara aimed at them. Then the Doctor revealed their psychic paper, and all five drew in closer to squint at it. Without a prompt from her, each man's perception started drawing their own conclusions from the paper, until the samurai suddenly spoke up.

"An emissary of West Meropis?" he said, incredulous.

Something 'clicked' for his lackeys, who nodded in sudden understanding, as they saw the same thing as he did. As for our heroes, the Doctor and Lara were probably the only people who'd even glimpsed the word 'Meropis' before. The ancient greek writer Theopompus of Chios once wrote a passage on it as a parody of Atlantis. Now, why would this samurai man believe they were from an island written in an obscure ancient satire?

The samurai continued, still glaring distrustfully. "Why would those colonisers send such a ridiculous troop all the way here?"

"Maybe for the same reason we're all out here!" The unexpected voice belonged to a thirty-something woman emerging from the other side of the Gundam. She was dressed in a white dress and a practical green robe, with her hair pinned back, a satchel over her shoulder and a quill and notepad in hand. "Honestly, Tōka-san, have your men put those things away before they hurt someone."

"Mind your tongue, Toriyama!" snapped the samurai. "And keep away from that thing before it bites you."

"Oh, for the love... This is quite obviously a flying boat of some kind! Do you not see all this metal plating?"

"Absurd! Nothing man-made of this size could fly that high or that fast!"

"Clearly you haven't been reading the same reports from the continent that I have. Now are you going to keep on arguing, or would you kindly let me handle this?"

After a pause and an indignant snort, the samurai raised his hand, signalling his men to lower their weapons.

The young woman bustled her way in front of the lackeys. "I'm so sorry about that. Samurai Tōsanjin has a history of overzealousness. You aren't hurt, are you?"

Edited by LizardOfAus on Nov 14th 2022 at 12:13:44 PM

Gundam Landing Site (Hiroto Kuga)

Hiroto takes a quick glance around, and out of Lara, Yugi and the Doctor, he actually cannot see anything wrong so, he so answers, "No, Tōriyama-san. We're not injured at all. We're just... caught off a little off-guard."

"We're just passing through. We don't want any trouble," Hiroto continues before he realises that the Doctor actually gave the group an excuse as to why they were here. It was a bit of a long-shot and a huge bluff, but:

"The Doctor asked us to, well, accompany her on an important mission. I was asked to bring us here using the Gundam."

Lara Croft: Gundam Landing Site

"Hurt feelings, perhaps. Though I'll forgive the use of the term 'coloniser' in this situation," Lara said in a clipped tone, her eyes flicking between her inadvertent allies before settling her gaze on the young woman that'd vouched for them. "...yes, we're accompanying this Doctor here. Secret mission, although not so secret now unfortunately. Hence the advanced technology we have access to. We're somewhat of a... specialist group, if you will."

Maybe it was her existing irritation that helped to bolster her rather curt tone of voice, but it all came out so earnestly that even Lara was taken aback by how easy it was to lie. It wasn't too preposterous a bluff, she supposed. It'd explain their ragtag appearance as a group if they were 'specialist' mercenaries of apparently different skill sets. She was more than willing to go with this excuse if it proved to be reliable; at least until they all figured out what was going on.

"If only Zip and Alister were here to see this. They'd be enthralled by this place..." she murmured to herself in the meantime.

A massive eruption of dust and rock greeted the dimming of a beam of green light. A gloved hand reaches out from the wreckage...and slams itself down. Disturbed by the impact, already-swaying trees give way, allowing a woman clad in black to crawl free.

"Nice try, Arrataz! Your magic's no match for-What."

They had been fighting in a cave. Annataz Arrataz had retreated to the hidden city of Eth Alth'eban, the former hovel of one of Owlman's enemies: Some hippie that led freedom fighters. The poor thing decided her magic was too good to be of use to the Syndicate and booked it when Ultraman gave his decree of rulership. She probably thought those activists could protect her from the chosen of Demon's Island. She was dead wrong.

Well, she was supposed to be.

But right as the witch was on her knees ready to be crushed, she struck. She uttered something in an odd language and now...

"I hate warpers. Annoying gnats!"

The Amazon takes to the skies in an attempt to assess where she was. She passes the trees and hovers about forty feet up. Eth Alth'eban was mostly canyon terrain. Few trees.

Ok, this was definitely not Eth Alth'eban. In fact, this place didn't look familiar at all.

Edited by klom99 on Nov 15th 2022 at 6:35:36 AM

The Doctor

"Yes, secret! Very secret. It's so secret, we can't afford to tell you our secrets or they won't be secret. That's how secret it is."

The Doctor was impressed. She knew Hiroto was smart, but she didn't think he was this clever. She was sorry she hadn't thought of it, but she had half a dozen things on her mind. Why were a bunch of old samurai quoting Greek texts? Where'd they get their hands on Greek texts? Did they have Greek texts or was it an astounding confidence? And then there was Toriyama. She knew a Toriyama. Excellent poet, terrible cook. But they couldn't be the same one, could they?

But the Gundam was what fascinated her. It was unlike anything she'd seen. It flew in the face of logic, went against every principle of sound engineering, but somehow it functioned. It you took a model kit and stuck a miniature reactor in it's chest, you'd get the same results. But whoever made this knew their stuff. She had to know more. She'd ask Hiroto when they weren't in mortal peril, but she didn't know when that would be.

Well, this food already beats the rations they gave to him on his tour of duty, that's for sure. From the looks of it, though, seems he got warped away from the shithole he was in to another way more pleasant place. For others this would be bad luck, but to him, it's like fate gave him a break for once.

"Being here sure beats the place I was stuck in. I just hope the people I was with also got warped here." He pulled out a small lighter from a pocket of his jacket, and began to light his cigarrete. "Name's Bill." He nodded to the two. "Glad to get a break for once. I'm in no rush if you wanna move out though-"

And that's when he heard a scream of someone calling for help. He sure heard that kind of scream many, many times in the Entity's Realm. The kid, Yumi, went off to find whoever it was. Hopefully this won't be a FUBAR situation involving a dangerous hostile.

"Aw hell." Leaving his soup behind, and quickly getting up from the seat, he grabbed his M16 rifle from his back and glanced towards Kanami. "Don't want to leave the kid alone if this is gonna be a bad situation. You coming?"

The conversation was cut short as announcements cut through. Sora’s head tilted to the side until he finally looked over at the other two. “Did that guy say anyone not decorating would be fined?” he asked in slight disbelief, “these sound like worse royals than I’ve ever met.”

Arc made a good point that it was a good idea to get a feel for what was going on, it might be their reason for being called into this town specifically. “I don’t know much about this region, so that’d be smart if we’re supposed to hang around here. What’s a mercenary?”

Superwoman - Forest of Ashihara

Tress. Trees. More trees. May as well fly to the edge of the place and scope the surrounding area out.

"Where-ever this accursed place is, it won't stop me from getting back. That witch has it coming."

She begins flying eastward, only stopping when a flame catches her eye.

"A campfire? Hopefully locals."

Maybe she WOULDN'T de-forest the area if they gave up Arrataz quickly. Maybe. Looking down, the Amazon begins a gentle descent in the direction of the makeshift camp.

Forests of Ashihara, Campsite

"Mmph!" said Kanami at Yumi's suddenly rushing after the voice calling for help, then began choking as some minestrone apparently went down the wrong pipe. Pounding her chest and quickly ejecting the offending matter out her mouth into the fire as Bill asked if she was was coming along, she wiped her mouth with a grin and flashed him a big thumbs-up. "You bet! One sec..."

With a series of swift snatches, the soup bowls and pot over the fire vanished without spectacle into her inventory, and then the campfire itself vanished, as if it had never been there at all. "Alright~!" she crowed, standing tall and pounding her gauntleted fists together as she readied to run off after the teen. "Rescue mission is go!"

Or at least, she would be ready to run off, if one more thing descending from the sky didn't need addressing first. "Heya, flying lady!" she called up to Superwoman, cupping a hand around her mouth and waving. "You must be new, too, huh? Would love to stay and talk and re-explain where we are, but seems like there's somebody in trouble, so gotta go deal with that first! You're welcome to come with, if ya want!"

"Alright, Old-timer, let's go!" she added to Bill, then started swiftly trotting after Yumi, mindful not to outpace the elderly vet.

As she went, she drew in a deep breath, then released it in a yell that was really remarkably loud: "HEEEEEEEEEY! PERSON IN TROUBLE! WE'RE ON OUR WAY! KEEP SHOUTING SO WE CAN FIND YOU, OKAY?!"

Superwoman - Campfire

The Amazon tries almost three times to get a word in edge-wise before this new person and their woodchipper voice abruptly ran off on their little errand. There was an old man too; looked grumpy.

In the depths of her twisted mind, she was throwing these people into the sky like baseballs, but she wasn't a Neanderthal - simply sighing and nodding in the real world.

"Fine. Not like I have anything better to do." Superwoman replies with a false smile. "Maybe lower yourself a couple decibels, though."

'Re-explain where we are.' Was this a phenomenon, then? Annataz wasn't THAT strong.

Edited by klom99 on Nov 18th 2022 at 4:58:35 AM

Crazy Dave in the Ashihara forest.

A rift in spacetime opens in the sky, energy crackling as it lets out a flying RV, staggering to keep flying as it eventually crashes into a clearing. A man with a pot on his head comes out of the vehicle, looking at his surroundings he notices that he isn't in his world.

"Penny, where are we?"

<By my calculations, it seems we have deviated from our timeline and landed on another universe entirely, the trip also damaged my time-space modulator and quantum rift maker user Dave.>

"That's not good, maybe we could find extra parts."

<User Dave the probabilities of finding spare parts here in a universe not registered on my database are less than 0.1%>

"I like those odds!"

Hoping back into his RV Crazy Dave twisted the ignition key starting the RV once again. The RV takes flight, searching for people or spare parts anything is fine.

Gundam Landing Site (Yami Yugi)

"No, we're fine...physically, at least. We seem to have lost our way, though. We're accompanying the Doctor on her mission and can't quite find our way to the nearest town."

{Pharaoh, is lying to these people...wrong?}

{Until we know more about this world, we may need to for our safety, Yugi.}

"Yugi" lowers the arm with the Duel Disk on it, realizing that he'd been holding it up like an actual weapon.

{Best not to let on what we can do just yet, if it can be avoided. Hiding one's advantages is an ancient strategy, but it endures for a reason.}

"What the Doctor says is true - I'm afraid in the interest of safety, we can't share much information. I'm certain you understand."

This kid looks young, but he carries himself with this air of ancient wisdom.

Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Nov 18th 2022 at 11:21:26 AM

Iori

Iori leisurely walked through the forests she found herself in, taking in the sights and breathing in the fresh air of this new world.

The air of the City always held this sense of filth to it. Especially to those who've lived through the Smoke War as Iori has. It may have been over a decade since the source of that horrid smoke was destroyed, but the foulness of it all persists like, well, like a foul stench.

The fresh air, untouched by Old L Corp's Singularity, put Iori in a good mood when she came across a clearing in the forest.

The first thing Iori saw was the mech. At first, she assumed it was a statue, but her Augmentations let her see places joints in the mech designed to allow it to move. A rare sight to see in the City, considering how crowded everything is, but she has encountered a fair few of them in the Outskirts.

The second thing Iori saw was the people around the massive mech.

Several wore archaic suits of plate armor and had the disciplined bearing Iori typically associates with Hana and Shi Fixers. Soldiers, no doubt. Judging by how they were watching the others in the clearing, they were guarding the woman in the white dress, and the others were relative strangers.

The rest of the group was... colorful, to say the least. A boy with the fifth strangest hairstyle Iori had ever seen carried himself like he was thousands of years old. Another boy with blue hair and eyes seemed less curious about the mech than the others. And two women, one in proper Fixer attire inspecting the mech and another clad in tight clothing and carrying guns.

It seems she's stumbled across something interesting.

Iori breifly considered hiding at the edge of the clearing to observe further, but decided that she'd be better served by getting up close. She could handle a few soldiers and a gunman even if they ganged up on her, and if she found herself in genuine danger she could just Dimension-walk back to her crater.

"Ahem, pardon my intrusion," Iori said as she approached the group, "But I seem to be a bit lost. I was wondering if any of you would happen to know where the closest settlement is."

Edited by drearyArchon on Nov 19th 2022 at 8:17:31 PM

"HURRY, PLEASE!" The voice called in return. "THERE ARE WOLVES NEARBY!"

The samurai harrumphed at the groups' claims of a secret mission. "You picked a fine way of not drawing attention to yourself. How many other great metal atrocities do you see flying through the sky?"

Just then, a big red RV covered in gizmos went roaring above the treeline. The samurai and his lackeys stared at the sky above, stunned into silence. The silence was only broken by the unexpected arrival of Iori.

"Ah, such interesting company all of a sudden!" the woman said, "Well, the closest town relative to us is Ōwada Anchorage. Tōsanjin and I were just headed there, on a much less secret mission."

"My name," said the samurai brusquely, "Is Samurai Tōka Sanjin, and you would all do well to address me as such. The Daimyo has entrusted me with hunting the foul spirits and wicked creatures that have been growing ever-bolder in this province. In spite of her casual impertinence, Toriyama Seiko is the foremost expert on Yokai of every kind, and so my master has assigned her to this mission in turn."

"As partners!"

Toka sighed wearily. "As partners, officially speaking."

Towards Mysterious Voice

"But if I'm quieter, they won't be able to hear me..." Kanami retorted with a catlike :3 smile. "Anyways, glad you're coming along, flying lady! You seem pretty cool!" Interestingly, in spite of running at pretty much full-tilt and her previous yelling, she didn't seem to have any problems talking while breathing normally. Perhaps she was exceptionally fit or had very good lung capacity for a human?

"Oh boy, wolfies~!" the <Monk> cheered as the person in danger replied, grinning as she ran in the direction of their voice, then raised her volume again: "DON'T WORRY! WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE, OKAY?"

Edited by darksidevoid on Nov 28th 2022 at 7:56:35 AM

The Doctor

The Doctor had a thousand questions. She wanted to talk to this new stranger. Her new fam was already plenty interesting, full of questions and answers, but there was something different about this one. She wanted to ask their escorts about their destination and location. She thought maybe this was Japan, but there were too many discrepancies. Yes, demons existed, or aliens that looked like demons. But they weren't so bold to warrant a squad of demon hunters in broad daylight.

But most important of all? A big RV flying in the sky, shooting ahead like a rocket on crack-cocaine. And every one of them had seen it. She didn't know what it was? It could been have an astroship. Maybe an occulent spacial occurence. If she'd seen it yesterday, she'd swear it was another TARDIS, but that was next to impossible now.

"Excuse me mister Sanjin — no, sorry, Samurai Toka Sanjin, can't forget that bloated self importance — but I'm afraid I'll have to swear you to secrecy. What you just saw was a matter of national importance. It's part of the reason we're here. If word of this gets out, it could put our whole mission at risk. It's imperative that we follow it's trail and investigate. You don't need to come with us, but I strongly urge you to keep your lips sealed."

She hoped this worked. If this was Japan, then the last she wanted to do was rewrite history. If she could get them to keep their mouths shut, maybe it would be enough, but they needed to investigate. If they could get away too, that would be a nifty bonus.

Gundam Landing Site (Hiroto Kuga)

Before Hiroto could make a comment about his Gundam and Armour not being made for stealth (though it might be something to consider in the future), he sees the RV streak through the sky like everyone else.

The comments about foul spirits, monsters, and Yokai got him thinking. While the Doctor trying to convince Sanjin-san to move aside due to national importance was good on paper, if Sanjin-san was a samurai like the ones discussed in history, the Doctor might have just insulted him.

"Uh, I must apologize for the Doctor's attitude, Toka Sanjin-sama. She meant no offence. Perhaps if we could... help each other with our respective problems?"

Okinoka

Arc nodded to Sora's response but waved his hand back in forth in saying it's not right. "It may seem strict but this is not our home. We are outsiders and should respect the local customs. What they said is about buildings too and shouldn't apply to us who are not residents, but still we should ask around and see if there's something we should know before we break the law."

Arc motioned for the other two to follow as he stepped out onto the street, glancing around for a tavern of some kind. He didn't want something too seedy or unkempt. It was best to find a respectable looking place that wouldn't be suspicious to walk into in this armor with two kids. As they walked, Arc continued. "A Mercenary sells his ability to fight. Typically to route bandits, capture criminals, and cull local monsters. The pay isn't great and being in the profession of violence can be seen as little better than criminals themselves. But it offers freedom of movement."

Superwoman - Towards Mysterious Voice

"Oh, I'm definitely cool and then some." Superwoman responds half-jokingly. "Comes with being an Amazon. Flying's chump change."

Donna was still getting her bearings as she followed the old man and the loud noise machine. On the plus side, she'd hopefully know where she was soon.

Sora followed Arc with a pensive expression. It was clear that he was still measuring these royals poorly against the various princesses he'd met across the worlds, but he could understand not making a fuss. Being a little annoying wasn't something he needed to threaten the world order for.

He did look more happy once Arc explained his words. "Oh, is that it? Then I guess I am a mercenary," he said, nodding, "not that I was really getting paid while traveling between worlds before, but monsters around here don't drop munny like heartless. Still, I've got a lot of experience helping out people with monsters and stuff."

Gundam Landing Site (Yami Yugi)

{An actual samurai? Did I...time travel?}

"A pleasure to meet both of you. For the sake of our mission, please call me...'Yami.'"

What's weird is that to those who met Yugi before this, he seems just as comfortable saying that name as he did his real one a minute ago - like he's used to using it regularly.

{I get the feeling using my real name might not be a good idea...just a hunch.}

The sudden introduction of Iori and the appearance of the RV is enough to briefly shake that stoic demeanor, if only for an instant.

"What...? ...Hm, seems today is full of surprises. I must agree with my teammate, we may be able to help each other...disregarding the Doctor's 'unconventional' approach. You said something about 'Yokai?'"

{Was...that a van? The Doctor seems nervous about it...}

Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Dec 1st 2022 at 12:13:37 PM

Iori

As Iori listened to the other's words, she filed away the mentions of a 'Daimyo' (some kind of higher up, presumably similar to what the Huangs had) and Yokai (a type of monster, perhaps similar to those 'gods' that appear in the City sometimes) for later investigations.

Tōka Sanjin and Toriyama Seiko appeared to be some kind of Fixer-equivalent in this world. Sanjin seemed to hold personal loyalty to this 'Daimyo' of his. Such a thing would be out of place back in the City. But considering the pride Tōka has in his title, the position likely holds great merit in this world.

Of the other group, Iori briefly noted that the spiky haird one acted more mature than his age implied. She's seen a lot of children who had too mature too quickly, the City had no shortage of those, but he was a bit different.

If Iori had to explain it, it would be the inverse feeling as when she met Angela. The robot had experienced over a million years of struggles and suffering, and came out of it with a child's mentality. The boy, meanwhile, seemed more like a thousand year old man trapped in a young body.

In any case, the two children had volunteered their group's aid in exterminating Yokai. Offering unknown amounts of help from complete strangers in exchange for a favor of unknown extent. It's a bad deal for most Fixers, the sort that Seven Association would advise against in their beginner's training seminars.

In the Samurai's position, Iori would scoff at the offer and dismiss it outright. The little she'd seen of Tōka Sanjin would have him do just that.

However, Toriyama Seiko seemed quite interested in the group's mech. More than likely, she'll convince the reticent Samurai to take the children on so she could continue studying it. Perhaps even playing on the Samurai's pride to gain his agreement considering their dynamic.

Now, Iori was generally against doing charity work. It was against her policy to help people who can't help her in the future. Still, continuing to observe this particular group might just be worth her time.

It's not like the town was going anywhere, after all.

"Thank you for you help, Samurai Tōka Sanjin. I'll be sure to repay this favor should we ever meet again," Iori turned towards the way the Samurai pointed for the town and began to walk away.

She had considered blending into the group and tagging along, but that didn't seem likely considering Tōka Sanjin's personality. She certainly wasn't interesting enough to warrant his partner to step in on her behalf.

That means she'll have follow the group from a distance. The Yokai they sought seemed to be nearby, and even if they tried flying away on their mech, Iori could follow them using her portals.

She'll step in should they get in over their heads, but for now, all Iori needs to do is watch.