Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Okinoka
Kanami relaxed slightly as many of the guards seemed to stop fighting altogether. While she was contemplating what to do next, however, some kind of shadowy miasma was summoned. At least faintly able to hear "Yugi's" words from where she was standing, she quickly put two and two together. That said, her gaze flickered to Chara in surprise and concern as he slumped and dropped his weapon in clear reaction to the dark, cloud-like substance.
Connecting the dots, she quickly decided on a course of action. She briefly crouched down to Chara's level and waved a hand in his face to try to get his attention.
"Hey, kiddo!" she chirped with a sunny smile. "I'm gonna make that dark foggy stuff go away right quick, so don'tcha worry, okay?"
"You two keep an eye on him, alright?" she requested of Lara and Emporio, standing once more and reaching out to ruffle the latter's hair through his baseball cap. "I'll be back before ya know it!"
And with a mighty leap and a shout of "Toh!" Kanami was off, bounding through the air to the top of the palanquin, where she landed smoothly, just as Agahnim was finishing his beseeching of the Prince and his father.
"Hi there, everyone!" she greeted those gathered cheerily, then laid her hands at her sides and made a deep, proper bow to the royalty present. "I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Ten'nou Heika and Koutaishi Denka* . I am Minagawa Kanami, a traveling martial artist. I believe Your Lordship's confusion would be alleviated by looking over there, where the true Uriko-chan awaits you, protected by my allies, as opposed to this imposter." She punctuated her statement by rising from her bow and pointing back at the safe and secure young bride between Coppelia and Flame Swordsman, then indicated the "Uriko" atop the palanquin.
"That said, what game we playin'?" she added to Yugi with a grin. "Is this Twenty Questions, or somethin' else? 'Cause I got one for the fake bride, here:" She paused, then pointed accusingly at the false Uriko.
"What is your real name?!"
Edited by darksidevoid on Feb 15th 2024 at 5:17:13 AM
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
AKA Nixer
Lara Croft: Parade Front
Ugh. There was the hero type again, rushing up. Lara felt bitter at first, giving Emporio a cold stare, before it slowly began to fade as her irritation dwindled. She let out an exasperated sigh, rolled her eyes, and allowed her feelings to just wash through her as she realised that being annoyed wasn't going to be helpful. As much as Emporio had annoyed her earlier, she could tell he was just an overenthusiastic but good-hearted sort. Which, while frustrating to deal with, wasn't anything necessarily wrong or worth disdain.
"Quite. A little late for that, but at least you're aspiring," was her singular quip at his expense, before she let it go and gave a single nod to Kanami in acknowledgement of her request to look after the kid. She shifted her attention back to Chara, having no real interest in the Amanojaku problem since it was being dealt with anyhow.
"Take some deep breaths, alright? Focus on sensation. Not what frightens you," she calmly said to him, though her gaze was piercing and intense as she stared into his eyes. "If you allow something to frighten you, you can't resist it. Make something else more important. The ground under your feet, or the knife in your hand. Or my voice. You are stronger than your own mind."
See you-
"Am I perfectly clear?" she added with some emphasis, interrupting her own thoughts with the sharpness of her voice. "It's only smoke. It's all it ever will be."
Edited by Enirboreh on Feb 20th 2024 at 12:59:28 PM
bork
Okinoka
It took some time, but eventually Lara and Emporio would be able to see the boy coming back to them, his eyes shifting focus to Lara. Almost immediately after, he would avert his gaze and pointedly not look at either Lara or Emporio, but it was easy enough to see how Chara felt. Given they'd seen him withdraw into himself like that, the embarrassment and mortification on his face was palpable.
"If I hear either of you breath a word of this to anyone..."
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Fool From The Depths
Emporio, Okinoka Parade
Emporio breathed a small sigh of relief at the fact that Chara seemed to be coming back to clarity, nodding when the boy expressed his desire for them not to tell anyone of what happened to him."Don't worry. We won't say anything." he said sincerely. He felt a great deal of empathy for the kid, especially because he'd been through a lot of traumatic experiences himself recently, and wasn't going to go snitching to anyone unless Chara gave the OK.
Something's Fishy Here...
The Gayest Bowser
Superwoman - Reminder
When the chaos had began, Donna wasted no time in defending herself, casually punching and swatting at any guard or plant-monster that approached her. (Not that they'd reach, given she was hovering in the air) She even violently tossed one through the wall of a building. It was nice to FINALLY have let off some steam after all that time holding back and playing babysitter!
Then she heard it. The voice. It was a voice that sounded a lot like hers, but...different. As if she were hearing herself from the other side of a phone call.
Why help these random people? The creature could offer her a lot. Money, power...a way home, even. Bellona knows the Syndicate would collapse without her.
And the voice was accurate. 1000% percent. You know what else it was? Not her talking. It invaded her thoughts, appealed to her. But it wasn't her. And only she decided her fate. Deja vu struck within her mind; fleeting back to the Starro Invasion the Crime Syndicate thwarted on that fateful day. The creature tried to emotionally puppeteer her; a sob-story about foes it was running from. A foe that mind-control was the apparent counter-measure for.
The other fell. But not her. Donna was the veteran of countless wars! She'd clashed with gods and won handily! She was Superwoman...and all these empty promises did was remind her of that. She would attain her own power, her own wealth. She would rip the skies of this world clean in half and force it to take her back. Not that she had to, some sort of outside force had cleared the air already.
As soon as she snapped back to her senses, she saw the child with the knife heading right for the carriage, the brief eruption of a massive inferno and...said knife-kid going catatonic.
Donna recognized the stare. The Thousand-Yard Stare. Typically associated with trauma...or soul-evacuation. Many, many of the bleeding-heart types went to help before she could respond herself. Her guess was the darkness surrounding them. The Amanojaku didn't seem to the the one causing it. Donna's mind went a few places - the weirdo in the cape, the robot, even one of Crazy Dave's contraptions...But she was more interested in the creature than the fog itself. That thing tried to invade her mind. Only one fate was in-store for it now.
The mercenary-looking woman with the guns was the only one that seemed to understand the idea of 'kill or be killed.' Her kinda woman. The spiked-hair koosh-ball man meanwhile was doing his damndest to challenge it to a 'game.' His confidence; it had to've been him performing this shadow show.
"Games, huh?" She says, loudly cracking her knuckles as she hovered nearby. "How about 'Spot the Vital Organ?'" Donna says partly-joking and partly in-anticipation. There was venom to her words; her anger was obvious. "I do so love that one. If she's the real princess, she'll know where everything is. And if she's not...she'll learn."
Edited by klom99 on Feb 24th 2024 at 7:58:23 AM
"Doctor, I did say look for the Spymaster. Or should I say Spy....Master?"
Druid Dude
Cú Chulainn, Okinoka
As much as the Hound of Chulainn was quick on his feet and adaptable to any situation, the flying golem was a new one. He kept his balance well enough at first, but eventually with a growl he was forced to use his spear as a balancing tool. It seemed the others were much more used to this situation, and leaped into action almost immediately. Must be the luck of a Lancer at work.
At the bottom, Kanami called out the Faker, which made Cú sigh. And then chaos erupted, battle with the Snap Dragons and the guards, to Hiroto blocking Durge's fireball. Cú was busy, however, fighting against the guards, non lethally of course, at least until they stopped, and then Yugi threw down the metaphorical quiz gauntlet.
There was a lot to unpack, but he did get the gist of what was happening. However, there was also the almost-overwhelming sense of dark magic that permeated the streets. Totally normal parade.
You piss off the Venom T-Rex. Roll initiative.
"That sounds fun!" said a dopey voice next to Superwoman. There was a sudden weight on her shoulder, and she quickly discovered that a pheasant had just landed on her- a talking pheasant no less. "Lemme try! Uh...I see an eye...um...another eye, and, uh...does skin count?"
"Shima Moyō!" a commanding voice came up from what turned out to be a talking shiba inu. "Leave that poor woman alone!"
Momotaro called out to him. "C'mon over here, you don't know where she's been." The pheasant promptly fluttered onto his waiting arm like an obedient falcon. "Sorry about that, ma'am. Moyō can be a little over-familiar."
As the young hero spoke to her, Superwoman was struck with a sudden sense of deja vu. That build, that hair, that armour in red-and-blue...the attitude was all wrong, not to mention the ethnicity, but for a moment, Donna could have sworn she was looking at a young Ultraman
In the alleyway, the terrified official fell back, swatting helplessly at the Snap Dragon before him. Sadly, with the rest of the heroes preoccupied, this would prove to be the end of the robed official. The last thing he ever saw was the beasts jaws closing in around his head...
"I'll admit no such thing!" spat the fake princess. "But that doesn't mean I have to play some stupid game either! This is absurd! My prince, you... Prince?" But the prince and the Lord were already being ushered away by Agahnim.
The Lord glared suspiciously at Agahnim, even as he was ushered away. "Your intentions had best be purer than your appearance, sorcerer," he said, "I'll brook no more trickery today."
The Prince, for his part, hesitated a moment to look plaintively at the fake bride.
The Prince blanched at this, but before he could say anything more, Kanami made her boisterous presence felt.
The Lord smiled at this and politely dipped his head at Kanami. "Arigatou gozaimasu. It's refreshing to see at least one strange visitor is so courteous. By all means, lead us to safe grounds, Kanami-san." The Lord followed after her and Agahnim, and after briefly looked at the front of the parade, the Prince joined them all.
"GET BACK HERE, Y-" screamed the faker, before remembering herself. "S-sweetie? You won't leave me here, woul-"
The faker sneered at this. "What kind of question is that? I'm here to get married to a handsome prince, of course!"
That answer, at least, was true. But now came Kanami's question.
The faker scoffed haughtily. "I'm Uriko-Hime, the loveliest girl in the land, of course!"
And there it was- strike one.
Edited by LizardOfAus on Feb 28th 2024 at 10:56:10 AM
Anger flooded further as some strange machinery blocked your attempt at slaughter. You did not knew why, but this thing reminded you of something...familiar. It was all a blur, and yet you think you remember someone dear to you delved into creating such inventions.
Over time though, the Urge to murder seemed to slowly lose its foul grip upon you, as you went from seeing red to seeing the reality of your situation.
You couldnt care less for the machine, or the stranger that interrupted you and the invention. You knees gave out, falling on your knees as you began to puke out what was stored in your stomach as your body and mind was writhing due to this invasive other self, and disgust at yourself.
You couldnt care less about the impostor, or the interrogation. You just cared about how easy it was for you to fall like this. You swore to not let this desire to spill blood consume you, and you fell for it like a lamb to the slaughter. Perhaps a murderer is all you can ever be, if you cant even hold yourself back.
Edited by Darkomega245 on Feb 28th 2024 at 2:56:29 AM
Diana Burnwood
Parade Front
"I understand your misgivings, my Lords. Your wariness is natural. If you look at my allies, you will see that our appearances are quite... peculiar, for some. But the woman is correct. The true bride waits by this strange machine." Agahnim calmly answered. He wasn't very happy with Kanami being around to disrupt his hold, but he could do little about it. Both men were already listening to him anyway. To show his "good" will, the dark priest raised his palm and summoned a blue flame that started to hover in front of the group, providing some light in the middle of the fog.
As he led the march, Agahnim glanced at Durge, obviously attracted by the... episode he was having.
Well, that was just pathetic, he thought. The disgust on the dragonkin's face was in clear contrast to the sheer joy of slaughtering that was enlightening his visage before throwing his fireball. Agahnim did not show it, but in truth, he felt disgusted by such weakness.
It was as if there was... another person in front of him? Or another personality? He wasn't sure.
Agahnim was disappointed. But perhaps it was for the best that those murderous impulses were gone, now that the pretender was cornered and trapped in this "game" of shadows.
At least the cloaked priest was starting to understand that those murderous urges came and go like waves in the sea. If his theory was correct, he just needed someone to control his urges and think in his stead. And who better than his alter-ego, the great Ganon himself?
The red-cloaked man walked over to Durge, to help him back up.
"You do not look well, sir. You should come with us." Agahnim said, his hand glowing as he hovered it above Durge's head, using some magic to help him feel better.
Meanwhile, the Snap Dragon back in the alleyway left once its gruesome work was complete, leaving a fresh bloody corpse behind. Whether it would escape into the wild or be intercepted and killed by a guard was no matter to his master at this point. Ganon would study the current situation through his alter-ego's eyes.
"One last tango, 47."
The Light That Blinds
Magolor (Okinawa)
...
Magolor has to admit, that was a good answer. It was technically true, which was one of the best kinds of true.
Luckily, he had other ideas.
"Okay, fair, fair...how about this—" His eyes narrowed. "What are you going to do once you've married the prince?"
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Parade Rear (The Pharaoh)
The dark fog seems to thicken around the young man and the false princess the instant she gives her first answer.
“…So you say, but your actions speak otherwise. The shadows recognize your acceptance of my challenge. The game has begun.”
Upon the amanojaku’s false answer, her penalty takes effect. The distinctive sound of a tolling bell booms across the parade route as a spectral image appears beneath the faker’s feet.
A…wooden platform, floating in the air with an arbitrary set of steps leading up to it.
“As to your questions, as I am also bound to answer…I am here to help. And my name…”
He chuckles, sounding nothing like the innocent boy half of the group had met earlier.
“…I can honestly say I can’t remember. However, my friends refer to me…as ‘Yami.’”
Joey looks surprised at this answer.
“…Aight, guess dat cat’s outta da bag. You get dat creep, Yuge! Uh, Pharaoh! Jeez, still confusin’.”
Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Feb 28th 2024 at 7:42:16 AM
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Okinoka Parade
Now that he'd managed to get his wits about him once more, Chara's attention turned towards what many others were looking at, Joey among them. Seeing the other person as the probable source of the shadows, his gaze hardened as it fixated on 'Yami'.
"Who is that?" He asked, hoping that someone would know the answer, with him looking towards Lara in hopes that she might be able to tell him.
Edited by Bored_Man on Feb 29th 2024 at 9:20:47 AM
Proud member of the AGOG community.
AKA Nixer
Lara Croft: Parade Front
"I believe he mentioned his name was 'Yugi' before, although he's acting differently than he had been when I met him earlier," Lara answered Chara, frowning towards the parade float where it was all going on as she mused over the kid's change in demeanour. "I suspect there's something unaccounted for, but it seems to me that beyond his change in behaviour, he has his hands on some type of artefact. A versatile one, at that. I'm willing to presume that it's the reason behind this ominous fog..."
She looked down at Chara, giving him a terse smile as some vague gesture of reassurance.
"Hopefully once it's all said and done, we can give the Amanojaku a piece of our minds. It's very fortunate that I had information on it, purely by happenstance. I'd been looking into a certain artefact somewhere in Japan before, and I ended up researching yōkai out of curiosity. If I'd thought to delete that research off of my device, well... we might not have had nearly as much context for what this creature is. Allowing for mythological discrepancies, of course..."
Her expression turned more contemplative, as she crossed her arms and looked at Chara in a curious manner.
"If I may ask, where are you from? What sort of world did you inhabit? Since, unless this pseudo-medieval world has happened to industrialise textiles somewhere, your clothes are remarkably... out-of-place. Unless I'm jumping to conclusions."
Edited by Enirboreh on Feb 29th 2024 at 3:19:33 PM
bork
Fool From The Depths
Emporio, Okinoka Parade
Emporio couldn't help but quiver in anticipation as he watched the questioning of the false Princess unfold. Though he knew there was a good chance she'd be revealed for what she was, he couldn't help but feel nervous. But if anything went wrong, he had the storm he'd summoned above to put things right. Weather Report was a really useful Stand, he had to admit. He just wished he hadn't had to get it from-His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Chara and Lara beginning to speak again, and he found himself rather impressed by the woman's knowledge. Though he still didn't respect her for gunning down those guards with wild abandon, he also hadn't encountered anyone who'd done this much on research on something in a long time. Then, Lara asked a question about Chara's origins, and Emporio, remembering the kid's thousand-yard stare, quickly butted in.
"M-maybe we shouldn't ask about that? I-it's kind of a personal question, and he seems stressed out enough already as it is..."
Edited by SushiKraken6414 on Feb 29th 2024 at 7:45:17 AM
Something's Fishy Here...
Parade Front
"...How am I supposed to answer a question like that?" Chara replied after Lara inquired about his world of origin. While Emporio was right in that he didn't particularly want to talk about it, he seemed to be stuck as he realized that he didn't feel able to answer the inquiry in the first place.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
AKA Nixer
Lara Croft: Parade Front
"Hmm. Touché," Lara realised, nodding in acknowledgement of Emporio and Chara's point. She uncrossed her arms, taking her backpack and opening it to show Chara and Emporio her PDA. A small, flat-screened device, she switched on the screen and showed them her research files that were arranged in an alphabetical order.
"If you recognise what this device is, or you can draw some type of comparison to it from your own worlds, then that'll give me an idea of what kinds of technology you're familiar with," she said, before gesturing to the pistols strapped at her hips. "The other obvious point of comparison are my firearms. If you recognise a handgun of that style and modernity, then our respective worlds may be close in comparison: at least in regards to technology."
bork
Parade Front
The handguns went without comment, though Chara could have sworn they saw something like it once. The PDA was closer to what he was familiar with, though only by proxy.
"Humans didn't have this where I came from." He said after a moment. Given he didn't just say that such a thing didn't exist, there was something he was holding back.
Edited by Bored_Man on Feb 29th 2024 at 11:18:28 AM
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Okinoka, Parade Front
As she formed the rear guard for the absconding Emperor and Prince, Kanami took a moment to quirk a quizzical eyebrow at "Yami". Now that was an interesting name! If he didn't know his real name, then he must have chosen it himself or been named by others, but why the name "Darkness"? She hoped it wasn't a case of a grown man being an unironic chuunibyou - and he did sound more like a grown man than a teenager, compared to Yugi.
The shadowy magic forming a platform beneath the imposter also piqued the <Monk>'s interest, and she let out of soft "Ooooh" sound as, an avid player of so many types of games herself, she instantly realized just what game this was they were playing.
In any case, as she departed the palanquin, Kanami tossed one last question into the mix:
"Exactly how old are you, anyway?"
That done, she hopped on down after the royals and walked through the dark gloom that was made somewhat brighter by Agahnim's hovering flame. At Joey's remark about a "Pharaoh", she shot him a raised eyebrow as well, as if to say, "Those Egyptian guys?" Spotting the fallen Durge an instant later, however, she considered for a moment as the red-robed priest addressed him, then quickly paced over to crouch by his front, careful not to step in the vomit.
"I'm glad that crazy stunt you just tried to pull didn't work, but... obviously, whatever came over you a minute ago didn't agree with you at all!" the woman with the long braid observed with a sympathetic smile, reaching out to rub soothing circles on his back with one hand while she extended the other to give him a hand up. "You gonna be alright, Scaley?"
Edited by darksidevoid on Feb 29th 2024 at 5:59:02 AM
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Parade Front (Joey Wheeler)
“I’ll let Yuge himself explain when his game’s over, but basically dere’s two Yugi’s.”
Joey maintains his position guarding the real Uriko, though he’s at least looking over to where Chara and the others are gathered.
“Dere’s da normal one, my best friend for years, an’ there’s da other one. He shows up when Yuge needs help, it’s kinda…complicated. He don’t remember much, but Yuge calls him ‘Yami’ or ‘Pharaoh.’ Think like a king from a long time ago - a real long time ago.”
Joey smiles at Kanami’s question.
“Yeah, exactly - da Egyptian guys. Pyramids an’ gold an’ all dat stuff. Personally, I skipped history class…hey wait, youse guys okay? Chara, lizard guy, you alright? I got kinda caught up makin’ sure da real princess was safe, nobody else got really hurt right?”
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Parade Front
Hearing Joey's explanation had Chara pause as he took it in, and after he'd processed it, an abrupt chuckle escaped him. It was then followed by more chuckles, though the look on his face made it tough to tell if he actually thought this was funny or if a switch had been flipped in his head.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
The Hope, The Hero
Parade Front - Core Gundam II (Hiroto Kuga)
Hiroto commands his Core Gundam to raise the beam spray gun away from both Durge and Momotaro, understanding that this guy must be pretty important if he was willing to intervene like that.
"It's complicated, Sir. All I know is that my group is here to stop the wedding. I'm not sure about how he's involved, but this was just to prevent any undue damage."
Of course, Durge would use that time to throw up, causing Hiroto to wince inside the cockpit. He can't help but sympathise with the dragonkin on some level, despite the attempted arson. From personal experience, it looked like Durge regretted doing that in the first place.
Which brings to mind the Shadow Game kicking off, and even Hiroto can't help but be distracted by it. "What the...?"
By the time he looks down, Agahnim is already trying to convince Durge to come along in his little group, which included some well-dressed nobles— Hey, wait a second.
"Where are you taking them?" he asks curtly.
Spelunking through a Halo Ring is something else...
The ringing in your ears and the sick feeling on your stomach was slowly fading away, as if someone was casting a healing spell on you. As your eyes turn from the floor to your surroundings once more, a robed man seemed to be the source of what was helping the sudden ailment that flooded your body, along with a woman that helped you back your feet and asked if you were okay, and the artificer construct seemed to have stopped aiming its weaponry at you.
"My body will be okay. It's my mind i'm...more concerned about." You tried your best to be subtle about what grows within, but considering what you just did a few minutes ago, and the doubtful expresssion in your face, you aren't completely sure you could be able to keep this hidden for long. "Still. I thank you all for your concerns. " You gave a unsure smile towards the woman, the robed man and the young man who looked out for your health as you were lifted up from the ground.
...But will they still see you with the same concern and friendliness if they know just how damaged your rotten brain is?
Edited by Darkomega245 on Mar 7th 2024 at 10:42:21 AM
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Okinoka, Parade Front
"Whoa! It's like you read my mind, Brooklyn!" Kanami marveled at Joey intuiting her question. "Yeah, as far as I can tell, nobody got hurt aside from the people who went charging at us out-of-towners."
When Hiroto interrupted with suspicion in his voice, the <Monk> waved cheerily at the Gundam and called up to him:
"No worries, Hiroto-kun! I won't let anything weird go down! We're just taking these two over to the real Uriko-hime!"
"Ahhhh, it's that kind of thing," the woman with sky-blue eyes nodded sagely in acceptance and understanding a few moments later, smiling kindly at Durge saying he was concerned about the state of his mind over his body. "Well, I don't know yet whether there's anything in this world that can solve that sort of problem, but I'll do what I can to help you, okay? Let's look for an answer together!"
Once the scaled man was on his feet again and a little steadier, Kanami released her light grip on his body and offered him a hand again, this time for a handshake. "My name's Kanami Minagawa - at least, I'm guessing given-name-then-surname is the order you're more familiar with! Nice to meet you, Scaley! What's your name?"
Edited by darksidevoid on Mar 12th 2024 at 4:04:02 AM
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Parade Front (Joey Wheeler)
“Is dere, uh…somethin’ funny I missed, pal?”
Joey nervously raises an eyebrow at Chara.
“Kid’s kinda freakin’ me out ovah here.”
To Kanami’s claim of Joey’s apparent mind-reading, Joey simply smiles and taps his temple with his index finger…resulting in the Brooklyn duelist accidentally bonking himself in the head with the edge of his own Duel Disk.
BANG
“Yeow! Jeez, dat smarts!”
Parade Rear (The Pharaoh)
In response to Kanami’s question, the young man smiles and closes his eyes.
“…The body you’re looking at is 16. The person answering this question…is over five thousand years old.”
No response from the shadows - “The Pharaoh” does not seem to be lying.
Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Mar 12th 2024 at 4:33:00 AM
This post is sponsored by Amalgam Comics.
Okinoka Parade
At first, neither Lara nor Emporio would notice a response from the boy. Then, slowly, Chara's fingers gripped the handle of the knife that Lara had returned to him. Though his eyes remained the same, the two of them could see his mouth moving.
"Not again...I can't..."
Proud member of the AGOG community.