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Post by Warrior on May 6, 2021 15:41:12 GMT -8
#s://i.imgur.com/8w4a7DV.png " ... "
Feint remained silent as the others made their proposals. An immediate decision wasn't at least required until those questions were met, but she was here as Burai's chaperone this whole time and still had questions for Xion concerning the Dark Colony, so if splitting up was the outcome she was more caught up considering which one she would need to follow before ultimately returning to NIA to debrief all of this.
As for Rosso and Immortalis themselves, she didn't know anything about them or their antics other than what Immortalis had said earlier that left her feeling rather uncomfortable. She at least knew they weren't from Burai's timeline, given everything that had happened thus far, meaning they'd be her own world's problem to deal with later if they went on unchecked, but downing the Murian Goddess of creation had to have set them back a little -- at least in her mind, uneducated as it was on this matter.
Whether they were Wave Beings or anomalies like Xion was beyond her knowledge at the moment. Given that Warrior had shown up earlier during this venture -- pulsed into the Cyber World, no doubt -- it was fairly likely they could even be full-fledged Navis, which even Xion categorized as far as she cared to know. And it was pride alone that convinced her they weren't humans.
At any rate, she waited for their response before giving her own. She didn't hold the decisive position this time as her personal goals were likely to get split depending on the outcome, so she'd just have to adapt to how things turned out instead.
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Post by Zane on May 6, 2021 16:18:13 GMT -8
It was a sound play to use the knowledge of their time together to attempt to get what he desired. While there was no expression on the being, it was almost as though... a smile? Was he smiling then? They would notice the head turn, as though it hadn't been facing them then. Where exactly was it looking and what had caused the change in demeanor? It would afford them an answer all the same, as they would find themselves in good fortune this time.
"I know all about the angle you're playing with here. ...But you're right. I am all things up to and including magnanimous, so I'll acquiesce to your plight and allow you to attune to that divine power. I'll even kindly offer you some advice. You failed in your time to obtain that metal for a number of reasons, like being incapable of prying it from its now current owner in your time for example..."
"But also because he willed it to another that was in that space. Should he find it an amusing alternative, the same will happen again if you aren't alone up there. Or you can simply try killing the one who obtains it this time, which has to have crossed your mind once or twice assuming even you know your own folly to attempt to challenge Sirius on your... 'lonesome'."
It would make it simple why Burai was keen to know what Feint and now Xion were capable of or it could merely be an attempt to rile them up. In the event things played out exactly the same, he would have to obtain it from them by force if he wasn't lying to their faces. He failed to have that force against whoever else the other two here didn't know about, but he was likely more confident in accomplishing that against these here than against his eternal rival. Of course if he did that, that was also no skin off their back. All things danced in the palm of his hands no matter what their whims were, and this was no different to him. For the other bit of advice he could offer to him, Feint had already implied as much. But no doubt the mentality of the last tribe wouldn't allow him to fully grasp that which he could not see and Xion at the very least was well aware they were reaching the point where chaos would thrive best.
"This next advice will serve to answer you, Xion. Should success be found against Sirius, you must either be prepared to do battle again immediately or allow Xion here to utilize his ability. With Sirius out of the way it will be task made possible for him to make certain that the Founding Father of Navis won't obtain a new weapon to finally finish his crusade. You likely would want to save it for another occasion, but you can't risk that, can you, Xion?"
He was lenient for Burai's case here and not explaining exactly what that weapon was. There was already cause enough for strife between them to erupt at a given moment, he didn't need to add any fuel to that fire. What he wanted from the Navi and the Human was different than what he wanted from the Murian, but he supposed if they managed to pull this feat off they would at the very least be at the starting line. Whether or not they could accomplish anything from that position would be determined from there, but he wanted to at least give them the benefit of the doubt. It would have been just as beneficial to not make them aware that the other onlooker was very keen on showing himself on the stage when the time was ripe, but they deserved a bit of fair sport after it happened the last time. While neither Xion or Feint were around for that battle, they would have enough of their efforts being foiled in their future all the same. May as well let them have the freedom to not have it happen at least once of their own volition. And Feint still had taken a loss from that battle in the past even if others brushed it off as nothing all too different from the usual, Rosso remaining silent throughout the exchange.
"After all of that, this will become entertaining indeed. Very much so..."
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Post by Genesis on May 7, 2021 7:34:47 GMT -8
*He would honestly have said 'arrogant' rather than 'magnanimous', but different strokes for different folks. They could use that just as well as any other reason for him to just comply rather than resist their attempts here. What caused the turn in mood? What was he aware of that they weren't? The answer to that still eluded him to how much awareness they possessed entirely, but they clearly were never operating on the same playing field as them to begin with. He just had no grasp of how close they were to reaching a level field with them. Meanwhile it sounded like for Burai to obtain this metal he wanted he had found a snag or two originally and must have had another plan of approach to obtain it this time. He at least knew him not to be someone to make the same mistake twice. This wasn't the same mistake twice so much as he very much stumbled into situations that were not like what he found in his own home, like this problem here. It would hurt the pride to admit that something required assistance to be done, but it would just be foolish to stubbornly do otherwise in the face of a task that was actually impossible on one's own. His eyes narrowed in an obvious grimace the moment he heard 'Founding Father of Navis' come up. Seeing as the human was dead and either properly pushing up daisies or in some kind of brain tank to preserve him like people were fond of occasionally doing in fiction, that left the breathing one that had a centuries long crusade ongoing.*
"Tsk!"
*So not only did Burai call someone he couldn't defeat on his own, but then informed absolutely no one who were going to have to deal with it about it? What kind of 'need to know' standard was he running on? On top of that he had their most annoying individual eyeballing him to weed out whether there was anything of value, which eventually he'd surmise as yes, gauge the level of effort he felt like using on a given day, and then if it exceeded a threshold that left him vulnerable just be a vulture if someone else smoked him. He would ask how Feint missed all of this but she wasn't exactly the most talkative person even if when she did speak she had plenty to say assuming you left yourself to the following barbs that came with it. While he was confident he could at least use this ability right so long as he picked the right target that wasn't the problem and more the issue of ousting the current owner, of which given he could casually fire those levels of attacks from however far away while absolutely not paying attention, meant their work was far from cut out from them. Ordinarily he wouldn't be able to even feel the attempt of a migraine coming. Unfortunately he was gifted that pleasure from their new overseers here and placed a hand to his head with a heavy sigh in an attempt to regain his composure.*
*He also failed to succeed at doing that.*
"Alright I'm going to just drop the benefit of the doubt here for a while and just state this exactly how it is: You have absolutely no idea how hard you dropped the ball here, do you? This slam dunk is actually on par with the lunacy that was the Eternal Endgame, and I wasn't even there to know that they failed spectacularly if not due to a few not very friendly yet resourceful folk. Was your actual plan to just dump the guy on us and then tell us to think fast? Why even do that when this Sirius clearly was absolutely uninterested in you until you gave him the notion to care? I'm inclined to believe that is the case, because it's not like our strategy meetings have been that intensive despite you knowing every single God we walked into here and gave us a summary as it was in our face."
*For one sure, they were used to basically having to fight like this to begin with. It was why he could make decisions as quickly as he did with the little information afforded to him at any given time. This would change depending on the scale of danger involved. Once the scale reaches the threshold of "I know I can't do it myself" rather than "This is a 50/50 match-up", the line was crossed and the scale was unbalanced. He would normally even say they could talk elsewhere about this but at this point 'where' they discussed this very likely did not matter, so right here would work just fine.*
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Post by Warrior on May 7, 2021 9:03:36 GMT -8
#s://i.imgur.com/8w4a7DV.png They spoke in a bit too many riddles for Feint's more straight-forward thinking to keep up with. It probably made sense in context, but more or less everything had just been mumbo-jumbo since she started this whole episode, though with enough of it being pieced together along the way that she could retroactively figure it out as she went on.
Re-summarizing it quickly in her head, then:
Burai was from an alternate timeline when Net technology declined as the discovery of Wave technology developed rapidly instead. Wave technoloy was originally mastered by the Murians, an ancient civilization Burai belonged to, but it was lost to time after they destroyed themselves. If those three layers of foot notes were correct, then the rest was just expanding on each of the pronouns involved.
Murians split into multiple tribes, each represented by the Artifacts that Burai had collected. Wave matter could interface with both the real and digital worlds, which fully justified it replacing the Net technology in his timeline considering it'd feel obsolete in the era it was discovered in, having lacked the modern approach.
And last of all was Le Mu, the alleged "Great One" or "Goddess of Creation" as Feint had come to understand her to be, notwithstanding the creator of the Tribal Guardians and the eighteen or so deities that she had the pleasure of meeting just recently.
" ... "
So that concluded her understanding of Burai's universe, her own silence serving as a break in the mental notes that she continued to go through as she moved onto the more recent points.
Immortalis had been experimenting with the guardians, deities, and even Great One herself that belonged to this timeline, clearly responsible for destroying and recreating them any number of times for whatever purposes he had. How long he had been doing it for was uncertain, but Navis could live indefinitely so their split in timelines could have been at the discovery of Wave technology, one could argue. Naturally, he'd have needed assistance from a human somewhere along the way to interfere with the real world's half of the job, unless of course he was a wave being himself.
Rosso existed.
And Xion had a grudge against Rosso, not including the details she already knew about him surrounding the Dark Colony and all.
The more recent discussion went from alluding to an encounter with Rosso or Immortalis, to suddenly being about the Sirius fellow instead. She was at least able to deduce that this was the individual Burai had originally told Grom that he had come here to defeat, though Xion's version sounded a bit less graceful. The mentioning of the Eternal Endgame and the further alluding to Forte would have started hitting her a little close to home if she was allowed to think more on it, having lost her brother during that ordeal and to that very Navi, but the complexity of the topic was at least a boon in that regard.
As for Sirius, from the last thirty seconds she deduced that Burai lost a fight with him in his timeline, or perhaps won but failed to acquire what he wanted from him, so came to this timeline instead for what was effectively a rematch. He mentioned wanting to fight him alone anyway, but Immortalis now implied that even beating Sirius would spell defeat for quite a number of reasons -- be it for involving an ally who would instead retrieve Burai's sought after prize again, a new foe appearing to steal it or outright finish them off, or any of the worse outcomes being prevented by some ability in Xion's mysterious arsenal but that apparently was just a one-and-done type of tool. Other than that, she just wrote Sirius off as a bit obnoxious for the fact that he chose to chase them through several dimensions just to interfere with their fight with Le Mu.
And that was quite literally all she had the tolerance to keep track of whether it was accurate or not.
" I'm not gonna pretend to know what the hell's going on. If you made a mess: clean it up. If you need help: ask for it. There's really not much else to consider, otherwise. "
And if he didn't: stick to the plan. At this point, the situation was so far beyond her that she was more or less just letting it play out so she could make sense of it another time. 'Act first, think later' was her default setting during uncertainty, and while it obviously wasn't the best approach, it was at least proactive when it needed to be.
But to be fair, that very mindset could have been what brought them to this predicament in the first place.
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Post by Gaia on May 10, 2021 6:00:09 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/340189121500938240/728347473344725113/113~png
As soon as Burai heard Immortalis' permission, Laplace disappeared from his hand and began whirling around what remained of Le Mu's form. Unfortunate as it was, Laplace was able to absorb even her power - so long as it was subdued. The coruscating energy flowed from her in a rainbow of power into the blade as it stormed around her. This would take a while, which unfortunately gave him plenty of time to hear what came next.
Immortalis' awareness was farther than just this one reality, as well, then. That opened up the possibilities even farther, and put him in a tier, based on everything else had seen, closer to Sirius than anyone else he had ever met was. If that were the case, there would be no confrontation, here. Immortalis would exact what he would view as his right and destroy it all.
He'd need much more from Sirius than just his metal to stand up to him, in that case. Why did it always seem that more was necessary to combat such abominations? He grimaced in that reality, as Immortalis' words that followed sought to sow discord. He was unveling Burai's previous failures, and all the little pieces of his plan that had relied on this world being much better protected. Having seen only two digital cities, and traveled to remote expanses in the real world, he'd only had brief guesses at what the defenders of this world would be. He had just assumed they would be up to the task.
The way Immortalis was phrasing his advice made him realize that he was very mistaken. If Sirius were slain by anyone's hands but his, he wouldn't obtain his metal, and Sirius, even while dying, had the control to send his metal to his rival, even then.
The danger of the being that Feint had warned him about came up, as well, he who could steal abilities. Xion apparently had an ace up his sleeve, but the farther this conversation went on, the more it appeared that Burai was being painted as the one with the tactical fumble, here. In his assumptions, it may have been true.
Xion's piece came, next. Burai stayed silent, watching Laplace whirl around what remained of the great being, as Xion unloaded what he was thinking. In his many years listening to other rants, he had at least learned to keep his countenance. His blood was boiling, even now, but it was easier to keep his power under wraps. He still had the power of the three tribes adorning him, but had banished the crimson glow to let that beast slumber.
Feint's comments were simple, and to the point, but the notion of help still exhasperated him.
". . . Hmph. Finally finished, now, are you? If you want to know so badly, yes, I did miscalculate." He turned and looked Xion square in the eyes, the way his own stare seemed to drain the heat from the air even now afflicting him. "I didn't account for this level of interference. I had expected your world to still be largely disconnected from the Wave World. Even as I brought Feint along, and learned that the Wave World had been interacted with, I expected the problem to be easy enough to solve. With time as my enemy, I told you what you needed to know as it was reached, because I wasn't entirely sure what we would be up against.
"One crisis at a time. Makes it easier to deal with. Dropping everything I feared was coming onto you at once - I had no way of knowing how you'd respond. I had warned Feint, and the unit she worked with, of what I was doing, and warned them that the being I was summoning would be formidable, but nothing I wouldn't be able to handle. That much was true - I still didn't expect that the world would be so crippled." He turned his attention back to Immortalis, this one who seemed to be pulling all of the strings. "His interference was outside of my range of vision. If what I'm picking up on is true, my guess is that this world's most powerful defenders - and even its attempted destroyers - are either occupied, otherwise dealt with, or unwilling to step forward."
He stayed silent for a little while longer, looking about the throne room, and collected his thoughts for a second longer ". . . I did get Sirius' attention, however. I needed him to come so that I could defeat him and acquire the last piece of my puzzle. With Le Mu's power, I should be able to call the Metal from him directly; he won't get a say in where it goes. This was never a question of causing unnecessary casualties.
"You are right, though. You deserve to know what is coming.
.
.
.
"Sirius is the ultimate power within this universe - from this reality, truly. He is a being with interdimensional awareness, capable of scoping out the reaches of the universe you know, alternate timelines backwards and forwards, and even other dimensions. He spends much of his time slumbering, out of boredom and disinterest. When he feels a flow of power that intrigues him, he awakens, and traverses the cosmos to search for it.
"His vehicle is of his own creation - the Black Hole Server. He uses it to collect the portions of the universe he finds intriguing. Lives, planets, stars, other black holes . . . he views all of them as toys for him to collect and play with.
"In my reality, it took the efforts of four powerful entities to launch a defensive measure that could hold him at bay, and even then, it wasn't enough. While he was focused on devouring a planet, and blasting through a force field with the strength of four of what we had presumed to be the height of power in our world powering it, my rival infiltrated his Black Hole and fought him . . . all while he was also holding back to avoid breaking him.
"He can't be contended with alone. If he can focus his attention, and bring himself to care, a one-on-one confrontation is guaranteed failure. I didn't expect the world to be in shambles.
"I'm not apologizing. The plan is as it always was - when Sirius arrives, he gets confronted, and he is defeated. The how is just a little bit different. Working alongside you is not normally my preference, but, as it has been since Feint has come with me, working alongside one another will make this easier. We need the power of five beings deemed the most powerful of your world - in five separate bodies, to divert his attention."
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Post by Zane on May 10, 2021 7:27:01 GMT -8
If there was face to be seen on Immortalis, he surely would be smirking at this given moment. This was one of the kinds of people he loved so much that he found on this world. Those who were so woefully unaware of what they were up against while believing that without a doubt they had the answer or would possess the answer to their predicament. They were the most useful ones this world had to offer solely based on their own ego and it amused him greatly when that all came crashing down. But before he would rain on their parade, or 'their' parade wasn't an accurate statement. Only one of them had one at the moment, the other was trying to crash it, and the last was just out of her depth. He did have a message to deliver rather than advice to give them.
"Look on the bright side, you have time to mull over all these things. Sirius has a message for you. 'Your display wasn't interesting enough'."
After what all had been said it was obvious enough what that message meant. Some might even count their blessings that it meant Burai couldn't hold his attention with his display. Others might find it insulting that he failed to do so. There were any number of ways to think and react here, but he did love just how awry the various plans had gone for the sake of this puzzle. The ripple effect would be quite profound all said, which would have turned his smirk to a sneer.
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Post by Genesis on May 10, 2021 7:40:38 GMT -8
*Even with the power of the tribes still adorning him and his gaze absorbing the heat from the air, Xion wasn't at all cowed from his position. He didn't resist the cold air between them as it was all too fitting with the fact that this way of thinking was exactly how Burai here found himself Solo in due time. It was understandable to assume that the Wave World wasn't interfered with since they stepped away from it, but it wouldn't mean everyone would ignore it. No, it meant that the more annoying sort would do so instead. Even in his world, the same woman who looked up this knowledge had still done so here. It would be the small few who would look for it and keep it to themselves, just as Immortalis here had. And he was unaware of them doing so by nature of their being more than them being as discreet as the likely others who made their own findings regarding the Waves. He would wait until Burai had finished collecting his thoughts and then further explaining how this was far from the most thought out idea of his before he would interject, the orbs that were his eyes fading to show the sign he had closed his eyes. This was a lot worse than he was hoping it was going to be.*
"If I wasn't painfully aware at how inept people are at dealing with more than one crisis at a time I would argue that point, but I've lived long enough to see enough of those fumbled that I'll give you that one. No reason to assume Feint would be good at holding all of that water."
*He hadn't got involved until they had made it this far so that was largely her serving to hold than his. The blame for not pressuring an answer out of him sooner could fall squarely on the NIA for taking him at his word that he had everything under control. It wasn't a lie so far at the very least as he did make it all the way here without dying, but that was even more concerning in his eyes than not, his eyes opening as his gaze drifted over to Immortalis. If Burai was allowed to make it this far the only possible explanation lied in exactly the same reason he was able to pull at least two of his stunts so far: they wanted him to get this far.*
"Now let me explain to you how you were doing good at first with your thoughts and then became thoughtless somewhere along the way by pointing out what you yourself just stated. Sirius requires five separate beings, correct? As you now have noticed with what you said, they are predisposed. Even if you could count yourself, Feint, and I, that would be three. This is a stretch given it's plausible at least one of us don't even meet the criteria if we consider that surviving powerful beings doesn't equate to possessing power enough to be one."
*It was easy to say that one didn't need to be as powerful as another to claim victory. Power was always a determining factor, but the weight of that power differed from vessel to vessel. It was why not all of them qualified as the beings the NIA were trying to extinguish from the world. Of course that would have ripple effect given they had this guy who rests inside a black hole just waiting to drive by if anything ever got his attention much like their "Dad" did all too often. He was hoping all the interdimensionally aware individuals weren't inside of his actual reality, but as it would be apparent given his home turf, they had one here. Now came dealing with the fact that he was aware of them and if Immortalis wasn't giving them the run-around, at least taking his time due to... finding something more interesting? Actually that would probably mean something much worse but he would decide to tackle this as Burai loved to:*
*One crisis at a time, right?*
"If we count the most powerful beings we have left, as far as I am aware and you will now become aware given the fact that rather than just part of our world being in shambles, it is in fact pretty much all of our world in the span of essentially a day... there's three or four left. Serenade isn't involved in this fight until the fight comes to him, he's a bystander in this as long as he isn't threatened. We can attempt to ask regardless, but that's still only plus one. Forte can't be reasoned with, it's his way or no way at all. Duo hasn't been in touch for years and is essentially just a big rock in the face of a black hole. This leaves the World Three, who will get involved at their leisure as I have no way of contacting them assuming they haven't also come under fire from Immortalis and likewise, as you also mentioned, otherwise dealt with."
*Other beings like that had also been squashed already. Eon wouldn't be a useful tool even if he were together, he was useful but ultimately a detriment to their continued existence as much as the next powerful being was. The Crimson Dragon Joker created was also already taken care of, as well as whatever else was in Gigamerica. Whatever was in Netopia and Electopia was blown out as well as Creamland and Sharo, meaning they were effectively out of powerful beings that would readily step up to the plate. He'd at least give it up for Burai's reality, it had some pretty powerful defenders to stave off the Black Hole Server from just swallowing their planet. But if he took this all at face value, it essentially told them that Burai would have to spit out his obtained power, spread it around, and they'd have greater odds meeting the number that way than not, Xion placing a finger to his temple then as his eyes met Burai's own. Rather than exude a stern flame, they exuded a cold and empty darkness, devoid of the passion he was showing. It was for him to lie up the logic of the pieces that remained.*
"I don't want your apology, I want you to realize where you now stand and as Feint fluently voiced, correct the matter that wasn't thought out to conclusion. I'm aware you had no way to understand this situation was as bad as it was when we don't even know how bad things truly are aside from learning on the fly. We can't always prepare for every contingency whether we be human or not. So let's take a moment to... mull things over, shall we? Do those four powerful beings still exist in our reality? I don't imagine they're from our world. I do however imagine that if you could contact them, you would do so right about now if Sirius was still on his way. Maybe do so anyway to negotiate why they should be bothered to care about a planet they are not as well connected with in this reality as they were in your own. Now let's assume you either can't, won't, or will receive no reply... what's the next step?"
*Even if he was calming down himself now that it was pretty much told they wouldn't have to figure out how to deal with a black hole literally on the fly with a world less than equip to do so, it wouldn't necessarily make his critique less scathing. Because while Burai at least had an answer to keep his metal, his rival also wasn't here to bail him out unless he called him up to. He'd likely be more willing to apologize to him for dropping a black hole on an unsuspecting planet.*
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Post by Gaia on May 11, 2021 7:08:46 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/340189121500938240/728347473344725113/113~png
Burai jerked his attention back to Immortalis as he spoke up. So, they were in communication, then? And something had garnered Sirius' attention that he found more interesting than the power of Meteor Grave?
Even as Xion began talking, Burai began considering his options. If Sirius was interested elsewhere, then a larger display would be necessary to pull him away - something he would deem worth his time, moreso than whatever Immortalis was showing him. Not to mention that this gave him the opportunity to, as Xion and Feint both so eloquently put it, save face and clean up his mess. By Xion's accounts, prospects for outside assistance were all pretty slim.
As Laplace finished absorbing the power of Mu, the blade returned to Burai's hand, the statue now inert. With the power of creation etched into his blade, Burai's power was now somewhere much higher than it was before. He felt her raw divine power surge through his body, and knew that what came next was not something he wanted to do, but that he was willing to do it.
". . . Sirius' miscalculation, then." He turns back to look at Xion. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for my people.
"I'm going to guess that if Sirius is on the move towards us at all, he has either already collected the planets that those guardians hailed from, or they have been otherwise dealt with. Given the scope of this, I wouldn't imagine it would be outside of that one's capabilities." No guess as to who he was talking about, there, with Immortalis still present. "As for him, I wouldn't work with him on this matter unless I had no other choice. Couldn't stand to listen to him open his mouth." Feint has heard him talk about another male figure with this level of vitriol before, and it could be assumed that this was his rival.
"As for other options, though . . . I detected it earlier, back at Element City. I'm fairly certain another Wave Being has been created in your timeline, but no one that would care to tell is aware of its full potential, yet. He would go by the name of Joker - gigantean proportions, fights using a strange red material that doesn't read like anything else in your servers. He would be a perfect vessel for the power of the Crimson Dragon I absorbed from my timeline." After this, he turned his attention towards Feint.
". . . I'm also fairly certain that the Leviathan Tribe has already taken a liking to you. If . . . if you hold up the same mentality that brought you to protect the world beneath the glare of the divine, you will be able to wield the power of the tribes without being destroyed." Those last words came slowly out of his mouth, with baited breath, as though he was struggling over them. This mentality was against everything he had done up to this point, but he knew what had to be done.
"If I am to lend this power, I need reassurance that I can get it back. If I can do so easily, then, once this is all over, I will leave your world and bring you no further harm. If any that I lend this power to resist, then I will do what I must to recover it before leaving.
"As for the last one . . . in the small breadth of time that Apollo Flame had returned, we've already caught another of your strongest's attention. He's . . . insufferable is a kindness, truly, but he should be easily enough swayed."
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Post by Genesis on May 11, 2021 7:41:58 GMT -8
*Xion gave a nod in return to Burai's understanding. He was hoping that he would be willing to do anything for his people, as if this was the problem presented to them, their solutions were far than readily available. If he wasn't then there would be a lot more to be said on the matter at hand here. He wouldn't go out of his way to drag out any answers for who he wanted to leave obscure here, as given what they knew already it meant that any signs to tip things off would instead cause them to become aware of what it was. He would have to give it up to the folks behind Joker's creation: for them to go from their usual to making him was completely off their usual charts. They probably weren't aware that they did it by accident given their failure to secure him soon after so as a result he would be able to bring up the fact that he knew who it was this time ahead of time. It was more a stroke of chance than anything else, but it still meant that Burai was right that those who cared to tell kept it to themselves.*
"Joker's going through a bit of introspection right now. While he was hunting for power for reasons his own, he likely isn't prone to keeping anything handed to him without his own effort applied to it. I can't give full reassurance that who you give power to won't attempt to maintain sticky fingers, so instead I'd give reassurance that I will stay out of the way if they do. The only thing I would ask is that if you have to force it out of any of them that at the least they remain alive after. Given our lack of a means to return at the given time, any loss hits us harder in the long term in our current situation."
*He couldn't necessarily make promises for others to give back what they obtained, as people were prone to hating losing what they obtained. Even if what they obtained wasn't there and was given to them due to necessity, not to be kept. They would be borrowing it, not owning it. He figured his request at least was reasonable enough as even if Burai got what he wanted and left, it didn't mean that the problem of Immortalis would be solved. Even then the problem could eventually find its way on his own doorstep in his world. In that event he could at the very least leave them with the means to attempt to deal with him themselves before he just eventually followed after Burai to wage this war of his there as well. He would basically be playing things in repeat he imagined, so it would be a difficult time even with their world not in shambles. Likewise, it wasn't as if they would overtly attack either. Everything they did was discreet as they wanted until they wanted to do things more directly, so it would be better to just not allow that whole scenario to play out. That left their new challenger, or rather new asset. The matter of whether or not Feint was fine with this exchange was on her own head too, given her disposition on the matter. While she mulled it over and caught up to the conversation he would see how they would have to approach their new insufferable prospect.*
"Do we have to sway him in the usual fashion of actions over words, or are words sufficient in this exchange?"
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Post by Warrior on May 11, 2021 8:01:29 GMT -8
#s://i.imgur.com/8w4a7DV.png She'd said her bit already and wasn't one to waste breathe reinforcing her stance, so Feint stood back as the other two came to terms. Listening over it, if that "Mu Metal" was just a glorified ancestral heirloom, she'd have probably lost her mind at Burai for the lengths he was going to in order to get it, but given every other artifact she'd seen him collect so far, so could at least surmise that it was a power-up of sorts, so she didn't bother digging deeper on the topic.
Unsurprisingly, she found herself aligned with NIA's agenda to shutdown the Cyber World's "Titans" as it at least meant keeping Earth off of Sirius' radar would be a beneficial side-effect, but the idea of confronting him head on still seemed to be at least Burai's preferred route -- which made sense given his own agenda and personal goal.
She paused a moment as he made his offer for the Leviathan Tribe, knowing he probably already knew her answer by the time she decided to speak up on it.
" You know my stance on external power-ups. I'd tell you to keep it, but if it's a necessary means for the end, then I'll borrow it for that cause. "
Her stance from before hadn't shifted then -- she was nothing if not stubborn in her hatred of artificial power.
" You don't have to worry about me being clingy. As far as I care: the sooner you ask for it back, the better. "
The description of Joker matched the face she came across in Netopia during the Dark Colony's invasion, but she didn't get his name during that occasion. Xion had the subject covered anyway, so she didn't feel the need to share what little she knew. Something else Xion said did catch her attention though, even if it was slightly beside the point here.
" ... so what about this 'lack of a means to return'? "
Her obliviousness to the world events at large were showing more now than before, but this was a useful fact to pick out of all of it with certain other things considered.
The other issues present took a halt in her mind to that, but either way she hadn't been a major shot-caller during this whole ordeal anyway and wasn't about to become one now as the least educated individual in the room, so the matter of the next move wasn't hers to decide until she knew more of the grander scheme anyway.
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Post by Gaia on May 11, 2021 11:47:06 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/340189121500938240/728347473344725113/113~png
Burai turned to Feint as she gave her piece, instantly losing the regalia of the three tribes he had already called upon as he held up the four legendary artifacts: The Berserker Sword, the Shinobi Star, the Saurian Meteor, and the Leviathan Spear. The four seemed to float about of their own accord, each one radiating an incredible power.
"The individual strengths of the tribes won't be enough to contend with Sirius. It will take time, but you'll have to resonate with all of them, build up that strength, and awaken the power of the Tribe King. You won't be able to claim his power for long, so, every second you have will need to be precise. I will warn you, his spirit is very different from those of the four you will be conversing with - you must be able to ignore their temptations for power.
"So long as you wield them looking to protect and defend, rather than to destroy and conquer, they shouldn't destroy you."
With the OOPArts relinquished, he turned his attention back to Xion, thinking over his words. "We'll need someone else willing to take on some form of power if we're going to contend with Sirius. The longer we wait, the longer we risk his capricious nature bringing him here, anyways.
"As for the new arrival . . . hmph. So long as he's convinced he'll have an audience of adoring fans, he'll do it."
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Post by Genesis on May 11, 2021 12:08:52 GMT -8
*Looked like she was able to pick out that piece of information he dropped out there. Was she that unaware of the situation at large? If this was the normal for the NIA agents then he really did have his work cut out for him, didn't he? Then again he actually preferred that she was like this instead. Whether it was because of disinterest, ignorance, or living in her own headspace, it meant she wasn't too concerned with what they were up to on his end of things. He wasn't against coexist or anything, but it could be argued that the less interest they took in each other's worlds the better. His stance on the subject was yet to be disclosed, but he would at least answer her curiosity all the same as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.*
"...For reasons not yet disclosed as far as I'm aware, be it the new visitors or the changing world around us, not only can Navis not reform after destruction, neither can the Cyber World at large. Any place that you've seen destroyed that hasn't been repaired already with our tendency to destroy forests, cities, mountains, and more on a whim? Not coming back. It will at least hammer in for some to be more respectful of their surroundings and is a lesson we're quick to adapt to unlike many species. Whether the same applies to Wave Beings is difficult to discern but easier to presume the case is similar. Obviously it makes no difference for Humans."
*They never had a respawn timer to begin with. Likewise it must have worked on a deeper level than just respawning, as they could just replace the data with a copy of the data or something else. Yet Element City was still in shambles, Creamland was much worse off, Netopia was a mess, and his lack of knowledge for the depths of Sharo at least put them down a network at minimum. While ultimately this wasn't an issue for the individuals with a finite lifespan to begin with, presuming they were allowed to leave this mess unattended the humans at least would lose that complaint at their leisure if they so desired. Just as Feint was against the Titan menace, there was a menace he was standing against as well. Though ultimately the NIA's goal while good was largely unattainable due in part to their own machinations. Be it from the Navis growing themselves powerful enough to become the very thing the NIA hated or due to the people the NIA protected simply creating another one to suit their whims, their cycle was neverending at least until the new catalyst was added that they no longer could respawn. The difference was that everything in their world needed the Cyber World, as was proven over a decade ago just when Eon leveled Electopia. Electopia went into complete anarchy and then when Creamland was taken over they also suffered devastating damage. Gigamerica was so far gone in this that their government didn't even know what was right under their own noses. Whether they liked it or not, humanity had caused themselves to need their world now. It was a problem when both sides struggled against it so much, but life wouldn't be chaotic otherwise, now would it?*
"So you may be in luck and your power problem will find itself solved sooner rather than later, this time with no fancy Human scientist to create a new one in its place. Not that anyone is prepared for the fallout, but life's all about hurdles."
*At the very least he would make it in no uncertain terms where each Titan came from. Sort of the alien factors like Duo, all of the related problems were created by their own hands. And just as they did with every crisis they would just do the best that they could in the face of the disaster. Whether this one or the next would take them was always a matter of time honestly speaking. The inevitable would always come to pass no matter how much one resisted. The resistance was so that the journey could be continued for that much longer, so that the inevitable wouldn't just come to pass. What looked like a futile effort was always a bid to create more time so that inevitability seemed that less certain. ...But nothing in the universe was eternal. Enough of that though, he wouldn't bother with nicknames or sass this time to avoid confusion and get straight to the heart of the matter.*
"...But that's about enough being grim you'll get from me on the situation for now. We're not dead so it's not over yet. If I run over the list that I know, Hollow is as Hollow does so he isn't a likely candidate. Warrior and Merrill would be easy to convince as long as you remind them that inaction equals a black hole swallowing our planet. And I don't think Lalonia should tag along for this rodeo unless I misjudged her overall ability and I have no confirmation whether they found Jax. He's also sticky with his fingers so he isn't a pick in this case anyway. That leaves... no. He isn't an option either."
*His view on power more or less lined up with Feint's. While he would likewise yield out of necessity, he didn't exactly know where he was right now either. Out of those that could be deemed "powerless", he stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of combative prowess. His attitude just needed so much work... he'd rather try his hand at not becoming too annoyed being someone's audience member than trying to patch that over under these current circumstances. He didn't want to bother risking any chance of failure for this. Normally he'd be fine bringing Lalonia anyway but seeing as they would have to largely fend for themselves with a certain heat-absorbing gaze about, her way of fighting clashed heavily with that. Warrior's sort of did too but he could manage at least by comparison.*
"Joker's with the rest of the ones I mentioned anyway, so assuming they're still at Gigamerica picking them up won't be difficult for us. So let's tend to the attention seeker first unless he wants a bigger audience. If so, then we may as well head to where the others are."
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Post by Gaia on May 12, 2021 5:14:49 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/340189121500938240/728347473344725113/113~png
Burai listened to a separate rendition of the story known by the previous as the Deletion Crisis. Not just the Navis, but the entire environment, then? That was a detail left out in the previous. Immortalis was presumably the one behind that, as well, which meant that he was reprogramming and experimenting with individuals on both sides.
As for Xion's other concerns, Burai had only one sentence to assuage him. "I have no reason to destroy anyone on this side, except for the ones that are currently out of reach.
"There's a lot that was going on in the physical world that you'd probably want to be privy to - not enough time on either accounts, however. I will go with you to the location of your group, as the larger audience will get him what he wants. Feint will need to go back to her lab, however; we are currently in the physical world, after all."
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Post by Genesis on May 12, 2021 5:55:06 GMT -8
"I'm more than willing to learn on the go and just figure out what time doesn't allow at another time."
*He was fine absorbing what needed to be known on the fly still after all of this. He'd prefer to be a bit less ignorant on matters that involved him too, so if he could learn it all he would see if he could. Still, he would glance at the ground beneath him one last time and reconcile with having to miss this mark this time. Potentially this could be a problem if left unchecked but there were many other problems taking place right now. This could be put aside and given the chance to blow up in all of their faces. It would be hypocritical of him to do otherwise.*
"Make sure you let your NIA overlords know that while this is no one's fault, we're all contributing properly to the usual threats abound. You'd have to give a basic progress report eventually anyway."
*Said the guy who was skipping out of making his progress report to his own boss. His excuse was that his boss wasn't an active force in comparison so he could delay his at his leisure until he got a phone call that asked him to come report in. Then he'd have to get through any of the guards who didn't know him, which meant violence as they'd swing and he'd swing harder. He was going to use his connection with Hollow to get there, but as he quickly discovered that wasn't working right now. Either Hollow got dusted and he was just unaware of it or he was in the place that Xion found himself in before, meaning Jax really had difficulty being not independent sometimes if he veered this far off their organized path. What a hassle...*
"Jackle-Bee better be glad I don't ditch folks once I'm committed."
*Somewhere closer to where the readings left off then, meaning... about here, then? The Sky Tower was looking like a mess on his end, the pressure of whatever else was pervading the tower causing it to look like a patchwork to those looking in from the metaphorical bird's eye view. He opened up the gateway and headed on in, keeping it open for Burai to follow and set to close once he did since Feint would be taking the rather human slow way there. She'd probably have a better shot at meeting up with them on time by going to their next destination rather than where they were going just from the time difference between the physical and cyber worlds... but if they got waylaid by something big enough then she would catch up no problem. Not to mention it wasn't a guarantee their world was operating on its usual clock anyway.*
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Post by Warrior on May 12, 2021 7:05:19 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/U4Xclbh~png " ?! "
Wait, Four? She thought he was just offering the Leviathan Tribe, not the whole gang. The misinterpretation on her part left her with more than she bargained for, but at the end of the day it was still just borrowed power -- the quantity didn't change the principle, after all. Using the tools and giving them back later was the whole plan anyway, so more tools just meant it was a bigger task that required them.
Having to resonate with them made it sound like she couldn't just let these sit on the back-burner in her mind either, but she figured it'd make more sense later when she went to beckon them. For now, the artifacts clung to her body but weren't assimilated into her suit quite yet; the Spear and Sword crossed as if holstered on her back while the Star and Meteor rested on each side of her hip.
" I'll meet up later, then. "
Heading back to Grom seemed the optimal play -- NIA's resources, given their tendency to track Titans and other titanic threats -- would be inarguably influential in finding more candidates if they came up short. The debrief was in order as well, but luckily she had just recently collected her thoughts on everything so it wouldn't be difficult to distill that verbally after her journey back.
She'd seen the Sky Tower through Xion's portal so at least knew where they were headed, and he'd mentioned Warrior so if she was late to meet them there, it was pretty likely Sharo would be the next stop at least for one of them. Of course, if all else failed, they knew where to find her, too. Having to trek her way back through the maze and the Real World meant she had quite the journey ahead of her, so she'd wait for Burai to depart before leaving herself just in case there was any parting advice on that, or in case he was generous enough to lend her the Kamikakushi shortcut one last time.
Immortalis and Rosso were noticeably silent and compliant, so this felt more "in line with their desires" than expected, but as far as anyone understood, they were totally fine with others taking care of certain business for them and this was probably no exception.
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