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Post by CJ on Apr 13, 2013 19:05:15 GMT -5
Kusu jumped in surprise at the sudden arrival of the Arkady robots. Her wings and other Zoan features poofed into existence as she looked about, realizing they were trapped.
"Hey!" she chirped. "I didn't fail at life. You should be telling me that my brother failed at life, because he's a goob!"
Sighing, she looked up at Wolf. She was jealous of his height and wished she could see over the robots.
"Yeah," she nodded her head, "we should listen to them. This is their country. We're their guests."
Patting the sword at her side, she held up her taloned hands and glanced at Lynwood and Wolf.
"Be cautious and keep your wits about you," she warned, clearly reciting something she was taught or read in a book.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Apr 15, 2013 23:17:56 GMT -5
"...D...Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me. I just want to...to... Whatever happens, be with me, like you say you will. Please...I know that I cannot ask anything of you, but...please...promise me that."
Like a kid being grabbed by the collar by their parent, Kalen choked as Silver drew him near. He was confused at first, but he returned the favor and hugged her in response. Well, as best he could, at his height.
"I promise. Why would I want to leave you anyway? You're amazing! I'm sure everyone else will agree... oh I bet Kusu would just love you!"
He could understand some of what she was feeling, and he wished he had a way to make her understand, to believe him. Though he didn't want to admit it, this was something of a chance at redemption for him. To redeem himself for similar promises he had made to another person who he dragged from her safe, comfortable life out into the world. Despite his greatest efforts, he could not keep his promise, and try as he might, she turned against him because of it.
He would not let that happen again, not this time. He would not make the same mistake twice. Taking her hands in his, he moved a pace back, so that he was fully facing her now. Close though, but he looked up to meet her gaze regardless.
"If you've lived down here all this time, do you know of a way out? A way we can reach the surface? And of course, I'll be there with you, the entire time."
He smiled, but not in his usual ambitious or cheeky fashion. Just a soft one, of understanding. He needed to return to the surface, if only to meet with the others again, but he was willing to do that in whatever way Silver wanted.
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Post by Kyubey on Apr 16, 2013 1:12:41 GMT -5
"Weapons?"
Lynwood thought about Ashleigh's words. She already had a weapon, and didn't see the need for anything else. Already, her knife had fit her well in both hunting and defense, and she didn't think she needed anything else. If Ashleigh, or either of the pirates she was shopping with for that matter, knew how much destruction she had caused with just the knife and the spirit that was still in her... it was better to not think on such things. Already Ashleigh's enthusiastic words on death and killing sunk in a bit too deeply for the Urdian to ignore it entirely. But it fits so well with this group, said the unwanted voice in her head, but she smiled and forced those thoughts away. It was unfortunate that her encounter with Ashleigh had to end on such a note, but she couldn't forget to not show her worries to the Captain.
"Goodbye, friend! Thank you for all you have done! I hope to perhaps see you again some day!" she called out to Ashleigh as she left the store, waving merrily. Weapons and death and such aside, a friend was a friend, and Urdians did not lose faith in friends easily.
"...Thank you for listening, and have a great day!"
Lynwood seemed to shrink back as the robots spoke at the pirates. She wasn't so much worried about what it was they were saying, for clearly there was only some misunderstanding to be cleared up, but the machines themselves, the mechanical abominations, greatly disturbed Lynwood. They appeared to be life, they moved and spoke in a manner similar to lifeforms, but she sensed no life from them. That alone was unsettling, and felt completely wrong to her. Even spirits weren't as cold as these things, things that, in her eyes, just shouldn't be.
"F...family?" she responded, trying to sound strong for her friend's sake. "the only family I have left, you're pointing weapons at. Take me, if you will, but you will explain to me what my Captain has done to deserve this."
Part of her wanted to escape, mainly because of how wrong the place and everything in it was, but ultimately she valued Kusu's decision. To choose not to fight back, at times, was far more noble than to fight, and even though Kusu didn't really seem to understand was it was that pirates typically did, was very happy with how the situation was being handled. For the moment, Lynwood was greatly proud of her Captain.
"...aye-aye."
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Post by Kuro on Apr 19, 2013 18:53:46 GMT -5
The robots continued to point their guns at Kusu, Wolf, and Lynwood, but the one speaking responded to Lynwood's query.
"You are accused of unruly or dangerous elements. Just what exactly you have done will be looked into and determined later when you are placed in a detention hold as your accuser is brought forth and the case judged. Such an accusation is not thrown about lightly because of the punishment for false accusation, as explained earlier. If we do not reach the detention hold in 30 minutes or less, then you are permitted to eat any choice of food for free once we reach it. As always, Arkady Industries promises a great day, even when it is your last!"
Those of the three pirates who knew what a recording was could recognize that the robot was speaking through pre-prepared messages, not actually forming responses to their words. After explaining their situation, there was a pause and the robot started again, its voice just as friendly as ever.
"Thank you for your compliance. Now please, follow and do so in an orderly manner, lest we cripple you as explained previously."
The robots escorted the three unruly and dangerous elements to the elevators, their guns pointed at them at all times. People moved out of the way and whispered and oohed and ahhed at the scene, some of the younger spectators writing down on paper a description of the scene as a text message to mail to their friends later.
The elevators were huge, large enough to accommodate Wolf without any trouble. The pirates were escorted into an elevator that none of the customers had used or even touched, an elevator that that had an intricate, golden pattern on it. The colossal doors opened to a chamber with purple plush walls, a stainless, gleaming golden floor with the Arkady logo in the center, and a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a ceiling so high up that neither Wolf nor any of most giants would have to worry of touching.
The elevator was massive enough for all of the robots and the accused to stand or sit in with space left over. When the doors closed, a grinding of gears and rushing of levers was not heard from inside the comfortable, lovely walls as they went up the building.
Silver made a little gasp when Kalen hugged her. She hadn't been expecting that, and she wasn't used to any physical contact at all. She froze for a moment, not knowing what to do, before awkwardly trying to imitate Kalen's gesture and hug him in response.
"T...Thank you, Kalen. I do feel...safer."
When Kalen stepped back and asked about an exit, Silver nodded once. "Yes. I know of a way. I simply need the key."
She reached into the secret hole in the wall in which she had taken out her sketchbook and took out a small, average-looking key with a tied string going through it, making a necklace. She looked up at the ceiling and ran a slim hand along it, her fingers running along and over the different indents and cracks of the curved ceiling before stopping one one point. Resting her finger on that point, which would have seemed completely indistinguishable from any other spot of the ceiling to Kalen, she took the key with her other hand and put it inside an unseen hole, a seemingly invisible slit on the ceiling.
"I have never tried this particular door before. There are many others, but none of them lead to the surface. Since one of them must, then this one should be it. But, still, I am not sure that it will work. I hope that..." Her mouth hung open, not sure what to say. Did she want it to work? What did she want? To go or to stay? He had promised her safety, but...
"...w-w-we are careful."
click
The key turned and with that one noise, lines and lines and lines shot out from the slot. They stretched across the ceiling, intersecting each other and making a grid above the girl and the boy. When the grid stopped growing, its edges were far beyond the space in which Silver and Kalen stood.
click click click click click click click click
The squares of the grid began to rise.
They sunk into the ceiling, going up and up, the center square with the keyhole taking the key with it, with no protest from Silver. With each square making the same sound that had signaled the transformation, the sewer was echoing with the endless sound of clicking. The squares did not stop rising and rising, creating a huge, long tunnel that went up and above. Their clicking never became faint because of the echos of the vertical tunnel they were making plus the echoes of the tunnel that Silver and Kalen were already in. As they rose and clicked, Silver remembered to grab her sketchbook and charcoal for the journey.
It didn't take long for the squares to eventually be so high up that it just seemed like there was a single white shape above them, becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. Not long after that, when the ceiling could not even be seen through the endless tunnel, the clicking stopped.
"...I have never seen a top-down tunnel like this before. I do not know what will hap-"
Her apprehensive wonder quickly turned to a high-pitched scream of surprise and fright as she and Kalen were suddenly shot into the air, flying through the tunnel at incredible speeds. It felt as if something at the top was sucking them up and doing it fast. Silver still screamed as her spider legs flailed pointlessly in the air, trying to regain some footing or balance in the empty air. Her hands were clenched and held close to her chest, her eyes shut tight, small tears starting to form and fly up into the sky.
With the three robots destroyed, Mr. Dark looked at Takai and Kizuna, holding his damaged hand as he did so, and answered their questions.
"It is an Arkadian robot, which acts as law enforcement in Arkady Industries. They are but tools, though; they go through processes and routines without trouble, but somewhere on this island there is someone overseeing them and dealing with the results of their work. I do not have much knowledge on the mechanics of an Arkadian robot, so I cannot tell you for sure what the hot fluid is. I assume it has something to do with the hot steam that continually bursts from their backs, but beyond that there is no proven fact that I can tell you. I am a doctor, not an engineer."
He walked outside of the store and looked around, noticing the crowd of curious and amazed customers that had formed.
"...We must escape to the ship. I require something to assist in this. Takai and Kizuna, be sure to follow and fight off every robot you see, for they are sure to send more." He turned to look at the one who had tackled him for unknown reasons. "As for you, you shall -"
And the girl was gone. Without a sound, the girl had disappeared while the three pirates had fought. The boogeyman turned his head this way and that, making sure the girl wasn't somewhere in plain sight. He couldn't sense her fear, which either meant that she was in a very joyous state or she had escaped. The former was not a possible answer. She had somehow escaped. He did not know how, but there was no other explanation.
Making sure that he had remembered every detail of her face, voice, and personality, he ran to the store opposite of the one he and the others were in, the store he had wanted to go to after buying the medicine. Above the entrance were the words ARKADIAN WEAPONRY AND MISC.
click
Ten more robots emerged outside of the herbs and potions store, and ten more behind those. Some of them raised their guns while others raised their swords, all of them ready to attack.
"You have proven to be hostile and have damaged Arkadian property. The crime of vandalism is now added to your Arkadian record. As a reminder for all customers, every ten crimes on your record will reward you with the honor of being tortured for several days for the enjoyment of Victorian audiences. Arkady Industries makes use of everything, and inflicting pain and suffering is what we know best. Thank you for listening and have a great day!"
And with that, the robots nearest Takai and Kizuna attacked. Several shot and others charged with their swords in the air, only basic swordplay and marksmanship at their command.
The robots in the back of the metal crowd began to fall as gears and wires burst out from their chests. Mr. Dark stood outside of the weapon shop, a pistol in his hand. He fired at the robots, firing mainly at their center of mass since he was not an expert marksman. He was certainly better than the robots though; he fired as quickly as possible shot after shot and always hit, his eyes locked onto his targets. To him, it was no different from the work of a surgeon; he saw the problems and before they could only get any worse, he dealt with them.
When the pistol ran out of ammo, he stored it into his trenchcoat and ran to the robots, their swords at the ready. He dodged their attacks and countered after each one, chopping through their necks and punching through their chests. While he knew the consequences of this action, there was no other way for him to beat them with just his own body. With each impaling or crushing strike, his boots and gloves lost more and more material and made the sound of sizzling. But at the moment there was no other way.
The elevator was still rising, but it was difficult to tell that it was even moving. The chandelier barely ever shook as the chamber slowly went up stories and stories and stories of the building.
click
"Hello, hello, to the residents in the express elevator, to my guests."
A smooth voice with a smile behind it and the crackle of speaking through machinery in it echoed throughout the chamber, coming from some sort of intercom speakerphone device in the corner of the ceiling.
"I trust that the robots have treated you well? I was overjoyed to hear of your arrival, so I do hope that they did not harm you beyond what was necessary."
The robots spoken of had not moved at all, still pointing their guns at the pirates.
"It is excellent that you have chosen to come with them peacefully. Much less time and resources are wasted that way. As of now though, the robots no longer need to coerce you onto the right path. While I understand your decision to respect the law and policies of Arkady Industries, I will need you to destroy the robots in the elevator with you right now. That should not be too difficult for characters such as yourself, but do be careful not to damage the elevator. The loss of a vertical transportation device is not a necessary sacrifice and it will only hinder your freedom.
Do not worry on disrespecting the corporation by taking such action. I am a man of much authority in the system and I assure you that you will not be punished for following my command. Now please, be good dears and move along with what I told you to do. Once you do just that, simply wait and see."
The four robots continued to stand, their guns pointed at the pirates.
click
A screaming spidergirl holding a shepard boy as tightly as possible flew out of the massive hole that had formed around on the ground. They flew several meters above the hole and as they stayed in the air for some seconds, the ground reformed below them. When they landed, Silver was no longer screaming, but still had her eye shut tight with Kalen in her powerful grip. Her hair and possibly Kalen's were sticking straight up, but she couldn't see that since she barely noticed that her legs had touched a solid ground.
The people nearby were dumbfounded. It wasn't every day or any day at all that one saw a human-spider and a boy come shooting out of the ground.
Silver's sketchbook and charcoal fell onto Silver's thorax and then to the floor, although that still did not stop her from opening her eyes or grip.
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Post by CJ on Apr 19, 2013 21:00:26 GMT -5
Kusu might have been the happiest suspect Akrady Industries had ever seen.
"This is such a strange mode of transportation!" she exclaimed, smiling at the oddities elevator. "I've never seen anything like it!"
The voice bounced off the walls of the chamber. Her feathers rustled at its tone. As happy as she was, she kept her "Angel" form available in case something went wrong. Something now wasn't necessarily wrong but definitely strange.
"You want us to destroy your machinery? Please don't think I'm rude when I say that that's really stupid. They're your robots. But whatever, we'll do what you want."
She looked up at the Activista, whose shadow she stood in.
"Wolf, you can destroy these robots without hurting us, right?"
Kusu crouched down and placed her hands over her ears. She waved her hand toward Lynwood, trying to get her to do the same.
The young captain peered mindfully at the walls of the elevator. Her soft smile seemed to indicate some kind of planning was involved. Wolf and Lynwood would know it wouldn't have been all too difficult to tell the sword at her side to incapacitate the robots all at once. For whatever reason, Kusu only wanted Wolf to attack.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Apr 19, 2013 21:53:30 GMT -5
Wolf walked with the four robots, along with Lynwood and Kusu. They were directed inside a building, and then in an elevator which began to rise. Wolf stayed constantly on alert, scanning anything of interest, waiting for any moment when he might have to act.
To his surprise, a voice on the intercom actually commanded them to destroy the robots. He wasn't sure what to think, but Kusu nudged him on to destroy them. He shrugged.
"If that's what we have to do to get answers, then so be it."
Of course, Wolf had many ways of destroying the robots, but very few ways that wouldn't destroy the elevator with it. He thought for a moment and determined the best way to get rid of the robots would be to send out an electromagnetic pulse which would be strong enough to cause the robots to become defunct, but wouldn't affect the elevator itself.
Wolf took a breath then slammed his palms together. The released force could not be felt or heard, but some might feel a strange static electricity feel over their body.
With any luck, and the robots would receive the pulse and fall down with no harm done to anything else.
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Post by KaosuKishi on Apr 21, 2013 15:39:08 GMT -5
Takai and Kizuna frowned. ormally the bullets fired by the machines wuld be a problem, but these things were painfully predictable to experienced fighters like them, dodging and weaving through the bullets and slashes of swords, they took down one after the other, following Dark.
"These guys seriously suck. Their advantage in number means nothing when the quality of every individual robot is lacking. I doubt that's all they have, though, otherwise Arkady wouldn't be as powerful as it is. Let's find the others and get out of here." He shook his head. "Seriously, I know I am of Chaos, but is one single calm day too much to ask!!!" He screamed upwards, acusing Kizuna to giggle.
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Post by Kuro on Apr 21, 2013 21:52:11 GMT -5
The robots continued to stand. They were not affected by the EMP pulse at all; they didn't even notice it. All of their guns were still pointed at the three in the elevator.
"I suppose that the either the hearing skills or mental capacity of you lot was not as high as I had hoped. I will repeat myself: Destroy the robots without destroying the elevator. Crush them, stab them, disable them in some way, shape, or form, for I am aware that the ones in the elevator with you are still functioning. Please do so quickly, for the elevator is almost at my location and I cannot stop it without attracting suspicion. Please do as you are told."
The robots stood in position, guns at the ready.
Mr. Dark jumped and kicked the head off of another robot, wary as the scalding liquid sprayed out of the stump neck. He jumped back and reloaded his gun.
"These robots are not meant for skilled fighters. They are simple law enforcement in a shopping center; they were made to restrain or execute shoplifters and other petty criminals." He pointed the gun at a robot and shot three times, the bullets cleanly going through its chest, the destruction left in their wake interfering with its odd internal systems - a hybrid of clockwork, steam-powered machinery, and something that looked like tape, he noticed - and making it fall. The boogeyman looked at his gloves and saw that they were barely there anymore. The ends of his sleeves were now burnt and tattered and despite his efforts, some of the liquid that was coming from everywhere around him had gotten onto his chest and nearly burnt through his coat. He was starting to look worse for wear, but he cared not for physical appearance; it was just that it would be impractical to wear ragged, damaged clothing in future fights.
He smashed his elbow into another metallic chest and followed it with an uppercut from his other hand, sending the robot into the air for a few moments to fall some feet back. He looked around and saw no more enemies; both he and the couple had defeated all of them. Now there they were just standing in a junkyard, piles of scrap and broken machinery scattered across the floor.
The spectators had multiplied in the midst of the fight. Once the spectacular display of action and intense combat had finished, they were all cheering, a good number of them unsure of whether or not this was a staged event. Either way, it was much more then they had expected that day and applauded and clapped and yelled, some of them even throwing coins as gifts.
"Please excuse me, yes, my bad, excuse me, excuse me."
A thin man made his way through the crowd as gently and politely as possible, lightly pushing people out of his way. When he emerged to face the three pirates, he had a smile on his face. He was dressed in a plain, long white coat with black buttons and the black Arkady logo on the back. He wore golden-colored gloves and boots and on his head of long, black hair were a pair of goggles over his eyes. He clasped his hands and gave the savages before him a big grin, his eyes closed.
"Ah, greetings, unkind sirs and madam. I see that you have felled twenty-three of this mall's Arkadian Security Division. Technically they're not actually members of the division, serving more as guns and tools than anything else, but I think you know what I mean. I was alerted to this ruckus and sent to investigate and arrest those responsible for such wanton destruction of Arkadian property. As a representative of the Arkadian Security Divison, I am required to tell you all of this; what you have done and that I am here to stop it.
We do our best to bring a smile to each of our loving customer's lovely faces, and this is how we are repaid: Our precious little toys, broken at the hands of some spiteful, petty children."
He sighed and put a hand to his face, still smiling. He scoffed and opened his eyes ever so slightly, their cruel gaze peeking through.
"You should have simply gone with the robots the first time. Now you have twenty-four acts of vandalism and one count of disturbing the peace on your record. That's twenty-five crimes, in case you can't count. Now you'll have to be tortured for the Victorians twice over. Ah well; i'm sure that they'll pay me a good bonus for giving them three new lovely mortals to play with."
As he had spoken to the pirates, three people wearing the same white outfit had walked out of the crowd and now stood around the criminals, judging them, analyzing them. The one that had talked tilted his head to one side and made a quick gesture with each of his hands. A curved blade of arm's length instantly shot out from each of his large sleeves, the other three doing the same. Rather then holding the swords, it seemed as if the blades were connected to their wrists under the loose clothing.They crouched and the leader continued to smile, his purple eyes staring at the enemies with glee.
"I am supposed to ask you to cooperate now, but...you don't seem like the kind of people to change their mind."
Three of them jumped towards Takai and Kizuna, another aiming for Mr. Dark. Their clean, white coats were flung about in the air as they attacked, intending to slice and dice the pirates to bits. Were their first attacks to be blocked, Takai and Kizuna would see that they were much more skilled than the robots. Their form focused on circular, fluid movements to match their curved blades and they were much quicker and agile than the thoughtless devices laid broken around them. Not only that, but they knew that they were working together to kill the targets; they tried to distract their opponents on one side so as to attack them from the other, one attacking from the front so another could stab from the back and so on.
Mr. Dark had put his gun away and had his fists up, dodging and weaving and batting away the dull sides of the blades. He was fighting only one, who was relentless in his continuous attack. Mr. Dark darted to one side and then another, unable to yet hurt his opponent and focusing on his own survival.
He watched the blades spin and spin, come from one side and then another, come down and come foward, spin and spin, come from one side and then another, come down and come for-
When his opponent charged forward in an attempt to stab the black-clothed pirate, Mr. Dark jumped, the blades stabbing the place where he had just been, and shot out his leg in a kick to the face.
The man was propelled into the crowd and knocked several of the spectators over, ending up on the other side of the mass of people with several of his teeth missing and blood pouring from his nose. He was unconscious and for the moment, no longer a threat. Mr. Dark turned towards Takai and Kizuna, knowing that it was only because of them that he had not simply done the easy thing and shoot past his opponent's troublesome swordplay. No one else seemed to be coming towards them; it was possible that with all of the robots in stock, thee four had actually been the only living beings in the mall's security force. If so, then they could allegedly escape to the ship easily.
He knew though that the situation was never so simple.
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Post by CJ on Apr 21, 2013 23:57:27 GMT -5
Kusu sighed and got up from the ground. She glared at the ceiling and shook her head.
"Fine," she sighed. "Shitty Sword, destroy the robots."
The katana at her side broke its shape, spilling out into the air like a paint bucket knocked over on a canvas. The gray metal snaked about the elevator. Upon impact, several blades would skewer them through. Had Lynwood or Wolf moved in fear or action, the metal would have simply brushed against their skin.
She could have asked Wolf to do the deed but wasn't sure if he would be able to in time without hurting her or Lynwood. The captain wanted to reveal as little as possible about their group to this mysterious person. She was hoping Wolf would have been enough. She could only pray Hil would be enough now.
The sword reformed tapped Kusu on the head with its blunt edge. She squeaked and it slipped back into its sheath before she could grab a hold of it.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Apr 23, 2013 11:54:07 GMT -5
Kalen followed Silver as she attempted to lead them out of the sewers. It was entirely possible that she was only leading him into a trap and planned to eat him, but he trusted her so surely that the thought never even crossed his mind. He was too busy thinking how he would explain and introduce her to the others on the crew. Whereupon they reached the key lock location, Kalen stared in awe as the tunnel extended up and above from them for farther than he could possibly see.
"Wooow... they don't have things like this back home..."
"...I have never seen a top-down tunnel like this before. I do not know what will hap-"
Kalen as well was sent screaming skywards, careening about in every which way. Unlike Silver, he didn't have distinctive shape or determined center of mass by which to orient himself in the air. As such, he looked like a flailing mess, spinning around terribly and screaming all the while. As well, all sorts of things were falling out of his pockets and clothes, which he struggled in vain to try and reclaim from the air.
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Post by Kuro on Apr 27, 2013 0:27:43 GMT -5
Murmurs. Whispers. Talking, talking, talking, getting louder and louder and louder.
Slowly, slowly, slowly, she started to open one eye to see the outside world for the first time.
She quickly shut it again because it hurt. She had never seen such light before in her entire life. She hadn't lived in complete darkness because of the lantern the boneman had given her, but such brightness on this scale...for the light to be everywhere around her, shining without mercy, sparing no intensity.
She was a very odd sight, a spider-girl squeezing some poor boy like a teddy bear. A crowd of people had formed around them, giving the two a large berth of space and watching out of curiosity.
"Who are they?"
"What is that? Some type of Zoan?"
"I dunno, I never heard of no Bug Zoan type fruit before."
"Where did they come from? Where does a giant hole in the ground come from?"
"From the ground, stupid."
The people kept talking and talking, since if they were stopping to see an odd sight then they didn't have anything better to do anyway. Silver tried opening one of her eyes again, only to close it before fully lifting her eyelid.
"Huh? Is there something wrong with her eyes? It looks like they're trembling."
"She doesn't look very great at all, really."
"Hey, maybe its just too bright for her. After all, she's a spider, right? And spiders's eyes burn up in the presence of electromagnetic UV rays...right?"
"Shut up Kurp, that's not how biology works."
"Hey, take this!"
Something hit the floor with a click near Silver. She heard it and reluctantly released one of her arms from her deathgrip on Kalen. Trembling, shaking, confused, she blindly patted around for whatever had just come next to her. She picked something up and felt it in her hands, touching it and moving it around and feeling it to see what it looked like.
...She knew this. She had seen pictures of it. She placed it over her eyes, and...
"...I can see."
Her eyes opened fully behind the sunglasses on her face, and the first thing she did after her first sentence in the world was gasp. Everything was amazing. The colors were a little dulled by her sunglasses, but it was still more than she had ever been used to. She had only ever seen pictures...And now she was there. She was feeling it. She was stepping on the ground. If she walked to the nearest building she could touch it, feel it, go inside of it, know that it was real and around her...Her mouth hung open, dazzled by all the fantastic sights.
"You know, if you look at it from the right angle, it looks like she's hugging him."
"More like squeezing her little pookie-pie! I know this kind of stuff when I see it, and that is adorable! Reminds me of when you and I first me."
"...Don't remind me."
"It does look kinda like something like that..."
"I ship it."
And then she noticed that there were people around her. They had noticed her turning her head around and looking this way and that and her gasp and her mouth hanging open. The adorable sight had put a smile on a lot of faces, and some of the spectators jokingly began to clap, still not sure what was going on but feeling as if the spidergirl had just accomplished something. After all, she was acting as if she had been blind her whole life until now. That was a new thing. Silver herself wasn't sure what to do. She heard clapping and cheering, but that surely couldn't be for her, could it? She looked at Kalen, not realizing that she may or may not have suffocated him in her grip and asked him a question with her head down, afraid of the sudden influx of attention.
"Kalen...Wh...What do we do? And...where do we go?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Apr 30, 2013 11:12:34 GMT -5
It seemed very likely that Silver had indeed snapped Kalen in two. In her grip his body hung limp like a twizzler, though he didn't seem to mind. He just looked around at all the people, initially as confused as Silver about what was going on. When he finally realized due in part to their commentating on the situation, he attempted to straighten up.
"Kalen...Wh...What do we do? And...where do we go?"
Looking up at Silver for a moment, Kalen wriggled about in her grip until a noodly appendage resembling his arm managed to break free, holding a piece of paper.
"Well I have a list, of things that the crew needs. Supplies, I think. We can go get those."
Reading over the list one item after the other, he looked about the area, largely ignoring the onlookers in his search. Though he would of course liked to have been able to move and look about on his own, he didn't try to break free of her grasp or anything.
"If we want the medical supplies first, I think we go... that way."
In response to this, unable to move he simply nodded his head in the direction he meant.
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Post by Kuro on Apr 30, 2013 22:47:11 GMT -5
The robots fell to the elevator floor with thuds and clanks, Kusu's attack having more than done the job. "Good, good, you've done it. It was just a precaution, something that will help secure my safety in the long run. Now then, it seems that you have arrived at your destination."
click
The doors opened to a large hallway, but not long hallway that had walls and so white and gleaming that one could see themselves in it. Laid out on the floor was a crimson carpet that led straight to end of the hallway, which opened up into an enormous office. The walls were white and gleaming like the hallway, but they were completely covered in numbers because of all of the charts and graphs on them. Millions of digits and hundreds of lines, all darting around the page and seeming to go about in no pattern or order whatsoever. It was as if the pirates had walked into a white void of mathematics and business.
And in the center of it all was one desk, on which were several piles of paper that reached towards the sky, actually almost touching the ceiling. They did not show any signs of falling, however; they didn't sway or lean towards one side, perhaps because of the small paperweights that had been put on the very top of the pillars like the cherry on top of a sundae. Around the papers were pencils and pens and stamps and behind all of this was a crimson chair with its back turned to the pirates. On the back was the Arkady symbol, staring at the new guests and analyzing them silently.
"I am so glad that you have arrived. It is a shame that only three of you are here at the moment, but I suppose that it will have to do."
The man in the chair spread his arms out, his purple sleeves, frills and white gloves the only parts of him that the pirates could see. "Do you like it? It is my own little kingdom, my land of numbers, my paradise of power. All of these lines and curves, these meaningless symbols, must look like nothing to you. Only numbers and lines, you think. You do not even know what they say, what they can do, what they promise. Through these numbers, these lines, these black scribbles and scrawls on my walls, I control an island. Because of these lines of code, code that you have no hope of ever deciphering, I have the power to buy almost whatever I want. I have enough money and connections to do almost whatever I want. I have almost complete and total control over this island and everyone on it. I have...well, I am sure that as uneducated as you are, you can see the picture.
Almost. Almost. Almost. A word that constantly appears in my world without retreat or mercy. I am sure that each of you knows what I feel, in some way shape or form."
He drew his arms back in and chuckled. "Now then, I suppose you must be wondering why I brought you here. Well, now I shall bestow onto you three a great honor, one that so very few in this world are so fortunate to ever receive. It is quite possibly a memory, an experience that you will never forget. Prepare...for now, you meet a Victorian."
The chair turned to the three pirates, and in it was quite a sight. It wore a long, purple coat with golden buttons and detail, frills coming out of the sleeves and collar, all paired with matching white gloves. It was the face, however, that might have been the most...interesting to look at. It was as if someone had tried to form a face out of white clay and failed horribly. The eyes were slits that were spread diagonally across the face, pinpricks of piercing light shining from behind. The mouth was a long, cruel, thin, sinister grin that stretched from one side to the other, far longer than any normal mouth could. The rest of the mouth was just as distorted. There was no sign of any smoothness; hills and valleys and stretched-out folds of "skin" were the only thing besides the holes. Even when the head was facing perfectly front, it seemed as if the face was still positioned diagonally and trying to stay that way on the vertical head.
It was a mask, but it was a horrid one, stuck tight to his head. His grin was permanent, staring at the pirates like a snake does to its prey. A low chuckle emanated from the mouth as he put a hand to his face. "Hello, my fantastic pirates. I...am Jackal. And unfortunately for you, I will not be the only Victorian you ever see. Now, before we continue with a very good business proposition I have to show you, do you have anything to say?"
"Very well then. We shall begin the retrieval of supplies." She started walking, slowly and hesitanty, in the direction that Kalen had nodded to. She didn't notice how tightly she was holding the sheperd and treated him like a teddy bear, keeping him close and squeezing him tighter when she had to go through the crowd that had surrounded them. Thankfully, they had parted around her, giving her enough space to pass through. She looked down as she walked past them with clicks and clacks, afraid and confused. And yet...there was a tinge of something, something else. But she wasn't sure what it was.
It didn't take long for them to reach a medical store. She looked at the people inside and frowned. She squeezed Kalen again and, after several moments, maybe even a minute or two of indecision and only barely extending one of her legs towards the building, she very reluctantly walked into it. She looked down as much as she could, only stealing glances at the product names and hoping that she wouldn't see anyone or meet the eyes of anyone. She was able to fit through the aisles, but that didn't stop the cashier from just staring.
Silver looked around as she walked through the aisles and then looked back at her friend. "Now...we can pick and choose. Take whatever you want, Kalen. I would think that you have enough money for it." She blushed from embarrassment. "I mean, you do not have money. You are still the best thing that has ever happened to me, even without money. But...do you have any?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on May 4, 2013 14:05:41 GMT -5
"Money? Oh right, I think I have some in here."
Loosing his belt, he reaching into his pants for a bit, rummaging around for something. Eventually he drew forth two fist fulls of old, crumpled up belli, holding them aloft with a look of triumph. Where he came from, they didn't use belli, so as a general rule of thumb he was nothing more than a penniless wanderer. After being turned down enough times for things he didn't have the funds for however, he sought to remedy potential future issues by obtaining some money of his own. The chance arose during the evacuation and subsequent sinking of the Hyperion, when running through the ship he came across lots of empty rooms and abandoned luggage. Overtime after checking a few, he managed to garner a decent amount, having held onto it this whole time.
It was worth noting of course, that he got the money out and did all of this with extreme difficulty, given how Silver was still clutching onto him like a life preserver.
"Ok, so according to the list, the first thing we need is... ah, here we go!"
Silver could very well keep on walking, but Kalen perused over the list, looking back and forth between it and the isles of products the store had to offer. Whenever she passed by something on the list, he leaned over in her grasp to reach out a grab the item. Without a bag he had to carry the stuff in his arms, but unless Silver just suddenly dropped him, then this wouldn't be a problem.
"Is there anything you want? I think I have enough money to get everything on the list, and still have some left over. If there's anything you see that you'd like, I can buy it for you, no problem!"
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Post by CJ on May 5, 2013 20:06:23 GMT -5
"MATH," Kusu said with wide eyes, looking about the impressive hall. "Wolf, I bet you know a lot of math! Lynwood, I'm sorry to say this but I heard ladies aren't very good at math. Wolf and I would have to get rid of a lot to knowledge to get to your level."
Shitty Sword flew out of its sheath and weakly smacked Kusu a few times in the head for the comment. It then bowed to Lynwood and retreated back before Kusu could grab a hold of it in protest.
Soon, noting the fabulousness of the clothes of the person before them, the young captain had his attention.
"Almost," she repeated. Her face twirked in confusion. Who exactly was this strange person?
Kusu frowned deeply when she saw the true nature of the man before them. She immediately put her talon-like hands to her face and began to tug on the sides.
"How do you get your face like that?" she asked. "Oh, wait. That's a mask. Why are you wearing that thing? It's... kind of cool but it doesn't look like you can see very well.
"I do have one question. Why did we have to destroy those poor robots back there? Are you the one who sent for us? Sqwee?"
---
After the trials at Breakwater, Captain Fate, Commander March and Gracie stayed aboard the Spirit Wolf for some time until they could be dropped off at the next island.
March was very open with the pirates. He told jokes and stories with them, not lying or withholding anything about himself. The pirates would have found that he was a very good listener. Gracie was a little more reserved but after a while she lightened up as well. She was very shy and just as good of a listener as March.
Fate, however, kept to herself. She was allowed to stay in Kusu's room, of all places, with heavy blankets over the window, blocking any chance of sunlight to hit her skin. Kusu insisted on having a "sleepover" with Fate as she childishly thought she could "suck the spirit of leadership from her throughout the night." She never spoke, only answering questions with the minimum amount of words, even when the pirates tried to help her medically or otherwise.
Sometime during those days, March got a message on his portable Den Den Mushi. An agent of the World Government had found Captain Fate's shadow. She was to be notified and sent out immediately.
Fate had nothing to say. She remained coldly silent in a case of shock. With March and Gracie in the room, she opened part of the blanket and let the light burn her hand. March forced her away, in a strange role reversal, lectured Fate about her own health.
The Marines left with only March and Gracie thanking the pirates for what they had done for them, though the Commander warned that if they ever saw them again, they would unfortunately be forced to try and capture them.
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