_Essex_

Oh Hal. You can be the Drama Pimp anytime.

I came in here to make a thoughtful comment about your roleplaying, but ...I can't think of anything. D: Hal is so precious and timid in SH101 and he's got that quiet air in GoCC. I don't know. He's just so cute. XD

It's Schizophrenias, though, where we can really see your creative side. I always look forward to reading Schizo posts and seeing him at the get-togethers, because you really let loose. It shows a lot of creative versatility to have quiet, thoughtful Hal on one hand and crazy Schizo on the other.

So yes. *Cute-gloms Schizo until he vomits* D:

The day of the party was soon in coming.

The address on the back of the envelope would lead those invited to a small location slightly outside of Paragon City. The entrance to the address was unobtrusive, a small, well-hidden door halfway between a nice grove of trees and a tall wall. It was a nice area, remeniscent of Perez Park in brighter days.

Maybe a little bit too remeniscent.

Rosalind was the first to arrive, snarling through a group of Circle of Thorns that had unwisely chose this spot to perform a ritual. Claws extended, she launched herself at the presiding Life Mage as the lesser Guardians and Thorn Wielders scattered like frightened sheep before her onslaught.

"No sacrificing in civilian sectors!!" she snarled as her claws tore through the fluttering cloak of the mage. "How many times do we have to tell you!? If you're gonna perform these rituals, do it in those damn underground lairs of yours or in non-residential localities!!"

A cheerfully wrapped white gift with pink ribbon was slung over her shoulder as she fought.

((YAY!!

When you decide who you're bringing in, please make your invitation-receipt post (as I have done above) so that I know how to tweak things and what to expect. =3 ))

((After GoCC, too. =3 The setting for this is once everything is seemingly "Back to normal." ^^))

((Think summer break for the school RPs, after the eventual ending of GToA and FF (since those are in other dimensions. ) And you're more than welcome, if you're interested. XD))

((OOC -

Okay. I'm going to try an RP with fewer intricate complications. Now that I'm a wee bit more experienced with the boards' style.

Now, first, there are two reasons why this RP is semi-open.

1. This RP is limited to characters who have met Essex. (I'm sorry if it seems self-centered, but the plot won't make any sense otherwise.) However, I'm not limiting the knowledge to any sort of thread - If you've played with Essex in any thread, teamed with her in-game, or even just met her briefly in Pocket D during one of the get-togethers, you're fine. Hopefully this will become self-explanatory below. If you have another reason why your character would be along, I'd be very happy to hear it in PM.

2. Once the RP gets started, I will not be accepting new players. I will give a warning post maybe a day before the RP closes - but once that post is made, no-one else will be allowed in.

Other than these two stipulations, this RP should be fun. :P It will definitely be very dark-themed. You've all become accustomed to my drama-wrangling; be prepared to see it come out in full force in this RP.

But not, perhaps, in the way you are expecting.))

The letter was sent out. A clean white envelope containing a letter written in Essex's neat handwriting.

"Hello everyone!
I'm sorry for doing something as informal as a form letter, but there are just so many people I want to invite, Dr. West suggested it would be more efficient this way.

I hope this letter finds you well!

Anyway, I wanted to invite you to a small get-together at the laboratories of Repliforce Paragon on XX/XX/XX. It is the sixth anniversary of my creation. My 'birthday' so to speak. Dr. West is being very kind and arranging a party for me, and said that I could invite as many of my friends as I wanted.

So I am inviting you!

Please come to the address indicated on the back of this letter. The party is at 2 PM. Refreshments of many varieties will be served.

Please do not bring gifts. The greatest gift you can bring is yourself! I look forward to seeing you at the party!

Deepest affections and kind regards,
Unit S6 'Essex' "

-------------------------------------

"Mail call." the peachy-pink haired boy called as he pushed his way into the office building, adjusting his thick glasses.

Emry pushed himself back from his desk. "The new assignments no doubt. Hand them off, Steve."

Steve placed the packet on Emry's desk, and looked at the remaining mail. "Pretty-Boy Manga Monthly for Pherelith --"

"Give that here." The zombie girl's disembodied hand hung over the cubicle wall and snatched the magazine from Steve. "Hehe. Come to mama."

"...And looks like Rosie got a letter." Steve finished, bending down to the border collie sleeping under Emry's desk. Her ears perked, and she sat up, transforming with a poof of smoke.

"Huh? A letter for me?" Rosie queried, her ears still perked in her humanoid form. Opening and reading the invitation, she lowered her ears just a little.

"Divabot's birthday?" she muttered. "Of course I get invited to this crap. Fine...Emry, we don't have anything scheduled on this date, do we? 'Cause I gotta go to a stupid kid's party."

Emry sipped his coffee and regarded Rosalind levelly. "You're clear. Just be back before nightfall for patrol."

"Yes sir." she muttered. "Spoilsport."

((OOC: I'll do a GM post announcing the day of the party once I gauge interest in the thread. :3

....And no this does NOT mean I'm giving up on GToA. <.&lt)

"The train? On it, chica." Pherelith grinned. "Hey Rosie! Blaze a trail to the train, kid!"

With that, the zombie girl did something unthinkable.

She leveled her gun at the were-human's back and fired.

The bullet tore through Rosalind and she yelped in pain.

The other two members of the Trio watched coldly as she crumpled to the ground. Toshio's eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing?" the drunken master growled. "I don't know who the [censored] you think you are, but you just --"

Demons that moved in hungrily to consume the downed lycanthrope found themselves shredded in a blast of white. Rosalind rose to her feet, eyes blazing red. She turned to face the group, snarling rabidly...berserk.

"Train! Train! Train!!" Pherelith shouted in her face. "Go to the TRAIN!"

Snarling, Rosalind turned, and began making a path towards the train, tearing through anything in her path. They had to admit, the fact that half the demons in her path fell to her claws and the other half ran screaming did make travel a bit faster.

"..." Toshio gestured for Jay to follow, as the group hurried forward in Rosie's wake. Emry jogged next to Sae, glancing to the side at her with his crimson eyes. "...She's handy for things like this. Don't worry. I'll take care of her once we get to the train."

"What the hell!?" Toshio growled, getting to his feet so quickly his barstool fell over. Since his fists channeled regular electrical energy, he had trouble fighting off the demons that seemed to sweep in towards him.

The Trio, on the other hand, was unfazed. Emry looked to Sae.

"Thank you for the warning. But this is our job. You may not be aware of it in Tokyo...but the Dread Trio exists to combat situations like this. This is what we were made for."

"Tree-man's got it right." Phe sneered, spitting out the remnant of a lollipop to the side. "Now it's time to get to work."

Both Emry and Pherelith drew guns, moving back to back. Each of their guns glowed with a white light, Emry's small but powerful gun and Pherelith's pair of large semiautos.

Firing in a large arc with deadly aim, the pair laid waste to the first wave of demons to close in on them, the glowing white bullets eating a viscious hole in the center of any dark being they struck. With his off-hand, Emry brought a fistful of vines forward, crackling out of the ground to restrain and hamper them from moving quickly once the enemies had touched the ground.

Rosalind was on her own, but looked to be enjoying herself as her glowing claws tore through demons. She dashed forward to impale one, pausing and doubling back to elbow another in the chest and following through with a crescent kick to a third, her movements fluid as her tail wagged.

"Hey Zan-chan, you gotta do better than this!" she taunted gleefully.

"Don't tease the demon lord." Emry muttered with a grimace as he fired his gun into a small doglike demon at point-blank range, melting its head with holy energies. "If this thing can absorb the Side, we're dealing with something on par with the very gods."

"Hajimemashite!" Rosalind squealed in a hideously American accent.

"Mata gaijin ka..." Toshio grumbled as he moved to sit down.

"Wait." Emry said, standing and levelling his gaze at Toshio. "What are you? The Archmage is obvious enough and the other one I recognize from the hero registries."

"Guess I'm a demon." Toshio muttered. "Least, I am now."

The tree spirit approached, looking closely at Toshio. He gestured for his companions to approach as well.

"What're you looking at!?" the ex-Tsoo growled.

"Phoo." Pherelith let out a breath, her wild eyes narrowed in scrutiny. "If this is what's happenin' to people in Tokyo, we best be headin' there soon."

"Unauthorized demonic transformation." Emry said with a shake of his head, loading his gun with a strangely glowing clip. "That's unfortunate. Rosie, Phe. You two ready to move out?"

"I guess so." Pherelith stretched with a yawn and a gut-wrenching cracking of bones.

"Yay! Tokyo ni ikimaaaaasuuuuu!" squealed Rosalind excitedly.

Emry approached Chihaya and ZeRO with a slight nod of his head. "I believe we should find each others' assistance beneficial. May I suggest an alliance?"

ZeRO's threat didn't seem to faze the Trio at all. Emry sipped his red liquid and Rosalind continued staring hungrily at the mage, Pherelith chewing on candy thoughtfully.

"The girl's talkin' to you." Toshio's voice cut through the silence gruffly.

"I know." Emry said quietly. Setting the glass down on the table, the tree spirit stood, resting his crimson eyes upon ZeRO.

"It is true that the more powerful hold the authority here." he spoke, levelly. "However, it seems that none of you know our true power besides the mage there, who fears us. Though he fears us, we have shown no hostility towards you and yours."

Following their gaze to the hungry looking Rosalind, he turned slightly. "Stop that." he reprimanded, and the dog-girl pouted and turned her attention back to the table.

Emry continued. "Therefore, since you have no way to gague our power other than your compatriot's fear, and we have made it clear that we pose no threat to you...I suggest that, unless you wish to initiate hostilities, you stand down. We have finished our mission here and only wish to take a small rest before moving onto our next assignment. I have made it more than clear that we have no intention on wasting our time and going out of our way to start a conflict outside of our jurisdiction."

The white-haired man sat back down, nursing his drink again. His voice had not changed tone throughout the entirety of the speech.

"That having been said, I will ask you once again to reevaluate your stance and allow us to go about our business without unnecessary...complications."

Pherelith hung back from her chair, her long, chocolate brown hair dusting the floor as she grinned at them.

"What stick-in-the-mud here means is, Hi, and great to meet you kids! We're the Dread Trio, a private group of paranormal enforcers! I'm Pherelith Malebranche, the dull one is Emry Farwood, and the mutt here is Rosalind. The only reason your ever-so-Thorny friend over there is shaking in his panties is because him and his Soul Suckers Club regularly have their meetings in civilian sectors and kidnap passers-by for more souls. That's a direct violation of Precept 8905.818-Slash-L, and so we've had to waste a whole load of his buddies."

She waved, cheerfully, even as her head fell off her neck and hit the ground with a melon-like thump.

"Dammit." Phe's disembodied head growled as her arms felt around her shoulders. "Rosie, fetch."

Grumbling, the were-human picked up Pherelith's head and replaced it on her shoulders, where the flesh seemed to mend back into place. Noticing Sae's clothing and the Asian nationality of most of those gathered, her ears perked up.

"Hey, are you guys from Tokyo?" Rosie asked, tail wagging.

[ QUOTE ]



Essex

My only real complaint (and it's not much of one) is using the Megaman X terms for the characters. That just throws me a bit and makes me suddenly think of side scrolling games, sweet, sweet, sweet, side scrolling games... I need to go play some now...


[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good point. D: The problem is, Essex originated in a Megaman X RP, so I'm not sure what other terms to use.

Any suggestions? I'm open. :P

((*rubs hands together* ...I may be able to coax my fiance in here to play Emry for a little while. He'd only be a temp player, but he'd be around while some of the others are out. :P Mwahahaha.))

Toshio glanced at the Circle Mage. He still needed the mage's help to get back and restore Natsuki's soul. He glanced at the 'Dread Trio.' The dog girl was looking hungrily at the mage, seemingly licking her chops as she observed him. The man seemed calm but dangerous, and the one with detachable limbs was frighteningly thin.

Standing, the demonic man moved over to the Circle mage's table, flapping his wings once, sharply, to air them out for a moment. He didn't know who these people were, but he wouldn't let them stand between him and his goal.

"Calm yourself." Emry's voice cut through the awkward silence towards the Archmage. "We got what we came for. The Side isn't under the same restrictions as the human realm. There's no reason for us to arrest you."

Sipping the dark red liquid, his matching red eyes never left the mage's form.

"Unless you're running."

Pherelith picked up her arm and shrugged. "We ain't got time anyway. There's [censored] going down in Tokyo that we've been asked to look into."

Rosalind nodded, perking again. "I can't wait! I wanna go, I've never been to Japan!! I learned the language on the West Coast and I really wanna practice but I've never been so I've never had the opportunity to-"

"...Quiet." Emry said, the pistol lazily aimed at the were-human's forehead. His gaze turned to ZeRO the next moment, emotionless and cold.

"...What authority do you have over us? None here. We'll identify ourselves if the need arises." he murmured.

Phe chuckled crazily, her dilated eyes still looking upon the Archmage. "They sure as hell know who we are."

Toshio merely looked up at the door as it was pushed in.

A man stepped through, his eyes cold and clear. A blood-red jacket rested on his shoulders and trailed to the floor, the ends of his snow-white hair brushing against the high collar. He was just twirling a pistol into his pocket.

Following after were a pair of girls, one lanky and thin with jagged, predatorial teeth and one short and sprightly with black, fuzzy canine ears and a black-and-white shaggy tail.

"Pherelith! Gimme!!" the dog-girl wailed. "You always hog the candy and you SAID I could have some if we managed to -"

"Hands off, mutt!" Pherelith snarled. "These are my Tootsie rolls! Down! Stay! Heel! Emry, tell her to step off, will ya?"

"They aren't good for you, Rosalind." Emry intoned, taking a seat at a table. He nodded to Alex, who seemed to know him as well, and accepted a tall glass of thick red liquid.

"Awh, jeez." Rosie pouted, sitting as well. "It ain't fair, I tell ya."

"Ha-ha." Pherelith jeered, munching on some of the candy. The next minute, the sound of tearing could be heard as her left arm fell to the ground with a thump. The hand twitched and tried to push itself up as the zombie-girl glanced down at it. Feeling the stares of, Toshio at the very least, she glanced up at the group.

"What? The duct tape only holds for so damn long."

Emry didn't pay attention, though. His eyes were cooly resting upon the Circle mages. The tree spirit made not a move...but just....coldly regarded them.

Rosalind noticed them the next moment. Ears perking as she looked between Emry and the mages, she waved her hand dismissively with a grin. "Oh! Don't worry, don't worry. We aren't here for you. Carry on."

((Gah, I'm so stupid. <_<

I'll actually be out most of the weekend too. Though...

Hrm. I may be able to rustle up another player for you.))

((OOC: Hehehe. Signed, Sealed, Delivered.))

A sudden commotion was heard outside.

A feral snarling, and the sound of gunshots.

A vicious cackling of a young girl.

The sickening thump of disembodied flesh hitting the ground.

"By the authority of the Dread Trio, you have been placed under arrest." a calm male voice sounded through an open window. "Serve your sentence."

A gunshot accompanied by a blinding flash of light.

Silence.

"Hey, hey, buddy, when it comes to drinking, I'm a professional." Toshio grinned at Alex, draining his glass. When Allen got up to go, the ex-Tsoo stood to follow, sauntering after.

"The way I see it..." he said, glancing around, "Is we don't have a lot of time to decide, either. The demons seemed to be gathering forces more than usual, so it looks like we might have a real calculated strike on our hands if we delay much longer."

The contigent of eyes seemed to coagulate together into one huge, red eye, wreathed in flame for a split second. It blinked...and then was gone.

"....[censored]." Toshio reached for another drink.

Toshio grunted, glaring at the girl as he held his head again. "Bakana chibi jan...! Butsu koto'o suruna- zo!!" ((You're a stupid twerp. Stop hitting me!)) he snarled, his Yokohama accent getting the better of him momentarily. Getting to his feet, he shook his head a little, looking around at the others.

Cracking his knuckles, a frown deepened on his face.

"..Now might be a good time to be quiet." he muttered.

Red eyes had rested on the group. None of them looked friendly.

The demonic man comically gripped his head, tossing a glowering stare Chihaya's way.

"Itte- zo! Che! Kono mendokuse- na chibi..." he muttered. ((That hurt! Damn! This pain in the neck little runt...!))

"...And this is another reason why I drink." Toshio muttered after Chihaya wrapped up her explanation.

Toshio shrugged.

"Whatever." he said. "Long as we paste some demons and I get what I came for, I don't care what we do."

Toshio dusted off his gi a little, glancing around the bar.

"Depends on which religion you follow - Shinto or Buddhism. If you're Shinto, like me, almost anything can be deified. The bottom line is the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, though, who the Emporer is descended from."

The now-demonic man shrugged, leaning back against a support beam.

"Other than that, there are countless gods and goddesses. Spirits of nature, ancestors, objects, war heroes, nearly anything that is worthy of acclaim. It's why our word for god, kami, can mean either 'deity' or 'spirit.' "

((*'The More You Know' star flies by* D: ))

((5'0" isn't that short! D: *RL height* ;_; ))

Toshio blinked at Jay, and grinned. He was Asian and he was even taller than this guy.

"Eh, you ain't that short. And as for me, I got bit by that demon that was wasting through your buddies. Pisses me off, because I was really layin' into him, and then he gets off this cheap shot and I gotta live with a Hot Topic makeover from now on."

He flapped the wings out behind him with a neutral shrug.

"These'll come in handy, though."

((Holy crap, we're in Nightside!

And isn't it 'sisters of the immaculate chainsaw'? ))