Rebel_Scum

((He's busy with work stuff, apparently he got to go to E3))

"Ok then", Alyssa replied, not really understanding most of what the reptilian was saying but getting the general idea that it was meant to stop the mental assault that was causing her headache. "Wait, will I still be able to control my plants with this thing on? I'm told that relies on some kind of subconscious psychic stuff. Actually nevermind, probably easier to find out for myself."

Rolling off the branch she dropped to the ground, crouching to absorb the impact before standing back up and walking over to a patch of clear ground. Extending a hand towards it she concentrated like she usually did, and the ground moved as a small vine sprouted exactly where she'd intended it to. It continued to grow, eventually forming into the familiar form of her pet Flytrap. Detaching itself from the ground it waddled over to her and sat happily waiting for something to do. "Right, guess it does work then", she commented, smoothing the ground back down where she'd disturbed it before walking back over to the other two. "So, shall we go find this thing then?"

((I'm still here too, waiting for Devious to tell what this shield thing is exactly so I can decide what Alyssa's reaction to it would be))

[ QUOTE ]
"Now, I'm going to need you to hold perfectly still." the Khelari told Alyssa as he held the device's blue lens to her eyes, reaching to hold her forehead motionless with his free hand, "I'm gonna implant you with a temporary mono shield. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing. I speak from experience..."

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"A what?" Alyssa truly had no idea what that was, but for some reason she trusted the reptilian enough to let him do it without any further explanation. That in itself was strange, considering the last time someone injected her with something she'd turned green and sprouted leaves.

((So what exactly is this thing and what would be the expected reaction to it?))

Alyssa continued following behind Danny and Acid, not particularly caring or even noticing where they were going until they got there. The sight of the arboretum however shocked her befuddled mind back into some semblance of wakefulness and she looked around at the trees. "Man, I should have explored the boat more thoroughly, I didn't even know this was here." Rising off the ground with a small gust of wind she flew around inspecting the greenery. Most of it she didn't recognise, having never been out of Paragon until this cruise, but it was obvious they were well cared for. Either that or they were the kind of thing that didn't need much care, having not seen them before she didn't know. Settling on a lower branch of one of the bigger trees she sat there leaning against the trunk while she waited for the others to finish whatever they'd come here for.

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"If'n we've got crazy paramilitary superspy types runnin' about, I'm nae thinkin' foggin' her head 's th'best idea, e'en if it does dull th'pain..." his voice trailed off as Acid worked.

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"Why not? Not like it isn't already fogged to hell and back by alcohol and this bloody headache", Alyssa replied. Looking at what Acid was building all she saw was a jumble of parts, not unsurprisingly she wasn't much into technology.

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As they spoke, however, Danny and Alyssa might very well have noticed that they weren't heading toward the cabins. Instead, he seemed to be taking them along the center of the ship. Up yes, but not to the periphery, where one would have expected his domicile to be...

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Alyssa noticed no such thing, she wasn't paying attention to where they were going and the ship was still a maze to her even on the best of days.

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"Miss, if ye're o' a psychic nature at all, th'infirmary willnae be o' much help to ye. 'Tis a device o' some sort that is muckin' up the psychic plane summat fierce."

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Though Alyssa didn't have any psychic powers at all, what she did have as a result of being infected by the Devouring Earth was the psychic connection that links the Hamidon with all of his creations. Suppressed by her mutation, yes, but still there all the same.

"Yeah, I thought it might not be a normal headache. Too bloody painful for that. Alright I'm coming with you and don't worry, for anything thats not designed to be explosive in the first place blow it up usually works well enough."

Alyssa looked up at Acid mumbling something about 'sorry' and 'wasn't looking where I was going'. Moving around the reptilian she continued on her way down the hall, but stopped and turned around to ask, "Either of you know where the infirmary is? Was looking for something to help with this bloody headache."

In her room Alyssa stirred, then rolled over shouting "Would you shut it already, some of us are trying to sleep!" Of course then she realised that there was no one else in the room. "Great, hearing voices... in my sleep. Yeah, that's probably not good." She looked around at the plants, though she often talked to them they never answered, at least not in any language she could hear... did they?

She was however distracted from her musings by a surge of pain in her head, the same headache she'd had when she fell asleep returning in full force. This wasn't right, she thought to herself. It was too strong to be a normal headache and it couldn't be the drinks, she never got hangovers. Not since the accident, even that time she drank herself nearly into a coma she didn't get a hangover the next morning. No, this must be something different.

Getting up off the bed she made sure she was still dressed before leaving the room in search of an infirmary, ending up wandering more or less aimlessly through the halls since she had no idea of where the infirmary was on this ship. With her mind fogged by pain and what remained of the alcohol she'd drunk earlier, she failed to realise that her seemingly aimless wanderings were in fact taking her somewhere - towards the resonator that was causing her headache. The same fog kept her from noticing the person ahead of her until she ran into him. Alerted by the collision she looked up to apologise, but no words came as she noticed that he wasn't human.

((Knock knock Devious, If it's not obvious which one she ran into it's the one that's talking to Danny ))

Fortunately Alyssa's room wasn't too far from where she'd crashed, so she managed to get there before she fell unconscious again. After fumbling in her pocket for the key she went in, locking the door again behind her.

Since she obviously hadn't been allowed to bring the Perez Park forests that she loved so much with her on the cruise, she'd settled for the next best thing. Literally every flat surface in the room held potted plants of varying sizes, the majority of which were twisted into fanciful shapes which weren't and couldn't possibly be natural. Clearly Alyssa had been extremely bored at some point. Aside from the plants the room was pretty normal, the same standard furniture as came in all rooms of its type.

Alyssa didn't even bother getting changed. She just flopped down on the bed, asleep before she even landed.

((This thread has way too many concurrent storylines, I can't keep track of them all ))

((Didn't everyone else that was in said cage leave already?

E: Nevermind.))

[ QUOTE ]
EVERYONE on the ship who wasn't a God among mere Mortals would feel a strange feeling.

One of those deep feelings, that left you with a bit of a headache. The feeling was slight enough that most people didn't even mention it.

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The device's effects on their own wouldn't have done anything except give her a headache, but Alyssa's mind was already so addled by the large amounts of alcohol she'd consumed that the extra little bit from the device was enough to finally push her over the edge and into unconsciousness. Since she was still flying along a corridor at about head height and going at a fairly decent speed, this was a more serious problem than one might think. Her already unstable flightpath suddenly became nonexistent as she fell to the ground, bouncing twice before impacting hard on the wall at the end of the hall.

Shocked back awake from the sudden stop she struggled back to her feet and stalked off in the direction of her room, muttering angrily under her breath.

[ QUOTE ]
"Well then." he remarked dryly, shrugging to Alyssa, "Wanna go up on deck and see if there's anyone around to talk to without picking a fight...?"

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Alyssa didn't answer right away. She was busy trying to figure out exactly how Henteko and Jess avoided hitting each other - he hadn't moved and her path hadn't altered in the slightest that she could perceive, so since she had been on track to hit him she should have, shouldn't she? Alyssa had seen metas do some strange things during her time in Paragon, but this ranked right up there with the most implausible things she'd ever seen happen.

Finally realising he was talking to her she replied, "Yeah sure why not. No point in being drunk if you can't go make an [censored] of yourself in public." She drained what was left of her drink and put the empty glass down on the bar before getting up and walking calmly out the door, leaving Jess where she fell. Looking each way down the corridor outside she decided, why walk when she could fly? Rising into the air she took off in a decidedly unstable flightpath down the hall, occasionally bouncing off the walls, roof, and the odd startled tourist.

((Also Devious do you have two characters named Acid or am I misreading something?))

[ QUOTE ]
"Could be." he told Alyssa, figuring she was still together enough to make sense of things, "I'm not really clear on how the whole thing works. All I know is that it does. So...if she passes out, what're we gonna do with her...?"

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"Meh, just leave her there. Getting trampled a bit might make her drink a bit less next time and she's invulnerable anyway so it's not like it will hurt that much." Hero or not, Alyssa didn't care enough to drag an unconscious drunk all the way back to her room. Especially when she didn't know where said room was, could be at the other end of the boat for all she knew.

"So, you don't even want to know how it works?", she continued. "If it was me I'd want to know, but then Mum always did say I was too curious for my own good."

[ QUOTE ]
At this point, he didn't really care much about the antics of Jess or what she might now. It had nothing to do with his job, and all her commotion about the topics of nudity and sex was just strange American attitude as far as he was concerned - another reason he enjoyed Japan so much. Many people there just regarded talking about these things openly as perfectly acceptable...

[/ QUOTE ]

Alyssa was similarly unconcerned. She considered pushing Jess off her stool for laughs, but decided not to as she drained what was left of her drink and ordered another one. She too was starting to feel a bit plastered, but that'd never stopped her before. Listening to Henteko's explanation she replied, "Wait, so now he's an illusional dragon?", in a slightly slurred voice.

[ QUOTE ]
"In that case, you may wish to head over to the arena." Henteko advised Jess, "Some people are messing with an invincible ninja over there. Of course, they're not going to win, but they still try."

"Was what necessary?" he genuinely inquired of Alyssa, "Oh, the bow? Yes, actually. It is tradition. Tradition is good...well, at least so I am told."

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"Yeah I was going to suggest the arena as well, seems to be the place if you want a fight. And why aren't they going to win? I've seen stronger things than a ninja get the crap beaten out of them." She laughed, remembering taking out half of Striga while teaming with one very enthusiastic scrapper. Turning back to Henteko she added, "No, I was meaning him," gesturing to the collapsed tourist. "Or did someone else do that and I only thought it was you?"

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"And why would you want to meet a dragon?" he wanted to know as he sat down again, "Provided they exist in the first place. I know, Paragon City, but most of those are just humans with mutations."

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"Ever been to Portal Corp? Everything exists somewhere in the multiverse, if not in this dimension then in some other. As for why, like I said just so I can say I have."

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"I meant metaphorically." Henteko remarked with a shifty glance to Alyssa, wondering if the drink had gotten to her as he picked up the glass brought for him, "As in will light a fire under your rear if you aren't doing everything correctly to the last minute detail."

[/ QUOTE ]
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"Nice! This is way better than that junk the old coot makes me down! Nastiest garbage ever, I tell you."

"Oh right, how rude of me." he stood again and curled the fingers of his right hand about the fist his left had become, both held close to his chest as he performed a curt bow, "Kaze Henteko. A pleasure to meet you."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Aww, and here was me hoping I'd get to meet a real life dragon, just so I could say I have. Still, says something about how long I've been in Paragon when I start jumping to far-fetched conclusions like that."

She raised an eyebrow at his downing the entire drink without noticeable effect and again at the bow, but dismissed it as just personal quirks. "Alyssa Kelly. And the pleasure's mine I'm sure", she returned his introduction.

"Was that really necessary?", she asked as the drunk tourist collapsed from the thrown glass.

[ QUOTE ]
“Actually, yes I have…” She looks a bit misty before ordering another Naiad brew, “Nemesis tried to fix me up but got bored and when Crey found me they tried to ‘finish their antiquated work’…lets just say that Crey is more barbaric than Nemesis will ever be.”

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"Oh, sorry. So thats how you became invulnerable I take it." Draining the glass Alyssa gestured to the bartender for another of the same before continuing. "And yeah I've heard bad things about Crey, though I've never gone against them myself."

[ QUOTE ]
“now you’re getting it! Down a few more and then we can hit the bar over sternside for to pick another fight”

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"I dunno, I was perfectly fine getting drunk right here. And usually I don't pick fights, thought I do seem to attract them sometimes." An empty can thrown by a drunk tourist bounced off the back of her head, giving proof to her theory. "See what I mean?"

[ QUOTE ]
“That my new friend is the Naiad’s special brew. Extra strong with a hint of the siren’s charm” She asks for one two and downs half the glass. “Even as an invulnerable, this stuff still burns on the way down” She tosses her head back laughing and then turns to Hetenko. “Hey, Jug boy, Have one it’s on me!” She slams her hand on the bar asking for another one for Hetenko. She looks back over to Alyssa, “so are you one a those hero types or did you blow in from the isles?”

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"I think I might just drink it a little slower. Could have warned me that it'd blow my head off", Alyssa commented. "And yeah I'm a hero, not by choice though. Turns out after the Devouring Earth kidnapped me and accidentally gave me superpowers along with the odd look it wasn't possible to get a job doing anything else. Incidentally, have you ever had the experience of having your DNA forcibly rewritten while you're still conscious to experience it? Try to avoid it if you haven't, it's not pleasant."

She turned to Henteko. "Wait, did you say your boss is a dragon? Man, this world gets stranger every bloody day." Turning back to the bar she took another gulp of her drink, wincing as it burned it's way down but managing to not cough this time.

[ QUOTE ]
“Invul, but who cares, finally someone interesting!” The woman’s demeanor becomes a bit less threatening and she leans back over the bar again, “listen, I work on this crate and I’ve been hitting all the bars and picking fights for fun waiting for someone to just stand their ground and you are the first one to brush me off like that! Usually they just make excuses after my face shatters their fist.” She slides Alyssa a tall foamy pint, “this is the boats special draft, and it’s on me.” The woman ruffles her hair a bit. “Damn it was getting boring…sorry about the plant jokes, I actually like your hair and I hope I didn’t hurt your hand”

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Alyssa raised an eyebrow at the woman's sudden change in personality. "Dunno what makes you think I'm going to talk to you after that even with you being all nice now. Still, at least you're not one of those deluded 'destined one' types like I was starting to think." At the sight of free booze however she rapidly changed her mind. "This though... This might get me to hang around for a bit. And don't worry about the hand, its nothing that won't grow back", she commented, holding up her hand (The only damage to which appeared to be a number of broken leaves) before raising the glass and downing a third of it in one gulp. She sat for a moment considering the taste, then her eyes widened. Had she been in a cartoon her face would have gone red and steam shot out of her ears, but here in real life all she did was cough and splutter a lot. "Dang! What's in that stuff?"

[ QUOTE ]
“You think I’d pick fights with metas in bars without a little insurance do you?” wiping a little lip gloss from the corner of her mouth, “you must be so embarrassed right now.” She stands her ground.

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Alyssa might have been intimidated, but if she was she didn't show it. Being a hero in Paragon meant she was used to standing up to people who were bigger and meaner than her. "Of course, everyone on this boat is a bloody meta. Why was I not expecting that?" Too bad the arena's already taken, she thought to herself. We could have had a real fight. "So what are you then? Invulnerable, energy shields, what?", she asked as she gestured to the bartender to bring her another beer.

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“well, look at that mulchy, you have scrawny gardener friend to defend your honor…how sweet!” She picks up one of the jugs and tosses it towards the back of Hetenko’s head lazily. “Drink up sweetie”

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"You just don't know when to quit do you?", Alyssa snapped angrily. "And he's not a friend, I've never even seen him before." Despite that, she still summoned up a breeze to push the flying jug slightly off course so it wouldn't hit him. Turning back to the bar she downed the rest of her beer before speaking again. "Besides, I can defend my own honor well enough", she added before punching the other woman solidly in the face, a couple of the spikey leaves on her hands and forearms breaking off and lodging themselves in the other's hair.

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Determined to amuse herself further at Alyssa’s expense the woman looks towards the bartender, “Hey, you got any water back there? I think I’m making her wilt.” The woman smiles through yet another sip of her drink.

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"Don't you have anything better to do than sit here annoying me?", Alyssa asked in an exasperated tone. Summoning up that gust of wind was looking more and more appealing, and she was almost drunk enough to do it now.

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“I’m not an expert but, won’t too much beer make it wilt!” The woman chokes on her drink a bit as a laugh escapes her suddenly.

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"Yeah, you're not. So shut the hell up and let me get drunk in peace." Accepting her third drink from the bartender she sat there and this time drank it a bit slower, not really wanting to stay there but not having anything more interesting to do at that point in time.

[ QUOTE ]
As she gets closer to the bar a very tall woman with flowing blond hair and a strong Amazon-like figure watches her out of the corner of her eye as she walks up to the counter. The woman is bent over the counter a bit so her height is not immediately apparent. She says with a devilish smirk, “Nice foliage” remarking at Alyssa’s head, ”Do you use conditioner or turf builder on it” she giggles a little as she sips her whiskey on ice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gesturing to the bartender for another beer, Alyssa turned and directed an evil glare worthy of the most despicable evil mastermind at the woman. Seven years and comments like that still irritated her, you'd think she would have gotten over it by now but no. "Neither, it just grows there", she replied in an obviously annoyed voice before taking her beer. downing it all almost in one gulp and motioning to the bartender again to bring her another one. She was tempted to blow the other woman off her seat with a strong gust of wind but decided she was still not drunk enough to risk getting thrown out.

((Those sketches are pretty awesome I think.

Also I'm still here, waiting for something to happen in the arena fight before I post again))