The Mage left the group to sit and converse with a couple of Spectral Daemon Lords and a Ruin Mage.
((Holy crap, we're in Nightside!
And isn't it 'sisters of the immaculate chainsaw'? 
))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Cool, someone else still reads books! I don't feel so old-fashioned now. And yeah, but I don't know what's copyrighted in there or not, so I just stole the general concept of a spirit world. I don't feel like getting sued. 
But if you know the story, feel free to add to it. I've been trying to pass guidance to you guys for some time now. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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(OOC: Yeah if i ever rewrite and publish this story i'm prolly altering this scene a bit 0_o 
)
Chihaya noticed the nuns playing cards over...aw come on. Chihaya valued her life but this was just too much.
She tip toed over to the werewolves and whispered into one of their ears.
"You know those tears are fake right?" she whispered.
She probably knew this would start a bar fight, but she couldn't stand people placing so much value on what was probably just a flask of holy water...and that would probably be pushing it.
The barkeeper looked like he had seen a ghost. Well, he was terrified at least, and the entire bar suddenly went quiet.
"Look, if you value your soul or ANYTHING, you'll be careful mentioning that name 'round here. See, this guy is...well he's POWERFUL to say the least. Unlike this place or Hell, his realm is completely under his control. I heard he had some conflict with the Eyes of the One, and if you're powerful enough to do what he did to the Eyes, well..." the barkeep gulped, "I guess Earth had a good run..."
As he watched Allen enter the door in the alleyway and most of the others follow him, Jay sighed to himself. Apparently this world wasn't always going to size itself for his convenience. However, this was an excellent time to test out one of his experimental subsystems.
Flicking up a button cap with a picture of a helmet on it and pressing the button under it, Laserblade started to shake and groan. A bright light oozed from its joints and soon the mecha was subsumed by a nova of light that started shrinking. After a few seconds the light faded away and revealed an armor suited figure painted in Laserblade's colors. A pair of thin boxes were folded out of the way on his back while his left hand ended in an open muzzle for his laser cannon. The hilt of his energy sword rested on one, slightly blocky hip and his right hand was currently held up in front of his wrap-around visor.
"Cool, it worked," Jay said and then looked up at Toshio. "And I just remembered why I hate getting out of Laserblade, I'm so damn short."
And he was, Jay was about five foot nothing and resented every inch of it. Every other genius was tall, but was he? No, he was shorter than just about every other person he ever saw.
"So what happened to you?" Jay asked Toshio as he started walking toward the alleyway door which was still open.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((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."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
(OOC: Still waiting for DeviousMe to react before I can move on...since he's basically leading the way here)
((Oh, my bad ))
Allen's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?" he said coldly to whatever was standing in front of him. He knew it wasn't Alex. Alex would never say something like that. First of all, he'd never show he was scared. Second, he'd not mention ANYTHING that could possibly drive out cusomers - it was bad for business. And Alex HATED what was bad for business.
"What do you mean?" the startled bartender replied, "Don't you remember me? I'm Al..."
Allen snatched up the man by the throat and yanked him clean over the bar proper, pinning him to the floor. But before he could even say anything, whatever he held dissolved into a puddle of gelatinous orange goo.
"Not again!" a shout suddenly echoed from behind the bar, in a very tired-sounding and annoyed tone, "That's the third one this week!"
"Oh, hi, Alex." Allen smiled as he rose off the floor again, shaking the gel from his fingers, "Is it really you this time?"
"Yeah, yeah." he grumbled, looking at the mess on the floorboards. Somthing else to chalk up for the monthly cleaning, "Been trying to run the place 24/7 using copies with my personality. But I guess they're still retaining too much independent thought there."
"I'll say." Allen agreed, sitting back down on a stool, "You hear what I said?"
"Are you NUTS? I was sleeping - 'till you and your racket woke me up, anyway!"
"Then listen carefully..."
A few minutes went by, the two speaking in hushed whispers, so as not to alert any of the other customers.
"Sounds bad. And I'll agree with Number Seventeen there. This guy's a major player. I don't know of anyone that could stop him who'd be willing to - for the sake of humans, at least. And you know how the others are."
"Yeah...always too high and mighty to do anything until it's too late. You'd think they could smell trouble coming by now."
"Oh, they can. They just don't care. And I seriously doubt you'll be able to convince any of them to help you."
"This much is true...well, at least I've got a clue now."
Allen turned back to Sae and her companions, "I'm not too familiar with Japanese belief - but since your nation came under attack first, it's gotta have something to do with it. Tell me, who are the dieties of your people...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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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: ))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"In Japan, Shinto actually gives us the belief that everything can be holy or sacred. Similar to the Native Americans. I think we were attacked because of the strong conflict present in such a small area," Chihaya began explaining, "See, the average Japanese person recognizes and follows MANY different religious beliefs and holidays. We remember our dead like the buddhists, pray for good luck at Shinto shrines, and celebrate Christmas, even though the true meaning of the holiday is lost on most of us. The fact that the two most popular religions on Earth are recognized and given space to worship, in addition to a preexisting religion, may have created an instability. That, combined with our nation's excedingly high population density, created a rift that doesn't normally exist, sort of a spiritual fissure. As far as I know, Zan's demons don't follow any one religious belief. We have Oni fighting alongside what appear to be hellhounds, for instance. Not to mention Zan may also have been trying to invade Earth and kill Chiyoko at the exact same time, and since she happened to be in Tokyo..."
"Or maybe he just wanted to attack a place that had the highest population density and isolationistic tendencies. Which would be why he didn't attack New York, Beijing, Mexico City, or New Delhi. Japan is one of very few countries who are not permitted to have a standing army," Ryuji said.
"Or maybe it's just some combination of all those things," Sae added, "He's probably using Tokyo to set an example, and make his conquest easier. After all, he made it pretty clear to us that those unbelievably powerful demons were only mid-level."
"So it would seem..." Allen mumbled thoughtfully. Humanity had no idea what power it really had. But Zan sure was making ample use of it.
"Right then, first thing's first. We'll eventually have to take on Zanny on his own terms. That is, unless he decides to stop hiding and come out himself. For that, we'll need someone whose talent is control. Alex, any reports on the Mad Man lately?"
The bartender shook his head, "Zip. Mad's gone under. Maybe he finally went completely insane and cracked."
"Doubt it. But it's a possibility. So that means we'll have to track him down..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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"...Or we could just work on closing the portals in Tokyo, if we close enough of them, we'll probably draw him out," Ryuji said.
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."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Any of you mind explaining what the hell that you're talking about?" Jay said, exasperated.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Ah that's right! Mr. Mecha-chan wasn't in the portal with us!" Chihaya chirped.
(OOC: Do you want a synopsis of what happened in the portal or would you rather have a 'fade to black explanation'?)
((As long as it has a detailed description of my mage's bad-assery >_>)
The Mage was seen nodding vigorously at his fellow Thornsmen. This was the first positive thing he'd done since meeting the team...
OOC: A quick summary of the stuff that I wasn't around for, like the part about the evil big bad demon, and the rest can do a fade out thingie.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
(OOC: I'll explain it in OOC but have Chihaya explain it in character. There's certain...details I can't have one member of the team divulge at this time. Basically we decided to attack one of the portals with Chiyoko, the one who had predicted the Tokyo invasion and told the SDF, which prevented a massive slaughter and allowed for the shields to be erected. The attack was on the Ginza portal, the least protected of the portals throughout Tokyo. Inside, they found the portal's guardian, a giant gorilla-demon. After defeating the gorilla demon, they encountered the portal's anchor, a giant orb guarded by an illusionist. When the illusionist and orb were destroyed, Chiyoko manipulated the energies and created a portal to her world. It turned out Chiyoko is/was/will be the Eyes of the One, a being that exists in all dimensions at once. She can 'see' basically everything that isn't expressly hiding from her, and to hide from her you have to be equal or greater than her in power. She explained that Zanael stripped her of her powers and she was made mortal. All in an attempt to buy time to hide from her. He hid in such a way that it would consume Earth time searching for him, so his invasion could progress while the Eyes sought him. Afterwards we decided to follow Allen to the Side, a place roughly equivalant to the spirit world. All the while Zan has been watching from wherever/whenever he is.)
OOC: And you just told all this to Jay? O_o
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
(OOC: Well, take into account Chihaya's a blabbermouth)
"...And this is another reason why I drink." Toshio muttered after Chihaya wrapped up her explanation.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Chihaya stuck her tongue out at Toshio and bonked him on the head with her staff
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...!))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Chibi jaNAIYO!" Chihaya squealed, whacking him again. Chihaya was very sensitive about her height.
"Attention?" Allen chuckled, looking at the milling people and other things on the sidewalks, "Don't worry, the only attention we're likely to be getting is from Zanny's hitmen. The average Sider minds his own business if he doesn't want to die an exruciatingly painful death."
Just then, an alley appeared out of nowhere in the cunction between two rowhouses they were standing next to.
"Ah, it's here." Allen commented, satisfied, "I was afraid we were going to have to take another way around. Let's go."
The alley was choked with dirt, litter, trash, and dried blood. At the end sat a large steel door that seemed very out of place in the brick wall it sat in. Over the door hung a hand-painted sign - THE MORTICIAN'S COFFIN.
The Morician's Coffin was rumored to be one of the oldest bars in the Side, and had changed names a few times down the cenuries, so maybe it was. Certainly no one rememebred a time when it hadn't been there, including immortal beings. It sat at the end of a tucked-back alley that wasn't always there, and the sign above the door was the only indication of its existance. The Mortician's didn't advertise - either you knew where to go or you had no business there in the first place.
Allen knocked casually on the door, and a slit slid open like in a cheesy movie about prohibition, a gleaming pair of yellow eyes asking for the pasword.
"You know as well as I do there's never been a password!" Allen sneered at the eyes, and they sighed.
"Fine, fine...gotta ruin all my fun..."
The slit slid closed again and after much clicking, the door swung open. There was no one on the other side, and the slit didn't exist there either. The inside of the door was just one solid metal plate. The eyes were just a spell on the door itself, giving it the authority to turn away people it didn't like.
A set of large metal stairs creaked and clanged loudly as they walked down and into the dimly lit establishment, notifying everyone that new customers had arrived - which was exactly the point. The bar's present owner, Alex the Mortician (though nodody quite knew if he had named the bar after himself or vice versa) didn't like susprises one bit.
Standing behind the bar proper and weraing his trademark scowl that never semed to leave his face, Alex looked up for a moment from fakely cleaning a class, throwing a glance in Allen's direction.
They were friends - sort of. As close as someone could get in the Side, anyway. Alex grunted something and Allen nodded in return as he bade the others to follow.
The bar was full of the usual unusual suspects, tables and chairs filled with just about everything imaginable. A zombie was busily consuming six cigars at once, attempting to beat the old world record for chain smoking - it was said only the dead could set it, and there wasn't anyone to argue that.
The fumes were greedily absorbed by a pair of smoke ghosts dancing about the bar in a sort of waltz, sucking up the cloud of cigar smoke every time they passed the zombie's table.
A trio of nuns were playing poker for a flask of what was labeled to be angel's tears, and from the looks of their opponents, a duo of bulky (and this time real) werewolves, they were winning.
"Be careful with those guys." Allen whispered as he pointed to that table, "They're pretty dangerous, so try not to upset them."
If he was asked if he meant the werewolves, he would sternly decline. The nuns were the dangerous ones. They were Sisters of the Holy Chain Saw, and they had never hesitated to preach they belief by dismemberment to anyone or anything that came near them in ire, whether they wanted to hear it or not.
"Nice to see you again, Alex." Allen finally said as they approached the bar proper.
"Don't expect me to say the same." Alex grunted back, his eyes hidden under overly dark sunglasses, scowling as he always did, "You always bring trouble. And that's bad for business. What do you want?"
"Information. There's someone named Zan invading Japan - and from the looks of it, maybe other places too. Got any tips for us...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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