Claire gave Mason a quizzical look. She nodded along with what he said, though the look on her face suggested she was not entirely convinced. "I guess there is always a reason..."
Elliot fidgeted when Bridgette tussled his hair but did not look necessarily displeased. He crossed his arms when Nathan responded to him. "Your nose doesn't look broken to me," he said, leaning in toward the boy. "Maybe if one of these houses has some proper medical supplies, I can fix you up. As it is, all of us are pretty lacking right now."
He exhaled into a sigh. "I'm gonna need you to promise me something, Nathan..."
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a white-haired boy appeared next to Lucifer, his arms crossed.
"Hey."
He then turned to Blake and snatched the newspaper from him before he could reach it.
"
"You seriously read these? Nowadays, half of it's boring interest pieces and the other half is about the world ending. Grim stuff, huh?"
Billy let out a choked sound and his eyes went far too wide. "T-Tommy?" he stammered. "Don't tell me this is--"
"Billy, are you suddenly popular and no one told me? That's wild. I'm really happy for you. Seriously." He looked then to Jianyu and gave her a wink. "You're definitely new around here."
Claire just rolled her eyes. "Ugh."
@Takumi @mintyy @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Indigo Al @York @Capri @Crunch @Yun Lee @Lucky @Neko Shogun @Sark @Minerva @Space_Candy @Alex Azure @Krieg @Ver @Josh @Kaykay
Cullen quickly made himself at home by lounging in one of the living room chairs. Claire was a bit more cautious, choosing to look around the living room to see if she could find anything off.
Elliot found the wound melding to be concerning, but at least it made things a bit easier. He took hold of Nathan's forearm and led him toward the stairs leading to the second floor. "Let's find you a bathroom to get you cleaned up," he said, hoping no one would stop him.
"It's going to take far more than simply telling her this isn't real," Billy said quietly in response to Biscuit. His eyes darted toward the door he figured was the garage, having no idea who the 'stepfather' could be. "I don't know if it's just me, but I have no access to my powers now. I thought I was just exhausted at first, but it's clear to me now I'm just cut off."
"What's with all the whispering?" Tommy asked, interrupting the conversation. He looked almost annoyed.
@Takumi @mintyy @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Indigo Al @York @Capri @Crunch @Yun Lee @Lucky @Neko Shogun @Sark @Minerva @Space_Candy @Alex Azure @Krieg @Ver @Josh @Kaykay
❝ Nah, no can do with that... ❞ Blake shook his head on the whole frustrated "suggestion" to get lost as he went through the motions, swapping his holographic cannon with a hardlight projected scythe. He was prepared to defend himself against the copy targeting him, but he didn't need to once the pressure on Larxene was piling up fast. So he wasn't going to pass up on this opportunity, the ravenette rushing to deliver a wide scythe swing right at Larxene!
@Ver @Atomic Knight @York @Capri @Alex Azure @Takumi @Jeremi @Lucky @Josh @Everyone
The furry of blows from Biscuit, Blake, Gentaro, and Lucifer finished Larxene off, sapping her of her strength and forcing her to collapse to the ground in a heap. Much like Bane, her death did not bring any fanfare. Larxene had simply been removed of all her strength.
As she took her last breath and slowly started to fade away, Claire awoke dreamily from her slumber. She groaned and looked up to find Billy holding out a hand to her. She took it eagerly and began to to stand up to her feet, though her whole body began to transform as she did so.
"Whoa," Billy exclaimed, taking a step back from the woman. He found it a bit weird to see a 19-year-old turn rapidly into herself in her mid-30s.
"So, what you guys said is true, huh?" Claire said. She pulled out her handgun, checked the safety, and turned to Larxene to see the last of the woman disappear.
"Claire!" Sherry yelled, squirming out of Touma's grasp to run up to the woman and give her a hug around her waist. Claire smiled and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment and Billy could see a glistening in Claire's eyes.
The woman shook her head and blinked away her tears. "Is she... you know...?"
It took Billy only a moment to gather that she was asking if the little girl was real. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I don't think we can take her with us either way." He gestured to where Larxene's body once was. "With the loop's guardian gone and you now aware, it's breaking down. With that, I can gather enough energy to get us out of here."
"It wasn't real. Not entirely. It's your past, isn't it? So that girl's already safe and sound. Err... will be. Once we finish our own business," Touma explained while scratching his head, referring to Sherry as he spoke to Claire, also a bit surprised by seeing her suddenly turn much older, a possible result of her body catching up to her mind once it broke free of the loop.
Claire slowly nodded. Her shoulders shuddered and she knelt down to embrace Sherry fully. Billy turned away from them and began to chant.
"It's time for us to go. It's time for us to go."
Everything became white.
***
Chapter Three
"Witch Hex Door"
If Raccoon City had been hell on Earth, this place was the complete opposite.
White picket fences were sprawled out as far as the eye could see with picturesque houses to match. A young boy on his bike ringed his bell as he tossed a news paper next to the door of the nearest house the group were standing by. Anyone walking past had a friendly smile on their face giving the group a friendly wave as they passed by. Everything just seemed so… perfect.
"This one is really giving me bad vibes," Billy said, sighing from exhaustion.
Elliot turned to Nathan, a look of concern on his face. "How are you feeling? Are you hurt?"
Claire looked around, feeling a bit at a loss. "How do these work exactly...?"
"It's a long story," Touma sheepishly responded to Claire, though it seemed like they had all the time in the world, relatively speaking. Looking around, it was funny how -- in concurrence with Billy -- the idealistic, green pastures only served to unnerve Touma more than the decrepit building they were just in before. If nothing else, it reminded him of the utopia that Othinus had once created when she had become the ultimate power of the multiverse, and even there, not everything was entirely as it seemed.
With a shaky sigh, the boy crossed his arms, before looking to Billy. "This place ring any bells to you? Any ideas on where we should look around?"
"Not exactly," Billy said, though he could not shake that something about this place was scratching at something at the back of his mind. A memory he could not quite place was trying to jump out at him, but he just couldn't reach it. He looked around at the group and found himself grimacing at a sour development.
"We're missing someone," he said.
Try as anyone might, the helmeted knight who had been among the group had disappeared.
"Are you fucking serious?" Cullen blurt out, looking angrily at Billy. "You can just, what, forget to bring one of us?"
Billy raised his hands in defense. "No! I didn't forget anyone! Or at least I don't think so! This isn't exactly easy, you know. I..." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Whether something went wrong or Revan did something, I don't know. But I'm sorry either way. This mission is incredibly dangerous."
Claire let out a long sigh. "Why can't the multiverse just leave me alone?" she grumbled under her breath.
Character List
@Takumi as Azura [Fire Emblem]
@mintyy as Azure Kite [.hack]
@Jeremi as Biscuit Krueger [Hunter x Hunter]
@Gummi Bunnies as Blake Dormi [OC]
@Josh as Clark Kent [Smallville]
@Atomic Knight as Cullen Bloodstone [Marvel Comics]
@Indigo Al as Doctor Langa [OC]
@York as Emily Hayes [Amulet]
@Capri as Gentaro Kisaragi [Kamen Rider]
@Crunch as Giorno Giovanna [JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]
@Yun Lee as Jianyu [Street Fighter]
@Lucky as Lucifer Morningstar [Lucifer]
@Alex Azure as Mason Moretti [OC]
@Kaykay as Mebuki Kusunoki [Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero]
@Space_Candy as Nathan Prescott [Life is Strange]
@Neko Shogun as Senna [Bleach]
@Krieg as Spike Spiegel [Cowboy Bebop]
@Sark as Thaal Sinestro [DC Comics]
@Minerva as Triss Merigold [The Witcher]
@Ver as Touma Kamijou [A Certain Magical Index]
Turning his attention away from the scene going on at the moment, Elliot studied Nathan with concern. "Promise me you will stop blindly running into danger."
As Billy, he was a bit at a loss for words. He shook his head carefully. "Tommy is... my sort-of, er--"
"We're twins," Tommy interrupted with a bit of a smirk. He only gave a shrug in response to Jianyu. "But uh, you guys do realize you all look like you've been in some kind of fight? Mind telling me what's going on, Billy?"
Billy gave Gentaro a concerned look. "It's a long story. A long, boring one."
"Yeah?" Tommy crossed his arms. "Are you sure about that? I don't know exactly what you're up to... It's seriously out of character for you to be the troublemaker here."
Billy gave Tommy a measured look. "Tommy, is... mom here?"
Tommy shrugged casually once again. "If you're looking for a ride to the hospital, I think you guys are out of luck."
Elliot, feeling that this conversation did not seem entirely right, sought out Emily in the crowd. "Emily, you have healing magic, don't you?"
@Capri @Space_Candy @Gummi Bunnies @Lucky @Yun Lee @York @Jeremi
Cullen quickly made himself at home by lounging in one of the living room chairs. Claire was a bit more cautious, choosing to look around the living room to see if she could find anything off.
Elliot found the wound melding to be concerning, but at least it made things a bit easier. He took hold of Nathan's forearm and led him toward the stairs leading to the second floor. "Let's find you a bathroom to get you cleaned up," he said, hoping no one would stop him.
"It's going to take far more than simply telling her this isn't real," Billy said quietly in response to Biscuit. His eyes darted toward the door he figured was the garage, having no idea who the 'stepfather' could be. "I don't know if it's just me, but I have no access to my powers now. I thought I was just exhausted at first, but it's clear to me now I'm just cut off."
"What's with all the whispering?" Tommy asked, interrupting the conversation. He looked almost annoyed.
@Takumi @mintyy @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies @Indigo Al @York @Capri @Crunch @Yun Lee @Lucky @Neko Shogun @Sark @Minerva @Space_Candy @Alex Azure @Krieg @Ver @Josh @Kaykay
❝ Ah, don't mind us. Just some idle chatter about the latest book from where I come from, trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum and such. ❞ Blake waved his hand dismissively once Tommy grew suspicious about their whispering. It was the quickest response he could muster up from the top of his head. Much like his life depended on it, because something was seriously unnerving about this loop's setting. If he mysteriously had his body's tired state being undone like that, it only drove that uncertainty through the roof.
Well, it wouldn't be wise to start following some of the people in the group wandering the house. So he decided to stick to the living room, and he came to the same idea that Claire had: looking through the living room for something off.
❝ Let's see... how to pass some time around here... ❞ He mumbled as his eyes darted around for something of interest in the living room.
@Takumi @mintyy @Jeremi @Atomic Knight @Indigo Al @York @Capri @Crunch @Yun Lee @Lucky @Neko Shogun @Sark @Minerva @Space_Candy @Alex Azure @Krieg @Ver @Josh @Kaykay