NationStates Jolt Archive

Sleeping soundly in his apartment, Afro Warrior Nabeshin dreamt vivid dreams. In his dreams, he relived his most glory filled moments, and the saddes parts of his life. Tonight, he relived the Massacure of F Prefecture, during the Great Puuchu War. It was the darkest moment of the war for ACROSS...

Enter Nabeshin's Dream...

How did everything go so wrong so fast? Nabeshin thought to himself, as he, Tetsuko, and Space Butler sought cover from the advancing Feather Bellied Puuchus. "Did you see that?! They got Tomyashi! Like it was nothing! Oh man! We're done for! Game over man, GAME OVER!"

http://www.natsukianime.co.uk/excel/characters/images/spacebutler.jpg
Space Butler seizes Nabeshin by the shoulders, giving him a good shaking. "Nabeshin! Get agrip on yourself! You're an Afro Warrior! Start acting like one!"

"We gotta move, there's more coming this way!" Tetsuko yelled out. The trio fled the scene of the half way destroyed skyscraper. Scrambling over debris and destroyed office equipment, the three warriors find a place to hide and regroup. "Those Feather Bellied Puuchus aren't like normal Puuchus. Their Cuteness level is higher then anything I've ever seen!" Space Butler mused outloud.

"And did you see their leader? He's Cuteness Level must be at least 1 million! No way can we compete with that!" Nebeshin whined pitifully.

"Let me handle the leader, you guys take care of the the underlings." Came the voice of Excel Excel abruptly behind them. The famed sole Agent of ACROSS stood in her full glory. The three Afro Warriors stood in awe of her. Even the reserved Tetsuko couldn't help but gaze upon Excel's form in pure awe and amazement.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/440254/ExcelSaga-uhoh.jpg

"Is it... Is it really you? You're Agent Excel! But... Aren't you supposed to be in space, battling the Giant Puuchu Planet Ship?" The leader of the Afro Warrior platoon, Space Butler, inquired.

"Yes, but I sensed that my presense was needed most here. Now let's go." Her voice was griatty, horse sounding almost, but there was an underlying seriousness to her voice, one of experiance and wisdom the rookies would do well to listen to.

OOC: What is that term you people use? Ah yes, now I remember: BUMP!

Debris and rubble crunched underfoot as the Afro Warriors, lead by the utterly fearless Agent Excel, made to confront the leader of the Feather Bellied Puuchus, Fürher Desslar. On the Space War Front, Captain Harlock and Queen Esmeraldes of the Puchuu Pirates were deep engaged with Desslar's Puuchu Planet Ship, the Pirates pushing back the evil conquer with Agent Excel's help. But then the sole member of ACROSS sensed that her presense was needed more back on the homefront, and so she returned with due haste, arriving just in the nick of time.
And there he was, Desslar, leader of the Feather Bellied Puuchu Invasion Force, and all around bad ditactor.

"Leave the leader to me. Take care of the small fries!" Said Excel, wasting no time in charging head first topwards the three foot tall blonde Puuchu. The two clashed in what was to be a battle of epic perporations.

Exit Nabeshin's Dream

The Afro Warrior bolts upright, sweet dotting his forehead.

"Oh... Man.... Why? Why did I dream of that battle? Was it a premonition? A sign of things yet to come? Or should I skip the cheese burretos before bedtime from now on?" Nabeshin said to himself, rising from his futon and sliding aside the door seperating his bedroom from the rest of the apartment. The small kitchenette was bare, end of the month blues striking halfway through the month. Looks like he'd have to go shopping again soon.

"Damnit, I'm all out of sake! Fer crying out loud!" The man with the Afro griped as he checked the cupboards and mini-fridge for the Japanese Rice wine he enjoies so much.

"You always did complain about everything, Nabeshin." Came Space Butler's voice. Nebeshin spun around, trying to find the speaker, but he was alone.

"Whoa! Is this a dream inside a dream? Space Butler! I can sense him! He is coming back? But why, after all these years?"

"Don't die before me, Nabeshin!" Space Butler had said when they parted ways at Pogota oh so long ago.

Doing the usual run of the day to day rountine which Nabeshin had done so many times he could do it all in his sleep, the Afro Warrior began to contemplate his current employer, ACROSS. Something wasn't right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something, in the back of his mind, that said he didn't always work for Master That Man and Lord Il Palazzo. But that was hogwash, he and the rest of the Afro Warriors had always been servents of ACROSS. Right?

Lost in thought, Nabeshin continues on his way. Man, was peacetime boring. He wished for the umpteenth time that they were at war with some one, anyone, just so he could see some more action. Maybe he should go drop by Pedro's apartment and see if he wants to go grab a drink.

Meanwhiles, Elsewhere in Fukuoda City, Prefecture of F...

The old wherehouwe building looked run down, like no one has been in it to repair it since the dawn of time. The windows were broken out, the metal sidings showed signs of heavy rust, and people go in, and never come out.

"Oooooooookay... This place is offically spooky! BUT! By orders of Lord Il Palazzo himself, we must boldly go forth and find the cause of the disappearance of the Igorant Masses who go in!" Excel Excel exclaimed, striking a kung fuu-esque pose. Agent Cosette, the youngest officer of ACROSS Far East, likewise was energetic, literally bursting with energy and lifeforce. She could hardly stand in one place.

"Oh my. It certainly has a deary air about it." Agent Hyatt stated somberly. Excel rushed over to Hyatt's side.

"Now don't you go dying on me in there, awright? Cause otherwise, it's just me and the nine year old..." Excel warned the prone to die at inconvient times Hyatt.

"Of course, Senior. I wouldn't want to burden you with having to carry my body back to HQ." Excel didn't seem too happy of the thought either.

With that finished, the trio bravely stride into the wherehouse, Cosette switching from carefree child mode to calculating assassin mode.

"Man, it creeps me when you do that." Excel told the preteen assassin, who withheld comment as they make their way deeper into the unknown wherehouse. "Hey Ha-chan, what do you suppose all this machinery 'n stuff was used for?"

"Who knows? It all appears to be related to cars, I would suspect." The busty purple haired girl stated, unsure of herself.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/440254/hyatt.jpg

"Jinkies! And while you guys were reading the text and staring at Hyatt's chest, Casette found a clue!" Excel exclaimed loudly as the pink haired young'un lead them to the center of the wherehouse, where a board lay atop a table. A pair of dice lay next to it.

"What for is that? Why is it here?" Excel asked. Upon seeing the board game, Cosette reverted back to her child mode.

"It's a board game! I like board games! Let's roll the dice!" Before either Excel or Hyatt could comment to the contrary, Cosette grabbed the set of dice and rolled them. Excel leaps to grab the dice, but misses. The two dice lands, coming up 6 on one and 2 on the other. The small, plastic figurine on it moves, and the center of the board, where a glass crystal ball thing sat, light up. Cosette reads the words that scrolled across.

"'In a random nation you must wait, 'til the dice reads five or eight.' What the...?" She said.

Outside the wherehouse, the screams of Excel, Hyatt, and Cosette could be heard. The screams elongated, almost as if something were streaching them, and then the sound stopped all together. A Puuchu stepped from the shadows, a scar across his face.

"At least, with Excel out of my way, I can finally finish what I started all those years ago! The galaxy will soon hail me, Desslar, as it's true and only ruler!"

"Puuchu." Said a single Feather Bellied Puuchu from the ten behind him.

"Come now, my followers, the conquest of the Earth is at hand!"



OOC: And now, here is where it becomes an RP. I'll need someone to be the random nation Excel, Hyatt and Cosette are sent to. That's about all, really.

((OOC: LOL! An Excel Saga based nation? Are you INSANE?! Heck, I'm game- send 'em my way :twisted: New Pegasii City could use some excitement! :lol: ))

OOC: According to my last Pysch eval, yes. I am Insane.
Perfect. Nice of you to join RP. A basic description of the city would suffice, IE Is it mostly industiral, largely urben, rural, old western, etc etc. If others want to have one of the two other Agents sent their way, speak now or forever hold your peice.

((OOC: Okay, here's the rundown of the city: New Pegasii City is in the northern part of the country, average weather is moderately cool. It's largely suburban, with some light industry at the edge of the city. The city center is more densely populated with low-cost housing in high rises that tend more toward the artsy side. The city itself isn't more than 30 or so years old, as it was built not far from the wreckage of the original Pegasii City (which was more of a war fortress). *grin* This oughta be good ^_^ Will Menchi be coming along for the ride? :wink: ))

A rift in fabric of time space appeared in a blinding raze of lightening, thunder, and loud booming noises. With a spatoo, the rift spat out Agent Excel into a backalley, almost landing head first onto the lap of a bum.

"What gives?! And who the heck are you?!" Excel exclaims as she jumps up and back away from the bum, landing on both feet, taking up a fighting stance while facing the dirty man.


OOC: Sadly, no. Mince/Menchi was not present when Agent Excel and crew fell for the trap, and so she will not in this RP much. I should also mention that Excel speaks Japanese and a smattering of English.

((OOC: *grin* Well, a vast amount of the Shogunate population are billingual otaku :wink: ))

The bum blinks and tries to focus glazed eyes on the woman before him. Granted, the fact he's astoundingly drunk does nothing to help. "Who're you, missy?" He slurs in something passably resembling English. "An' why'd y'fall from t'sky onta me lap?"

Too drunk to realize the danger he's in, he.... shall we say... studies Excel, a little bit of drool escaping the corner of his mouth when his gaze locks onto the prime target of any self-respecting pervert: her chest.

Getting an errie feeling from the bum leering at her, Excel sidesteps away from him. "Dude... You're drooling... OH MY GOSH!! Where's Ha-chan and Cosette!? Talk dirty old man!" Excel ordered in English as she jumped forward and seiezed the bum by the collar, giving him a good shaking. "Who are you working for?!"


OOC: I'm going to need to watch the entire series over agin to accurately protray Excel Excel. Eh, I'll start on it tomorrow. I forgot Excel took an English class. Heh heh heh... /OOC

((OOC: LOL! What good it did her for her brief stay in the US! :lol: ))

"Waugh-!" The bum intelligently comments as he's shaken, not stirred. "Wha-huh?! Dunno whatcha talkin' 'bout lady!" He flails uselessly, no match for an irate Excel. "My boss s'just a factory owner! Honest! Put me down! Gonna be siiiiick!" He whines.

Like a sack of old shrimp Excel tosses the bum aside.

"A factory owner? Jumping scrub brushes! This is no doubt an insidious plot against Lord Il Palazzo and his plan of global conquest! But I, Agent Excel, will bravely go forth and put an end to this action! But first..." She looks towards the bum as she pulls out a wicked looking blade from... Somewhere. Fire blazes in her eyes.


OOC: And I'm spent! I'll see you tomorrow. For an idea of the blade, refer to the Kouchi Rikudo Assassination Plot episode. Oh! I meant that guy in real life at an Anime Con! Heh heh heh. I even got his autograph. At least, I hope it's his autograph. Knowing my luck, he probably just wrote "To Stupid Loser American, From God of Anime. Get a life" in Japanese... /OOC

OOC: And I'm spent! I'll see you tomorrow. For an idea of the blade, refer to the Kouchi Rikudo Assassination Plot episode. Oh! I meant that guy in real life at an Anime Con! Heh heh heh. I even got his autograph. At least, I hope it's his autograph. Knowing my luck, he probably just wrote "To Stupid Loser American, From God of Anime. Get a life" in Japanese... /OOC

((OOC: You were at Anime Expo, too? =D Small world, man, small world! 8) Anyway, g'night =) ))

((OOC: You were at Anime Expo, too? =D Small world, man, small world! 8) Anyway, g'night =) ))

OOC: Indeed, a small world it is, so small it's scary. Perhaps next year I'll run into you? Anyhow, back to the RP. /OOC

IC:
Having dealt with the bum, Excel Excel leaves the ally in search of Hyatt and Cosette. She appears to be in an industrial part of the foreign city.

"Ha-chan! Oh Ha-chan where are you?!" She shouts outloud. Then an idea hits her. "I should check the local mourtuaries! Ha-chan needs to stop cheating death..."

((OOC: Yeah, I was dressed up as Battousai from the Rurouni Kenshin OAVs this year. Occasionally in the company of a Jing cosplayer (with the Keel Royale), and one of the two Peorths running around ^_^))

Excel doesn't have to search for long before locating the "Happy Hills Mortuary and Funeral Parlor". A couple of humanoid reploids are out behind the building, leaning on their van, shooting the breeze.

"Yeah, it was weird, I mean, she just crawled up and kicked the bucket. S'what the medics said, at any rate." The taller of the two notes to his partner.

"Organics are weird. So.. inefficient, or something. They stop functioning with so little provocation. Ah well. Keeps us in business." The shorter one remarks back.

"Oh yeah, d'ja hear in the news about that unexplained thaumatoloical energy spike earlier today? I guess those whackjob magitech guys are scrambling to try and figure out what it was." The tall guy changes the subject.

"Weird. Don't much buy into that thaumatech crap, anyway. But if the Queen wants to waste money on it, s'her business."

Another part of the city, far south of Excel's and Hyatt's locale, a rift in the time space continumum occurs a third and final time, lightening crackling and a defeafening booming sound accompaning it, as Agent Cosette Sera was spat out the rift and through the window of a suburben household. The pink haired nine year old sat up as the rift closed, rubbing her head, sitting in a pile of broken glass.

"Ugh... Where am I? What happened?" She asked to no one in particular, not really expecting an answer from the family she didn't see behind her watching TV.

Meanwhiles, Excel, upon hearing the reploids talking, she ran up to them, jumped up and down really fast and spoke in an energetic tone of voice similar to a caffinated rabbit.

"That girl you guys are talking about! Did she have longish purple hair and red eyes? Was she wearing an uniform like mine, but purple, kinda pale skin and was she busty? Where is she?"

The two mechanoids look at Excel with expressions best summed up as 'WTF?'. They exchange glances before the shorter one warily answers. "Um.. come to think of it, yeah. The guys inside're tryin' to locate her next of kin or something. Y'know her?"

Meanwhile, an adoreable little girl with blonde curls and a big teddy bear climbs over the back of the sofa and sees the newly arrived Cosette. "Mommy! Mommy! There's a weird lady! I think she made all the noise!"

The girl's parents quickly look over, the mother letting out a gasp of shock at the nine year old's battered condition. "Oh you poor dear! Are you alright? How did you get thrown through that window?" Obviously not realizing how dangerous that 'poor dear' was, the mother quickly bursts into activity to assist the nine year old. "Are you hurt? Who put you through that window? Oh, when I find out which one of those miscreants down the street did it-!" For a sweet stereotypical housewife, she sounds like she fully intends to engage in acts of violence against said miscreants.

Excel dashes past the duo into the building, trying to find where Hyatt is, totally bypassing the receptionist.

Meanwhiles, Agent Cosette blinks several times, looking t the motherly lady speaking to her. She taps her fingertips together several times.

"I don't know who put me through the window. It was some mean boy... He chased me down the street and grabbed me..."

She begins to cry, the tears coming easily, not real, of course, but faked good enough they seemed real.

The receptionist tries (in vain) to stop Excel, but is left in a miniature hurricane of paperwork from the hyperactive ACROSS agent's passing. The main mortuary room isn't terribly impressive- all drab steel and grey. A sign hangs over the door that reads "You stab 'em, we'll slab 'em!", but that's the only decor in the place. Two guys in white labcoats are standing near a gurney in deep discussion about the newest cold one brought in.

"So sad.. she's such a pretty one, too."

"It happens. Let's find who the hell to call and offload the dead broad, already. I need some more beer, my buzz is wearin' off!"

Elsewhere, the motherly lady puts a comforting arm around Cosette's shoulders, completely falling for the girl's act. "There, there, it's alright. We'll get you patched up, and then go teach that boy a lesson."

"Mommy, it was probably that dummy Denny!" The little girl pouts. "He tried to shove me down a toilet once!"

"Come to think of it, I did see Denny and his little group carousing outside when I got home." The father speaks up. "I'll go deal with the brats. If their parents won't discipline them, then I will!" He marches off, grabbing a decorative wooden paddle from above the fireplace.

"Daniela, why don't you be a dear and get some of those cookies I made yesterday while I patch our guest up." The mother motions to her little girl. "By the by, dear, what was your name? I don't think I've seen you in this neighborhood before."

((OOC: LOL! An Excel Saga based nation? Are you INSANE?! Heck, I'm game- send 'em my way :twisted: New Pegasii City could use some excitement! :lol: ))((Dude, I've seen a .hack//SIGN nation and an FLCL nation. This is nothing.))

((OOC: LOL! An Excel Saga based nation? Are you INSANE?! Heck, I'm game- send 'em my way :twisted: New Pegasii City could use some excitement! :lol: ))((Dude, I've seen a .hack//SIGN nation and an FLCL nation. This is nothing.))

OOC: I was tempted to do an FLCL nation, but I don't have that series on DVD yet, so I did Excel Saga instead.


IC:
Excel parades past the two.

"Yo! I'm here to get Ha-chan! Ha-chan, wake up! It's time to get back to ACROSS!" She says, pulling back the white sheet covering Hyatt's body.

Meanwhiles, Cosette accepts the comforting hug, inwardly smiling at the poor sap whose fate she just sealed. She wiped her eyes and spoke to the motherly lady.

"My name is Cosette, Cosette Sera. I'm not from here. I got seperated from my parents, and I don't know where I am." She replied, her lost little girl act good enough to melt even Mr. Burns heart.

The two morticians spaz out at Excel's appearance, both voicing loud protests. Well, hell, they don't know that this is a perfectly normal occurance where the two ACROSS agents are from, do they? The reasonable one pauses and shuts his beer-craving cohort up.

"Um, are you her next of kin, ma'am?" He begins to explain. "She was brought in today, no ID or anything."

"Sweet! We can dump the dead broad and go hit the bar!"

Elsewhere, Nice Mom Lady is completely falling for Cosette's routine. "Lost? Oh you poor thing! New Pegasii City is a nice enough place, but certainly nowhere for a young lady to get lost in!"

Outside, there is a very loud *CRACK!* as wooden paddle meets poorly padded neighborhood bully behind. "And you tell your idiot parents that if I catch you brats harassing people again, it'll be more than just a paddle to the rear!!!" The dad guy can be heard shouting.

Daniela returns from the kitchen with a plastic bowl full of cookies while Nice Mom Lady patches Cosette up. "We'll just have to take you down to the station so that the nice police can try and find your folks, won't we?"

Somewhere else entirely, at the Arpean Thaumatech Institute, a dark figure surveyed the information being gathered.

"Very interesting, this new development. Three thaumatological energy spikes within the span of a single day, and all centered in the city..." A female voice rasped.

"Oyie, Ebony! Couldja knock off the wannabe evil overlord routine? What's yer report on those power surges?"

"Aw, ruin my fun, why doncha, Drake!" The now-identified Ebony Dragonis stood up at her monitor, the fluorescent lighting striking dull gleams from her black and blue armor. The reploid dragon frowned at the reports. "Narrowing down the locations of the three surges, but no idea yet the nature of the surges or what it means."

Drake, a yellow and red armored Dragonis model reploid dragon, strolls over. "Very weird. Once we get the locations narrowed down, we can send a street team to start a more thorough investigation."

"Yeah, yeah, right, I got it, Drake." Ebony goes back to her monitoring station with a grumble.

Excel blinks. "Next of kin? Oh no! Nothing like that! I'm Ha-chan's roommate and senior."

"It's morning already?" Hyatt says sleepily, sitting up.

"Yes. Ha-chan! You need to stop messing with the frabic of life and death, people are gonna start experimenting on you if you keep it up!" Excel scolds.

"I'm sorry to have burden you Senior. I will try harder to stay alive in the future." Excel bows to the two guys in labcoats as Hyatt slides off the gurney and stands on her unsteady two feet. Excel grabs Hyatt's hand and quickly the two make to take their leave.

"Thanks for watching over Ha-chan you two! When Lord Il Palazzo conquers the city, I'll recommand you guys for the Laterine Orderly Squad! Buh bai!"

Cosette blinks, being taken to the police could put a damper on finding Excel and Hyatt. She shakes her head furiously. "No. Please don't take me to the police! I... I dun wanna go back to my parents... They're... They're mean to me, and and..." Her mind raced, trying to think of some lie quick. She had heard the father spanking the kids outside, so beating wasn't an option. Coming up with a blank, she insteads break down into crying again.

The two morticians stare after Excel and Hyatt depart.

"Bob, the dead broad just got up and walked off, right?"

"Yeah, Rob, she did."

"I think I need a beer."

"Y'know, I think I do too."

The Nice Mom Lady blinks. "Oh, not to worry, sweetheart, the police here are very helpful- Until the whole mess with your parents is sorted out, they'd even let you stay here. All kids have problems with their parents sometimes, but running away isn't the answer."

"Mommy, we could get ice cream on the way, right? Could we, pretty pleeeeeeease?" Daniela turns great big puppydog eyes on her mother.

"Well... I suppose it's still early enough you won't ruin your dinner. How's that sound, Cosette-chan? We can go notify the police to sort out your situation, and then get some ice cream and go shopping. There's some very nice shops in the area with all sorts of wonderful stuff." Nice Mom Lady is probably beginning to radiate sweetness levels that could cause tooth decay from two blocks away. "If this is your first time in New Pegasii City, you should take in the sights, after all!"

Cosette smiled.

"I said I didn't want to go to the police." The tone which she spoke was cold, despite the warm smile on her face. Her hand swirled up, the hidden shuriken in her sleeve coming aloose, embedding itself under the chin of the lady. Almost simutamously, her other hand wiped out, a shuriken in a hidden compartment on her sleeve soaring towards the small girl. "I'll just have to find Excel and Hyatt on my own then..."

The door opening cuaght her attention, and pulling the dagger from the throat of the lady, Cosette flips the shuriken so she's holding it by the tip, seemingly ignoring the spray of blood from the lady splashing on her.

"My name is Cosette Sera, I'm nine years old and people call me a slaughter machine." She says in a plaful tone as the shuriken is thrown from her hand towards the father, spinning end over end through the air.

Meanwhiles, Excel and Hyatt leave the mortuary.

"Ha-chan, where the f*ck are we?" Excel asked the purple haired Martian Princess, hands on her hips as she inspected a nearby signpost.

"Oh dear, I doin't have the faintest clue." Hyatt confessed.

Excel sighs in exasperation. "That's just great. Come on, let's see where the hell we are."

Mr. No-Nonsense Dad Dude proves he's not as thick as Nice Mom Lady was, as the sharp pointy object of painful death impacts with a *THUNK* in the wooden oar.

"And I am Mr. No-Nonsense Dad Dude, and you just ruined my cover, you little witch!" He glowers at Cosette, and seperates the oar's handle from the paddle, revealing a very nice and sharp looking katana. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to forge an identity and such in this country?! It's damn near impossible, which makes operations for my underground society a real pain!"

With a battlecry, Mr. No-Nonsense (Samurai?) Dad Dude charges at Cosette, sword raised. Ah well. He was a nameless throwaway character anyway.

Elsewhere, with somewhat less bloodshed, Excel and Hyatt find themselves in a decidedly strange part of town, since it's unlikely they're familiar with reploids, which are a large portion of the city's population. Especially the outlandish reploid dragons roaming the streets and socializing just like any normal people would. The two are spotted by a small group of sleek looking humanoid reploids, who meander over.

"Hello, ladies, if I may say so, you two look a bit lost. First time in New Pegasii City?" The ringleader introduces himself smoothly. "The name's Gary, my two pals here are Andy and Ryan."

"Uh, dude, Gary, why are you tryin' t'hit on a couple of human chicks, anyway?" Ryan whispers to his buddy.

"Shush, y'never know whatcha get for bein' nice!" Gary hisses back. "Ahem... so... wouldja object to being treated to lunch an' a drink? I know a couple real nice joints in the area." He smiles winningly. Oh the poor fool, if only he knew what he was getting into.

And at the ATI...
"Drake! We've got the locations pinned down! Get yer lazy steel-plated ass up, let's go check it out!" Ebony all but pounces Drake, dragging him out of the lounge by his tail.

"Owowowow! Ebony! Lemme go! C'mon!" The brightly colored reploid dragon yelps and flails.

And lo, the Arpean Thaumatech Institute investigation team did start their.. ah.. investigation.

Cosette dives to the side as Mr. No-Nonsense Dad Dude charges past her, bringing down his katana down where she was seconds ago. He feels sharp pain in his side, four shurikens sticking out his side.

"ACROSS Sakura Mantis!" Cosette shouted out the name of her special move, a set of four shurikens in each hand as she assumed a praying mantis stance mid-air. She throws them at the man, cherry blossums appearing seemingly out of nowhere as the sharp assassin weapons embed themselves in his side from his waist up to his neck. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

Meanwhiles, Excel looks at the trio, and at the mention of food is immediately perked up. "Free food?! Oh sure we wouldn't object! Isn't that right Ha-chan? I'm starving!" Her stomach growls like a wild animal, confirming her starving status. Hyatt is less ethused.

"I have an energy drink in my pack, but I would like a cup of coffee.

OOC: That's it for me. I'm going home. I'll call you tomorrow, I swear. /OOC

((OOC: *bumpity!*))

Samurai Dad Dude bleeds liberally, staggering, but not yet falling down. Oh dear, that must mean he gets a dying monologue.

"I can't... believe this is how my... service to... mistress Ykintari... ends..." He proceeds to ramble for a good five or so more minutes about his undying love for his mistress, and how he'll gladly die if it means furthering her goals, blah blah blah. He stops when he realizes that nobody is paying attention. "Damnit, fine!" He straightens, despite the pointy implements of ninja death sticking out of various places, katana in hand. "With my remaining strength, I will play my final card!" He lunges in an impressive flurry of strikes at Cosette. "ABOVE Snapdragon Hurricane!" He announces the attack name before falling over, finally dead.

Elsewhere, the air was thick, almost as if some divine force had just dropped a gigantic plot device somewhere in the world. "So, then, ladies, s'right this way!" Gary leads Excel and Hyatt to a nearby little cafe offering a wide selection of tasty foodstuffs.

"Dude, what the heck is Gary thinking? The purple haired one is pretty cute, but her buddy is totally uncute! Is he that desperate?!" Andy whispers to Ryan, who shrugs.

"By the way, don't think I caught your names, ladies." Gary smiles winningly, failing to notice Excel's interest is fixated on the menu and not the reploid.

And somewhere ELSE, two reploid dragons survey the scene of a horrific murder. "Huh... whatever happened here must have killed that hobo." Ebony notes to her partner, taking all sorts of readings with various gizmos.

"I think it's more of a case that somebody with a big sword killed that hobo." Drake yawns toothily as both of their comm units beep.

"Ebony! Drake! Report to top secret HQ immediately!" A female voice barks through the communications devices. The two dragons exchange worried glances.

".... Lady Ykintari doesn't sound too happy, Ebony."

"Well let's go! We're only reservists, but if she paged us, it's gotta be big!"

The cardboard cutout of Cosette offers no resistance to Samurai Dad Dude's assault. The real Cosette left about halfway through the man's dying monologue to visit the local Starbucks, or the Reploid eqiulent there of. You didn't actually think she'd stick around to hear his redicolas and in poor taste monologue, did you? She returns with a warm cup of coffee to find the cardboard cutout cut up, and Dad Dude dead. She offers no comment or witty one liner, instead chosing this time to leave the neighborhood in search of her seniors.

Meanwhiles, Excel looks hungerily over the menu, with full intention to order about three of everything.

"You may call me Miss Ayasugi." Hyatt introduces herself. Excel raises a hand, more interested in the food items available then the Reploids.

"Slamming Flower Child here." She puts on a sad puppy dog face, looking adorably cute while pointing. "I want one of everything on this menu. Is that okay? It HAS been five days since I've had a legit meal..."

Even more meanwhiles, The Feather Bellied Puuchu leader and his horde gather their forces to stage a strike at the heart of ACROSS Far East, Lord Il Palazzo's Mobile ACROSS Fortess! And at the same time as this neforious advance on ACROSS, Nabeshin reports to Lord Il Palazzo.

Cosette finds herself quickly turned around in the sprawling city. Given the decided lack of urban decay, the place appears to be relatively new, with tall skyscrapers reaching to the sky, lots of green parkland, and solar panels dotting nearly every roof. The weather is mildly cool, but not unbearably so, and all in all, it seems like a pretty nice place. It's Cosette's turn to see the weird when a black reploid dragon runs past, dragging a yellow and red colored one, who is loudly protesting the abuse and demanding the release of his tail.

Andy finds himself glad that reploids don't blush at Hyatt's introduction. "Ah, that's such a ... ah... pretty name, Ayasugi-san."

Gary's jaw just about hits the floor at Excel's request. "Ah... um.... five days?! You anorexic or something? That might explain how scrawny she is..." He turns to Andy and Ryan. "Uh, hey, guys, think y'could float me a few R-yens?"

Ryan eyes his buddy. "Dude, just turn her loose on the all-y'-can-eat bar."

And elsewhere entirely, she stood before the large picture window, her gaze wandering over what would soon be hers, the fools who would bow before her-

"Ykintari-san, call on line one for you!"

"I'll take it in my office." The identified Ykintari scowls, walking over to her desk and picking up the phone. "Ykintari, RPIN News Human Resources Department." She paused, listening to the person on the other end. "He's WHAT?! Nevermind, that is what the reserves are for. Yes, I'm aware the recent thaumatological stuff could be part of a conspiracy against us. Continue to gather information." She slams the phone down in irritation. "He was one of my best agents, too!"

The white-clad Nekoite idly surveys the newswire, raising an eyebrow at a report of weird energy signitures being detected by Tengoku station. Tossing that aside, she resumed looking at online stores. "Why are secret lairs so expensive these days?" She bemoans to noone in particular.

Excel shook her head.

"Noooo, it's just that food's so expensive, and we barely make enough money with our part time jobs to pay our mothly rent." Her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of all you can eat. "All you can eat? That sounds like my kinda bar!"

Hyatt smiled in that cute, but blank kinda way that she does at Andy. "Thank you. I don't believe you told us your names?" She waits paitently for a waiter of some sort to come around, as she wants only a cup of coffee, with extra sugar.

Upon seeing the two dragons like creatures, Cosette is too curious rather then scared to not follow them. And so she does, using all her Mafia training to shadow the pair to wherever they were going.

The three guys introduce themselves, Andy stumbling over his introduction like any good boy-with-crush plot device should, and a waiter comes by to take their orders. Gary sighs to himself and watches what's left of his paycheck go flying merrily away. At least the all-you-can-eat buffet appeared to be well-supplied for the forthcoming assault.

And elsewhere, the two dragons arrive at an indescript skyscraper and duck inside the well-furnished lobby, the yellow one cradling his abused tail, while his dark-armored companion bounds up to the receptionist. "Hi, Ebony and Drake Dragonis, here to see Ykintari-sama!"

"One moment." The bored receptionist rolls her eyes and sends a message. "Ykintari, there's a couple of reploid dragons here to see you."

"Good. Send them up." Ykintari's voice replies over the intercom.

"Ykintari's expecting you, thirty-sixth floor, at the end of the hallway." The receptionist recites, her tone implying 'Now go away you annoying people!'.

Ebony and Drake cram themselves into one of the lobby elevators, unaware that they'd been followed, and report to the Human Resources Department. Ykintari herself is sitting at her desk in a plain business suit, but everything about the woman implies that she would be more suited to the cloak and spiked armor of a stereotypical evil overlord.

"HAIL YKINTARI-SAMA!!" Ebony bounds in and salutes. Drake follows her inside, much more subdued.

"Mornin', ma'am. You called?" The brightly colored dragon plops down awkwardly in one of the chairs.

"Yes... I'm certain you are aware, due to your jobs in the ATI, of a string of unusual occurances in this city." Ykintari eyes the two reploids with some disdain.

"Yes, Ykintari-sama! Three locations where there was an unexplainable thaumatological energy surge! The was a dead guy at one of the locations!" Ebony explains rapidly.

"Our intel indicates that this is only one part of a massive conspiraacy against our agents. One of our best men was found brutally slaughtered at one of the locations." Ykintari intones solemnly. "Someone, somewhere, seems to be moving against our ideals."

"No offense, but isn't 'our intel' the stuff you catch over the RPIN newswire, Ms. Human Resources Manager?" Drake yawns. "And really... our entire agency consists of you, me, Ebony, Drake, and a now-dead maniac samurai father. Why would anyone BOTHER with a huge conspiracy against us?"

"SILENCE!!!" Ebony looms over Drake. "Ykintari-sama's ideals are so noble! So pure! Ykintari-sama wants to flush the ignorance from the masses, and enlighten them!" She scolds, completely skipping over Drake's point that they were horribly understaffed, and that their glorious leader was a HR manager at a broadcast firm.

"In any event, with my best agent down, I unfortunately will need to rely on you two. Find out who is behind this conspiracy against our top-secret idealogical organization, ABOVE, and... deal with them." Ykintari sternly looks at the two reploids, her tone carrying sinister intent.

"RYOUKAI!" Ebony salutes, marching off while sing-songing about murder and how fun it is.

"Hai, hai, will do, ma'am." Drake gets up and heads out. Man... I thought Ebony was kidding around when she invited me to join some world-conquest organization. Ah well. I doubt we'll actually find anybody in any sort of 'conspiracy' anyway.

((OOC: *bop!* Nothing like a rival top secret ideological society to spice things up, ne? ^_^))

((OOC: My... God...))


Once she got the go ahead, Excel dug into the all you can eat food bar, piling mounds of various food stuffs on her plate like there was no tomorrow. Hyatt, the total opposite of Excel, sipped calmly at her cup of coffee. She didn't seemed bothered at all by Excel's behavoir, nor by the fact that Excel brought back like twenty plates loaded skyhigh with food. To her, this was all normal.

"We seem to be lost. What city are we in?" Hyatt asked of Andy.

Meanwhiles, Cosette continued to shadow the two dragon things, and into the skyscraper. Due to her small size, she easily slipped past the receptionist unnoticed, and took the second elevator up to floor 36. The car arrived on the floor a minute after the one Ebony and Drake were on did, and she saw the door into which they went into. Cat-footing her way to the room, she presses her ear to the door and evesdrop, her eyes widening at what she heard.

Lord Il Palazzo-sama has a rival? I must tell the others of this at once! She thought to herself. When she heard footsteps coming towards her, Cosette jumped back as the door swung outward. She quickly hid herself between the door and the wall, pressing her back up against the wall.

((OOC: From the IRC conversation that led to ABOVE: <Firefury> Quick, I need a name for a top secret ideological organization! .... And the first person to say "ACROSS!" gets shot! <Someone else> UNDER? <Some guy> ABOVE? <Firefury> YES! ABOVE vs ACROSS! :twisted: ))

Andy fidgets some more, while Ryan and Gary both stare in slackjawed shock at Excel. "Ah.. N-New Pegasii City. Y-you're new to Reploid Productions, I guess?"

"Dude, Ryan, is it normal for humans to eat at Mach 2?" Gary glances at his buddy, who shrugs.

"Um... I've never seen a human eat after being starved for five days." Ryan admits helplessly before noticing Andy's current state. "Psst, Gary, I think Andy's got it bad for the cute chick!"

"Whoa, no kidding!"

Elsewhere, Ebony and Drake emerge from Ykintari's office, Ebony singsonging enthusiastically, while a substantially less-than-thrilled Drake tags along, crashing in Ebony when she skids to a halt. "Drake, did you here something just now?"

"How should I know? Your caterwauling just about kills my audio receptors, Ebony! C'mon, let's go get back to the ATI investigation, not this ABOVE stuff... it's a great big joke!"

"I should report you to Ykintari-sama for treason!!" Ebony shrieks at her partner. "I thought you shared in our goal!"

"Oyie... nevermind, let's just get out of here before you make a scene." Drake sweatdrops profusely. "Um... besides, the ATI investigation seems to be overlapping Ykintari's order anyway... two birds, one stone, y'know?"

".... Good point. C'mon, Drake!" Ebony's mood swings back rapidly, and poor Drake finds himself being hauled for the door by his tail again.

Excel was too busy shoveling food into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in five days, which she hasn't, to be much of a conversationalist. Hyatt, on the otherhand, was at least trying to figure out what was happening.

"New Pegasii City, Reploid Preductions? Oh dear. Yes, we are quite new to this city." Hyatt commented softly.

Meanwhiles, elsewhere in New Pegasii, Cosette quickly finds an empty room to duck into, which by chance happened to have a phone.

"Ah, finally, now to call Agent Excel, and see where they are." She said to herself, picking up the reciever and dialing 9 for outside line, followed by Excel Excel's cell phone number.

As Excel set in on her fifth plate, her cell phone started to ring. With stops eating.

"Who's calling me? I hope it's not my boss!" She quips before answering. "Hello?"

"Agent Excel, it's Cosette." Cosette speaks into the phone.

"ACK!" She qiuckly mashes her finger down on the end call button. "Scaaaaarrrryyyy..."

Hyatt tilted her head slightly. "And who was that?"

"How the hell do I know?" Her cell phone rings again. She thrusts it towards Hyatt. "Here, you answer. If it's that scary kid again, tell her I'm ummm... Not here!"

Hyatt takes the ringing cell phone, and presses talk. "Yes? Oh, Miss Cosette. How are you? Hmmm? Oh, senior's right here... I was wondering that myself. We are fine. We're in New Pegasii City, are you here too? That's quite dreadful to hear. You've discovered a rival? Oh my..."

Excel starts to play with her food whilst Hyatt talks with Cosette, "How'd she get my number?" She looks at Andy, Gary and Ryan. "Thanks dudes for buying us launch. When the Grand Unifaction comes, I'll have you guys recommanded for Head of the Laturine Orderly Squad."

She spoke with an underlying hint of pride in her voice.

The three guys exchange confused looks. "Grand Unification?" "Rival?" "Toilet squad?"

Gary recovers from his confusion and puts on the debonair routine again. "In any case, would you ladies like to see the city? We'd be happy to show you around!"

Excel shrugs. "Yeah, sure. We're going to need to know all we can about this city, isn't that right?"

Hyatt, finishes her convo with Cosette, and hands back the cell phone to Excel. "It seems that Miss Cosette is here too. She's at RPIN main office building. Could we perhaps go there?" She asked the three Reploids.

Cosette hangs up the phone, and starts for the door. Is that lady still there? Perhaps... I can end this rivalery once and for all, right here, right now! Her supply of Shurikens was rather low, but she could manage just one office lady all by herself. She strides towards the door where the two dragons things had exited some time ago, readying a throwing knife.

"Yer friend works with the news guys?" Ryan raises an eyebrow. "Eh, s'not too far to walk, maybe five or six blocks away. Maybe their friend is normal!

"Hey, that'd be great!" Andy pipes up. "There's that new park they just finished along the way, and... uh..." He trails off into silence at a quizzical look from Gary.

"But yeah, we can take you ladies over to the RPIN building, no problem!" Gary smiles winningly.

Ykintari's office is unoccupied when Cosette approaches. There's an address book on her desk, with a number of addresses in it, including the city government, various temp agencies, and a nicely written list of ABOVE targets. Just a casual glance at the list, one would think they had stumbled across Il Palazzo's planner, given the types of targets and mission plans neatly jotted down within.

Interesting address books aside, the office looks as though it's been vacated for the rest of the day- the computer is shut down, there's no purse or jacket hanging on a chair ti imply the occupant was due back anytime soon.

Cosette, of course, snags the planner.

"Hmmm... This could be very helpful." She closes it, to read it more throughly later. Frowning in disappointment, Cosette leaves and heads for h elevator, intending to go back down to the lobby.

Hyatt and Excel let the trio of gentlemen lead the way. Hyatt whispers to Excel what Cosette had told her.

>Whisper whisper< "Cosette told me she discovered that here in this city, there is an organzation which rivals Lord Il Palazzo."

"WHAT?! No way! HERE?! How dare they! We'll just have to put a monkey wrench in their gears then!" Excel exclaimed loudly, apparently not caring about the company she shares.

"Senior, not to question your action, but wouldn't it be best to talk in a quiet voice?"

"QUIET! How can you expect me to remain quiet when someone out there plans to conqour the world before us!? ACROSS will not come second place!"

"Oh dear..." She waves a hand dismissively at the trio of gathered men leading them through the city, "Please excuse my senior here, she is always like this after a meal..."

Gary sweatdrops. "Ah... really... boisterous, huh?"

"What's ACROSS?" Ryan inquires, while racking his electronic brain for an excuse to ditch his buddy and get away from the weirdos. "Sounds like something out of some whacked anime series or something."

The player behind the nation of Reploid Productions cringes at the direct hit on the Fourth Wall, but says nothing.

The guys lead the two ACROSS agents to the foot of the large building. "Well, this is the RPIN HQ. Y'see yer friend anywhere?"

((OOC: And bedtime for me x_x ))