Wow.

Everything’s horribly blurry at the moment. All bright lights and reflective surfaces on buildings and glass and crystal-like materials shining in the sun…

“...She new around here, or should I be worried?” the armored man inquires, and the machine cradling me does not answer. I do, however, notice something - something familiar. A big, tacky, banana yellow car… except it’s floating, and its wheels are facing down. Weird… but cool.

“Taxi,” I remember. “Let’s… let’s go for a ride.” This request is followed by a very confused look from my current mode of transportation, but I persist. “C’mon.”

The acquired taste of chung-ka-chung meets my ears, just audible under the sounds of horns and chatter and such. Something about it is welcome - the strange, unfamiliar noise amidst the sort I almost seem to feel are normal.

Except… it’s very clear, as I look around, this place is not normal. It’s not like something I would see in a storybook, like Camelot’s rolling fields. It’s…

...The kind of thing I might hear about being the future.

Next thing I know I’m being set down on a cushy leather bench and a door’s being shut. An odd, unidentifiable scent I’ve come to just think of as leather greets my nose, and my head rests uncomfortably on the lap of a discomforted robot. “Hospital,” I request further, bleeding a little on the leather. Outside the window I notice the armored guy walking off and looking confused.

A tired-looking taxi driver looks back, his expression deadpan. “Hospital, huh?” he repeats, eyeing me with curiosity. “...Primes, aren’tcha?”

I nod, shutting my eyes and smiling a little. “Everything hurts a lot,” I add. “So… could you please go fast?”

I don’t get a reply to that. Instead I look up to who I can only very generously call my saviour. “...So, what’s your name?” I ask. “I’m Joline. But, er, I guess people call me Jojo now.”

“Colonel,” he replies. “Greetings, Joline.”

“People call me Jojo, but I guess you’re not a people,” I mumble thoughtlessly.

After a minute or so of silence, I squint. “What’s that about there? Lookin’ like ouch.exe is taking up more CPU capacity…” I add, trying to look through the windows again.

“...Suppose I can understand the logic behind that observation,” says Colonel, looking out the taxi window, and blocking out my view into his. Damn. “After all, I am a toaster in your eyes.”

He pauses for a moment and looks back to me. “Though you are a meatbag in mine.” Again, I’d normally laugh at that. But there’s something about this guy that gives me the willies… and something that makes me reeeeeally not want to joke or smile around him. Maybe it’s the whole ‘he almost killed me’ thing.

I look to the window, wondering what might be out there… what it looks like to see this place from above. It feels like we’ve gone higher than the ground - or at least that’s how it seems in my gut. A thoughtful hum from Colonel catches my attention, and a pair of large, metallic hands hoisting me into the air near the window pulls a quiet eep out of me.

And… a louder one as I peer out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a city like this from above… or any city from above ever. Seeing the place like this makes me realize what a maze it looks like. I can’t even see anybody down there, and what I can see all looks so insignificant. Then there’s the colossal skyscrapers and towers.

“Gods,” I whisper. “It’s… beautiful.”

We start to descend almost comically quickly, and I immediately cling to one of Colonel’s arms fearfully. “We are landing,” he explains, sounding as though he’s speaking not to an injured person but a horribly drunk one. “We are not crashing.”

He’s about as unfazed by my reaction to this place as I thought.

I must have lost track of time, or we traveled really quickly, because before I know it, we’ve arrived. I produce a messy blob of Omnilium for the driver before we leave, and Colonel produces a more tidy and slightly more sizeable one. We emerge to face a particularly tall building with a dark but still familiar red plus above its sliding glass double doors. They part as we advance and the chung-ka-chung resumes.

...When was the last time I was in a hospital? Can’t remember...

...ning.

...ood morning…

“...Owwwww.”

My everything hurts.

A rhythmic chung-ka-chung rings in my achy ears. They’re less achy than every other part of me, but they still hurt an awful lot. A faint whirring noise meets my left ear, which is pressed against… something hard and cold. Metal, I observe. A metal chest.

Lazily I look up.

That face.

No.

No.

“Toaster,” I breathe fearfully.

It’s hard to focus my eyes on anything, but I can see… a hand, rearing up as if to threaten me. It takes a moment to register that it’s doing that, and given my current state, I instantly fall into line. “Okay, okay,” I whimper. “No…”

“No more toaster.” Normally I’d laugh at that. But I think the humour part of my brain got knocked out my ear when I hit my head… one of a dozen times.

Silence ensues.

Is that… concern I see? Something like familiarity as he’s looking down at me for just a moment. And… then it’s gone, just as quickly.

“Your eyes are like windows,” I mutter dreamily.

I feel myself starting to almost come to - I had already done so physically, but mentally… not quite. It doesn’t take long for me to realize it’s not just any one part of me that hurts - it’s everywhere.

“Owww… oww, oww-- OW. OWWW! GODS!” I clench my teeth and sharply inhale through them, pounding a fist against the uncaring machine and pressing my forehead against the steel of his chest as tears start to run down my cheeks. “It hurts--! Everything hurts…!” I sniffle, trembling and writhing ineffectually in its arms.

“Stop that.”

I weakly slap my fist against metal again. It’s certainly not helping me… but it’s all I can really do right now. “No,” I shoot back defiantly and… admittedly childishly.

“I’ll put this in terms you understand,” says the yet-unnamed robot as he walks forward. I look up and notice he’s staring ahead at one of the gates. A pair of mechanical fingers press against my temples. “You have lost. Your survival instinct should be ‘kicking in’ at this particular moment, as without it, I can crush your head with these two fingers and you will die.”

My heart sinks and I feel the sudden, powerful urge to vomit, imagining how my head bursting must feel.

“Those eyes,” he observes, “indicate I have come to an understanding with you. This is good.” The fingers slowly and woodenly fall to its-- or should I say his? I haven’t decided-- sides, with the rest of his hand and arm.

“We were fighting,” I note, vaguely recalling what went on a few moments ago. “You… you beat me. You could’ve killed me. And you didn’t. But… why?”

No response.

“I asked you a question,” I say expectantly. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Suddenly the ride comes to a halt, and what seems a lot like a cold, unfeeling face looms down into mine. “That is a very good question.”

I squeak.

“...That suggests you do not want to die,” he observes, and I notice my heart’s racing. “Your pulse shows the same. So does the fear in your eyes, the trembling, the dried tears… and of course the tears running from your eyes at this very moment.”

I had started crying? Gods, I hadn’t noticed… I’m a wreck.

“Okay. I get it. I don’t want to die. But I don’t get why you don’t want me dead. Why are you…”

A very important question springs to mind, one far more important than any other at this moment. “Where are you taking me?”

“We will see.”

I’m immediately dumbfounded. “I… what?” I stammer, raising both brows. “I thought… aren’t you a robot or something? All cold and calculating and…”

“...Taking you with me was a decision made in the ‘heat of the moment’, or so one might say,” he explains. “This, too, is one. I should hope I won’t come to regret it.”

He leans down again. “I won’t, will I?”

I shrivel up into a ball with an even higher-pitched squeak. “N-No, you won’t!” I reply nervously, and instantly my head feels like it’s spinning. “Please stop! I’ve learned my lesson. No more fucking with toasters!” My words are capped off with involuntary nervous laughter which, despite putting everything I can into trying to stop it, continues as if to mock me.

Silence.

“...Very well.”

...Company? Guys in white. All white. They look… vaguely familiar. “...Good day, sir. How are… What the Hell happened to her?!”

“I picked this girl up near the Fountain,” he explains. “She is in need of medical attention.” I look lazily over. I’m assuming I’m the subject of conversation… and I’m tempted to intervene, but I also want to see where this is going.

“But-- but sir, what about you?” the white-armored figure inquires with a bit of worry in his tone.

His eyes narrow. “Did I fucking stutter?”  That shuts him up.

“...I’ll explain to Hammond. You lead ‘em to a hospital,” says one to the other. With a nervous nod, the other gestures us over to the gate.

“You clever bastard,” I whisper. “You just about gored me, but I’m... almost starting to like you.” One of my burns starts to flare up with pain again and I breathe in through my teeth, stifling a groan of pain. “Ow, ow. Owwwww. Okay, maybe it’s gonna take a while for that…”

I hear what seems almost like a scoff and what looks vaguely like a faint smile before the two of us pass through the gate. It’s almost relaxing, I decide, going through one when you’re not hurtling tens of miles per hour on a bicycle or drowning in your own mopey angst.

“From one problem to the next,” Kakashi muttered, leafing through their assignment. Though it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him, he had to admit that he was unaware of just how deeply embedded the Miu clan was in the village’s everyday goings-on.

The ninja trio had exited the Morikage residence and made their way to small roadside eatery in the northern district. None of the trio had bothered to purchase anything to eat, though they had graciously accepted hot tea from the kettle on the simple oak table. They could waste no time with setting up a full meal, especially with the strict schedules of the Miu clansmen.

“They sure are busy,” Minato mused, sipping his steamy beverage. “I wonder who we should tail…”

Kakashi frowned at the lengthy list, rife with complex routes through the city from various meetings here to conferences and summits there. Any of such meetings could hold vital intel related to their assignment or else be completely useless. There was no way of telling which could perhaps pull back the curtain obscuring the shady business with the Miu clan. “So many possibilities. And we don’t have nearly enough chakra to have a clone follow each person.”

“True enough,” the blonde Kage replied, nodding pensively as he refilled his teacup. Kito sat between the two men, silent throughout their exchange.

The masked shinobi made to reply, but stopped as his eyes fell upon the title ‘Guard Captain’ among the listed options. If the Miu clan had been in communication with some outside force, it stood to reason that the very men who controlled the borders would have some hand in it. “I think I have my mark,” he said aloud, pulling the target’s schedule from the middle of the stack. “The Guard seem like a good place to start; work our way from the outside in.”

Minato nodded thoughtfully, thumbing through the remainder of the pile. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s all meet back here when we’re done.” Following a shared nod, the blonde’s former student departed.

It was a warm afternoon. I sat on one of the many park benches around Costa de Sol. It had been a few days since I ended my experience with the coin, and was sent back to Costa de Sol by the ghost pirate that I never caught the name of. I had been staying in a hotel for the past few days, the ability to create the currency used in Costa de Sol had proved remarkably helpful.


Though, I had since learned my lesson about summoning things in public view. Many people had seen me summoning items, and began to harass me about being a prime. Some shopkeepers began to refuse to see me, under the assumption that a prime could do no good for them. Other shopkeepers called the idiots for turning down perfectly good currency, as the currency they had was just a special form of omnillium anyway.


I wandered the streets often, whether it was to become more familiar with Costa de Sol, to find food and drink, or just to spend time doing something. Something I thought about often was “What do I do next?” I decided that I wanted to stay in the Vasty Deep. I had talked to members of the Imperial Navy, and they had told me that I would have to do the same work and take the same orders as any other new member of the Navy, just like any secondary would, and I couldn’t see myself doing that.


I thought of something, an idea that I hadn’t had before. It came to me when I was talking to one of the shopkeepers who actually would talk to me reasonably. He told me that someone had broken into his store a few days prior, and had stolen some important items from him. He said that he couldn’t find anyone who would help him, and that the police had tried with no luck, although he believed that they hadn’t truly cared about his store in the first place.


This led to give me my idea. Perhaps I could create a group of mercenaries, both primes and secondaries who were willing to come together under one banner to take on jobs throughout all the verses, headquartered on an island somewhere in the Vasty Deep. I thought about the idea for a few days, and decided that, if I was going to do it, then I was going to need support. I pulled out my smartphone, and registered a domain on the dataverse. I set up the page to what I wanted it to be, and began my attempt to see if anyone would join me.


I also mentioned the idea around to a few capable secondary warriors that I had met, and while most seemed uninterested, a few were willing to prove themselves. I spent some time trying to find some work for us so that we could begin to build a name for ourselves. The only person interested was the shopkeeper who had his shop broken into in the days before. I decided to personally take on this job, and began hunting down the figure myself.

Name: Alexander Anderson
Spent OM: 13,100

Proficiencies (2600);
-- Ranged Proficiency (1000)
-- Physical Strength (1000)
-- Area Attack Proficiency (600)

Powers (5300/8000);
-- Advanced Regeneration (2200)
-- Survival (2000)
-- Burst Movement (800)
-- Super Jumping (Basic) (300)

Moves (1500);
-- Blessed Silver Bayonets (600)
-- Bayonet Swarm (300)
-- Exploding Bayonet (300)
-- Flying Guillotine (300)

Super Moves (1200);
-- T1 Super Defense: Regenerator
-- T1 Super Attack: Blasting Sword Chain

Transformations (1000);
-- T1 Power-Up: God's Assassin

Assists ();
-- None

Items ();
-- None

Artefacts
-- None

Consumed OM (); (for consumed items or OM permanently lost from respecs, etc)
-- None

Bases ();
-- None

Unlocks (1500);
-- First Stat Increase (1000)
-- Spiritual Attunement (500)

Base stats
ATK: 3
DEF: 3
SPD: 3
TEC: 2

NPCs
-- Captain Crow

Character name: Alexander Anderson

Character source: Hellsing Ultimate

Character history: http://hellsing.wikia.com/wiki/Alexander...on#History
Taken from after his death in Volume 10.

Physical Description:


Stats: (1 stat increase purchased)
ATK: 3
DEF: 3
SPD: 3
TEC: 2

Starting Proficiencies: Physical Strength (1000), Ranged Proficiency (1000)

Starting Powers: Advanced Regeneration (1800), Survival (2000), Burst Movement (800)

Starting Moves: 

Blessed Silver Bayonets -- 600 OM (Requires: Physical Strength, Ranged Proficiency)
Anderson's primary weapon are a vast number of bayonets, which he wields much like swords. They are equally well-suited to both slashing and stabbing, and while primarily used for offense can be used effectively enough to parry and defend against attacks. They are notably quite light, allowing for extremely swift and precise attacks, and making them well-suited to being used as throwing weapons in addition to melee tools. However, it should be noted they are rather fragile, and when used to block attacks or if they are struck against powerful defenses may tend to chip and crack, or shatter completely.

Anderson typically wields these weapons one in each hand, either in a forward or reverse grip. At need, he can throw them with an effective range of up to 30 meters with sufficient force to cause injury. If he throws them, or they shatter or become damaged, he can produce another pair from within his sleeves after just two seconds, one per bayonet.


I confirm that I have read and agreed to the Rules of Conduct.

Where did you find us? I was already here, my friends. Already here.

Character Switch OM Maths: [{16033.09 - 5000} / 2] + 5000 = 10516.545

I woke slowly to the feeling of a cool liquid on my back. My eyes opened slowly, and were met by a blinding white sky. Squinting my eyes, I rolled to the right onto my side, and realized that I was lying in a pool of water of some kind. The water was ocean blue, and seemed to be in a perfect circle around me, as if I was laying in some kind of pond. The area around the pond had the greenest grass I had ever seen, but it quickly gave way to the white color that seemed to be what this entire new place was made of.


Standing up, I felt a little discombobulated at first, and struggled to keep on my feet. The feeling quickly passed however, and I was soon exploring my surroundings. I tried to recall what I had done before waking up in the pond. I remember a smiling silhouette telling me I was in a new world, and handing me a glowing rainbow orb. Before that… I was in my room in the castle, getting prepared for a social meeting. And before that… The memories came back Hazy, as if they weren’t truly mine. I wasn’t sure about what I had done before that.


Looking around me, I saw eight arch ways in the distance, and felt confused. I had never seen an arch before. A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I looked at the pond again for confirmation. The world around me wasn’t made of blocks! Everything was solid, the exact way that the human from earth had described his planet. I watched figures in the distance walking between these gates, with a few seeming to be walking in my direction.


I decided to hang out where I had started. I hoped someone would come help me get through the world. I thought about what the mysterious figure known as Omni had said, and pulled a glowing rainbow ball out of my chest, and began examining it. Looking into it, I got the feeling that I could turn it into anything. Deciding to test it out, I thought of a small creeper backpack, and began to watch the orb glow brighter. Keeping my focus on the item, I watched as it turned into a backpack after a few minutes.


Putting the backpack on, I wondered exactly what I could do with this Omnillium inside of me. Could I create larger things, like buildings and cities? I tried to create a building that one would see in a village. A few moments into my attempt, I felt the omnillium disconnect from me, and somehow knew that I would need more Omnillium to create larger objects. As I was about to create a chair and just wait, something came to mind.


Could I create… Life?


I stared at my hands, wondering with what this new power could do. I passed on the chance to try it. If I didn’t have enough to create a building, how would I have enough to create life? I laughed aloud. “Create life. As if it was possible in the first place.” I laughed to myself again, and began heading to one of the arches. It had many people outside of it, and seemed to have a mostly constant flow of traffic running through it. Surely one person would be willing to explain what was happening to me, right?


Right?

Purchases and Deductions for Cupa go here!

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