Shifting Waters

[Artoria Pendragon]

Hana was pretty certain she could see figures in the distance. She had been advancing with a solid pace for a while now.. It was just, that she wasn't exactly planning to form teams as it currently was. She was a solo player, and so it would stay. Should these people not let her just walk past her, she would attack, but she hoped that that wouldn't be the case. Fighting as the first thing after her arrival into this game would be rather lame and boring.

As she approached the figures, she simply stopped her advancement, as the figures seemed to arm themselves. Oh, really? Did it have to be a fight, honestly? I mean, look at them, they weren't even wielding weapons, just swords or other kinds of primitive weapons, as if those could do anything against her! The girl thought, quietly readying the mech for combat as they just stood there in a standoff.

..At least until one of the figures, clad in green seemed to somehow dissipate their weapon, as well as hush down the other, whom was also armed. Interestingly enough, the guy approached her, soon enough tapping onto the glass of the cockpit with a stupid looking grin. Tapping a few commands through, Hana opened the speakers, speaking to the man whom was trying to communicate. "I'm not looking to team up, I'm sorry. And as long as you don't want to fight, we can go on our merry ways, deal?" she requested, as she directed the mech to take a few steps backwards.

If the other two wouldn't try to stop her dead on her tracks, or do something other kind that would force her to retaliate, the girl turned the mech towards one other of the gates, pushing the sticks to pilote it towards that one instead. And just like that, their paths, which had briefly crossed, parted once more.

[Dawnika Snow]

In the pitch black night, the full moon hangs high surrounded by stars and a few patches of clouds. In the dense forest underneath a cliff lies Night Raid's secret base, embedded into the cliff-side. Although the word secret could be null now as one of the newly recruited Jaegar's approached with his 'Stylish Army' of super-humans. Hiding on the cliff range with his scouts, Dr. Stylish commands the battle from the shadows. His scouts, each trained in a single sense observe the upcoming battle. The odd man with a giant nose helped find the base. The woman with extremely huge ears listened in, reporting any causalities. And lastly, the extremely buff man with in-human sight watched over the battle. "The Stylish Offensive has begun!" Yelled the doctor as his sub-ordinates rushed in to take over the base.

Leone awakes after a party for Tatsumi's return from Esdeath's grasp. She steps outside to get some fresh air, walking out towards the hot spring. A heavy sigh falls from her mouth, as she looks into the water. Her ears perk as she hears a rather unsettling noise, but it's too late. A rouge attacks her from the back with a knife, stabbing her in the spine before she has time to react. She falls face first into the hot spring and the rouge takes off after screaming about how he had completed his mission. The scout with the big ears hears this and reports it to Dr. Stylish who is rather pleased with the results.

Meanwhile inside the base corridors, Akame has awoke to glass breaking and ceilings caving in. Still in her pajamas and no time to waste, she quickly grabs Murasame and runs into the corridor to be surrounded by Dr. Stylish's fodder foot soldiers. "Hm. They got through rather easily without Lubbock's usual traps set up. He's been missing too long." Akame drew her sword and readied herself for a fight. The army of twenty so men charged Akame, who reacted quickly, slicing through her enemies with superb ease. Another enemy approaches her. "My name is Toby, and I am here to challenge you one-on-one, Akame." Akame blankly stares at her new opponent, observing his rather formal-like appearance, which is set off by the dark blue cape on his back and the odd blue cap he is wearing.

Without hesitation, Toby rushed in relentlessly, jumping off walls to catch momentum as he swung his foot at Akame's head, in which the instant a blade comes out of the sole in his shoe, kind of like a sharpened ice skate. Her quick reflexes helped her easily clash blades with him; he rode down her blade until he flew past her. She quickly turned around to him and sliced him in the back. Toby slid on his bladed skates to a stop and Akame observed as the curse did not take effect. I felt it when I attacked, she thought to herself, his entire body is mechanical. Murasame is useless with a single cut. Toby quickly returns with another strike, which Akame dodges and cuts off his entire left arm. Surprised by having his arm cut off, he backs off for a moment. "If I cannot kill you in one cut, I will have to cut you into pieces, and it's going to hurt!" Yells Akame from the distance between them. "Well then, it is rather nice that I can no longer feel pain!"

He rushes in again with a front flip kick, which Akame easily side steps, followed by a quick slice from a sword that projects out of his left arm wound. She stops the blade with hers. Toby returns fire by firing a pistol that protrudes from his mouth. Nearly being hit, Akame leans her head out of the shot and cuts of his other arm. A rifle comes out of his right arm wound and fires at her again, but it's too late. Akame has already gotten in close enough and cut off his left leg. Toby is persistent, however, and continues to fight. He starts to fire full-auto rounds at Akame who side steps left to right quickly to dodge and charges her immobile target. He blade meets his chest before he is able to land a hit on her. Blood pours from Toby's wounds. "Hm...it seems I have lost this battle. To be expected from the infamous Akame. Please, tell me why I lost this fight, Akame." She withdrew her blade from his chest, and stood with her opponent on his knee. "Your fighting style was too aggressive and you left me too many openings." She rose her blade ready to land the final blow. Toby chuckled under his breath, "Heh, right. I should've focused more on defense. Perhaps a sense of pain is quite the luxury after all." He speech was cut off, along with his head, as Murasame met his neck. Toby's head and body hit the floor and Akame was alone. "Hm," she thought out loud, "I should find the others, quickly. This is too organized to be a random attack. We need everyone together if we plan to fend them off." She rushed off through the hallway and out into the courtyard in front of the base.

"They all got through extremely easily without Lubbock's traps up, I still wish to know what happened to him." Finally making outside, Akame met up with her friends, just in time to watch Leone kill a rather odd man with a massive choke slam to the hard ground. "Uh...whoops, I think I killed him." She said slightly upset. Tatsumi asked if Leone was alright, but she responded perky and sporadically as usual, exclaiming how she can regenerate her wounds extremely quickly in her beast form. Akame joins her friends finally, "good, everyone is here."

More of Dr. Stylish's men jump from the bushes and surround the four. "Then we can take the rest out all together!" yelled Tatsumi as he was about to charge in, when suddenly everyone but him fell over randomly. "Guys?! What's wrong with you?!"

"I can't move my body," said Mine weakly as she fell over along with Akame and Leone. Tatsumi thought to himself, 'weird, this is like the sensation I felt on the boat with bro.'

"The poison seems to be working great on everyone but the one wearing Incursio." Said the scout with good sight. Stylish laughed and went on, "Of course, I designed this poison to be especially potent.

"I seem to be holding up better than anyone else, so" Tatsumi readied himself, "looks like it's all up to me!" That is until a blue haired man with a rod like weapon had jumped down from the danger beast Airmanta that the boss was riding on. "Susano, obliterate every enemy you see." She yelled down to him. "Understood," he responded.

With no delay, the Stylish army jumped at Susano, believing thier numbers gave them strength. This was not the case. Blades extended from Susano's rod and began to spin both clockwise for some and counter-clockwise for others. He began swinging through the crowd of enemies, mists of blood floated through the air. When the mist cleared all that was left was Susano, covered in their blood.

Relaying this information to their leader, the scouts of Dr. Stylish reported on Susano. Dr. Stylish had a trick up his sleeve, however. He revealed a detonator that would allow him to self-destruct his abominations of super soldiers, which he used not so hesitantly. Susano was standing right on top of the explosion, but when the smoke cleared he stood missing an arm.

With his arm missing, and oddly no blood falling from his wounds, Susano stood with no sense of the pain. Tatsumi and the others watched as his arm grew back nearly instantaneously. Mine was speechless, until she said "n-no way, he's an organic!" Tatsumi could only wonder what this was.

Meanwhile, the boss was attempting to locate the leader of this full-scale assault. "Hm, the man in charge would most like pick a spot where he could easily spy on the battle." She pulled out her binoculars and scanned the area of the cliffs, locating Dr. Stylish and his scouts. "Susano, their on the cliff-range to the south-east, do not allow them to escape."

"Understood," responded Susano.

"Doctor! We've been spotted!" Yelled his sound scout. "How disappointing," said Stylish unhappily, "then the only thing left to do is run!" The Doctor took off without a second thought. "Poison doesn't affect organic types! You must either destroy the core, or immobilize the wielder!" He was halted by a gust from airmanta, where Susano jumped up on the cliff and stood before the doctor, silently. "Alright! It's time to take matters into my own hands and play my second trump card, Danger Beast Shot!" Stylish revealed a syringe in which he used to inject himself with an odd liquid. He began to grow largely in size, and quite volatile as well. He ends up forcefully merging the scouts with his body by devouring them through a mouth that opens up in his stomach, and grows larger than a skyscraper.

Tatsumi watches from a distance, "this doesn't look good. I need to go help-" He begin to walk off but is halted by Akame, who grabs him by Incursio's cape. "Tatsumi, I can't walk, but I need you to take you with me." She stared at him seriously. "Akame?" He thought for a second, wondering how she could help in her condition, the had a recollection. With a smirk, he said, "alright." He picked up Akame on his back and told her to hold on tight. With this they rush off into battle with Susano.

The Doctor's skin had grown rock hard, so Susano couldn't do too much to him. "Ha! You can't kill what you can't hurt!" Said Stylish gleefully as he tried to smash Susano with his hand. He noticed Tatsumi and Akame. "And, you two, playing piggyback? Sorry, but that's just tactic!" He attempts to smash them, until a major blast is fires from Pumpkin, Mine's death blaster sniper canon.This causes him to fall over on his back from the sheer force. Tatsumi took his chance hand began running up the doctors body. "You know it's almost over right?!" Susano stops another attack from Stylish's giant hand with his rod as Tatsumi and Akame approach the one vulnerable spot on the Doctor: his head. Panicking now the Doctor released wire type attack where the wires tried to spear Akame. "I'm not done yet!"

"I bet you can reach his flesh from here! Go Akame!" Tatsumi jumped high in the air to dodge the wire attack and threw Akame straight towards the Doctor. "Hokiru!" Akame screamed, before she suddenly passed out in mid-air. Her sword flew through the air and stabbed Stylish in the face, while she faded through the air.

Akame awoke in front of Omni, as everyone does. She reached for Murasame instantly, only to find Murasame was missing. She is read the rules of the Omniverse and receives the orb like item that is called "Omnilium". Next thing she knew, she was in a bright area in front of a fountain. She stood silently observing her surroundings. "This isn't home, nor is it a joke." She began to walk off in a direction. "The best thing I can do right now is scout the area and see what I can find."

[Lubbock]

Lubbock froze in place as he was turned down by the girl in the mech, stating she 'didn't want to team up'. Sure, the phrase was nothing short of ordinary, but the way she had said it had just sounded... not so ordinary. The assassin was left with his goofy grin still on his lips, struggling to keep it from falling as he watched the mech stride off. Once a desirable distance between them was made, Lubbock slouched over in agonizing shame. "Ugh... well, that went well." He mumbled, before feeling a hand thump his shoulder.

"You did your best. You'll get there one day." Teal teased, and Lubbock was scared by the fact that he couldn't tell if a smile was splitting the girl's lips or not. Throwing an awry grin, he turned back around and set his emerald gaze back upon the retreating pink machine. "I guess it's just you an-"

He halted. His mouth was left hanging wide-open, like a fishing net as it swooped through the ocean. He narrowed verdant orbs at the speck in the distance, towards the Fountain, which, in the short time it had been since breaking off from Rose, had shifted to a highly familiar sword. He couldn't be sure, but there was something- no, someone across the ivory expanse of the Nexus, and said someone carried a familiar aura.

Lubbock silently spun to face Teal. "Teal, we may have company... company from my world, in fact." He explained, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. The blue-garbed kunoichi raised an eyebrow out of curiosity and bent around Lubbock to take a look at the approaching figure. It seemed aimless, as if figuring out where it actually wanted to go, and undoubtedly the silhouette couldn't spot the duo across the distance that separated them. It certainly wasn't Esdeath; she'd already have her sights set on a particular gate to visit and possibly ravage the world within.

Lubbock threw a tentative look over his shoulder. As close as they were to the Camelot gate, his original destination, he had to meet whoever it was who had spontaneously arrived from his home. He turned his vision back, before raising his thumb and middle finger to his lips. A sharp whistle pierced the air from the gap in his fingers, his digits caressing the tone to a high pitch. In little time, the steed he had left nearby zoomed to his side, standing galliantly. "Alright, Teal..." Lubbock placed his left foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle, before extending his hand down to the ninja. "Hop on!"

"I can get on myself." Teal responded coldly, making her way to the beast and hoisting herself into the saddle. Seriously, one minute she's teasing, next she give me the cold shoulder?! Lubbock whined inwardly. "Welcome to the realm of women, Lubbock." Syura teased, followed by a low grumbling from the assassin.

With a sigh, Lubbock kicked into his mount's flanks, and the legs of the animal surged forwards, bolting across the Nexus towards the centre of the Nexus with the large blade impaled into it. Lubbock felt Teal's hands timidly grab his sides as they rushed across the gleaming floor. She was beyond a doubt far from touchy, apart from times of jest or greeting. However, it also seemed to be a safety thing she may make contact for, as her arms wrapped around Lubbock's midsection. Not tightly as someone more friendly would, but enough to keep her from falling off.

"Scared you'll fall?" Lubbock teased over his shoulder, and Teal only huffed. "There's nothing wrong with being too safe, you should know that." Teal elicited a grin from Lubbock. "Guess you're right." He agreed, nodding. "Lubbock, I'm terribly sorry to inform you that you catastrophically failed that." Syura shunned the assassin, but he simply shrugged it off. "Syura, I'm terribly sorry to inform you that you have no chance at picking up a girl whatsoever." He retorted with a silver tongue, but hung his head into his steed's ebony mane with Syura's response;

"Whoever said I was interested in girls?"

[Dawnika Snow]

Akame's mind wandered far of the trail, as did she as she walked around the Nexus quite aimlessly. Her mind was drowned with the recollection of thoughts in meeting with Omni.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse." He stated upon her arrival."

"You interest me, so I have made you part of it."

"The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

Omni hands you a glimmering orb in which all the colors of the rainbow coalesce.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn."

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

And that's when she appeared in front of the fountain. During the one way conversation with Omni, she only thought about why he would find her interesting enough to pull from her own universe and simply put her in a new one. She really was only hoping that she was merely dreaming or something of the sort.

Her crimson eyes looked down at the orb in her hand that Omni called Omnilium. "So, I can really have anything. Well, first off I'll need Murasame back." Like Omni had said, Murasame summoned in it's sheathe at her side, although something was wrong. She could feel it. Something about Murasame was different. She couldn't tell at the moment, but she was sure she'd find out soon enough. "Now what?" The young woman continued to wander around near the fountain in the Nexus, unaware of her surroundings at the moment.

[Lubbock]

The blade embedded into the milky mat that was the blinding expanse of the Nexus sent Lubbock's thoughts careening back to his arrival. It began with an altercation with some rather rude Danger Beast abominations, prior to Omni's impudent shifting of the assassin's locstat. Memories from the scene were scarce, and seemed to be evaporating every moment spent broiling over them. The memory of where the circular cavern had been in relation to their base was evanescent, but Lubbock did recall how he arrived, and the means of which his transport was created was gruesome to say the least. The image of bodies- no, corpses crawling and swimming into a horrendous mountain of death zipped into the assassin's mind, and he abruptly shook his head to clear it.

"Ah, I see." Syura sounded off, curious. Lubbock gave a disgruntled scoff, otherwise ignoring the impertinent voice. "Quite the arrival, I must say." He advanced, flicking through the image himself, without a doubt. I'd rather you didn't flip through my memories, Lubbock warned. "It's alright, Lubbock. This is as far back as I am able to go." He reassured the assassin, before throwing his attention back to his newspaper. Lubbock's emerald gaze stuck out straight once more. His resumed attention finally alerted him to Teal clinging tighter to his waist. Concerned, he turned his head over his shoulder.

"Hey, Teal, you okay?" He asked, and Teal nodded into his back, not speaking a word. Is she scared of horses or something? Lubbock speculated, curious as to whether the ninja had ever ridden on horseback before. Flashing a sheepish expression, he turned his attention back to the horse's direction...

And realised the animal had turned in a wide arc, and they were now heading away from their intended location! Swearing, Lubbock tugged on the reigns, wheeling the steed around sharply and sending it back on its merry way towards the stone weapon. Lubbock leaned down and dug his face into the soft, silky mane of the beast hoisting him and his partner upon its back. "Stupid animal..." He scolded while the horse's legs beat like thunder across the ivory disc of the Nexus, galloping towards the center like an eagle in flight.

"Sounds like you're having fun trying to control this thing." The female behind him jested into his coat. "Heh, I've rarely ridden horses in the past. It's a tricky technique to learn." He stated, grateful that the kunoichi began to speak, allowing the two to kill some time as they closed the large distance between them and the katana. However their returned journey was short lived, as their mount collapsed spontaneously, launching the duo through the alabaster air.

Wishing not to be separated, Lubbock whirled around and grabbed Teal in flight, clutching her tight and using himself as a cushion upon landing, his back hitting the ground first and Teal's own, smaller body pressing to his from the impact. He lay there for a moment, eyes wrenched shut and ears pried wide open, searching for a sound to prey on. Maybe a footstep, or a gunshot or so-

A searing pain scorched Lubbock's right arm as a bullet pierced through his coat sleeve and flesh, and he gritted his teeth against the agonizing trench. If they didn't move, they were as good as dead, and Lubbock did NOT want to go through that again. The verdant assassin gently rolled the blue ninja off of him and kicked himself up onto his feet. His digits clawed at the wires on the opposing hand and proceeded to unravel the silver threads. He had to get his shield up post-haste before-

BANG

Lubbock released a sound half-way between a grunt and a scream and a bullet lodged itself in his waist, narrowly scraping his pelvis. Come on! Lubbock shouted in his mind as his hands got to work, whipping around and layering a large shield around the duo. Faster, faster, faster! He continued to growl inwardly.

BANG

Another shot fired.

CLANG

A razor-sharp blade ripped through the air in front of Lubbock's face, swatting the deadly projectile out of the air. Lubbock's eye glanced to his side, and Teal's cheekbones raised behind her mask. Lubbock returned the grin, allowing the girl to take the front as Lubbock whipped up the cocoon. Typically, Lubbock would have woven the dome in a mere five seconds, but having two bullets in his flesh hindered such speed. The assassin continued to spin the shield up around them, while Teal took care of deflecting the fire from the sniper in the distance. The rhythm continued until finally;

DING

The ring of a bullet on steel softened as the defending material became thicker; the projectile had struck the cocoon, and Lubbock grabbed Teal's shoulder, gently pulling her to the ground with him.

"Well... what now?" The assassin inquired, grinning meekly.

[Amber Veritz]

After landing on the ground, Teal stumbled up barely. When the second shot fired, she jumped behind the barrier Lubbock was weaving. The third shot however wasn't getting anywhere. Her metal plates deflected it. Teal grinned to Lubbock and watched as the barrier formed. They had to think quick.

"Okay, we're in a bad situation here. As far as I know, you have no ranged attack that could reach the distance that far of a sniper, and all I have are a few shurikens. I have an idea though, it's dangerous but go with it. I am fast, really fast. If that sniper wishes to hit me, he'll have to be very skilled. Now, I'm gonna run out and draw his fire. You pay attention to where, give me a signal and they wont be getting away from me. We'll take him alive to get some information out of him. Sound good?" Before Lubbock even had a chance to reply to her she said, "of course it does!" and ran out into their battlefield. She was watching to see where a flare might appear from a gun barrel, but she did not see anything as shots fired towards her. "This sniper is a little better than I thought. He's almost hitting me. Let's switch it up!" She began using her burst movements, leaving mostly after images. Hoping Lubbock would soon find the target.

[Lubbock]

Lubbock was not enjoying being shot at and would take any crazy plan Teal had in mind. "Alright... I'm trusting that you can dodge those bullets..." He said, in an unfocused fashion. Reason being the wires that now trailed from Teal's arms and shoulders. When she spun to face the sniper, Lubbock ducked down and attached a wire to each of her legs... before looking up and getting a nice gander at her rear end. Aww, yes! He shouted inwardly. Score!

"Lubbock, don't be a dick." Syura boomed in the assassin's head. Aww, come on, Syura, I know you liked the view, he ratted the conscience out, whom responded with a simple grunt; he admitted defeat by the sound of it. Before Teal could return her attention to Lubbock and catch him perving, he shot up and began to take down the rest of the cocoon. It honestly became a task sometimes trying to remember which wires led where from the gloves!

"Alright, stay safe, Teal." He said, giving the girl a salute, before she rushed off. The way she was moving... Lubbock's analytical gaze could instantly tell it fell short of enough to dodge the sniper's aim. He gave a light tug on the strings as he watched the muzzle flare in the distance, narrowly guiding Teal out of the bullet's course.

After that dilemma, Teal seemed to have decided something so simple wouldn't work. She began working in quick dashes, creating a mix of forwards, strafing and zigzagging movements. However, no bullet had fired yet. He was waiting... watching...

Another muzzle flash and Lubbock pulled up on the strings, slowing Teal just enough for her to not run into the bullet, before he unleashed her once more. Hopefully she could see the assassin now that she was closer...

---

"Why isn't he shooting?" Teal muttered as she continued her rush. As useful as the momentary burst of speed were, her chest began heaving and her throat became dry with exhaustion from over use. The Omniverse certainly toned down her stamina compared to Quotin. Her physical speed may have trumped that of many, but her processing speed not so much; if some force hadn't have slowed her down when the gunshot sounded, she'd have taken a sniper round to the abdomen. As curious as she was to figure out what was holding her back, she had no time for such details.

She continued rushing forwards, waiting for another gunshot, and before long there it was... but it simply soared under her as that same force launched her into the air. Groaning as the curiosity gnawed at her, teal eyes zoned in on the robed figure less than twenty meters away; the only part of him showing was his jagged frown, conveying the shock and fear from watching the ninja dodge every shot. "Surprised?" She called, giving chase as the assassin made to run. "Nope, get back here!" She cried, launching a set of three shurikens at the runaway. The three spinning wheels of death were engulfed in a thick cloud of smoke, and Teal halted like a freight train, straining her eyes to look into the smoke.

As the mass of grey wisps dissipated into nothingness, Teal's eyes drooped in disappointment as she noticed a single splash of blood, flanked by two shurikens. "He's good..." She mumbled, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

---

Lubbock relaxed the threads when he noticed Teal stop in front of a cloud of what seemed to be smoke. Sighing and scratching the back of his head, Lubbock gave another sharp tug on the strings and leaped into the air, reeling himself towards the kunoichi. He soared through the sky like a sugar glider, his verdant coat fluttering out behind him, until finally his feet touched down and he skidded to a stop. Subtly he tore the wires away from Teal's body and stowed them.

"You were controlling me with your wires, weren't you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "S-shit... you caught me, did you?" Lubbock responded, chuckling and blushing. The ninja approached him daintily but full of purpose. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and her cheekbones raised in a smile. "Thanks." She said, followed by a small chuckle. The assassin's cheeks flushed even more crimson and he scratched the back of his head bashfully. "H-heh, no problem, anything for a friend... e-especially if said friend's a girl." He added slyly and broke into a full-blown snickering fit.

"Anyways, Lettuce Head... I want to track that guy down. I feel I might be able to test my skills on him." She informed Lubbock, and his face fell. "Hey, chin up. I'm sure we'll meet again at some point." She reassured him, rubbing his arm tenderly. A smile tugging at Lubbock's lips, he looked back up. "Alright, one thing before you go;" He slipped his Device out of his pocket and navigated to the camera. "Take a photo with me, will you?" He asked, sidling in beside her. He put on the kindest smile possible, while Teal's cheekbones simply stayed in their gleeful positions. The assassin brought the device up and snapped the moment, saved forever.

Lubbock waved Teal off as she sprinted after her prey, before bringing the screen up to his eyes. I. Am. Awesome, he praised himself as he looked at the picture he took of Teal's rear end. That won't be going to waste, either.