The Temple of Artemis(Pre-Event/Intro Thread)

[Minato Namikaze]

'Um… he's a handful.'

Of course this was the first thing that anyone would tell him about his son. He was Kushina's son after all. There wasn't much he could do about it, Naruto was pretty much destined to be mischievous. Minato smiled and then laughed as he gave his reply. 'Just like Kushina.'

But that wasn't all that Kakashi had to say to Minato. The man wanted to know what happened with the Nine Tailed fox. Fair enough, but he didn't know where to begin, would he tell him, first, about the Masked Man? Or would he just tell him about the fight with the enormous fox? Minato's face soured for a minute as he thought back on his and his wife's sacrifice but, before he could form a reply, the two of them were interrupted by a young girl. She seemed sort of star struck, like she knew who they were, but he didn't recognize her. She greeted them, and then apologized to them both for interrupting their conversation. She was definitely weird, but seemed friendly enough.

Kakashi questioned why the young girl had called him 'sixth', which caused Minato to grin. Partly because he thought it was nice that someone assumed he would become Hokage, and partly because he knew that he could us this chance to tease his former student. 'Hey, Maybe she means that you will be the Sixth Hokage.' The blonde haired ninja Teased as the youth seemed to stare up at them with stars in her eyes.

'What?' The silver haired jounin responded, half flattered and half concerned. 'Don't say things like that.' He finished, that sort of responsibility wasn't something he'd want. He barely felt that he could keep himself stable, how could anyone expect him to protect the village? Kakashi shook his head, disappointed in Minato's choice to tease him. Minato laughed in response to this, he was only having a little fun with his ex-student. But it wasn't long before his attention returned to the young girl, her look of awe had transformed into that of determination and inquiry. She stared up at him as if she had something urgent that she needed to ask him.

'Is there something you want to ask me?'

[Ada Wong]

A quiet second broached upon by a murmuring susurrus of voices, and then Crowley’s feet lightly touched down upon the white and grey-veined floor. His jacket settled back along the hem of his shirt with a soft drag, having been plumed out behind him in a thin mimicry of flight before the demon made his semi-graceful landing.

It had been like tearing off the transient cover of reality, drifting sideways through time akin to how a gasping goldfish caught up in a bulging water-filled sack swims about. The light of the Nexus was gone: the soles of his shoes scuffed against the smooth, cool floor, bursts of gold and serene turquoise gleaming all around in conjunction with stately pillars of stone. Comparable to how a fluctuating film scene laid fluidly across another appears, inaudible, breathing bodies stirred around him.

The swirling throb between realities ceased at last; a pressure was lifted. Crowley looked up, tilted his head back a ways. Then, it craned waaay back, his sulfurous yellow eyes focusing solely upon the towering, womanly figure with the magnificent crown of her head just barely reaching the upper layers of assembled rock.

He knew this place. It was now a trickling cavern of rumor and guesswork based upon the— sometimes heated— murmurings of those around him, but Crowley recognized it nonetheless.

“Oh, the angel would love this,” he breathed, knowing that Aziraphale’s required, heaven-mandated reaction would have to have been quite the opposite. But what were friends for, at any rate? Live and let live and all that jazz.

A flicker of bluish aura approached from his side, patient and waiting. Crowley turned, understandably curious, a smell akin to lit cigarettes and fine leather withering about him in some warped parody of a halo. He was not expecting the blue spirit that stood there, solemn and with forlorn eyes seeking reprieve from some ancient prison.

Papa Smurf? Crowley thought. No, the ghostly figure went on to say, his name was Teucer. What an interesting name. Well, Crowley hardly thought so, but he should have.

As the phantom-like person spoke of relics, and curses and spells and everything of their magical ilk, Crowley felt a steadily sinking feeling in his breast. This was remarkably familiar. Papa Smurf seemed so hopeful, though— and, besides, Crowley wasn’t that sinister just to let some old ghost rot away in a jail such as this. Even if it did have some nice décor.

"Sure thing, Papa Smurf," Crowley said, grinning like the oil-slick guy he was. "Always happy to help a fine ghost such as yourself in need, that's me."

Besides, helping an elderly man cross the street— er, menacing magically-infused barrier, wasn't all that bad. It could definitely be worse; he might've ended up in the company of someone with a severe god complex, and wouldn't that have just taken the cake? Getting a few powerful items in return only sweetened the pot a little.

Speaking of powerful items— where was Koren? The Bejeweled Blade wouldn't be happy about being dumped again, that was for certain.

[Ruby Rose]

WHITE ROSE IS IN THE HOUSE, BITCHES

No! No no no! Why was this happening! Everything was really looking up, Weiss and I had finally reunited with the other members of team RWBY, and now we were being ripped from them... again! As I fell through blackness, like Alice down the Rabbit's hole, tears streamed out. ""NO! WHY?!" I cried, feeling no one at my side; even Weiss and I had been separated! I broke down into a teary mess as I plummeted, bawling my eyes out, curled up into a small crimson ball.

Until finally I was launched out onto some slippery surface... marble, it seemed, now even more reflective and slippery with my tears drenching it. I couldn't say a word through my sobs, and I continued to lay, curled up, until a hand grasped my shoulder. "Ruby!" A female's voice cried, and I halted my crying. "W-Weiss?" I stuttered back, rolling over to face the alabaster fencer. She quickly embraced me and pulled me up onto my knees. "I-I was so frightened, I thought I lost you again..." She sobbed into my cloak, and I did likewise into her hair. "S-same..." I muttered simply, allowing us to stay that way for a few moments.

I pulled away and scanned my surroundings; Zwei seemed to have been left behind, and the familiar weight of Crescent Rose at my waist had vanished. Myrtenaster was also missing from Weiss's hip. A simple fix, I thought, and tried focusing, but instead of Omnillium magic, a pang of pain hit my head like a brick. "Ow!" I cried, rubbing my cranium tenderly. "Weiss... we can't have our weapons..." I muttered, disappointed, a sink hole splitting in my gut. Now that I was without my weapon, I had only one person I could depend on; Weiss.

The two of us jumped in shock when a voice rang out before us. A blue, ethereal man stood - or more so floated - there, and spoke to us; or more so the entire gathering of various characters.

Greetings Champion. I am the mighty Hero Teucer and I have chosen you to help me in this quest to release me and to let my spirit rest in peace. I was slain in this land in a war a long long time ago. I should be resting in the Elysian Fields but that evil warlock cursed my soul onto six relics that you must retrieve for me.” The spirit floated over to the middle of the pool in which there is a small table which looks as if it has a placeholder for these items.

“The relics are scattered throughout the island and are protected by powerful guardians who have been set forth by the Warlock. Please...help release my spirit by bringing all six relics here to the temple. Once I am released I will give whoever brings me all six one of the relics and will imbue it with great power. I chose you because of your valiance and honor as a fighter and I believe that you will be the one to free me. If you have any questions I will be here as long as I’m recruiting others. Please save me.

So... basically we had to fight giant guardian monster things to get stuff for this spirit? Sounded like my kind of adventure... but how were we supposed to fight without weapons?! The I thought back to my fight with Wakka...

No. Nonono. I was not going to let that happen! I could already feel myself shaking at the thought, even with Weiss's firm hold on me. "W-Weiss..." I mumbled, digging my head into her chest. "I-I'm scared..."

[Amaterasu]

Amaterasu smiled brightly and bowed a second time, this time in return to the stranger's bow to introduce each other. "I am..." For a moment she paused. Arthuria had warned her that this might be a Holy Grail war and that revealing her true name might be risky. But, the other one had introduced himself by full name, and it was only right that she returned the favour. So, she decided to use her real name in full. "... Amaterasu Omikami. The pleasure is all mine." After a moment of silence she pulled herself back into a straight position, and only now took to examining the person in front of her, perhaps a bit longer than what was okay by rules of courtesy even. But, this was a situation unlike others, and Somerled was doing just the same.

When she noticed his distinct asian features a part of her wondered at his reaction to her name. If she would react the way Arthuria had, with disbelief and possibly anger at the supposed misuse of a kami's name. Or perhaps he would recognize her as for who she was? Of course, that might not be as easy, given that many depictions of her included the Imperial Regalia and more... well, shall we say, appropriate clothing for a goddess, like a wide dress glistening with the colors of the sun. Not the garb of a miko and bare feet. Add to this that her powers seemed widely disabled in this location - despite having walked around for a while, none of her steps had left any growing plants in their vicinity - and she had little way to prove her identity if he doubted her.

The other side of her told her to simply go with the flow as she always had. What of it, if he did not take her for who she really was? And he hadn't even mentioned a word of it yet, had he now. And it pressed her towards asking something else, which she had forgot to ask of the Spirit, if he even knew. "I hope that you don't mind the straightforwardness, but... I have met someone upon my arrival here in the Omniverse, who believed that we were dragged into a combat among mages, a... what did she call it? Holy Cup Battle? No, wait. Holy Grail War, that was the one. In the short version, we would be fighting for a number of mages with the winner getting his hands on a Grail which supposedly would then grant a wish. Do you know of any such thing, perchance? Neither I nor she were certain that it would really be the case, but the Hero Teucer mentioned relics, which reminded me." She shrugged to show her uncertainty about the situation. "And, in the event that it really is the case... I would request that you refer to me as "Shiranui", not by my name. That was another warning I was given by my friend - that names would give away a fair bit about our identity. But, I assure you that the name I told you is my real one."

With that she fell silent, feeling like she had told her counterpart enough before even letting him speak up in return. Thus, she put her hands behind her back and waited, now allowing him to say what he wanted.

Translations:
Kami: God, Goddess
Miko: Shrine maiden, comparable to a nun

[Okor]

The Legionnaire rasped through his rusted respirator, befouled air seeping into ragged lungs, torn asunder by the ever-churning motion of parasites and millennia of wear. Grime-coated gauntlets slammed into the chitinous chestpiece, a meaty thwack generated by the impact’s reverberations through infested flesh. Minuscule worms squirmed through a reddened eye as it stared into the near-emotionless face of this… Colonel. He leaned forward, his fermenting mass looming over the rigid soldier in front of him. Fetid breath escaped his flawed life support systems as he spoke, a faint, scarcely noticeable miasma seeping from his helmet. ”Okor Paleblood. Fourteenth legion, fourth… Company, eighth squad. Dean of Security.” This final statement was said with noticeable relish, an obvious point of pride for the gangrenous giant. ”I had hoped that we would have had more… numbers.” A pair of massive arms folded over a similarly large torso as a cyclopean eye looked appraisingly onto the Navi, a corrupted cornea feverishly scanning over the warrior’s garb and attentive stature.

His neck and armour creaked and cracked as he nodded in approval. ”At least Nealaphh chose well. Better the chosen few than a… mere gang.” The Plague Marine chuckled, the noise reverberating off of the marble walls. He gave silent praise to the four great gods, quietly rejoicing that one of the rare few competent primes in this blasted realm had found their way to him. That made, perhaps, a half-dozen primes whose company he could tolerate.

It was progress. He opened his mouth, about to regale the soldier with the potential use of signal fires as a means of communication, when he saw a familiar face.

The slight, pale figure of his former opponent stood centrally in the temple, her alabaster dress contrasted with her companion’s crimson clothing. Schnee. The fact that they had been able to compare with one of the ancient and august members of the Death Guard was impressive enough, but their spirit was what made them truly notable. Very few could hold a candle to the Legion’s ability, but even fewer dared to try. With luck, her compatriot would prove to be similarly skilled. Turning from his conversation with his strange subordinate, he raised a rotten claw to the sky, the effluence born of his constant rot coating the decrepified digits with a noxious sheen as it beckoned the young warrior. With four lungs and an ancient vox-system on the verge of incoherent corruption, he called out.

”Weiss! Over here!”

[Kopaka]

From the dark, shadowed rim of the temple, Kopaka's icy blue eyes gleamed forth like a cluster of stars. Every so often, the telescopic array on the right side of his Akaku would whir and click as it adjusted, examining the other ensnared Primes closely. Very few of them were of any concern to the Toa; this was not to say he was given to underestimating anyone. It was simply a matter of seeing who started establishing dominance at this relatively benign stage of this trial. In that regard, two Primed stuck out in particular.

First, there was the hulking, odious giant who actually reminded Kopaka of a Toa, as he seemed to be almost equal parts organic and mechanical...thogh those parts which were organic were in dire need of maintenance. Or...perhaps this titan wielded his affliction in the same way Kopaka channeled the essence of ice itself? It was an interesting thought to consider, and Kopaka vaguely remembered seeing his portait on the brackets of the Camelot tournament. Unfortunately, access to the Dataverse appeared to be disabled in this world, so dredging up any more information on the bilious war machine was impossible. Most importantly, however, was his apparent authority over at least one other Prime in the room; another hybrid entity. The Toa was almost tempted to team up with them on the basis of physical similarities alone, but it was too soon to make any decisions.

Next, one Prime seemed to be particularly eager to assist Teucer in this indentured task. She was petite, and wore long, flowing robes that reminded Kopaka of something a Turaga might wear, if only ceremonially. Her physical makeup did not entirely fit with what Kopaka had come to understand as 'human'. What really made her stand out was how eager she was to coverse with Teucer and truly understand the situation. It almost made Kopaka jealous, being that she clearly held the same concerns as he did, but was more receptive to asking the spirit himself. It reminded the Toa of Ice of something Gali or Onua might do, but then again, their trusting natures had gotten them in trouble on more than one occassion. Regardless, she seemed determined to have a firm grasp of the situation and Kopaka took notice.

Finally, there was one Prime in the room that drew the Toa's attention more than anyone else; Mickey Mouse. Kopaka had read the files, and he had memorized the diminutive organic's facial features photographically. There was no telling what might become of Michael Valentine Smith, now that the biomech had been drawn into this debacle, but he could at least make sure that the rodent suffered a grisly end at the hands of the Empire...and then, perhaps for good measure, Kopaka would put down that inept mate of his as well. As long as Kopaka was not an official EPD officer, he could use such anonymity to his advantage. At any rate, he would have to formulate a plan to get close to Mickey. It would be strange to simply declare himself an ally of the creature right at the start of this contest; Kopaka could not assume that Mickey was an imbecile. More information was needed.

The Toa lurched free of the temple wall, causing a few small sheets of frost that had been spreading from his body to crackle down to the ground. With measured, quiet steps, Kopaka moved back towards the center dias and focused on the fountain in that occupied the palacial rotunda. Staring into the water, the biomech trained his audio receptors on the conversation that Mickey was having with a female Prime, waiting for any potential avenue for alliance...

[Erik Vrell]

Erik sat at the fountain of infinity, furious with himself that he let his allies down. He picked himself up and began to walk towards a random gate before feeling a strangely familiar feeling of falling. The world went dark for a while and Erik seemed to be falling for an eternity before the psychic hit a granite floor and found himself in some sort of temple.

Erik noticed a ghostly old man before him who introduced himself as Teucer. As he informed the nearby individuals of his plight, Erik realised that this could be his chance to redeem himself. If he could lay the spirit to rest and possibly protect his allies while doing it, he would be strong enough to protect his allies if they were attack once more. The psychic rose up to his full height and looked the spirit in the eyes. "I am more than glad to release you from this curse." Erik said with a smile.

A quick glance around the temple revealed a large number of champions, many of them unfamiliar to Erik. 'This will be a hard fight.' Erik thought to himself. 'I'm going to have to do my best if I want to win.'

[Clownpiece]

Amaterasu. The wolf woman had introduced herself with a name that chilled Somerled’s blood. The great kami who shines in heaven. He tried to maintain his polite smile, and for the most part he did, but facing a god who ranked so highly above a mere youkai like himself, it was quite a challenge. Just the fact that he was quite possibly meeting the Amaterasu almost made him want to drop to his knees and repent for everything, simply for a small hope that maybe she wouldn’t smite him into nonexistence. She may be a benevolent goddess, but facing a human-terrorizing monster such as himself may make her rethink that.

Luckily, he was quite adept at body language, which is probably what saved him from completely losing his shit externally. Internally, of course, there was no hope. His mind flitted about from one thought to another far faster than he had any time to process. Is she the real Amaterasu? Borrowing the name? What if she finds out? Does she already know? These thoughts and similar raced through him, shooting past faster and faster, until it just stopped. Pop. His mind, overloaded on worries, just gave up, and his conscious was flung out from his introspection, and allowed him to actually look.
In front of him, Amaterasu studied his face, a curious look on hers. Curious why? The monster asked himself. Was she thinking about how to best exterminate him? The great kami opened her mouth, and the spirit braced for the worst, only to have his worries completely shattered with her words.

“A Holy Grail War?” Somerled repeated once Amaterasu had finished her explanatory ramble. He wasn’t entirely sure why the hell people would start an entire war over a half-rate cup like that, but at this point he’d latch onto any topic and silently thank the great kami that she saw fit to not purify his ass then and there. “The Holy Grail isn’t really a big deal where I hail from. Lots of magical artifacts could provide infinite life, provided you could find them. Though finding them was the problem....” The monster trailed off, smile falling and thought flickering across his visage as he searched for the words he needed to explain what he was thinking. “I can’t really speak with any authority, but I do not think this concerns the War you are talking about. The only way to know is to find out, though. So I guess we’ll see if inevitability proves me wrong.” His face lifted back into a bright smile.

“Now that that’s out of the way...” Somerled immediately bent into another deep bow. “I am terribly sorry if I have been too impolite, Shiranui.” He finally succumbed to his own uncertainty of how to act around an actual god. Or rather, a god that he actually thought highly of. For all he cared, Jupiter and his merry band of assholes could go and screw themselves. And although he would prefer to apologize a lot more than this, he was worried that going any further would draw unwanted attention, and based on what the great kami had been saying, it would probably be best to avoid that.

[Amaterasu]

"Impolite? I'm afraid that I don't understand what you are getting at, Mister Murdoch..." She replied with a frown. "If I behaved in any way that insinuated that I found you impolite, it would be me who has to apologize to you! I am not too versed in the manners of mortals, what little time I spent among them I spent as a wolf. People viewed me as more of a pet or a friendly animal to pet and feed, than an equal to exchange courtesies with." She chuckled and smiled brightly, both because the anecdote was raising her mood and because she wanted to comfort Somerled. Though he was concealing it well, Amaterasu could tell from his rather careful speech and somewhat mechanic politeness that he didn't quite seem at ease with her. Of course she couldn't tell the truth, nor how upbeat Somerled really was, but she could tell there was something.

"You appear to be from Japan like myself, or perhaps from another country of the East, Mister Murdoch? Surely you must be familiar with the etiquette to some extent if that is the case. And if it isn't... well, I would be happy to treat you in a more familiar way. I am not your enemy, I assure you. Or at least I do not intend to be." Again with the polite approach to not refer to him by his first name. He hadn't told her yet if he was okay with her referring to him by name or by an alias, as she herself had requested, so a middle ground might be in order for now.

"As for the grail, I must say that you are making me curious. Though I suppose that we will soon find out what items the Hero is referring to, it does indeed not sound like he's referring to the grail. Though I must say it does not interest me much to have a wish granted, I merely want to bring peace to his troubled soul. But infinite life-bestowing artifacts... i don't think I have ever had any contact with one of those. I have had other artifacts in my time, though mostly they were of little use for mortals - prayer necklaces and enchanted ink pots for the most part. And a number of swords. That leads me to think... perhaps you hail from a different time than I do, or a different place - the world is a big place, after all? I myself last lived in Nippon, at the time of Queen Himiko and Emperor Takara, if either of those ring any bells to you."

Note: Amaterasu as I play her originates from ~248 AD (the year where the shaman Queen Himiko died), though the game has several technological advancements based around feudal Japan. But that's a fairly accurate representation of when she lived.

[Ururu Kyuuei]

Ururu blinked before shaking her head. “No not really a question. Wanting to meet you two yes, but this wasn’t the place or the time I had been hoping for,” she replied with a baleful look at the spirit and deep sigh though she didn’t paus beyond those expressions. There were a number of things to discuss but not enough time to really do it all. Historical blanks to be filled, white-washed histories to be colored and falsehoods to be unshrouded. All of which impossible for her to do at the moment.

“I was taken from about 200 years after your death Yondaime-sama. As it is I’m a archeologist and a historian myself. It’s far more probable that you two would have questions for me.” Ururu said plainly, her voice barely even. It was a bit of a deviation from her planned opening though it was close to what she had wanted for the off chance of such a meeting as this.

Then again what was life here but hideously unjustified?

Every intent on her face and in her mind was set to trying to prove who she was. To show she had valuable knowledge that they didn’t have. History, future history. When she had devised this whole thing though it was to be lore traded for fact, now it only had one use. Getting Hikaru back, every moment the network was severed like this… she had no idea what would happened.

The handful of tests she had done outside the Omniverse regarding that… were horrifying. Here with the Mad God’s sense of humor… Sage, she didn’t want to think about it. Persona’s occupied something unique in the omniverse; a combination of thought, chakra and her bits of her spirit and they had been torn from her, one thing that allowed themselves to be substantiated. But they were unique, each one. Shi was the closest Ururu had come to recreating a personality, and that was her own, a disposable self

How could Omnilium recreate that unique soul that had been born for each of the rest of them. She needed them, and she had something they would need. Knowledge about their loved ones. What was the point of all the tools and power in this place? She needed power to bring them back, to protect them.

That was all that mattered.

“Interested?” Ururu breathed.

[Moon]

The hybrid took yet another glance around the room. It seemed that a lot more people were coming. To be honest, it sort of worried him. He'd have to fight all these people? Even that weird... sludge guy over there? God. This would be quite the task, especially since he was not exactly a fighter unless necessary. They also seemed to be... making allies? What was this, Dante's Abyss?



...Know what? It probably was. Except this time, it was more difficult. Because now, there were guardians. He'd need people on his own side. That would be for the best. But who...? They all seemed to be joining together already. Interruptions in the middle of a conversation wouldn't help much at all. So he supposed he'd just wait it out, until there were more people. Better that than being a dick, yeah?

[Clownpiece]

“Er... So-” Somerled began saying, rising from his bow, but cut himself off with a cough mid word. If he iterated that ‘sorry’ again it’d just cause a downward spiral of apologizing for apologizing and that was a road that would be just plain stupid to go down. With her words of assurance in his ears now, the light of rationality began to shine through his thoughts, and he realized how panicky he had been. At this point, it was probably best that he just drop that whole topic altogether and veer onto something else.

The great kami seemed to have the same thing in mind, changing topic to the monster’s origins and the artifacts and relics they had to hunt down. Her observations were spot on, and he said as such. “Queen Himiko. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long while...” Somerled trailed off into thought for a moment, running some memories through his head. “Queen Himiko was a long time before I was spirited away to here. A very long time. Nearly two thousand years. And although I was born in Japan, I haven’t been back in years, so I don’t remember much in the way of mannerisms and such.” Just leaving a little bit of the truth off works wonders. “That doesn’t mean I can’t take you up on your offer though. Don’t worry about being impolite to me,” he chuckled at the irony, “You can call me Somerled. Or Arashi. Whichever one you like the most.” With that topic wrapped up, the storm spirit jumped onto what Amaterasu had brought up next.

“As for the artifacts... I don’t know many of them myself,” he shrugged, “I’ve just heard stories. King Arthur’s Holy Grail, Chang’e and her Immortality Elixir, the Philosopher’s Stone. But yeah, silly humans-” the monster’s sentence paused for a fraction of a moment as that gaffe escaped his lips. That was in and of itself a mistake, and Somerled quickly rectified it, quickly continuing his sentence, “-and their penchant for fancy sticks to poke each other with. There’s way too many of those. Isn’t any different from where I come from. I don’t particularly care for any of them.” His face fell into a frown. “Split into six and trapped for millennia. It’s a hellish fate, so I hope to help make him whole again. Which makes our goals the same.” Once again he donned a friendly smile. The irony was not lost on Somerled, and what a heavy dose it was. A monster and a benevolent god sharing the same goals.

[Belle]

Belle pinched herself a second time, but the world before her eyes refused to go away. She tried again, harder, but the only difference appeared to be a deeper, stinging pain on the skin of her arm.

"Excuse me," Mickey said, a note on concern tinging the edge of his voice, "but why are you doing that?"

She reluctantly turned her eyes to the anthromorphic creature. All the weird people that were around her, she knew she could deal with that. She'd been yanked to this dimension, after all, it wasn't a completely alien experience to be surrounded by strangers. The gigantic armored... thing and some of the more bizarre creatures she was a little more leery about, but at least they seemed like they could be human under the surface - or something humanoid, at least.

What she couldn't deal with was seeing a small cartoon character fretting over her. Oh sure, she'd watched the shows when she was little. What kid hadn't? And what kid hadn't imagined those characters crawling out of the television or movie screen and playing with them?

The problem was that she wasn't five anymore, and she didn't remember the movie of Mickey and the Spooky Deathbattle Arena Ghost.

"Just trying to wake up, Mickey," she said, dully. She caught the mouse's eye and held up her hands, meekly surrendering to the insanity that was Mickey-goddamned-Mouse sharing existence with herself. "Nevermind. What's your take on all this?"

She felt if anyone was going to be a moral authority, it was Mickey. He didn't disappoint. "Well," he said. "I think we should help, obviously."

The little mouse's eyes flicked over to the side, to a strangely clad man nearby. Belle followed his gaze, examining the red-helmeted man that was chatting up a be-halo'd woman. The man looked like something she'd seen when she was younger. Something about fighting robots...? Aha: Power Ranger. That was right. "Someone you know?" she asked. "I don't remember him from your cartoons."

"You could say that," Mickey agreed, laughing with a wave of one gloved hand that was almost as big as his head. He paused. "Cartoons?"

"Yeah. You were always on when I was little. Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and Donald. And Pluto!" She tapped her lips in thought, trying to remember the last time she had seen them. Then it came. "Last time, you guys taught me an important lesson: no smoking."

Mickey gave her a weird look, then smiled. "Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm sure glad if I was able to help you."

"That's right. You're an original hero, aren't you?" she mused, talking into the ether. "When did you get pulled here, anyway? Not this room, I mean ... You know. This place. Omniverse."

[Amaterasu]

"Woah. Two thousand years? That must mean you're way from the future, right? Around, uh..." She lowered her head and held out her hands, counting fingers. But Somerled interrupted that.

"The 1990s, 2000s range."

"That's... that's amazing! And you can't have been here for much shorter than me, so... so that must imply that either we come from different realities, or the White kami was able to... to reach past time and pull us from the past or the future! And two thousand years... that's nearly twenty times the amount of time that I traveled through the Spirit Gate! I cannot begin to imagine how potent his powers must be...!" She dragged a hand through the hair on her forehead, messing it up slightly though it quickly smoothened back out when she withdrew her hand again. "Somerled then... if we originate from places with such an enormous difference in time, I see no point in sticking to mannerisms - we're bound to step on each other's toes sooner or later." She blinked, then shook her head. "No, wait... that's not how I meant it either. I meant... ahh." Again her hand ruffled up her hair a bit as she thought. "Right. I meant that we can treat each other with due respect but without resorting to the Kosai-ho, kind of as we did so far. I'm happy to speak openly to you, without paying mind to every single word."

Somerled's next mentioning caused Shiranui's eyes to go wide and she took one step closer, which would lead Somerled to instinctively step back once as Amaterasu came very close that way. "King Arthur? King Arthur's Holy Grail, did you just use those terms?"

"That's what I said..."

"... interesting." She blinked as she realized what she had done and withdrew one step again, losing herself in thought and not noticing the curious glance from the other individual. "Though her name was... and she came from the future, she said..." She mumbled to herself, though most of her thinking was quiet. She called herself King Arthuria... and now he's telling me that the Holy Grail was hers? Should I... no, she requested that I keep her identity a secret. I don't know enough yet... She lifted her head to look at Somerled once more. "I'm sorry about drifting off there... never mind this. I've heard the name somewhere else, though it wasn't quite associated with the Holy Grail at that point." She cleared her throat to withdraw from the awkward situation and gave Somerled another of her warming smiles. "Mortals are indeed sometimes hard to understand by other beings like us. I've never been able to predict their actions reliably - just like here, for Hero Teucer."At this point she took a little gamble, to confirm or dismiss her suspicions. She purposedly said "like us" to test the waters, and to study Somerled's reaction. If he was a human he would probably tell her. But if he indeed was not human, he just might be taken out of concept, if only for the fraction of a second, before dismissing it. And in either case, it wasn't like she would rip his head off for not telling her. He may have his reasons to hide it, or he was indeed a mortal and her suspicions had been wrong all along. He could not be an oni, he would have attempted to attack her long ago, and not have been willing to assist the spirit. "I have heard of youkai who as mortals locked a piece of themselves into an object so that they could remain in the mortal plane. But it eludes me as to why this man called Warlock has gone to such great lengths to keep his opponent from passing on. If we are to believe Hero Teucer, it may very well be that Warlock himself has not departed to the plane beyond to guard this place. No form of magic, even curses, can linger for this great a time without someone to uphold them. But... if you are willing to help, would you consider doing this together, Somerled? You could keep the relic that Hero Teucer is offering us if we were to win this, I have no interest in it myself. And from what I can tell, there are others forming groups too... we could perhaps group up into a larger group if you are okay with the idea."

Translations:

Kosai-ho: Social code, Etiquette
Youkai: “Mysterious phenomena”, including monsters, spirits, but also other supernatural "inexplicable" occurencies like magic or optical illusions. Amaterasu is here referring to spirits.
Oni: Demon

[Link]

No sooner than the Hylian had gathered his wits about him, the world around him faded to black once more and the sensation of falling took over. Link was sent careening through the vast pitch expanse, leaving Navi and the fountain behind. After the surprise of being thrust through dimensions had passed, the boy was left with little more than contemplation. Why, so soon after being placed in the Nexus, had he been dragged away once again? Where was he headed and why, why was there no warning given?

Link’s contemplations quickly came to a halt, seen to, quite adeptly, by the rapidly approaching marble ground of the Temple. Though, with what seemed like minimal effort on the Hero of Time’s part, he landed rather gracefully, dropping into a crouch as his feet connected with the floor.

The Hylian glanced around, as he rose from the ground, taking in his surroundings. Unfamiliar architecture and faces stood out as the boy turned a full circle, taking particular note of the thick fog that covered the exits.

““Greetings Champion. I am the mighty Hero Teucer..” The sudden appearance of the apparition took Link by surprise, causing him to wheel around and glare at the source of the speech, wide eyed. He opened his mouth to interject, only to be silenced by Teucer’s speech, regarding the relics and something about a warlock. Had he heard right? Warlock?

“Please save me.” the spirit spoke, ending his speech, the vast majority of which had been overlooked by Link, who was still mulling the details over. “Uhm. Well, as I’m here.. I’ll do the best I can and grab those Relics for you.” He nodded affirmatively, to which the spirit smiled and retreated back towards its statue.

Link muttered quietly to himself as he made his way over towards the pool of water nearby, eyeing the strange.. robot.. thing as he went, coming to a halt, near enough shoulder to shoulder with the being.

“Any ideas..?” The Hylian spoke, almost hesitantly, gazing up at Kopaka, wearily.

[Orihime Inoue]

This experience terrified her because it reminded her of gym class on dodgeball day. Unfortunately for Orihime, she was constantly teased for her bright orange hair. When it came time for picking teams she was always the last to be chosen. As you can imagine, the poor girl was the prime target for those spheres of death. I can’t get pummeled by dodgeballs, Orihime thought while she imagined the spirit, Mickey Mouse, and everyone else annihilating her with a blitzkrieg of red rubber. As more and more people were summoned to this place, she noted people were gathering together, hardly anyone was alone like herself. She had to do something, even the troll Zabajin went forth to battle with his brother Rufio at his side.

Panicking now, she scanned the room hoping for any sign of a familiar or kind face.

Her eyes landed once again to the gentleman that resembled Ichigo when arguing moments before. His most distinguishing feature, besides the finely crafted daggers on his waist and back, was his dirty blond hair. With crimson eyes, he was a fairly tall, lean-built young man with skin lightly tinted by the sun. The warrior was noticeably muscular under a light chain mail vest, that gleamed like sun rays upon water. Wearing a Mona Lisa smile, he sauntered across the room. He wore a long trench coat that fell to thick brown knee plates, his footsteps softly whispered as he walked.

Orihime did not realize that as this gentleman started she began to follow after him. Only when the young man abruptly stops her trance brakes. Fear rippled through Orihime like lightening. Gasping to find that was also stopping in front of the one thing she would like to avoid.

[Kopaka]

Kopaka was shaken from his eavesdropping as a voice called out from his left. The servos in his neck clicked in rapid succession as he turned to look at the source. It was an organic being that superficially like a human, but his facial features were sharper and more defined. He wore some manner of linked armor under his textile coverings, and his stature suggested a martial lifestyle. Kopaka examined the Hylian for several long moments, during which time Link shifted uncomfortably.

"Ideas...?" Kopaka said slowly, his unblinking, luminescent eye boring into Link's own wide hues. What was this augmented human playing at? Was he trying to gain an upper hand over Kopaka by finding out the Toa's secrets? Was he making a passive attempt at making allies? Kopaka glanced over at Mickey, still talking to the red haired female. Perhaps, if he could be persuaded, this human could be of use in eliminating the mouse from this contest. But what did Kopaka know about this green-garbed character? Could he be trusted? The possibility of fabricating something to tell Link crossed Kopaka's mind, but deception was not the the Way of the Toa. Honestly, Kopaka's first instinct was to simply ignore the newcomer, but the biomech did not necessarily wish to make an enemy right at the start of this debacle.

"...I do not believe Teucer is telling us the whole story. Beyond that, I have no inkling as to how this all will proceed." Kopaka finally said, crossing his arms over his frosted metal chest. It was a non-answer, perhaps, but this Prime's reaction would be telling.

[Victor Wolfe]

Hearing the mention of the institute from the walking pile of disease drew the assassins curiosity, he knew that security was focused on combat, explaining why the behemoth had risen so quickly to become the head of that division, but he did wonder if he knew of the other divisions and there membership, he did not seem like the type to have a big data verse presence if one at all.

Curiosity got the better of the Assassin and he walked over to Okor and another member of the institute, one Victor had not been introduced to yet. He was aware of the pretty young red head that was watching him and starting to follow, he smiled to himself “maybe I should talk to her once I finish talking to these associates." Victor held his arm up behind his back making a peace sign towards the girl signalling that he would talk to her in a couple of minutes. He then proceeded to walk towards the plague marine and what appeared to be some kind of automaton. "So is this where the institute members are meeting? I am surprised that only three of us got sucked in here, perhaps the smiling one does not want the head master interfering in one of his spectacles?"

The assassin examined the two warriors, he knew Okor was a very powerful solider and if the confidence of the other was anything to go by he was also a force to be reckoned with.He turned to the other institute member and introduced himself “ I am Victor Wolfe , institute Unity branch, nice to meet you” He said with his usual amused smile. He looked around the room noticing that the girl had stopped in her tracks at the site of the marine, probably for the best as from what Victor remembered he was not much of a conversationalist. He recognized his fellow New Babylon comrade , the young psychic Erik, perhaps he would check in with him after the girl.Being killed may have done damage to the kid, and as someone slightly older it was probably his job to make sure he was still stable.

[Enzo Matrix]

Just when he was starting to figure out this 8-bit realm.

One moment he was standing in the Databanks talking with AndrAIa, and the next thing he knew he was falling through nothingness. It almost felt like he had entered one of the gates between verses, except he knew very well that he had been a long way away from any of them. Not that knowing that changed his situation in the slightest.

Matrix opened his eyes and took in his new surroundings. Everything seemed real and three dimensional. The pixels were gone, and he looked at his arm to see the finer details of his skin. That had to mean he was no longer in the Dataverse, and instead returned to the greater Omniverse. What part of it, though, was anyone's guess.

And people surely seemed to be guessing. This spirit, Teucer, explained what was going on to him, but Matrix didn't immediately answer, instead taking a moment to get his bearings. He wasn't exactly happy about being thrown into this, but he would be lying if he said it was unfamiliar. The parallels between the Spirit abducting him and pitting him into this challenge, and a game dropping on his head in Mainframe were unmistakable.

He didn't want to be here. He had a thousand other things he needed to do and he didn't see AndrAIa or Frisket anywhere around the immediate area. But if it was anything like the games he knew, then no amount of bucking would change the situation. He would just have to play along and get through this as fast as possible.

Matrix reached down to touch his firearm, only to find out that it was no longer there. Only the holster remained strapped to his leg, the valuable weapon gone without a trace. That concerned him greatly, because the loss of his trusted weapon would slow this down considerably. He then cast an glance amongst the cast of characters that had been assembled. Instinctively, they all annoyed him, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Without AndrAIa here to be the diplomat he would have to control himself and play nice to the best of his ability. Easier said than done.

Of course, he also quickly realized that he was one of the later arrivals. Everyone else was already milling about and talking, likely making alliances or even renewing ones from before they were all in this temple. Matrix could only cross his arms, suppress a scowl, and wait for this thing to get started.

[Koren]

Koren fell through the blackness, unsure of what was to become of him on the other side, but as he fell, he felt weird, and different, something was changing in him, and he had no idea what. He felt as though he were being stabbed with a thousand vibrating spears, ripping and tearing away as new matter began forming itself where those spears had ripped. It hurt, and yet at the same time, it felt extravagantly wonderful, as though it was the best this that had ever happened to the legendary sword during his many travels throughout space, time, and alternate dimensions. He felt as though he were suddenly at the center of everything, and then pulled away from it all to the outside. He felt as though he was experiencing everything and nothing....

A few... hours, minutes, days, years, Koren wasn't sure what to make of it. the feeling subsided, and Koren found himself in a human body, covered in somehow comfortable, plated armor standing on the ground somewhere....

Koren blinked, opening his ash gray eyes to the sights that were before him. He tilted his head downwards and looked at the armor covering his body. The armor was mostly gold, darker in some areas, with steel plates surrounding Koren's new legs. The armor contained multiple gem slots in it, similar to when he'd been in his sword form. Koren felt renewed, thinking this might be the way he ought to be. The Omniverse works in strange ways, he thought, doing a double-take. The former Bejeweled Blade glanced at his gauntlet, which was reflecting a strange human being with ash gray hair, and matching bright eyes, with a short, scruffy beard around his mouth.

Koren was interrupted from his curiosity by a blue, ethereal spirit which floated over to him and began to speak in a ghastly, otherworldly voice.

"Greetings Champion. I am the mighty Hero Teucer and I have chosen you to help me in this quest to release me and to let my spirit rest in peace. I was slain in this land in a war a long long time ago. I should be resting in the Elysian Fields but that evil warlock cursed my soul onto six relics that you must retrieve for me.” The spirit floated over to the middle of the pool in which there is a small table which looks as if it has a placeholder for these items. "

“The relics are scattered throughout the island and are protected by powerful guardians who have been set forth by the Warlock. Please...help release my spirit by bringing all six relics here to the temple. Once I am released I will give whoever brings me all six one of the relics and will imbue it with great power. I chose you because of your valiance and honor as a fighter and I believe that you will be the one to free me. If you have any questions I will be here as long as I’m recruiting others. Please save me."

"Hold on one second," Koren said, taken aback at first by the name of the spirit, and then at the sound of his own voice. "Teucer? The legendary archer that played a major part in the Trojan War? Well, looks like we finally get to meet, since I'm no longer a sword and all," Koren chuckled. "I was there as Achilles' sword, which may sound as a bit of a surprise. My name is Koren, The Bejeweled Blade. It's nice to finally meet you outside the field of battle."

Koren extended his hand, familiar with the traditional greetings of the human race, hoping for the spirit of Teucer to return the gesture.