The credit for some things I will
let go to Dot, but there is one oblique thing I must make clear,
apparently... ^^;
[Scene: MRA HQ,
Dr. Gerbil's Lab]
[BGM: Xeno Calimani's Theme, Vandal~Hearts]
Dr. Gerbil: ...this is embarrassing...
Elly: LET US DOWN, YOU STUPID
REBEL FREAK!
Man: *smirks*
*To state things lightly -- Elly and the rodent scientist
are trapped upside down inside a contraption which, ironically, is of
Dr. Gerbil's own making. By Dr. Gerbil's setup of terminals stands
their captor...*
*...a man about 5'6", with large, absurdly cute blue eyes
and short, extremely curly auburn hair underneath a blue triple-pointed
hat. He's wearing a fluffy (yes, fluffy) white shirt
under a dark blue vest, with military pants of the same color stuffed
into black knee-high boots. Over all of this, he's wearing a
lighter blue coat that goes to his knees, leaving all of its buttons
undone. On either side of his belt are holstered a pair of
revolvers, and on his back are an odd-looking rifle, an over-sized
executioner's axe, and a comparatively small sword.*
*The first reaction to this ensemble is usually, "Did you
break out of a Revisionist US Revolution Re-enactment, or something?"*
*Second reaction: "YOU'RE A MAN?! (Could've fooled me....)"*
*Third reaction: "AAAAAAAAAAA--urk..."
-- because this weirdly-outfitted bishounen happens to be EGC no Ningai
#3.*
Man: *fiddling about with
the terminal controls* ...inconvienient little artifact.....
aha! Here goes... *pokes a key*
*One of the blank screens flickers to life, and a brash,
lilting voice trumpets out.*
Woman: *terminal*
Ascot Wilson, you bastard! *laughs* You had me waiting twenty
minutes past the agreed time!
Ascot: *smirking*
My apologies, Mack-sama.... a little trouble happened to drop in.
Mack: *terminal*
Eh..... well, don't do it again. You find the item?
Ascot: Two of them, actually.....
Mack: *terminal*
Two?
*He smirks, reaches behind his back, and draws out two
things, one in each hand:*
*In the left, what would appear to be a 5-x-normal size
marble with the kanji 'KON' etched into it... and in the right, the
sword he was carrying on his back -- the Oyaji no Kiyomori, RL-sword of
the late RL-Chatty.*
Mack: *terminal*
The Oyaji no Kiyomori? Who had that?
Ascot: Let's just say that the
little trouble I just mentioned was quite worth the waste of time in
disposing her. *grins, looking devilishly cute doing so*
Mack: *terminal*
Yeah, yeah, but who was it?
Ascot: A certain Captain of the
Archtects. ^_^ *points over his shoulder at a decapitated body*
Mack: *terminal*
By Vo-- you offed Uno?!
Ascot: Well, she called herself
Lazarus...
Mack: *terminal*
Ah, same bloody difference..... hahaha! Oh, that is precious!
Ascot-chan, I think I am beginning to like you!
Ascot: .....err.....I don't like women that way... ^^;
Mack: *terminal*
Not like that, baka. *chuckles* Well... guess this means I'm off
to the train!! HAAAAAIIIIII!! TANOSHII DA YO!!!
*She lets out a screeching laugh, and the terminal shuts
off. Ascot turns, smirking... and immediately loses the smirk
when he notices that his two hostages are blinking wide-eyedly at him.*
Ascot: And what
are you looking at?
Elly: Your name.... is ASCOT?
Ascot: Hai. Is there a
problem with that?
Elly: Isn't Ascot supposed to be
some summoner from Magic Knights Ray--
*And Mr. Wilson is suddenly quite pissed off.*
Ascot: *brandishing his ax* I
AM NOT THAT STUPID BRAT! I'M THE REVOLUTIONARY FROM
ALLIANCE! GET YOUR GODDAMN CAMEOS STRAIGHT!!
Elly: ............yessir...
Ascot: Holy pigshead... *sigh*
How some women can be so stupid, I never will understand...
Elly: HEY! Men are
stupider!
Ascot: Oh, yes, I know, and with
greater frequency. But at least they have the excuse of being
cute. :P *puts the ax back on his back* Well, if
you need me...... do be smart and get a life.
*He smirks and walks out of the Lab, security not rushing
in from anywhere to stop him. And the moment he leaves...*
Elly: I told you we should've
stayed villains...
Dr. Gerbil: Excuse me? Am I that
damn PRC? Do I LOOK like I have control over the
whole MRA?!
Elly: You could've lied!
Told him that Roach and Vermin were... dead, or something!
Dr. Gerbil: I couldn't do that! That Chatty RL
already told him they were alive!
Elly: Then brainwash him so he
forgets!
Dr. Gerbil: I can't if I'm TIED UP HERE!!
Elly: Your fault for building
this stupid thing!
Dr. Gerbil: *really pissed* YOU LET
HIM IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!
Elly: Erm......but
he's so darn cute when he flirts....
Dr. Gerbil: He's a homicidal maniac, and
he looks like a girl!
Elly: He does not look
like a girl!
*And so on...*
[Scene: The Airship Lazy Susan, EGC Purgatory
(don't ask how it got there)]
[BGM: Hel's Plan, Vandal~Hearts]
Siete: This is bad.
Quatro: No, worse than
bad. The whole situation colossally sucks...
*By way of introduction -- the four other EGC no
Architects, semi-gathered around a nine-seated table in the conference
room of the Lazy Susan. In order:*
Quatro: Not that I mind having
someone to fight, but this is just plain ridiculous.
*Quatro, a woman with spiky
red hair. Belligerent and caustic. Wears the typical black
military uniform, but with brass buttons. Has a nasty-looking
steel cybernetic prosthesis in place of her right arm. Weapon:
her arm.*
Cinco: No need to point that
out. First the NGC, now the Ningai-tachi.... and the
Triumvirate's out to kill the only Holy Miyu in existance, that's going
to have us busy....
*Cinco, a youngish blonde
woman with two large, scythe-shaped ponytails on either side of her
head. Generally weird. Wears sneakers instead of
boots. Weapon: her hair.*
Siete: No, actually, we don't
even need to interfere there. We've found evidence of an RL plan
regarding that one.... right, Nue-kun?
*Siete, a logical girl with
Fuu-ish glasses and short green hair. The 'diplomat' of the
group. Her uniform has a skirt instead of military pants.
Weapon: persuasion.*
Nueve: ........... *nods*
^^;
*Nueve, a boyish man with
blue hair that more or less fits the definition of "static".
Quite possibly the second smartest being in the EGC, and the quietest
Architect (for the most part). Uniform looks perpetually
disheveled. Rarely seen without a laptop or computerized thing of
some kind, and always has his towel. Weapon: his towel.*
Cinco: Huh... a plan?
Really? What of?
Siete: That he didn't say....
what was it, Nue?
Nueve: ............ *shrugs*
Quatro: Talkative as ever, isn't
he... ¬¬.
Nueve: *scowls*
Cinco: Oh, that's nothing, wait
'til he hears that the Captain died again......
Nueve: *jumps up* SHE WHAT?!
Cinco: See what I mean? ^_^
Nueve: .............rrgh.....
¬¬;;;
Quatro: *rolls her eyes* For
God's sake, Nueve, it's just the Captain dying again...
Nueve: *ready to flare up again*
*And speak of the devil--*
Lazarus: *bursting in,
looking slightly disheveled* Goddamn that bloody
bastard! He KILLED me! HE KILLED ME! *stomping in*
Do you know how BLOODY ANNOYING that is?!
Siete: .....um, no, none of us
have ever died...
Lazarus: Feh. *sits down*
Well, any new news?
*...and Nueve finally lets out his equivalent of a verbal
nuclear bomb.*
Nueve: "ANY NEW NEWS?!" "ANY NEW NEWS?!"
Lazarus: *calmly* And
what are you so riled up about?
Nueve: YOU, LIKE, JUST DIED!
LIKE, DON'T BE SO CALM, DAMN YOU!! THERE'S, LIKE, ONLY 57 OF
YOU LEFT! ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU'RE GOING TO, LIKE, DIE, AND YOU ARE TOTALLY NOT GOING TO COME BACK!!
*Everybody but Lazarus blinks.*
Nueve: *suddenly
self-conscious* Err...
Quatro: ......holy shit, Valley
Boy just ranted!
Nueve: .........crap....*shrinks
down in his seat and uniform*
*Yep, this is why he doesn't like to talk.... while Nueve
is the second most intelligent being in the EGC, nobody really listens
to him because he sounds like a ditz... in most of the languages he
knows. Call it a fluke on account of his official education. ^^;;*
Lazarus: Anyways.... anything
happen while I was dead?
Nueve: *resignedly*
Just, like.... this....
*He puts his laptop on the table, turns it around, and
pushes a key. A security camera video pops up...*
Mack: *on the video, very
close up to the camera* MWAHAHAHA! Wooooooo, 's good to
be back!! Macky's here, and in your FACE, ARCHITECTS!!! *beeda!*
*A hand flies up to the camera, and there suddenly is
static.*
Lazarus: *blinks wide-eyed*
Quatro: Obviously, we got
trouble coming.
Lazarus:
......Ma.....Maaaa......M-Mack...?! MACK?!
Quatro: Yep, Mack's loose.
Lazarus: How the bloody Hell did Mack
get out?!
Cinco: Heck if I know.
*All eyes immediately turn toward Nueve.*
Siete: You know, don't you,
Nue-kun? ^_^
Nueve: ............ *sigh*
Siete: C'mon, out with it.
Nueve: .....well, when the RL,
like, died, the restraints on her imprisonment, like, flickered
out. So, um..... the RL was apparently, like, the only thing
keeping her in check. ^^;
Cinco: Hey! Y'know, that
actually makes sense!
Lazarus: *blink*
It does?
Quatro: Yes, it.... oh, wait,
you were dead at the time, huh?
Lazarus: From what I gather, yes.
Quatro: Siete, from the top for
the Cap'n. ¬¬
Siete: Well...... after she
killed you, Captain, Mack killed Dos, Tres, and Sies in battle.
Lazarus: I knew that.
Siete: Ocho then sacrificed
himself to seal her away.
Lazarus: Tell me something I
don't know, hm?
Siete: Hai, hai... but do you
know precisely what his sacrifice was?
Lazarus: Um.... something.... binding,
I suppose.
Siete: No. He traded his
life for that of the the boss's insert --
Lazarus: *realising* -- so that she
could seal Mack away!
Siete: Exactly, although I think
what he had in mind was that she would kill her and remove the problem
permanently. Apparently, though, the boss was more inclined to
sealing her away...
[Scene: Flashback, De Civitate Dei -- yet not the EGC,
strangely enough]
[BGM: Kanashimi wo moyashite, Vandal~Hearts]
*Towards the edge of the city, in the closest thing it has
to a storage area, a roundish platform has been set up. A little
distance away from it stands a cyborg and a girl in robes. The
cyborg is a very beautiful strawberry blonde -- in fact, the only hint
that she is a cyborg are the metallic 'ears' pointing out from within
her hair. She's definately much more organic than mechanical, and
appears to be slightly troubled.*
*The girl standing next to her, however, merely looks
stiff. Her small jaw is clenched firmly... her eyes are a firey
shade of green... her hair is short, semi-spiky, and a bright shade of
purple. Her robes are black, dark red, and navy blue, and they
hide everything aside from her hands, which are wearing heavy black
gloves, and her head. Even the shape of her shoulders is obscured
by the armor-like shoulder plates.*
*In shorter words, it's formal villain style.*
*A 'cargo bay' door slides open, and in walks Nueve,
looking less disheveled and more worried than usual, and Siete, not
looking the least bit disturbed. Behind them follow Cinco and Quatro,
each on either side restraining the token prisoner of the day...*
Mack: Three times handcuffed,
chained all around the torso, shackled at the ankles twice... geez,
ever hear of a thing called "overkill", Chats? *laughs* Seems
you're quite prone to it!
Better to overkill than to underestimate.
Mack: Oh? *smirks* And
what if somebody else comes along while you're out of ammo?
.......I'm not going to grace that with a response.
Mack: Ha! You don't
know! Miss. I-Want-To-Be-God doesn't know! *laughs again*
*coldly* Address me with the respect I deserve, rebel.
Mack: Ah, but Chatsy, that's
exactly what I'm doin'! *grins*
*A word of description for Mack... she stands a little
taller than Chatty, about 5'9". She has red eyes, and
brownish-black hair in a short, mannish hairstyle -- very short towards
her neck, less so towards the top of her head. She could comb it
into a part, were it not that she apparently prefers the "semi-spiky"
style. Clothing wise, you can make out a tight, sleeveless,
strapless black leather top behind the chains and, unexplicably, a
bright red silk tie around her bare neck. On her hands, she wears
elbow-length black leather gloves with the fingers cut out. Her
shoes are knee-high black boots with a slight heel to them. She
also wears a Tifa-short leather skirt with garters sticking out from
under it. There're a few sheathes and holsters on the garters for
weapons to go -- which, for obvious reasons, have been removed.*
*She also has a perpetual glee. It's very rare that
anything -- anything -- can make her upset or anything less than
happy. Even pain won't diminish the smirk for a second...*
Mack: You think you can be
Master of the Multiverse? I'm willing to bet you can't even be
Janitor of a Tiny One.... *laughs*
Urusai yo.... *frowns* Why are you
jabbering on like this?
Mack: Because.... *suddenly
scowls* Temee o iyagaru yo!!
BUKKOROSU!! *hurls herself at Chatty*
*The young villain jumps out of the way of a flying kick,
and sends a powerful blast of green magic back into the chained,
restrained prisoner, who plummets downward and slides along the ground.*
*The cyborg widens her eyes.*
Mack: *looking up* Heh....
that.. the best you got? *struggles into a seated position*
Death is too good for your kind.
Mack: Feh. *grins, and
laughs again* I could beat you with my hands tied behind my
back, and you know it! Hell, even if I was a disembodied head, I
could still bite your legs off!
Enough of this! Quatro, Cinco, Siete!
Cinco: Hai, sir!
*The three women Architects run up, grab Mack, and drag
her kicking and struggling up onto the circle platform. They then
let go and leap out of the way as more shackles fly up from the
platform and latch onto Mack's legs.*
Goodbye, Mack. You were a good Second-in-Command......
while you were loyal, that is.
Mack: Ha! This isn't the
end, Chatsy, not by a long shot. You can't keep this up
forever! Even you'll die someday, and then I'll be out and
better than ever, mark my words! *laughs*
Hmph. *frowns* They all say that.
*She extends her arm out towards the platform, and red
magic streams forth from it.... creating a solid, red crystal as it
comes into contact with the platform. A solid red crystal which
seals around the prisoner gradually, hardening as it forms upward...*
*When the crystal is at her mid-thighs, the prisoner
stops struggling and glances over at the cyborg, smirking.*
Mack: *gleefully* Yuna-chan!! Aishiteru YO!!!
*The cyborg can barely keep her eyes from watering, and
the villain Chatty flinches slightly in her spell. Not enough to
stop it, but enough to put a line in the otherwise flawless crystal.*
*When it is at her shoulders, the prisoner suddenly rears
her head back and laughs.*
*And that is her position the crystal finally imprisons
her... laughing triumphantly, so certain of a latter escape that her
present confinement no longer matters.*
..........
Yuna: ..........
Cinco: ..........
Siete: .........
Quatro: ..........
Nueve: ..........
*glancing over her shoulder* Yuuuuuunaaaaa...?
Yuna: ........ *gulps*
.......h-hai, Evil One?
You're going to have to be punished.
Yuna: .....hai....
You know the price of your crime, don't you?
Yuna: ......hai....
Good, then you know that I frequently..... 'bend' it.
Yuna: ...nnh......? *blinks*
I'm going to downgrade you, Yuna.
Yuna: ....WHAT?!
A 90% mechanical downgrade, and a complete memory
wipe. *coldly* Quatro, get me a welding iron, a
toaster, and a pair of pogo sticks.
Quatro: *salutes* Hai hai,
boss...
Yuna: *backs off and screams*
Nueve: ......this situation is,
like... so.... wrong, man.....
[Scene: Back to the Present, Airship Lazy Susan]
[BGM: The Past, Vandal~Hearts]
Siete: ....and that's what
happened.
Lazarus: So that's why Yuna got
that ugly downgrade! Heh... poor kid, always gets the short end
of the stick... 'cors, then she stabs it in your back, so can't feel
too sorry for her....
Cinco: Captain... :P
Quatro: In any event, seems the
crystal and the shackles and all just.... shattered when the
boss died. Which would be bad news in and of itself, if it
weren't for... errr.... what was it, Nueve?
Nueve: ..........
Siete: Nueeeee-kun... ^_^
Nueve: ......rgh......like, fine...*pushes
a key, replaying the video*
Mack: *on the video*
MWAHAHAHA! Wooooooo, 's good to be ba--
Nueve: *pushes another key,
pausing it* ....there. Like, look at that.
Lazarus: *squints*
I don't see anything special.
Nueve: Nothing special?
She's got, like, bat wings sprouting out of the sides of her head and
devil horns....
Lazarus: *blinks*
Oh... wait, hey, now I see it! Hoo, whaddya know.... she's
getting to look like her personality..!
Cinco: More like her idol.
Lazarus: Eh? *turns* You
don't think....
Siete: Mack is EGC no Ningai
#2. She's brought in EGC no Ningai #3 --
Lazarus: -- the freaky
Revolutionist guy, I know. Met 'im, got killed by him, etc.
Siete: -- and they've already
gotten one of the eight keys for to unlock EGC no Ningai #1.
Lazarus: Er... *blushes*
Actually, they got two...
Siete: Two? But last I
heard, Ascot Wilson was after the Ball...
Lazarus: Well, I was....
kinna.... carrying the Sword with me when he killed me and such.
So, er, he has that too.
Quatro: .......damn!
Lazarus: Still, that's only two
of eight, so's long as we keep the other six safe, Ningai Number One
isn't budging an inch from his place in EGC Hell. What are they,
anyway?
Siete: .... *^_^'s at Nueve*
Nueve: ...*sigh*.....like, the
Pendant, the Mirror, the Ring, the Rose, the Book, and the Hapax
Legomenon. Now will you, like, stop ^_^'ming at me or what?
¬¬
Siete: Maybe. ^_^
Lazarus: Well, we'll split up to
find and cover one each.... and soldiers, pray for the fate of the
other three items, 'cause unless they're in the hands of an RL, they're
pretty much doomed. :P
Siete, Cinco,Quatro: Hai, Captain!
Nueve: .........hai, Lazarus-san...
Lazarus: And whatever happens,
remember one thing: even if the boss is dead, one thing's for
certain... she wouldn't want Ascot starting a revolution, she wouldn't
want Mack running around loose, and she especially wouldn't want
that Vocal mazoku toying around with her City! *stands*Architects, move out!!
There.... I don't plan for this to affect
plot for a little while, anyways.... so, er, no actual movements until
Voids and I stop our other.. scheme. *smirk*
Oh, and in case you were wondering.... new font colors are:
Ascot Wilson (84D7FF)
Mack-sama (FC1F1F)
Quatro (FF8080)
Cinco (FFFF99)
Siete (99FF99)
Nueve (8080FF)