destinystrings | Something Old, Something New

Entry tags:

Something Old, Something New

▼ Something Old, Something New (13th hour & arrival log)

Who: Anyone
Where: The entire city
When: The news two weeks
Summary: This is both a Newcomer log AND a General 13th hour log
Warnings: That depends who is there

▼ When it is darkest, men see the stars...(13th hour)

The night sky once again turned red as the 13th hour hit the city. By now it was almost too easy to accept it. The moon (or what was of it up there) shone, affecting the monster population in subtle ways.

By now, even the strange events which had happened almost seemed a little too common. The pulls from a new building, or the odd creatures that showed up and increased the population for that hour gave rise to new oppertunities; both good and bad.

To keep the population safe, the mayor had asked the city to stay inside that night and let the city police and visitors do their job, despite the dividing population on this issue. For the most part, there wouldn't be much resistance.

Each night, the sky was always filled with at least one or two signs of something new, and people were ushered inside buildings as much as possible.

Who knew. Maybe tonight you'd get lucky.

▼ Ode of the Newcomer

You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said. What time you showed here seems to be as random as everything else; if you were lucky it was during the day, if not, well the 13th hour was rather dangerous. Fortunately, there was a high chance you'd be spotted quickly.

...hopefull anyway.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

▼ Extra Long OOC Blurb

[(Make sure you read it!) This is a dual log, both 13th hour, or newcomer posts (we're testing it out to see this works well or not.)

This will be up to you on what you want to do; start a new post where you can character's name and OPEN and write the days they'll be wandering during the 13th hour.

If you are a newcomer, write OPEN and what hour they arrived. It can be the 13th hour if you want too!

Join other people's post, do some exploration, post them fighting monsters and just have some fun leveling up / interacting! For this log, you can level up persona, but not in the same thread and the same day, IC-wise. Please do not abuse this. The conditions is that the fighting must happen on different days. The threads should be long enough that an attack is possible and shouldn't just be a few comments just for the sake of leveling up (Ie, we want effort in them, as much as you would with a normal log.).

If you submitted a building and it was accepted, feel free to start a post with them discovering it! The original owners who submitted will be the first to see them, due to a strange pull that made they feel like they NEEDED to go to that area. What they do with this information is up to them; they can contact others in their group, start exploring by themselves or allow the thread to be open for others to come in with them...it's all up to you. That next morning, the government will be coming over to analyze them (that will be done offscreen, however).

FOR THE CREATURES 1) The creatures have to be in the Beastary for you to use them. You don't need to use creatures from your own home worlds either, as long as someone's put in a creature in there! Also, make sure your characters could logically take on the creatures you pick let's not have them take down a giant creature when they couldn't normally.]

DON'T FORGET TO TAG WITH YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME PLEASE.

▼ Quick Links

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Don't you worry you pretty little head about that," DeDeDe responds, striking a defensive posture as he tracks the motion of the encroaching horde. It's perhaps a bit strange that he's already remarking on what Samus looks like under the helmet, but that's a conversation for later, when they're not both in danger of being mauled by bug monsters.

"What the hell are these things, anyway?" They're definitely nothing like anything he's ever seen before, even during the darkest days of the cannibal's reign. DeDeDe charges up another hit, swinging his hammer with expert precision and knocking a few more of them back.

Still, though, there's a lot of them against only two. Something's gotta give eventually.

Samus was going to chalk it up to the expression, rather than jump to the conclusion that he does indeed find her pretty. Though there is a tone of familiarity in his voice that she found strange...

"They're called the Ing, an alien menace that once existed on the planet Aether. I eliminated them and their threat from the universe, however... At least, I thought I had."

Samus does take note that, while the two of them were certainly capable, the sheer numbers they were facing was going to be a problem...

"They're vulnerable to light energy, if you have any in your arsenal."

Edited 2013-03-11 16:28 (UTC)

A tone that he fully intends to explain, just as soon as the eminent threat has passed.

"Sounds like a real pain in the ass," he remarks, swatting another of them away. "Ain't got any of that, just the ol' hammer."

He's swinging that thing around like an old pro, and quite impressively with only one hand considering its bulk. But the problem with large and heavy weapons is always the same: they're slow as anything. And DeDeDe soon pays the price for that as one of the Ing lands on his back, exploiting a momentary pause in his attack pattern as he resets the hammer.

"Hrgh...!"

That momentary grunt is all he's able to vocalize, as the thing wastes no time in assuming the form of an inky black fog, slowly seeping in through the folds of his clothing and into the pores of his skin.

"Samus, get the hell out!"

He's doing his best to fight it off, but the Ing do what they do extremely well, and he's already quickly falling under its sway. And if there was any question of his familiarity with Samus personally, it's almost certainly gone now as he calls out her name.

(ooc: His Persona will awaken in my next comment and blow the Ing out of him with the power of will, just so you know~)

Edited 2013-03-11 17:35 (UTC)

When Samus notices the Ing landing on DeDeDe's back, the hunter flips backwards and takes aim at the creature. But it's far too late as the creature begins its possession, seeping into the penguin.

Samus's eyes grow wide with terror as the Ing starts to take control, and she lets out a surprised gasp at the sound of her name. No... no, not again, this was not happening to her again!! She was not going to lose another ally like this, she was not going to be responsible for their death by her hands!!

The hunter finds herself frozen in place as she adjusts her aim directly at DeDeDe...

She doesn't want to fire. She really, really doesn't, and her freezing up is costing her precious time. Without even realizing it, Samus finds herself screaming out.

"FIGHT IT!! FIGHT IT!!"

"Doin' my best!"

DeDeDe's voice is full of frustration, irritation, and a small hint of rage as the feelings he keeps locked away behind his usual uncaring veneer come bubbling up to the surface. His skin darkens and his eyes flash maliciously as he shoulders his hammer and turns toward Samus with a wicked grin on his face.

"You're next," the now alien voice hisses out of his lips. Lifting his hammer once again, he approaches Samus, jets flaring dangerously as he gears up for a swing, and then...

...Nothing. For Samus it would only be a moment, but for DeDeDe, time has suddenly halted as he struggles futilely against the infection. All of a sudden, there is another figure joining his mental battle. A noble figure with a proud bearing, floating in front of him clad in red and white robes and with a laurel wreath adorning his head.

I am thou... thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come...

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" DeDede seethes, wincing in pain. "If you're here to help, then put up or shut up!"

I am Nero, fifth and greatest Emperor of Rome. I will watch with you as our enemies burn.

And that's all. There is a flash of white light in DeDeDe's vision, and all at once three things are occurring simultaneously: his hammer has stopped in midair just short of Samus, the Ing possessing him has been roughly expelled from his body, and there is a phantasmal Roman Emperor with a very cross look on his face summoning a blast of flames to consume a large group of the Ing that had gathered around DeDeDe to assist him.

"Stay the hell away from me!"

Edited 2013-03-11 19:02 (UTC)

Samus only has a split second to react once the possession is underway. Instead of firing, though, the bounty hunter lowered her canon, jumped backwards and brought forth her Persona, Old Bird, to block the way, to at least deafen the blow aimed for her.

When the hammer stops, though, just short of the two of them, Samus can hardly believe her eyes as the Ing is actually forced from the penguin's body. What...? She notices the Persona casting up a wall of flames behind him...

So Personas were capable of that? Capable of stealing a person's will, mind, and body...

Samus and Old Bird both move back, away from DeDeDe as the kindly Chozo casts an extra boost of defense over DeDeDe's head. Just in case the Ing were to try it on him again.

"I told you not to get caught off guard." Despite her words, she seems far too relieved that he made it out alright.

"Whew..."

DeDeDe lets out a breath of relief as the energy of the defensive magic slowly washes over him. With the release that came with awakening his own Persona, he's feeling invigorated in a way that he hasn't experienced since before Kirby's rampage. Grinning confidently and rising up to his full bearing, he nods back at Samus.

"Won't happen again."

And then he looks back at the group of Ing - or those ones that are left after that well-timed Maragi a second ago, at least.

"Let's clean this mess up."

Samus nods in return, taking aim and firing an array of ice missiles at the creatures, sending them reeling backwards and encasing them temporarily with thick ice. It gives her enough time to react with a jump forward and a Screw Attack, cutting through a whole row of the creatures.

When she lands on her feet again, she looks over her shoulder back at DeDeDe.

"After this, you have some explaining to do."

"With four part harmony," DeDeDe confirms, nodding back at Samus. Now that he's got his Persona out, this fight just got a whole lot easier. Between his hammer, this new power, and the boost from the Old Bird, he's smashing the Ing left and right. He even manages to pull off a Marin Karin.

"Let's see how you little fuckin' pricks like it," he mutters, laughing as he watches the Ing he's managed to charm turn on its brothers, tearing into them with the same blind fury it had once directed at himself and Samus.

Samus is double teaming the creatures with Old Bird, as Old Bird lands a few Sonic Punches while Samus grapples onto the Ing and shoots them into nothingness. It's surprising, but their combined efforts are starting to pay off as the creatures thin out.

"My scanners aren't picking up any more coming in." For now, anyway. "This last swarm should end it."

"Gotcha."

He was fully planning to just keep smashing and burning until they were all gone anyway, so that's good news. His hammer is hitting all that much harder due to his Persona's convenient Physical Amp, and while the Ing aren't specifically vulnerable to fire, being able to attack whole swaths of them at once is certainly convenient. It isn't long before DeDeDe's finished with the ones on his side of the battlefield, finishing off the one that had fallen under the Marin Karin spell with a final crushing blow.

Samus was able to blast a good deal of the remaining Ing away on her side fairly quickly with the help of Old Bird's Maragion, firing one last charged shot at the remaining Warrior and watching as it disappeared, corpse dispersing.

The bounty hunter then turns to DeDeDe and reaches up to press a switch under her helmet. The helmet retracts, revealing her face. She might look a little different than DeDeDe is used to, considering the Phazon poisoning in her system has caused her eyes to glow and change color and blue veins to appear visible on the surface of her skin.

"How do you know me?"

Apart from the eyes and the veins, she looks exactly the way he's used to seeing her. More or less, at least. But he knows better than to ask about the details - by this point, he's willing to chalk it up to timeline differences and different worlds. He does raise a curious eyebrow, but that's all.

"Maybe not this you, but I'd recognize that armor anywhere," he starts. "There's a Samus back where I come from too."

"I never really considered there would be alternate versions of me existing in other universes." It made sense, though, and it was almost foolish of her not to realize it.

"I'm sorry to say that I have no idea who you are. We've never met before where I'm from... Who and what exactly are you?"

He looked somewhat similar to the Chozo, though she had her doubts that there was any true relation. What he was wearing, what he was carrying, didn't really remind her of anything the Chozo had.

"Don't worry about it. I get that a lot around here."

He sighs a little, but waves it off. It'd be nice if someone would recognize him at some point, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not all that important to him.

"DeDeDe, but you can call me D. Former King of Dream Land. Back in my world, you and I..."

There's a short pause as he tries to think of how to put things. Samus was always proud, and while he mostly doesn't care how other people react to him, she might not take too kindly to knowing just how far she's fallen where he's from.

"...well, guess you'd call us colleagues of a sort."

"Colleagues?" The ambiguity he seems to be using does seem to make her curious about her alternate self... But perhaps it's for the best if she doesn't know. Clearly he didn't seem ready to talk about it for a reason. Either way, there was little doubt that she'd never heard of DeDeDe before.

"Well, either way, you helped me out here. It's been a while since I fought the Ing, and I have none of the proper equipment for it any longer." Plus her weakness to darkness didn't help matters. Samus reaches out her hand for DeDeDe to shake. "I'm in your debt."

"If you really wanna know, I'm pleased as pie to tell ya, but the world I'm from's one hell of a shithole. You, me, everyone I know - they all hit rock bottom."

He's content to leave it there for the moment unless she's got questions.

"Sure thing," he replies to her thanks, holding out a gloved hand with a firm grip. "Think of it as a favor to an old friend."

Well if there was one thing that DeDeDe was right about, it was Samus's pride. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear about hitting rock bottom just yet... It was something she actively avoided on a daily basis. What her alternate self had gotten into... Samus would like to know eventually, but perhaps it was best to be eased into it.

She shakes his hand and gives a small nod. "You can tell me the story another time. I'm more curious to know what kind of world you come from that's so awful. Perhaps how everyone could have possibly hit rock bottom."

DeDeDe gives a whistle, his shoulders slumping just slightly at that.

"Might wanna find a bench and have a seat for this one. Gonna be one hell of a story."

His face goes steely and serious, as it always does when he's about to talk about this. It's something he makes no small secret of, but the penguin has the manner of a war veteran who's seen too much every time the subject comes up.

"It all started with Kirby. The Coral Cannibal. He was a normal citizen of Dream Land - that's where I'm from - until one day he went crazy and started eatin' people whole. Had a thirst for blood like nobody'd ever seen before, and it wasn't long before the whole kingdom collapsed."

He hefts his hammer from his shoulder, leaning against it for support as he continues the story.

"But that wasn't enough for him. Not enough blood. Not enough chaos. Kirby destroyed Dream Land and moved on from there, killin' his victims, strippin' off their skin, dancin' in it for fun, and wearin' the tops of their heads like a fuckin' hat. It wasn't 'till he made it all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom that they managed to take him down and lock his crazy ass up in prison."

Samus folds her arms over her chest and listens. She recognizes the mannerisms of a war veteran all too well considering her regular company, an air she sometimes carried around herself as an ex-soldier.

A cannibal set loose on the populace, then? From the way he talked about it, it sounded like it was all localized to a single planet with several different nations.

"Where was the Federation for all of this...?" If Samus had gotten involved, the Federation must have been aware of it... "Or... was there no Federation? To clarify, the Galactic Federation is the governing body in my universe, a military based alliance that hires me regularly."

There was also the possibility that the Federation simply didn't care to get involved... But she would save that conclusion for later until she got a better idea of how his world worked.

"Beats the hell outta me," he admits with a shrug. "You were there, but after the cannibal ate his way through Dream Land, Hyrule, and half the Mushroom Kingdom, you were grounded permanently."

"I see..." Grounded down on a planet in turmoil... She can really only imagine how she hit rock bottom. Without being able to contact the Federation, without being able to complete missions for a living...

"I'm sorry, for what happened." Perhaps she was even sorry for her alternate self, who failed to help the planet get back on its feet, too.

"Wasn't your fault," he replies with a shrug.

"You fought just as bravely as any of us. Hell, I'd've stopped him before he ever got out of Dream Land if I could've. He was just too damn strong. Too sneaky. Too cunning. By the time he was done, most folk were too terrified to walk out their front doors, let alone try to fight back."

"The political consequences must have been devastating..." Samus touches her hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Politics have never been my forte... Even here I wonder what I can do for this city if all of its underlying problems are political. I've already failed to collect on a bounty here for the dangerous being Nyarlathotep's head. And now creatures from my universe are threatening innocent lives."

She gives a bit of a dry sneer. "I can only imagine how difficult it's going to get from here on out. But I plan to stick around, for now. Do you find your situation here better than the one in your world?"

"Politics! Ha, don't get me started on that. It's just as much of a mess as you think. The Mushroom Kingdom's on the verge of collapse, and the next kingdom over, Hyrule, is gone. The people have lost all confidence in the Princess. God bless 'er for tryin', but she's not gonna be able to hold it together for too much longer."

At least that last question seems to have put him in a slightly better mood. DeDeDe gives a brisk nod before explaining some more of the situation at home.

"Yeah. A hell of a lot better. That place was rotten right down to the core. Crime and corruption everywhere, all the way up to the top. It was me an' two other guys tryin' to take control of the underworld when I ended up here. Used to be four of us, but somebody got to Mewtwo and took him out. Now I know what you're thinkin' - that I was part of the problem too if that's what I was up to back there. But things were so bad that the kingdom was about to tear itself in half anyway. All I wanted to do was make a deal. Keep people safe from any more bloodshed, 'cause we'd all sure had enough of that. And you gotta get people on your side to do that, any way you can."

He chuckles a little to himself, shaking his head.

"But I guess brute force won out in the end, all the same. I was all set to negotiate with the police, strike a deal, maybe win some support and help get rid of the other dons. But then someone raided the club, whacked me over the back of the head, and here I stand today. There ain't no goin' back for me, so whatever I think of Hinoto-Ri, it's home now, and I'm gonna do my best to make sure it doesn't collapse the same way things did back home."

Edited 2013-03-12 17:52 (UTC)

Something Old, Something New

No problem! I may have him awaken his Persona in this fight, if that's cool with you?

That's totally fine by me~

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)