#buddymuses

[ INACT AREA SCAN. ... ... UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION. PLEASE CONNECT TO A JCJENSON NETWORK FOR GPS UPDATE. THE CURRENT VERSION IS 12.9.2 ... ] biscuits. N's tail lashes lightly, his grip tightening on the wall. this isn't good. he's been mapping out the area, but it still doesn't match up with any location he's been to. plus, it's scorching in this environment... at least more than the cold he's used to.

[ /!\ WARNING! COOLANT LEVELS AT 34.2% /!\ ] ... he's hungry. it's been... how long since he's had a drink? a while... maybe. in this higher-temperature area, he's going through coolant much faster than he was built for. is this what being lightheaded feels like for humans?

AUDIO DETECTED.

N whips his head 'round toward the source of the sound and he fires off a scan and... oil. oil. O I L. his screen flickers with his kill indicator X, the disassembler's jaw unhinging and leaking saliva slowly. his wings flare and he pushes off the wall, flapping once before landing behind the other robot. there's something familiar about her model, but he's so focused on that sweet coolant that he lets protocol take over.

immediately, he tries to dig his stinger into the other drone's shoulder.

She saw him turn around. "Great, you hear me! Look, just let me do my thing so we... can..." If she was a human, the color would have drained from her face as she saw the expression on the other robot's face.

"...N?" She said as she observed all of the thousands of rows of sharp teeth in the other drone(?)'s mouth, taking a step back upon realizing that she was most likely not even speaking to N at all. In fact, what was that thing? It looked like a worker drone in terms of model, but it was much taller and it seemed to have lights on the top of it's head... large claw-like hands... and of course, the obvious wings and tail. It looked like a literal angel of death, and Uzi had most likely pissed it off.

With very little warning, the other drone suddenly landed behind her, knocking her off her feet. Uzi was only beginning to turn around when she suddenly felt that stinger go into her shoulder.

A yelp of pain was all she could let out as the drone suddenly flew upwards-- with her still attached to it's stinger-- and then landed back onto the ground, suddenly jerking to the side and flinging her off like a ragdoll. Uzi rolled backwards and into the wall, holding her now-stinging shoulder... hold on, just what had that stinger done to her? Was it corroding?!

She saw the other drone(?)'s arm then switch out for what appeared to be a canon. Oh hell no. Uzi needed to act fast, or she'd be dead before she could return to the bunker.

Using her free arm, Uzi's left GrabPack hand suddenly changed into a fist... she leaned over a bit... and suddenly hit the trigger on the pack.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ It's rare that he's allowed outside the castle so this is a special occasion. A cause for celebration even! That would be if he wasn't so busy. He's been given more sectors to cover than the others simply due to his ability to fly and his sheer speed. The little brat wants everything within the space of Wonderland - neigh -the universe and he's willing to use them to get it.

This would be the perfect chance to run.

This would be the perfect chance to slip into the darkness unnoticed and never return. Use the excuse that if he did not find what His Excellency had sent them all out to find then he was not supposed to return anyhow but he knew all too well that if he did not return then that damnable plant witch and probably that clown of a shark would be sent out to find him and drag him back kicking and screaming.

Maybe not the fish.

He had been kept in the dark about the nature of his relationship to the one they were all supposed to be swearing fidelity to. However it was poor form for one King to be swearing fidelity to another. Somehow though, there's a twisting in the pit of his stomach that tells him His Excellency already knows that.

So there will be no running today.

There's really no point to it anyway with the messy state of Black Wind's memory. He's cross with him. No... cross isn't quite the right word. Staring him down with Orthrus drawn while that oceanic gaze fills to the brim with murderous intent isn't exactly what he would call cross. It's not quite a strong enough word.

Regardless, it made running pointless.

He couldn't use this opportunity of temporary freedom to race to his Other's side and announce to him that he was finally free enough to get away so that they could finally face the beast together. He couldn't race to find him no matter how much he wanted to. It would only land him with Orthrus drawn and a bullet being placed firmly between his eyes with little to no hesitation. Too bad Lord Bahamut has no pull over that twin barreled beast as he does the Magun...

He'd love to know what exactly it was that he did though....or what Black Wind seems to think that he did anyway....

Aura would be so upset if she could see the mess that they've landed themselves in.

Speaking of messes.

There seems to a group of beasts... oceanic if the smell assaulting his nose is any indication that are surrounding a boy. The poor thing is curled up on the ground and seemingly bracing for impact. So he's just going to have to ...deal with it.

His right hand raises out to his side as the sound of metal clicking fills the air and the blade removes itself from it's home - rising to float to it's master's command. He takes the hilt into his grasp and allows himself to fall - to plummet down from the sky right on top of a crab like monster four times his size only to drive his blade deep through the beast's shell.

The cresation rocks backwards as it lets out a low whine before it collapses to the ground with a shaking thud. A blur of white has the swordsman working through the rest of the assailants with expert speed thus ending the threat to the boy's life.

It's then that he takes a moment to look at him.

Blue from head to toe and such odd clothing. Though he supposes everything in Wonderland is a tad bit odd from the little he's been allowed to see of it. There is something about this child that is off compared to anyone else he's met in this strange land of what once was and he can't tell if it's his eyes or the overwhelming aura that feels crushing enough that the Misterican half wonders if he could fly in this kind of pressure.

Slowly he approaches but the child steps back and thanks him. Thanks him but requests that he keep his distance and the swordsman stops in his tracks then and there. The request is honored as soon as it's said, causing the swordsman to freeze where he stands only moving to swing his right arm and replace his blade upon his belt and then his own hands to raise out to each side as if to show he means no harm.

Jade Moons pier deep into the mirroring reflections looking back at him and that's when he sees it. He can see what this boy is. How odd... how strange that this piece reacts so differently from the others. He couldn't use this opportunity to run but perhaps he could call the rain to His Excellency's plans in another way after all...

CREEEAK. N lands on a defunct streetlight, curling his claws around the metal. he whips his head in susie’s direction, kill-indicator clearly visible on his screen.

hrm… potential oil source, but… there’s organic material detected.

the robotic vampire chitters, brandishing his teeth in a grin. he leaps off the lamppost, landing on the ground with a thud. he folds his wings back and rapidly scurries towards the unidentified entity, beginning to slowly circle her for better scanning.

-----

[Ms. Haltmann.] A voice in her head began. [There is a hostile entity circling you.]

....His time to be here was running short. It was imperative he conclude his search with success.

Otherwise.... who knew what could happen to them if Anarchy found him first. He did not exactly enjoy serving the god of Chaos, but then again, enjoyment itself was a foreign concept, wiped away by the evermoving hands of the clock. Now he only did what was necessary, whatever that necessity involved.

The man surveyed his surroundings from a jutting rock; A vantage point that allowed him just that extra bit of elevation he needed to better tune into his senses. A gloved hand pressed to the left side of his face. He could feel the tingle beneath a storm of marine locks, a droning hum inside his skull that seemed to point him in the right direction.

He leapt down, continuing his search. A haste cast here and then, amplifying his motions, slowing the world around him as he explored, clinging so strongly onto the old beast's instinct. O brother mine, it would speak from within the Mind. How I miss thee.

Not long now, he answered back in his thoughts.

Even if the concept of becoming as one.. seemed less than optimal at the time. Not until he finished his mission.

It was safer for the both of them, that way.

The Mad Hatter walked into the clearing. The instinct called out loud, then fell silent. And now he knew his child brother had felt that same pull, that same urge to find his way here and finally meet the one whom time had ripped away so crudely. It was destiny, perhaps with a twinge of foolishness - owing to Chaos' ears and eyes all around them. But what better a time... than right now?

The gilded watch in his hand clicked shut.

@buddymuses asked the summoner:

N flares his wings upon seeing the human, oil from his side wound dribbling on the ground. first he loses a fight, gets an anti gravity engine on his wing damaged, and now there’s a human—or partial organic at least—showing up? he’s in no condition to fight or flee proper. this is bad. N staggers a few paces away akin to an injured animal, warily eyeing the other.

He had been traversing the wilds of Wonderland when a strange shape caught his eye, stirring in the darkness of the cave. A pair of blinking yellow lights and five more above. Not exactly stealthy, that. It retreated a few steps and black liquid splattered upon the ground.

So, the thing still had the strength to move. Wings flared in what he could only assume to be a threat display, a surprisingly lifelike, animalistic motion. The summoner's instinct saw a hand reach for the grip of his shotgun, wrapping tightly around his crimson weapon.

What.. was this creature?

Was it.. afraid? In pain, even..?

It seemed to be some form of machine. The summoner circled around the entity warily, unwilling to start a confrontation if it wasn't entirely necessary. He had a hunch this one wasn't just some mindless drone - not with the way it behaved.

However, were it to make another threatening move, it might just be easier to put a bullet through its head. Spared it the suffering, too. If it even truly felt anything akin to that.

the city thrummed with a heightened life.

a living, concrete thing, of pavement and movement and a kind of energy that Ryuji knows, deep down, that he must've embodied somewhere along growing up and into it. he knows it in the way his footfalls almost align with something in the solid ground, or maybe that's just a byproduct of living here the way he has, or the way that the floor of Palaces always feel warped — unreal in a way he can't describe, and often tries not to — so the ground he grew up walking became something 'other', tied into the something living that Palaces were.

he still knew the city better, a roadmap in his mind to every vein in the block & how he might've been chased down half of them, even if he didn't know most of the people that gave it that second heartbeat inside. maybe that's part of it, when finding a back exit from the school, easy to slip off when everyone knew not to bother with boys like him, that he'd stumble into — almost knock over — a kid he didn't recognize, half hidden in the space behind the school.

“Hey-! what the hell's your deal—?!” is the initial response that leaves him, mouth always faster than his mind, but the scene hits him second — the girl no older than 11 at best, 9 at worst, a stressed thing in the shadow of the building as if it was intentioned, a mother holding a panicked child under the crook of its arm in the high daylight of noon, neglectful in the preventing of the fear but oh so willing to shelter in the overwhelming of it

it'd take Ryuji time to realize that, in part, that might've been true. his good intentions genuine on the face of the cool metal fencing. you can see him backpedal on expression alone, how obvious he was, how blatant.

he felt, suddenly, like quite the jerk ; or maybe just the fool. maybe that's just what he got for being so fast on the draw.

“I mean—” mind scrambling for something, tone less harsh than before when the initial was one prepared for someone different, someone worse. maybe she got lost? she doesn't look like she's from around here, not adorned in the uniform he's so accustomed to, and in turn accustomed to breaking: why else—? “uh, sorry, didn't mean to snap, you.. alright?”

Uzi was on the bed nearby, snoring and snoozing away as the two Murder Drones continued to try and stab each other, both of them not being anywhere close to that goal. 

V let out a pained roar as she felt the claw in her arm, and the fresh oil from the injury tickling down from the wound and onto the floor; no, she couldn’t let him cut it off! She needed that to take care of that sleeping thing before it woke up again and tried to kill all of them. V looked towards the sleeping teen drone, and for a brief moment she could have sworn she saw what looked like little purple glitchy-lights form around her twitching hand. V’s face became horrified as she began thinking of a thousand scenarios on what could happen next. One being that Cyn would wake up from all the noises made during their fighting and proceed to attack, or that the worker's powers would subconsciously activate and pop their heads clean off before she could do anything. 

She couldn’t let that happen. Not now. Not after just figuring it all out. She looked up at N, a tearful and afraid expression on her face. A face of fear, of both the worker drone's predicament AND knowing that she probably couldn’t hide things anymore. Not at this point. If she spoke any more, she’d probably have to tell him all that she knew. 

She hated this. Why was life so cruel? 

“I…I can’t.” her voice was sepulchral. “I can’t do nothing and let that thing hurt you! Not again! I don't know any other ways to prevent it!”