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Post by BloodValkyrie on Dec 18, 2012 2:16:56 GMT -5
Dining Room
Suna raised an eyebrow at the man in shades. He said he knew them? But how? She had never seen the man in her entire life.
Carl was taken completely by surprise when Tael grabbed him and lifted him. He had to admit, the guy was way stronger than he looked. He thought he wouldn't be able to lift even half his own weight, but he was just proven wrong. But, besides that, it seemed this guy really believed they knew each other. He was genuinely upset by the fact the zombie could not recognize him.
It was at this time that Suna intervened. She stood up from her seat and got between Carl and Tael, gently placing a hand on both their chests. She looked at the prince and spoke to him in a gentle tone.
"Okay...Tael. I know you're upset, but me and Carl really don't know who you are. It's clear you really believe that you know us though. Not people who look like us, but people who actually are us. Just please try and calm down so we can figure this out."
Carl was not an expert on different realities nor the physics on any of that stuff. But even he was beginning to understand what was going on. It sounded crazy to him, but his world had been invaded by the armies of Hell. People from completely different worlds had randomly appeared in his. He was getting to the point where he believed anything was possible.
So he did not feel the least bit ridiculous when he said the following. "Maybe Tael knows different versions of us? Maybe his world has counterparts of us in it...that would definitely explain what the hell's going on."
Suna looked at the undead man for a moment, as if processing his theory, then looked back at Tael. Her soft hand was still on his chest.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Dec 18, 2012 18:29:38 GMT -5
Dining Room
The Doctor and Kazuya continued to stare each other down. They were parallel forces; one was a master of the physical, and the other a master of the metaphysical. Like the tiger and the dragon, they battled ferociously for their respective beliefs and ideals, without speaking a single word.
However, the silent confrontation ended when the Doctor remembered just where he was. He looked around the room, noticing Suna nearby.
"Oh. Sorry, did you say something?"
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Marisa's Room
The Colonel holding it against it against...him?
Against HIM?
Zero let out a bitter "tsk", walked passed the Colonel, and down the hallway. A confrontation with the Colonel was the last thing he needed right now, when the multiverse was on the brink of ruin.
He didn't have time to deal with such irrelevant issues. His personal problems could wait until after everything was back to normal.
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South Balcony
X stood behind the rails, appreciating the spacious horizon. The seemingly landscape of stars, nebulae and planets was a wonder that one had to examine fully in order to appreciate. Everything from this balcony looked so small. The various worlds in the distance varied in size, many of them likely supporting their own habitats for life. Each world must have been that for their in habitants; the entire world.
"It's so easy to ignore all of this," X said to himself. "It's so easy to assume that the worlds we come from are all that matters."
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Post by Jisui on Dec 18, 2012 18:53:51 GMT -5
Dining Room
"Different... versions?" Tael's intense expression seemed to relax somewhat, and instead of anger, the prevailing emotion on the prince's became confusion. Was he really supposed to believe that this was Carl, but another version of him? He had seen some rather unusual things throughout his life thus far... but this one had to take the cake. There were multiple Carl's, multiple Suna's...? Was there another version of him out there, in another world? Tael never really thought of the past too much, but even he wasn't impervious to thoughts like "What ifs". What if he was still a prince...? Was there really a different version of him out there, that lived a life like that?
He felt a migraine start to come, and sighed, gently moving Suna's hand away from his chest. Maybe he was being a bit too rash... even if this was hard to believe, it was true that they looked different from his version of the two. These two... they didn't seem to know him at all.
"...Sorry." The prince muttered apologetically, a hint of regret in his voice, before sticking out his right hand to Carl. "Looks like I jumped the gun."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Dec 18, 2012 20:49:44 GMT -5
Dining Room
Carl looked at Tael cautiously, his red eye moving down and looking at his extended hand. He slowly began to raise his own, but Suna grew impatient and pushed along the whole process by grabbing the zombie's arm and pulling it forward, essentially forcing him to shake the prince's hand.
Carl was briefly taken aback by the maid's uncharacteristically forceful action, but decided to let it slide. He sighed and looked at Tael, nodding in acceptance of his apology.
"It's fine. I probably would be acting crazy too if I saw a different version of one of my friends."
Curiosity overcame Suna. "So wait. Tael, how are the Carl and Suna you know different from us? Oh, are we both really awesome superheroes or something? Have we saved the world?" Her excitement was considerably lower in her next sentence. "Or am I still normal like I am now?"
Marisa's Room
Colonel was surprised to see Zero walk past him in a huff. Had he said something wrong?
Ah, of course.
The reploid spoke out to the Maverick Hunter.
"What is it that you want, Zero? Do you want me to just come out and say it was my fault? Because if that is what you want, then fine. I admitted that long ago and have accepted it. It was foolish of me to quickly assume you and the other Hunters considered all of Repliforce Mavericks. My brash actions set in course events that no one expected except for one. For all of the suffering it caused, I am sorry."
Colonel's tone remained steady throughout his apology. He had accepted all of this as truth long ago. He had dealt with the guilt and pain. But Zero was the one who had to continue dealing with the results of his actions. It made sense that he would be more sensitive to it.
Truthfully, Colonel wanted to reforge his friendship with the crimson Hunter. A part of him still longed for the life he once had back in his own world. He was also tempted on telling Zero the current condition of his sister, but...
That could wait.
South Balcony
A feminine voice came from behind X.
"Yes, you are right about that."
A woman with pale skin and long flowing azure hair walked onto the balcony. She stood next to the blue robot and placed her hands on the marble rail, her bright blue eyes fixated on the view. She was dressed rather oddly. She had a large white circle over her forehead and wore white, black, and blue clothing. She had black arm gloves and thigh-high white boots. On top of all this, she wore some type of armor on some areas. She had pointed white and black armor on parts of her arm and had a large rhombus-shaped piece on the outside of her right thigh.
The woman was beautiful and looked completely human. However, there was something about her eyes. Something that looked artificial, yet they still possessed the will and fire of a free-willed person.
"It seems that most people have that assumption. But when one sees all of this... It is hard for even me to grasp the scale of it all."
She looked at X, her eyes moving up and down his body as if scanning him.
"I can see you are like me. Mechanical, yet possess the will of an organic person. That's actually rather comforting. To know there are others like me in completely different dimensions."
She studied the Maverick Hunter for a few seconds longer before finally introducing herself.
"I am KOS-MOS. And you are...?"
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Post by Jisui on Dec 18, 2012 22:40:59 GMT -5
Dining Room
Tael gave a rueful smile as their hands were forcefully pulled together, apparently pleased that the whole misunderstanding hadn't ended badly because of him. He couldn't help but notice however, that this Carl seemed... different. He knew that there would be some differences obviously between the two, but he couldn't help but feel that this version of his friend felt more... subdued. Mature even. Pushing off those thoughts to the side, he gave an amused grin at Suna's excitement over the concept of another her.
"If I tried to point them all out, it'd take a while." The prince admitted, thinking back on the two in his original world. "As for your second question... I dunno if superheroes is the right word, but..."
Tael thought back on Carl and Suna's abilities, and he had to admit that if either of them were to get serious fighting him, he'd have trouble beating them. Carl in particular, with his holy form, would give him some serious problems. Actually... that was another thought. He wondered if this Carl had the same abilities as his Carl. If he were to tell him of the other Carl's abilities, would he even believe him?
"Don't worry, you're plenty special in my world." The prince remarked warmly, seeing Suna's enthusiasm over the subject matter. "Carl too. Me, Carl and some other people used to go around the world, helping people. I guess we did save the world a few times too, if you think of it..." He muttered wistfully, as if remembering a fond memory. Quietly, he shook his head, freeing himself from his daze, before continuing.
"Carl is one of my closest friends in my world... and you used to help keep Suzuki's mansion tidy." Tael further explained, involuntarily grinning at the sound of her name. Once he got past the weirdness of having alternate versions of all of them, he knew that he was forgetting someone. "Oh, that reminds me! Where is she anyway? I bet your Suzuki is pretty similar to ours!"
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Dec 18, 2012 23:05:58 GMT -5
Dining Room
Carl and Suna both froze and their cheerful expressions quickly evaporated. The green-haired maid looked at her undead friend, who simply sighed. She was about to answer Tael, but was beaten by Carl. She was extremely surprised by his quick answer. He normally went silent and found it difficult to speak when Suzuki was mentioned. Perhaps he was continuing to learn how to deal with it?
Carl looked at Tael with a solemn expression. He was not the least bit upset with the prince. After all, there was no possible way he could have known about their Suzuki. Considering how he talked about her, it seemed like his Carl and Suzuki were rather close.
Carl smiled lightly within the shadows of his hood at this thought. It was oddly comforting to know that he and the fire demon were close in other realities.
"She's...not with us anymore, Tael. A lot of things happened and...well, do you have a demon named Krizno in your world?"
Suna suddenly interrupted, unable to keep the venom out of her voice.
"It was him that took Suzuki from us."
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Post by Greed on Dec 19, 2012 0:03:06 GMT -5
Dining Hall
Once Jade had his food, he sat at a table nearby the confrontation, quietly and discreetly eavesdropping on the conversation as he began to eat. It wasn't something he would have liked to be caught up in, though the spark of recognition in the blue haired kid's eyes was... intriguing to say the least.
The vampire in the purple suit remained silent as well, not wanting to interfere with the conversation until... or unless he was addressed directly. This Carl was most certainly not the guardian of JX City in his world. And-
"She's...not with us anymore, Tael. A lot of things happened and...well, do you have a demon named Krizno in your world?"
Oh shit.
"It was him that took Suzuki from us."
Well that just wasn't going to end well if Krizno walked in here, now was it?
East Balcony
"... Alright then. I'll see you when you're done, then." Yu got up, and began to head back inside. He was respectful of when people wanted to be left alone, and this was no exception.
"Even if things turned out fairly well in the end... I can see how that would hurt. How could anyone..." Yu spoke quietly, mostly to himself, not very aware of how well Yarashii could hear. In the back of his mind, he was still furious at Amura's atrocities... and some small part of him was glad that she was dead.
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Post by Jisui on Dec 19, 2012 0:08:35 GMT -5
Dining Room
Tael's own cheerful expression seemed to freeze at their words, the mirth draining from his face as his eyes widened. Suzuki... was dead? Gone? He tried to think of a world without the fiery, temperamental demon side-by-side with Carl, and found that he couldn't imagine such a thing. A life without Carl and Suzuki near each other... talking to each other, scoffing and acting as if they didn't care for each other when they really, truly did...
Wasn't that kind of world too sad? Too cruel?
And Krizno denied them of that world. He denied them of that happiness. Without realizing it, Tael thought back to that one instance in time, when Krizno angrily attempted to take out Suzuki before he died. He thought back to Carl's body, flying through the air as it shielded her from the blow. And Tael realized that he had never thought of what might have happened if Carl hadn't blocked the strike.
"Krizno did it...?" Tael muttered quietly, a hint of anger coloring his tone before it quickly faded, and was replaced with a sad expression. The prince awkwardly shifted his weight around, finding it difficult to look directly at Carl and Suna. "...Sorry. I didn't mean to dig up bad memories."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Dec 19, 2012 0:55:20 GMT -5
Dining Room
The Doctor couldn't help but overhear the conversation. He didn't want to interrupt, though he did very much understand the metaphysics of what was taking place. Alternate versions of oneself could be often found in adjacent dimensions, and considering what was going on, witnessing an alternate universe counterpart to someone you knew was more likely than ever.
And yet...it was still incredibly unlikely.
The Doctor couldn't get the fact that some of these meetings thus far were very bizarre considering the collective massiveness of the multiverse. How likely was it for a person from one dimension to meet an alternate universe counterpart to a dear friend within another, almost completely unrelated realm?
It just didn't make any sense. These events were starting to seem way too contrived. He had a theory about it, but little evidence to back it up.
Kazuya, meanwhile, continued to dine on his steak, paying only a small bit of attention to the conversation that was taking place between Carl and Tael. When he was finished, he politely folded up his napkin next to his plate and left the silverware on the plate. He left the dining room with the intention of finding that....thing. That thing looked like him, or at least his skanky companion.
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Marisa's Room
Did he mean what he just said, or was it simply his method of calming Zero down. Either way, it seemed to work. Zero stopped in his track, though he remained facing away from the Colonel.
"...I see," Zero eventually responded. "But we don't have time to get sentimental right now. The multiverse is falling apart, and we might be the only things that can stop it. I'm perfectly capable of putting this aside until we're done with this. Are you, Colonel?"
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South Balcony
X swallowed in reaction to the unexpected guest. She looked like a reploid at first glance, and according to her, she practically was.
A mechanical being with the heart of a man, just like him. All the way out here, too. X couldn't help but simply stand there in awe for a moment, taking in the sight of her. Once he realized how unprofessional he was being, he saluted and answered her question.
"X. Megaman X, ma'am. Sorry for staring. I just....you look just like a reploid. Just like one of my people. Mechanical beings with the will and ability to act of their own accord...But, how did you know I was mechanical? Did you scan me somehow?"
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Post by Advix on Dec 19, 2012 1:07:35 GMT -5
Raiga didn't like the feeling of their visitor. She seemed... old, and monstrous. But she didn't seem dangerous.
"Hey, I said this was supposed to be private. If you want your own little show, you gotta go through the proper channels. At the very least buy me dinner."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Dec 19, 2012 19:48:03 GMT -5
Dining Hall
Carl held up a hand, signaling it was fine. He was serious about it too. Of course remembering Suzuki was painful, but it was not like the prince had done it on purpose. His shock and sadness at the news was proof of it. He also seemed to be familiar with Krizno, so it was obvious there was a counterpart of him in Tael's world too. On top of that, the anger in his voice made it clear that his Krizno was villainous as well.
"It's fine, Tael. Really. You couldn't have possibly known."
Suna nodded in agreement. "It's nice to know that she's still around in your world though. Really. It's comforting to know that..."
She wanted to add "I wish it was the same for us." but decided against it. After all, what would that do? Just worsen the atmosphere.
East Balcony
Yarashii wanted to tell him to stop. Tell him to stay. But she wasn't that kind of person. She always had a habit of keeping most of her problems to herself and simply dealing with them. She was not fond of forcing them onto others. She had no problems with some venting, like she just did, but to specifically ask a person to stay with her just so she could feel better was not something a Major of the Camgi Order should be doing.
"Even if things turned out fairly well in the end... I can see how that would hurt. How could anyone..."
The Major was a half-breed. She had feline characteristics. This also meant she had increased senses, so she fully heard Yu's muttering. But she said nothing of it. What could she say? What was there to say in the first place?
Yarashii sighed and continued to silently admire the view.
Marisa's Room
Colonel nodded. "Yes, I am as well."
He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell Zero that it could be a good thing to be sentimental. During such a large crisis as this, it had the potential to make someone fight harder. They had more people to fight for. But this was probably one of the differences between him and Zero. So he decided to keep this to himself.
What was there for him to do now? The sorceress usually had some kind of task for him, but she had sent him away from the Command Center with no true orders. What was he to do now as he waited?
The reploid looked down at the floor as he wondered.
Command Center
Amuzi smiled for the briefest of moments at River's words. But now their time was done. Yukari undoubtedly had some questions to ask her, so it was likely best if her other guest was dismissed now.
"Rivera, if you have nothing else to ask me then I would suggest you be on your way. It will not be long until your group's next assignment so I suggest you head to the dining room and eat or get some rest."
South Balcony
KOS-MOS nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, X. And that's right. A brief scan was all I needed to know what you are." She paused and thought about that word he used. Reploid. She had never heard it before, but it was of no surprise that other worlds had different terms for their kind. But the way the Maverick Hunter talked about them made it seem like there were many more like him.
"You talk about reploids as if your world has many. If so, that's rather surprising. I am the only one of my kind in my own reality. There was once another, but...she is no longer around."
This wasn't entirely accurate. T-elos, KOS-MOS's dark counterpart, was technically still alive. But she was within her. The two had merged after their final confrontation, which had fulfilled the robotic woman's true purpose. But such a thing would probably be difficult for X to grasp.
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Post by Jisui on Dec 19, 2012 22:45:11 GMT -5
Dining Room
Despite Carl's reassurance, Tael couldn't help but feel guilty at his insensitivity over the issue. Even if they looked as though it didn't bother them... he could tell that they missed her. He was surprised that this Carl was taking it so well as well. If Suzuki was killed in his world... he didn't know if it was some sense of deja vu or not, but for reason, he could tell that his Carl wouldn't take it very well. No... even without that sense, it was obvious that they were close. It seemed that this version of his friend was more mature, more calm than his version.
Regardless of how much they insisted that he wasn't at fault, the prince resolved to make it up to them in some way. Stepping back a step away from the table, he turned his gaze back towards the green-haired maid and hooded reaper and gave them a similar smile to before, bright and cheerful, but significantly more subdued, as if the recent information had bogged him down somewhat.
"Hey, you guys are the same as me, right?" He questioned. "That means you're going to drop by this place from time to time, right?"
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Post by Greed on Dec 21, 2012 2:26:08 GMT -5
East Balcony
It wasn't more than a moment, before the sound of Yu's footsteps halted, and began to come back in Yarashii's direction.
"... actually, I don't have anywhere to be right now. Do you... mind if I sit out here with you?" It was a simple question; Yu even felt a little awkward asking it.
Command Center
[[ You can object if you want Advix, but I'm going to move Rivera out of the room since you're absent ]]
As soon as Rivera left the room, Yukari turned to Amuzi, her golden eyes scrutinizing the woman far more closely than they had the first time she laid eyes upon her. To her amusement, there were some superficial resemblances between them; both of them sported blond hair, and both of them held incredible power. But that wasn't the reason she was here.
"You know, where I come from, there aren't a great deal of things I don't know. Even about other worlds. But what's happening now, this is new. This is troublesome. This is something I never even thought could happen." Yukari opened a large gap beside her, and a beautiful green landscape with an incredibly tall mountain in the background appeared in the spacial distortion.
"This is my realm, my home, Gensokyo. Now, as for the reason I'm showing you this..." The view in the gap panned up, to a starling sight. Like a massive blot on the sky, there was a ship of some sort... but not. It was more like the hideous combination of a space cruiser, and a metallic insect, a literal abomination of sorts, descending upon the landscape.
"... is that. I don't suppose you've seen anything like that, have you?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Dec 21, 2012 4:16:53 GMT -5
South Balcony
"...I see."
X had to wonder what it would be like, having so few others like you. While it wasn't always that way, X had the entire reploid race to compare himself to, even if he wasn't technically one of them. Being one of a kind...if she was as alive as she seemed, then she must have been incredibly lonely.
"I was the same way, once. My creator, Doctor Light, told me that I was the first robot capable of completely acting on my own, without the assistance of a master. Another human named Doctor Caine gave life to others like me over time by using me as a template. Reploids, he called them....I'm glad I'm not alone in the end, but making sure it stays that way is..."
X stopped himself there. He didn't need to go into such unnecessary details. No, he was likely just making KOS-MOS feel worse about her condition.
"I'm sorry. I guess in the end, I can't say I know what it's like to be alone in the same way as you. I wish I could empathize with you more."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Dec 21, 2012 15:13:36 GMT -5
Dining Room
Carl nodded. "Yeah, we're along for this whole 'save the entire existence of reality' adventure. So we should be coming back here once in a while." He was about to ask Tael why he asked but was interrupted by Suna, who apparently already figured out why.
"Oh! We can meet up back here and talk about how our trips to other worlds go. That would be pretty great, wouldn't it?"
Her undead friend smiled. "Hey, I'm good with that."
East Balcony
Yarashii was surprised by Yu's sudden decision to stay. He could not read minds so...it was probably just a coincidence. She silently looked at him and nodded, then returned to looking at the view.
Command Center
Amuzi silently listened to Yukari, but her eyes widened and she quickly stood up from her seat once she saw the youkai's world.
"A Reaper? But...that should not be possible. The Reapers showed no interest in invading other worlds when I last spoke with them." She placed a finger on her lips and looked at the floor, her mind processing this new information. The sorceress soon began talking to herself, seemingly forgetting Yukari was right in front of her.
"Could someone possibly be influencing them? The Reapers are remarkably powerful, so they could definitely be the targets for someone's forces... Either way, I should tell him about this."
Her eyes moved back to Yukari.
"I have some warriors from the world those mechanical abominations came from. I can diver them to your world to help push them back if needed. I am aware of how powerful some of the people in Gensokyo are, but it doesn't help to have an expert on the matter..."
South Balcony
KOS-MOS's blue eyes studied the Maverick Hunter once again. It was rather impressive that the people of his world were capable of using him as a template to create so many others. The end of X's sentence was curious though. It seemed like his world had some sort of conflict with his kind. Or, at least, some kind of conflict that threatened his robotic brethren. Before she was complete, KOS-MOS rarely ever thought about such things. All she cared about back then was protecting her creator. But now that she was whole...now that she could fully feel, fully think...she found herself thinking about so many different things.
Now she found herself discussing free-willed robotic beings with a robot from another world. Things really do change.
Speaking of her creator, though... It seemed like X's built him with the intention of having him be a new kind of robot. One with full free will. The power to choose his own path. Her creator...or rather, creators, were different. One thought of and treated her like a daughter. No, more like a sister. The other one... No. It was best to not even think of him.
"Hm. Interesting. Although, personally, I'm quite glad that no one in my world has used me as a template for others. If they had several dozen versions of me I could easily see the casualties in the millions."
"I'm sorry. I guess in the end, I can't say I know what it's like to be alone in the same way as you. I wish I could empathize with you more."
KOS-MOS raised an eyebrow at X. "You do not need to apologize. I do not really feel lonely when it comes down to it. It just feels...nice to know there are other being similar to me."
She sighed and looked away.
"I now realize how odd that sounded. That whole statement somewhat contradicted itself, didn't it? Apologies, but I am still...somewhat new to being free like this. I still find it difficult to fully express my meaning sometimes."
East Hallway
Morrigan had been leaning against a wall in the hall, her arms folded and her eyes closed. She was not sleeping but was, in fact, listening. She had been silently listening to Yu and Yarashii and was rather pleased to see the catgirl managed to get some company. Of course, she would never admit it. She had actually grown a bit fond of the woman after aiding her back in Racamgi. On top of that, she reminded her of a certain catgirl nun back in her own world.
A small smile was on the succubus' face as she moved away from the wall and began walking down the hall, further away from the balcony. Perhaps she should go scout out the others and see how they were doing? Maybe there was someone willing to have some fun with her.
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