The Secret's Aftermath

[nutcase17133]

"Well, if we're all aquainted I suggest we get some sleep." Nutcase said as he left the room.

Slimer looked around, unsure of what to do, and merely followed Nutcase's suggestion and reclined in the air, pulled a blanket over him and fell asleep.

[gantzgun74]

[Look, I apologize FF I hadn't meant to bull-rush the post. I was just keeping in mind that Magus wanted to keep Fujin's real identity a secret. I realize now that, at this point, it was a tad bit too late for Metal to try and make a recovery for Tree calling Fujin 'Schala'. Honestly? I feel like a heel about it too. Anyways, I hope this makes up for it. And Prue, thanks for pointing it out. Like I said, Bull-rushing FF's post was unintentional, and I thank you for pointing it out.]

-----------------------------------------------------

Looking at Fujin with the '' emoticon in his visor, Metal shook his head before walking over to Fujin. "Fujin... I want you to listen to me."

From where he sat nearby, Kosumu looked at Fujin sadly. Had this something to do with what he said? Back with Metal and Fujin, the robot placed his hand on her shoulder. It would've felt quite cold since robots had no warmth to give, but the gesture spoke over it. "Did you know that, people with amnesia hardly ever just change completely?"

If Fujin stared at him in confusion, the robot decided to reword it. "Well... Look at who you are now. You're kind, caring, even if it's sometimes overshadowed by you being shy and unassuming." This emoticon appeared in his visor '' "And trust me on this, if you're this way now, it can be very VERY safely deduced that you were this way before your amnesia. And this Poniko? Well, just look at Madotsuki; if Madostuki was that afraid of Poniko, this woman must be horrible, monstrous probably..."

Fujin felt something jump up from behind her, and give her a hug around her mid-section. If she turned to look, she would've seen Kosumu there, giving her a sweet smile. "B-but... You not monster! You nice Fujin! You like big sister! You as loving as mother!" He pointed upwards as he said this, possibly trying to make sure that it was understood that he meant HIS mother Polaris.

... Then Tree entered the room, breaking the scene up. Metal let out a mechanical groan. "Madot disappeared earlier, being scared off by practically nothing at all." He was up on his feet in less then a second. "Anyways, yes; the name is Metal Sonic." Crossing his arms, he gave Tree a quick look before turning to Fujin, then back at Tree. "And... Schala?" Realization dawning in his frozen face, he let out a quiet groan. He knew that Magus wanted to keep Fujin's real identity a secret, but at this point it seemed utterly impossible to keep her real name hidden. Sitting back down, he just KNEW Magus wasn't gonna be too pleased about this, and, frankly; the dude just scared Metal a little bit.

As this happened Kosumu yawned, "Going back to bed..." Obviously tired, Kosumu walked, going up the stairs before turning to Fujin. He smiled at her, his eyes making him look half asleep. "Night night... Big Sister." That was the last thing said before starting a long trek back to his room.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Climber seemed despondent to hear Tree and Beatrice's answer. "Oh... Okay..." As Tree wandered off, the Climber thought about this a moment...

Well... At least they aren't fighting any more...

He supposed that was a start. Better then nothing.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Don't worry too much, Gantz. We've all missed important things in posts. You fixed it, it's all that mattered. :3)

Fujin didn't know things about amnesia. She didn't know a lot of things due to amnesia. She looked a bit embarassed as Metal listed off her good qualities, and reacted in mild surprise as Kosumu put his arms around her waist. The surprise faded to her trademark gentle grin and she nodded. She opened her mouth to thank both of them when Tree busted in.

She blinked at the overexuberance of the bat creature, but that surprise was quickly replaced by another type. Magus was in the door quicker than he had left, his eyes on Fujin. If Tree was a mild game geek and "Bea-Bea" was a huge one, they'd have less problem identifying Magus than they did Fujin. After all, Magus was a playable character if the right choices were made.

"Does that perchance mean you know me?" Fujin said slowly to Tree. She looked back at Kosumu and nodded softly before turning back to Tree, "I can not remember my past. If you know me the-"

"I doubt she knows you. She probably simply knows the person I mistook you for," Magus cut it. He gave Tree a very quick glance. It said one thing clearly. Tree was not to continue that train of thought.

Then again, Tree being Tree...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Tree being, well, Tree, she completely ignored Magus' warning and instead said to him, "Oh, and you're Magus, her brother. And no, she is totally Schala, normally I'd think she's just a really freaking good cosplay, but this is the island. Oh, and don't worry about Mado. If she's disappeared, that means she finally was able to wake up. She came here via a dream, and she's been stuck here ever since."

Snowy floated into the room. "Please excuse her, she's very drunk."

Tree put her hands on her hips, which Todd didn't enjoy too much, and he flailed around a bit.

"Yo, foo, I told ya to stop doin' that!" Todd yelled.

"I sober up really quickly!" Tree said. "Anyways, my full name's Treetune Lunis-Icho Pteropus Conspicillatus. Lunis-Icho's my birth name, but I don't like it too much, and Pteropus Conspicillatus is my species name. I'm 14, I'm a bat furry, as you can see, and my best friends are Todd, Snowy, and Ark. Speaking of which," Tree turned back to Beatrice, who had stumbled into the room. "Where is he anyway? We sent him ahead, and he flew the whole way here."

At that moment, a large blue furry clothing wearing object crashed through the ceiling.

"...hi Tree..."

"...Oh, never mind," Tree said. She turned to Metal. "So, where's that ass Gantz? I wanna punch him right. In. The. Face."

[gantzgun74]

Metal glared at Tree angrily, this emoticon appearing in his visor '' . "One; Magus has sent you a clear message back there which you turned a blind-eye to. Two; I don't know where Gantz is at this moment, thus why it's called 'Running Away'. and Three; if you want to punch him for his mistakes, I would advise against it. There are plenty of people here that won't take to kindly to you trying to do as such."

Climber walked into the room as Metal said this. "Yeah. Gantz is my friend." He lowered his head. "He's just... Hurting right now, and he isn't listening to the right people." He then raised his head once more, "But once we find him, we can make things right. Gantz just needs our help."

[mugenginga]

Fujin seemed as if she had stepped into some kind of time limbo. She froze. Her eyes didn't even blink. In some kind of twisted slow motion she opened her mouth as her cheeks rivalled a christmas tree. In contrast with her blue hair, it was quite the site.

"B-b-b-b-b-..." she tried to say. She shook her head and closed her eyes. That... but... "Oh my god..."

Magus's already pale knuckles were now practically stark white as he clenched the edge of his scythe. The look he gave Tree was extremely dangerous. Fujin hesitated.

"Bu-bu-bu..."

She didn't seem capable of speaking. Her face was still red. She hadn't... if he...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Snowy groaned. "Tree, couldn't you have said that a bit more... tactfully?" She was watching everyone's reactions to everything Tree had just said, and to Ark's sudden arrival, which no one seemed to care about. Ark took up a position next to Metal.

"I gotta roll a nat20 or I auto-fail tact checks; it's in the class description, check it," Tree said.

"...what?" Snowy said. It was very rare that Tree managed to trip her up like this. Snowy had actually gotten used to comments like this from Tree.

Finally, Tree took it upon herself to sit down at the table. She turned a chair around so she could still face everyone else in the room, and sat down in it. She placed Todd on the table so he could move around on his own.

"Finally, foo, my tail hurts from you swingin' me around so much..." Todd said.

First, Tree turned to Metal and Climber. "I'm not stupid. I heard about Gantz. Oh, hell, I know all about him. He's got himself in some stupid shit, and he's got Bea-Bea mixed up in it. Only I'm allowed to fuck up that badly. And you know what? I don't approve of him going off and pulling that on his own. I tried that once. I nearly got killed. Someone needs to beat some sense into him before he gets himself killed. And I'm going to do that myself."

She looked up at the ceiling. "Something worse than Him's coming. No idea what it is yet, but I know it's coming. Worse than Lucifer too; you all remember that fight at Portal Park, right? Yeah, something worse than him's coming. And I'm going to be around to fight it. Because he's coming after you." She pointed at the group in general.

"Tree, how the fucking hell do you know this stuff?" Beatrice asked.

Tree raised a finger up to her lips. "That's a seeeeecret."

[nutcase17133]

In his room, Nutcase could hear what was going on, having unable to get to sleep with everyone going on about their business still. He then heard Tree's statement regarding Gantz and then the threat hey were likely going to face. With that, he got up and went into the living room.

Stopping before the others, he said, "Mind telling me why you people aren't asleep yet? If we di have to face some danger like tree said, shouldn't you all be in bed now? Oh one more thing."

Nutcase turned to tree and said, "Don't you ever talk about Gantz like that, you little punk. Beng hounded again is the last thing he needs. After what you said, I think I have an answer to where we may find him."

[gantzgun74]

Metal shook his head, shooting Tree a glare. "Forgive us Nutcase, me, Fujin, and Magus was just about to finish up our chat before Tree came into the picture." Crossing his arms, he finished with, "After that, our discussion just sorta started to drift."

Not knowing the meaning of a few of those words, the Climber's attention started to drift too. "Wait!" Before Nutcase said what he said. "You know where Gantz could have ran off to Nutcase?"

"And while we're on the subject." He turned to Tree, "What kind of danger could you possibly be referring to? It'd be an extremely difficult task to defeat Lucifer, given he's the FREAKING DEVIL." He shook his head at this. "So what are you talking about?"

[mugenginga]

"I... I don't think..."

Magus looked pained. It was an interesting expression considering how harsh his face was. It still looked harsh. But it was also pained, ".....Schala."

Fujin jerked her head towards Magus, "It's true!? I really am your little sister!?"

Magus said nothing. He turned away with a harsh scowl. No, she wasn't his little sister. She was his big sister. But the explanation of the seventeen year old looking girl being the older sister to the thirty-something looking man was on the complex side of things. He focused his attention on Tree, giving her a glare to end all glares. Even Nadia had more tact than that, and damned if he knew what the hell she was talking about with "class descriptions".

"But... I don't..." Fujin finally began to cry.

She sat down hard and buried her head in her hands. Her long bangs splayed over the front of her hands. In an instant she had gone from being soft to looking like a mess. Magus frowned and broke the stare at Tree, looking at his feet. She knew that much, but he didn't think she remembered the rest. It would be better if she never did. He closed his eyes. He'd spent over twenties years searching for her to protect her. Damn fine job he was doing.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Tree picked Todd up again and pointed it at Nutcase. "Don't you tell me what to do, you little human weirdo. I'm gonna fix Gantz the same way I fix my TV, and there's no way you're gonna stop me. You're stuck with me."

"Tree!" Snowy yelled. This was spiralling out of control fast.

Taffy suddenly realized that there was something odd about Tree... her eyes hadn't returned back to normal. Shortly after a battle, she would usually cut off the flow of Doom Energy she got from Todd, but she wasn't... or maybe she couldn't.
Was this why she'd been avoiding battles so much since the New York incident?

Ark was whimpering. Tree was mad... Which was never fun. She'd never been this mad before. If only she'd explain herself properly...

"Now listen! The fact that Lucifer could be defeated at all means that there's someone stronger out there! It's a sorting algorithm. Defeat one, and someone stronger takes his place! And I have no idea who's coming but I do know this: Flamel and Taz are involved. And whenever those two team up, nothing good ever happens," Tree said. She was standing up by this point, and Taffy suddenly noticed that as she said Nicholas Flamel and Taz's names, she rubbed her left arm nervously.

"...Nick?" Beatrice said in a low voice.

She pointed at Schala/Fujin and Magus this time. "You two, it's going to be dangerous. And you--" she pointed at Magus specifically. "--have done what you came here for. Get the hell out of here before we go after Gantz."

"Tree, that's enough!" Snowy yelled. Tree lowered Todd and Taffy finally noticed that maniac, battle-ready look and glow fade from her eyes, literally, as her eyes returned back to their natural color of brown.

"...Forget it. I'm going to bed," Tree said. She seemed even more exhausted now, and wandered into the living room of the house, before she collapsed on the couch.

"Tree, hey! Hey!" Snowy yelled. "Shit. I'm sorry, I didn't think she'd do this. Is it fine if we stay the night here for tonight? We can leave in the morning if you don't mind," she said to Metal.

Beatrice turned to Nutcase. "Now do you see why I wanted to kill her?"

[nutcase17133]

"Well, get in line lady." Nutcase said bitterly. Anyway, before we degenerate into further insults and such, I'll answer Climber's question; we know the spirit of Soul Calibur took Gantz away. I beleive now that the spirit might be tracking this new evil down. Though as to how it could possibly be worse than Satan is beyond me. I think Tree may still be suffering fro that case of dimentia you said she had before."

Nutcase then pulled a large book out of his pocket that had a stylized T printed on a black cover. "This is a special, and extremely rare book. This was a gift from the ghostbusters after they helped us with a demon problem a while back. Now if Tree is right, and if she's able to give an acucurate description or at least hint as to who this new evil is, Tobin's Spirit Guide should have it logged in here somewhere. If this book doesn't have it, I have a digital version which is constantly updated. From there we can ask around where people may have seen this thing, or at least heard of it, and track it down. If we're lucky we may find Gantz somewhere."

[gantzgun74]

Climber, while he had strong morals of friendship, found it hard NOT to flinch at Tree’s little display, heck, he found himself trembling at it. “M-Metal…” He stuttered a little, catching the robots attention. “I… I’m not sure I like Tree too much, anymore…”

A groan and a shake of the head was his response to this. “Agreed.” Rubbing under his chrome chin, he considered what he heard… “She seems to be suffering from a few problems pertaining to this strange energy that that Todd thing was letting off.” He turned to Beatrice as he said this. “Was it this Doom Energy you kept referring to?”

Climber turned to look at where Tree disappeared to… … … What had happened to that girl..?

When Nutcase pulled out the strange looking book, there appeared in Metal’s visor, this emoticon, ‘’. “You own a copy of Tobin’s Spirit Guide?”

Climber nodded, his helmet bouncing up and down. “Yeah! Nutcase got them from these friends of ours… What were they called..? Oh yeah! The Ghostbusters!” He smiled, looking pleased at himself for remembering. “They helped us a lot in the old days.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

[I’ve been meaning to add this in to showcase what I have in mind for the thread that will follow this one.]

...................................................

.................................................................

....................................................................................

In Nutcase's room, all appeared to be peaceful...

Before a small light appeared. Sitting at the desk not too far off, Starman's P.E.T. sat, the screen glowing dimly... The reason?

Starman was still awake.

For reasons unknown even by him, Starman was looking at the data-logs that had been stored into his P.E.T. home. The data appeared normal enough, though the fact that these data-logs were Gantz's journals made him all the more tearful. He was still hurt very badly at the fact that his net-op had abandoned him and his friends...

Sadly he read on, looking at the entrys that contained Gantz's triumphs, his experimentations... Why his most recent ones was the experimentation into that Soul Edge Shard he had in his possession.

Gantz's Log

#63

Day 10 on Dimensional Island

Experimentation into the Soul Edge shard is going smoothly, I'm very excited about this one, given that the Soul Edge just may provide the necessary clue needed to find Soul Calibur. Given their energies are the exact opposite of each other, reversing the energies will give me just the clue I need. Soon I will have the power I need to trump Him.

Even as I experiment well into the night along with my partner Starman, I feel a calm ease come to me. Climber's adapting to his new Chaos Emerald power source very well. I daresay his overall stats have increased exponentially thanks to it. Unfortunately, if anyone discovers this, that will make him a target for anyone crazy enough to try and gain it's power. So for safety purposes, tomorrow, I'll put the Chaos Emerald to sleep, in this way, it will be incredibly difficult for anyone, even Shadow the Hedgehog, whom has the innate ability to sense and use Chaos Emeralds, to find it. Yet at the same time, it will keep powering him, allowing him to live ever longer. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to him.

Starman felt sick to his stomach reading this entry, even then he was lying. He never wrote down his true intentions in his P.E.T. knowing Starman was able to access them just as easily as he could. He never wrote down that he was searching for Soul Calibur just to act as a body for the Soul Calibur inside him... Sighing dismally, the navi pushed the journal entry down, allowing the next one to appear. Why was he reading them? He wanted to revisit bygone memories...

Where at least he was under the illusion that he was needed.

Gantz's Log

#64

Day 13 on Dimensional Island

Right now, I'm rejoicing more then I ever have before. Climber has returned from his shopping trip... Bringing along with him; Nutcase! Of all People Nutcase! You can imagine my excitement to see him again. I guess it's true what they say, you can't keep a good toon down.

But Nutcase wasn't the only person he brought. Along with Nutcase, he found a more interesting figure, a human turned into a stuffed animal named Beatrice Jameson. Beatrice herself is an interesting person; gruff, rough around the edges and definately the kind of girl you would peg as trouble in it's truest form. Not only that, but she's a strong girl, apparently able to create an astral projection of her human form that can fight very well. Heck, from what Nutcase has told me, this girl can apparently level buildings with a single punch. Sorta reminds me of Misty in a way.

But that aside, as strong as Beatrice was she was still a stuffed animal, and any living being trapped in a stuffed animal can only last as long as their power source, and Beatrice's power was running out. It took many tries, but I was eventually able to reconstitute the formula her apparent archnemesis, Treetune, used to turn her into this form, before shortly creating an antidote. As if today couldn't get any exciting however, Him attacked my apartment, but we were able to drive him back, with the help of Metal Sonic, whom, if I remembered correctly, I had repaired a few days prior (See Entry #61), and Chip, whom had come into my apartment during my working on Beatrice's cure. He was an interesting character to say the least, and I can't help but have the Heebe-jeebies whenever I'm near him, like, there was more to him then there appeared to be...

The others were hesitant to trust Metal at first, in fact, Nutcase was angered at the idea that I even repaired Metal in the first place... But if they had seen what the robot was like when I had found him they would've understood how he had changed.

I write this as I and the others are now staying in my second home on the island in scenic Bonsai Village. Now that I have new friends along with me, I can only hope they will not interfere with my research.

I HAVE to find Soul Calibur. I HAVE to save Rosaline.

I know she's alive, and I know Him awaits my next try at rescuing her.

And this time, I won't dissapoint.

Starman groaned at this, as he pushed the entry away...

Then he noticed something... Odd...

The following entries were as follows; 65, 66, 67 (All of those of his experimentations while staying in Bonsai Village, a grand total of 5 days), followed quickly by...

Entry #69?

.....................

Surely Gantz wouldn't make the mistake to skip a number when making entries would he? He was too practical for that...

There was only one solution.

One entry was missing.

Just as Starman was about to put the entries away, a small ding came to his attention.

Turning, he saw what appeared to be a digital envelope floating in the air before him… “An… E-Mail?”

Slowly he touched the floating piece of mail, opening it, and allowing this message to float out. The navi caught the message and read it quietly… On the message, it said this…

If you wish to know about the missing entry and the fate of your Net-Op, please come find me at ‘Black Market' in the Western most portion of Void City.

AG

[And that one entry will likely explain just why Gantz deserted his friends.

And guys, let's make these the last turn of posts right here until the next thread. So enjoy!]

[nutcase17133]

Nutcase, having been awakened was busy scanning the pages of Tobin's Spirit Guide. Drinking a cup of tea to keep his body energized (since he disliked the taste of coffee), he kept going on through the book. Looking at the names of familiar ghouls encountered by the original Ghostbusters, he hoped there might be a clue to the thing Tree was so worried about.

"Watt...a malevolent leader of demons in the underworld... No, she was captured already. (turns a page) No, definately not Samhaine. (turns the page) Hmm. Tolay, brother of Arzune, lord of a sector of the underworld who was responsible for the disapperance of the Alchemist Heronimous in 1630. The Ghostbusters caught Arzune, but not Tolay since they couldn't fight him on his turf...though it'd be a stretch to see him of all people here. There'd be panic across the island."

Clown Man was busy scanning the pages himself using the entries that were downloaded into the P.E.T. "What about that Vigo guy?" He asked.

Nutcase shook his head, saying "No, there's no way Vigo could be responsible. Ghost or not, the man was destroyed by the combonation of the partical beams and the positively-charged psychomagnatheric ectoplasm Vigo intended to use to take over the world. But the fact the guy is so much like the character Ganondorf, we can't really rule him out either..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

(OOC: You guys kinda skipped Mugen. D:)

When Metal turned to look at Beatrice, the robot would see that both Beatrice and Taffy had rather regretful expressions on their faces. Tree was their friend, but it was apparent she had changed, and neither of them knew why.

Well, that was a lie. Beatrice had an idea.

"Yeah, that was Doom Energy. I dunno if you noticed, but Tree isn't exactly the most in-shape person on the planet. She gets literally all of her fighting skill from Todd," Beatrice explained. "Normally this wouldn't be a problem, I mean, hell, look at Lover-Boy here, he's been using that broom of his for years, and it works on pretty much the same principle. But, Tree's getting her Doom Energy directly from the Source. Not through a filter like Taffy's broom or Chip's sleeves, and while I can't claim to know shit about Doom Energy (not my major), I can say that what Tree's doing is bad shit."

Snowy grabbed Ark by the ear. "Come on kid, it's your bedtime."

"Aw..."

Once Snowy and Ark were out of the room, Taffy turned back to watching the rest of the group. When Nutcase started listing off names something clicked in Taffy's head.

"Try looking up anyone who has to do with Norse Myth. Especially if they have a large role in Ragnarok," Taffy said.