ElfCollaborator

Sophie - [Lancer and Sophie] "Magical barriers? Okay, okay. I'll set 'em up. So....should I set them up by the windows and the doors, thresholds, that sort of thing? Talk me through it." The journalist in Sophie was coming into play, as she starts taking a more welcoming tone, instead of the exasperated one she'd had for a while.. The worried interloper had to go for a bit; after all, the worried interloper wasn't the journalist who'd survived warzones and the machinations of angered companies about to be exposed for their misdeeds. Nick and Jack Sloane - [Berserkers and Eleonore] Nick and Jack share a few words in harsh whispers, before both nodding at Eleonore in unison. "The suburbs, luv." "It's the second least likely place for anyone to go lookin' for trouble, inni? Unless you've got another suggestion." "You know the place better than us, luv. 'Sides, I think I 'eard something goin' on the other side of the city. Probably some kids with dem fireworks, but if it's not, I'd rather not come along and find out." "Also, we seekin' trouble, like? Or we just peekin' for now? We'd rather go with the one that makes us get fightin', but you're our Master, luv, so all up to you."

"Bartek would like to ask; should we expect anything worse?" Bartek shifts uncomfortably, looking around just in case something comes for them while they speak.

Sachi Honda Sachi stares up at the very tall, very imposing man, their opponent and the person they had been sent there to fight. All her life, Sachi had been trained to fight the Vertex, inhuman monsters who threatened to eat their reality. She'd never imagined she'd have to fight other humans, let alone other magical humans, let alone fight in a proper war, like there was in the history books. True, it might be said that the conflict against the Vertex was a 'war' of sorts, but nothing like this; the Vertex were far more powerful than humanity, far stronger, impossible to reason with. They had forced humanity into small pockets of safety, protected by the waning gods that were still watching out for their creations after all this time. Berserker's imposing form struck fear into the young woman for a moment. But only a moment. Then she remembered who she was, and why she was there. It was her 'duty' to protect her allies. Her sister, the Hero Club, these strangers; it made no difference. Even if she didn't want to. Mio had always been the Sword to her Shield; she would watch her sister demolish Vertex shells with her bare fists, and protect her from their retaliation with her shield. This wasn't any different. The Berserker was a trheat. Her allies were in danger. She was going to protect them. Those were the words that carried her through every day, every day since Mio's- Edmond's words pierced her fugue, and Sachi shook her head. There was a job to be done and Sachi would do it. "Right!' Tower Stance (Sachi takes 50% of the incoming damage to the protected targets, who only take the other 50%) on Wyvis and Hikari.

".....like I said. Stinkin' pervs. I don't care if I get fired, I find one of those made of me, someone's gettin' punted." Azusa looks visibly unnerved and disgusted by the dakimakura.

Sachi Honda "I-it's fine.....o-our butler was the s-same way, really. H-He always s-spent a long time talking about t-things.....a-and anyway, I-I'd be abandoning my duty i-if I just let you guys f-fight without me, right?' Duty was something that had been instilled into Mio when she was young, and then Mio had imparted it upon her and her brother once her parents were gone. It was why Sachi had become a Hero to begin with; because, even if it was scary, it was the right thing to do. She could've chosen to walk away and let someone else become a Hero in her place, but it wouldn't be right. And look where it got Mio. The tiniest of voices rang out in her mind, reminding her of the fate of her sister. She, too, had been dutiful. And she had been rewarded with death.

Sachi Honda Sachi thought about that for a few seconds. It's clear she's trying to think of exactly what to say here, as if there's something she's not saying. "W-well....i-if I don't step up, then n-nobody else will, right? I-It's not like I want to fight, b-but.....s-someone always told me that.....you're likely to succeed if you try, and, w-well, if I don't try, I won't succeed, and nobody else will try either, so...." She trails off, remembering who had taught her that. Of course it had been Mio. It was always Mio. The Hero Club's Five Tenets were things Mio had taught her from a young age; after all, they were useful lessons to anyone, not just Heroes.

Sachi Honda "L-Like I said, I don't know, really. I-I kinda just went along with all o-of this.... I'm just trying to do my best to make do, is all. It's the best I-I can do." Indeed, Sachi herself started considering just how screwed her situation was that she basically just went along with all of it. Why, precisely, did she go along with it? Oh, right. The horrific monsters trying to eat reality. That was it.

Sachi Honda On Sachi's part, she shakes her head. "It's fine, r-really. I'm used t-to it. Don't w-worry about it. I'm S-Sachi, Sachi Honda. Nice to meet y-you, I suppose."

Empi Powderbelle Empi gives him a genuine, sincere smile. She pats Navin on his shoulder encouragingly. "Great, great. I knew I could count on you. Even if you're a work in progress, as they say in my line of work. In slow, but sure progress. You'll get there one day. I hope. Anyway, give it time. Don't be too hasty. You do it now, you'll look desperate. Don't leave it too late, either, then you'll just look like an insincere asshole. Besides, with all the chaos going on right now, I think she'll be a bit too stressed to listen, seeing as you almost literally JUST opened up those wounds again. I say, give it a few hours, THEN go up and apologise. We'll take it a step at a time, since I feel like I'll be seeing a lot more of you two in regards to this whole mess for a while."

Sachi Honda If Sachi is more unnerved by the crazy voice in her head, she definitely doesn't show it as she slowly walks away with Soryn. "O-Of course I am! B-but....what am I supposed to do about it? I-I might as well help out while I'm here, right?"

Empi Powderbelle "Oh, so you've figured it out without me having to tell you. Well, saves me time: I like you more than half my clients already. Well, your first step is to go apologise to her. Tell her you didn't know it'd hit her badly, and ask if you could have a do-over. 'Course, that won't be enough. A loss like she took? She needs friends. Someone like her. That's where you come in. I need a guy who can do that; make her open up about it to someone she trusts. I could practically smell the repression off her like I could smell your celibacy, good grief. Seriously, you've never seen a girl naked like this before? Anyway, if you want to fully make up for it, you've got to be the rebound guy, so to speak. Think you're up to that, Indian Superman?"

Sachi Honda Sachi is clearly unnerved by the large, imposing man approaching her, most likely because he also dwarfs her by a significant amount. Still, she doesn't shy away too far. "H-huh? I don't really....k-know the answer to that. I-I kinda got dragged here too, r-really. I'm just h-here to grab people for a m-meeting...."

"I do. My former agent screwed me over, told me to practice some stupid moves, then I get told I don't suit 'em. Something about being too sexy to be cool. Damn pervs."

Sachi Honda Sachi sets foot into the armory, looking around for her group, announcing her purpose at the top of her very light and small voice. "U-uh....if y-you're with Isobel, s-she wants everyone in the courtyard for a-a meeting as soon as possible!"

Azusa looks over at Yuri. "So, how are we doing this, then? Damn if I care about this."

Empi Powderbelle Empi cocks her head a little bit and places a hand on her hip, lifting an eyebrow. Now she was getting to the good bit. With Mitsu, she couldn't really treat her like a client; clearly, Mitsu had gotten laid before (and Empi was kinda jealous for the lucky bastard who got to sleep with THAT hot body) and her problem was more the area of a therapist than a wingwoman like Empi, as much as Empi did take that one course back at university about psychology. But Navin? He was oblivious, socially inept, actually semi-attractive (actually, really attractive- the only reason Empi hadn't jumped his bones was because she had plans for him and Mitsu), and had just managed to piss off a very hot woman. In short, he was 90% of Empi's clientele. "Literally everything you said pushed her a little bit more into crying her eyes out. You pushed every button there like a kid with ADHD and a bag of sherbet in a computer science exhibit. Man, are you always this oblivious? Y'know, an important part of being a hero's job, from what I know, is actually talking to people; all that shit like "being the hero Gotham deserves" or defending the Indian way. I've seen you, you hit like a nuclear-powered freight-train and have the physique to match. Like, if you weren't kinda focused on being a hero, I'd totally tap that. Hard. And twice. Or as much as you'd like; I'm game. Anyway, your problem here is that you seem to have the social awareness of a four year old, with which you offended a friend of mine and is probably going to go bite you in the ass in future unless you do something. I assume it's because of your job and not because you're genuinely stupid; I've seen way too many hunks like you to think they're all idiots. Now, I know you'll want to go make things better, which is a good thing. But you need the right thing to say to her. And then, y'know, not to drive her back into the eternal vortex of suffer. Luckily, Doctor Empi Powderbelle, local Major in Dating Services with a Minor in Sexual Education, is willing to help you out and make everything as right as rain again. If you want." Sachi Honda Sachi nods, heading off to the nearest place. Which is likely the armory. She kicks herself inside. That was supposed to have been her chance to thank Isobel for what she did; for helping her out of her funk during that fight. >Sachi, y-you're so useless! That was it! Hum.....I know! After this, when we get everyone, we'll go talk to her and thank her! Yeah!< She resolves to talk to Isobel later. She needed to thank her. Isobel had been the first person since Mio to encourage her like that.

Empi Powderbelle Empi sighs. Navin's type were really the worst sometimes; noble, well-meaning, but oh so oblivious. Even more oblivious than anyone she'd met. Except that one client in Budapest. He was on the top ten list of hot clients she'd had, but he'd had the emotional sensitivity of a petrified cactus. "She's grieving. She's lost a LOT of people she cared about, and she's hurting on the inside about it.- hurting so obviously anyone but you could tell she was hurting, and I can read your emotiions like a book. And you just reminded her about it like it was yesterday. Like, five times." Sachi Honda Sachi, who has been mulling about LOTUS and Isobel trying to muster the words to thank her, is jolted out of her reverie. She blinks as if she's been shaken out of a daydream. "H-huh? Oh! Okay! Everyone, right? D-do you want me to tell them what you want them for?"

Azusa also attempts to rehearse. If nothing else, because she's rather ticked off about how the whole thing went and has no access to idiot delinquents to go beat up to relieve her irritation.

Empi shrugs. "It's worth a shot. Besides, you really want her to be pissed at you forever? I mean, we're kinda in the middle of a war here."

"I'll be honest. She needs someone who can....well...know what she's been through and know what kinda thing that does to you. I'm only so good at that, y'know?"

Empi frowns at that, then crosses her arms. "Well.....I suppose you ought to know, huh? Just.....promise me you won't even hint that I told you, okay? I really don't wanna find out what being smote by a god feels like, okay? I mean, someone might be into that shit, but I'm not, yeah?"

"Well, I was a little busy thinking about something back there, but I'd guess you struck a nerve real hard. What, exactly, did you tell her?"

Empi looks between Navin and the disappearing Mitsu as she's snapped out of her fugue. Her eyes flit between Navin and Mitsu quickly, and she knows precisely what has happened with a few seconds of thinking. She turns towards Navin, a disapproving look on her face. "I'll be blunt. You kinda fucked up."

Sophie - [Lancer and Sophie] "Great. Well, you've got more experience with this whole thing than I do. So what do Masters usually do at this point? Should I have you scout out for anyone else?" Nick and Jack Sloane - [Berserkers and Eleonore] Nick and Jack share another look, before grinning at Eleonore and nodding. "Stick close, yeah? You better know 'ow to 'ide, luv." "Stay behind us and try not to call 'em coppers down on us, yeah?" With that, Jack and Nick begin heading for the door, intending to look or anything they can start jacking easily within sight. Preferably motorcycles. And without being caught; though that last part could be easily averted with an application of a fist to the face. Presumably, they indeed locate their motorcycles, Jack beckoning Eleonore to sit behind him.

Empi, for her part, notes what the two of them are saying. Her expression is as unreadable as it has been, but a mischievous, knowing glint is beginning to develop in her eye.