Unlocked Aberrations - RP thread

The mayor put his feet up, as he relaxed in the command room, a smile on his face. He appeared to be in rather good shape for a man in his forties and not a single grey hair showed in the shaggy brown mess he called a hairstyle. An hour from now, things would be different, the invasion would begin. At the moment, there was no reason to worry. Besides, with the heroes they had gathered, ATLAS would easily destroy anything that tried to ruin the peace of his town.

He looked up at a wall lined with monitors. For now, the screens showed nothing but static.

A young woman entered the room with a cup of coffee. After placing it down in front of the mayor, the black haired secretary looked at him and adjusted her glasses. "Sir, you made sure everyone knew to gather for the summoning, right?"

The mayor froze for a few seconds before bursting into awkward laughter. How had he forgotten something like that?!

----

Elsewhere in the building, the assembled fighters would be familiarising themselves with the HQ, or in the case of those who had been curious as to what made Daisuke a secret weapon that could turn the tide of this war, watching the summoning. Even if the mayor hoped they could simply call people when a monster appeared, there would be times where they would be needed here. As such, it was best that they knew their way around the base.

Of course, if circumstances allowed, people could spend as much time at the base as they wanted. They had made sure the facilities were top of the line with plenty of bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchen space. If it weren't for the strange laboratories and training areas below ground, the building could easily be mistaken for a high class hotel.

----

Hisakawa Ai had forgone the chance to familiarise herself with the workings of the base and instead had simply learned the locations of the kitchen and a nice room with comfortable chairs, a heater and a television. At the moment, she was lying on a couch with a stick of pocky in her mouth and some mindless action movie on the TV.

----

Aoi Momoko stood in one of the building's kitchens. The girl had never really had many friends, but she was going to change that now. These people were strange too, so they wouldn't think her eyes were weird...right? She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought and looked at the ingredients she'd gathered. She was going to make an amazing pizza to share with everyone, she couldn't mess this up, first impressions were important after all.

Daisuke was in one of the bedrooms. He was preparing for the summoning. The heroes would be pulled into the world by his hands... how exciting. He'd always wanted to get involved in something like this, and knew that having all these heroes at his disposal... heheh.

Well, he had to phrase his thoughts just right, and the ritual itself was rather odd. While he knew that he'd be summoning them to help in a fight, he also knew that he couldn't call on them directly for combat since they'd have no free will. That would be inconvenient for him, since they'd have to be kept under his control at all times and, honestly, would never succeed in protecting anything, only attacking.

And so, he gathered his thoughts...

------

Daisuke had kind of expected everyone to be there and watch the ritual, but some people weren't really around. Made sense, they hadn't advertised this, and Daisuke criticized himself for romanticizing his actions so much. As he stood in a room with only a few people around, he hoped that nobody he summoned would disagree with their reasoning for being summoned. Actually, the summoning process itself should at least filter out that much, but... Daisuke's summons have NEVER been at random, so he couldn't be sure.

He was standing in the middle of a circle, his eyes closed, his thoughts clearing up, "Alright... I call to the heroes of the past... come, lend your strength to us!" He placed his hand on the ground, and his body lit up, the air suddenly stopped entirely making breathing impossible, and suddenly the room he was in had a number of figures that weren't there before. Air was moving normally again, and despite it feeling like several minutes, was only a second. Daisuke grunted a bit as a piece of the tattoos on his body vanished, signifying him as having lost but one more of his connections to the past.

Kokoro had tried to make a comment on how cheesy the summoning incantation was, but what followed it had startled her. Even her own boundaries had not even close to this much power in them. And these heroes! "Uh..." she quickly regained her composure. She did NOT find these heroes all that imposing at all! ...Or so her stance was supposed to say.

----------

Elizabeth walked into one of the kitchens, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude or anything," She had walked right into the room Aoi was occupying, having intended on letting the other (More generally combat friendly) people be to themselves. This girl didn't seem quite like what she had expected to be among the fighters here, though. Either way, she would leave if the other girl requested it.

"What is this..." A tall, intimidating figure took one bold step forward, immediately distinguishing himself from the rabble. He was a beautiful man, imposing but statuesque, and his posture spoke of an arrogance reserved for kings. His eyes were red and his hair golden, his clothes matching his features. A large chain was wrapped around his waist, and it jangled like a prisoner's ball and chain as he took another step forward.

"You mongrels... I am Gilgamesh, King of Heroes! I, who fought alongside Enkidu against the Bull of Heaven! I, who tower over even the gods! And yet you think you can just summon me to suit your whims?!"

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

Having come running from the rooftop, Benjirou entered the room just in time to witness the summoning of the heroes. Out of breath, he removed his mask to breath a little easier, and straightened his back. Had to look respectable. Imposing.

He continued to watch as the golden one exited the circle, mouthing off to the summoner. He reached for the gun at his side. This couldn't be good...

Shifting her feet into a more sturdy position, Kameyo raised one arm. Quickly, she ran through the spell. Having perfected silent casting(technically, it wasn't entirely silent, but it meant that she didn't have to say the entire spell so that was good), she needed only to declare the spell's name to finish the casting process. The magic circles quickly formed, rotating geometric symbols of golden magical energy coalescing around her arm as her chosen projectile, a coin, was suddenly suspended in air by a combination of magic and magically-manipulated electromagnetic forces. The golden railgun was complete, size adjusted for such a small projectile. Kameyo was pretty happy with this, quick assembly and casting time, and now...

"Railgun!"

With a tremendous crack, the coin was fired. In an instant it hit its target, a metal bullseye, and shear through it and the metal behind it before finally grinding to a halt somewhere deep within the wall. Smoke issued forth from the hole, and the magic circles dissipated entirely. Kameyo grinned and lowered her hand.

Target practice was pretty awesome sometimes.

A young man with black hair knelt in the room where the summoning had occurred, his light blue haori seeming rather out of place on a warrior, let alone a samurai. He glanced around at those present, evaluating them, before settling his gaze on the ground. A moment later, he stood and approached the summoner, ignoring Gilgamesh's obnoxious announcement for the moment. He bowed deeply.

"Okita Soji Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi of the Shinsengumi, at your service." he said calmly.

A smile crept onto his face. It was good to feel so alive again, he was certainly in better shape than he last recalled. Perhaps he had been summoned at an age when he had yet to contract the disease that ended his life.

----

"Ah, you're not intruding," Momoko replied. As she said this, her focus seemed to remain with the pizza dough...which had some noticable issues. Mainly involving the smell, consistency and presence of a beaker full of hydrochloric acid nearby, which Momoko began to reach for. All this time, the white haired girl avoided making eye contact with Elizabeth.

"You're here to help with the monsters too, right?"

"Oi, you didn't summon someone dangerous did you?" Kokoro said under her breath, preparing a bind to hold down the crazy man. She'd even done some research on well known stories and hadn't come across a "Gilgamesh". What the hell was that about? He must be some low name.

Meanwhile, Daisuke actually recognized the name Gilgamesh and became a bit worried and excited all at once. He also recognized Okita by name, and was a bit surprised that he wasn't as girly in appearance as some fiction portrayed him, though this should be expected.

There were some others he'd summoned as well, one of which took this moment to speak up, "OI! If you want me to help you, you'd better supply me with some appropriate drink!" His Irish Accent hung on his words making him slightly difficult to understand. He hadn't even bothered introducing himself, oddly.

Daisuke spoke up to the people he'd summoned, "Hello heroes and symbols of history! I am Inoue Daisuke, the one who summoned you. You all know why you're here, uhm..." he stumbled at this point, "But uh, yeah. You guys are all much more intimidating than I had anticipated, eheh..." this last sentence was spoken very softly and he didn't seem to want to be at the center of all his summons any more.

---------

Elizabeth smiled at the acknowledgement that she wasn't intruding, and decided to come closer. She noticed an odd smell and realized what it was, and was about to ask what she was going to do with it when she was asked a question.

"Ah, yes I am. Ridding the world of so-called "Monsters" is part of what I do," she answered, and decided to watch what she did next.

"And now you dare to ignore me..." the man calling himself Gilgamesh growled. "HOW DARE YOU? MONGREL, I AM GOING TO CRUSH YOUR HEAD BETWEEN MY-"

He tried to take a step towards Daisuke, but found half-way through, he couldn't move a single muscle, and fell flat on his face.

"What sorcery is this? Unhand me at once!"

------

This is not good... Benjirou thought to himself. Honestly, he should have expected heroes from the past to have such big egoes. But really? Already?

An elderly man in a military uniform stepped into the training area, having heard the noise of Kameyo's Railgun. He looked at the girl and the damage her spell had caused before letting out a small laugh.

"My dear girl, training is all well and good," he said, a hint of a British accent present in his voice, "but those aberrations are due within the hour. Surely you should be saving your energy?"

----

Momoko proceeded to pour the acid into the...well, to call it pizza dough would be like calling a potato a tyrannosaurus rex, sure if you think really hard and look at things from a really odd perspective they have something in common, but for the most part they're completely different.

Somewhat hesitantly, she looked up at the nun. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused, waiting for the other girl's reaction to her mismatched eyes.

"Hold," Kokoro stated simply, as Gilgamesh would find himself held down, "What kind of situation have we gotten into that there's already fighting going on?" She said, looking down at the handsome figure that now found small near-invisible blue lines wrapped around his body and holding him down. She tsked before looking at Daisuke, "He's hard to hold down, none of these other people had better be picking fights for your own sake,"

Daisuke shook his head, "No, I can send them back if they're problematic... maybe..." he didn't seem so sure but then he spoke up again. Noticeably, he had backed away from Gilgamesh and was now somehow much closer to the door, "I do hope the rest of you are ready! We only have about an hour before the first monsters show up, after all. If you need a drink I think there's some around and stuff," Daisuke nodded, "Uhm, are there any questions?"

It would seem he'd be useless for holding off Gilgamesh.

---------

Elizabeth looked at Momoko and waited for her to talk, but she didn't say anything. So, she spoke up, "What are you doing with that, uhm, stuff?" she asked, pointing at what might have been food that was being made.

"Gahhh! Hrrrnnnggg..." Gilgamesh grunted as he struggled, trying with all his might to try and break free. He didn't understand, how could this lowly woman hold him like this? The king of Uruk! His strength was that of fifty men! And yet she...

"Damn you, foul wench! What have you done to me? Undo it at once! I command you!"

"Well, that's kinda the point of this," replied Kameyo, turning to face the elderly man entirely as she did. She was grinning pretty widely after sending the penny so deeply into the wall. "I've been honing my skills as much as possible. Reducing mana expenditure and charge times, stuff like that, you know? So I can be ready, one hundred percent ready, to put a hole through any of those things that comes along thirty times in a row if I've got to. Can't spare any expense kicking ass, right ojiisan?"

Okita sighed at Gilgamesh's current state. His attitude seemed like it might make working together troublesome. He looked to Daisuke, noticing the man's distance from the group. Well, at least he had a sense of self preservation?

The samurai took a step towards the summoner, mainly so he could intercept anyone else who thought to attack him. Although perhaps that girl could hold down more than one person? He wasn't about to take that risk.

"I believe our Irish friend would like some alcohol, where might we find some?"

----

Momoko blinked. No reaction? Great! Barely resisting the urge to hug Elizabeth, she looked to where the nun was pointing. Fortunately for the people who would've been subjected to that "pizza", it seemed the acid had began eating it for them.

"Uwah! That was going to be a pizza for everyone..." she replied. Her chance for a great first impression was ruined.

----

A slight smile appeared on the man's face. "I applaud your dedication. However I fail to see how you can expect to make enough progress in such a short period of time to justify expending energy so close to a combat encounter." His expression turned slightly more serious, "Why, back in my prime, I knew a man who had insisted on a spot of target practice and didn't have time to pick up more ammunition when the enemy arrived. It nearly cost him his life."

"Well, this is the tail end of my progress, ojiisan," replied Kameyo, folding her arms as her grin became a regular smile. She'd been keeping up her practice for several weeks, now, doing as much as she could to reduce casting time and mana expenditure. She had it down pretty well by this point, she felt. Those monsters wouldn't know what it them! "Besides, I don't use conventional ammo. Any metal I can find becomes my weapon, ojiisan!"

"Ehehehe!" there, in the middle of the summoning room, was someone. Pink hair, golden eyes, a tail and fox-ears. The legendary Tamamo-No-Mae. "Uhhh..." she looked around. There were other people in the room other than her. And, oh, right next to her was the knight of legend, King Arthur. "OH HEY there!" Tamamo waved to him with a bright, welcoming smile.

"Oh hey there fox.. girl." Arthur scratched the back of his head. First, he wondered why he was given life once again. Second, he wondered what the hell was going on. "Hey." he waved, not wasting anytime to figure out the situation. "Can someone tell me what's going on...?"

"YEAH!" Tamamo then leaped forward and hoisted herself on top of King Arthur's shoulders. "Tell us!" she was really an air-head.

"Hnngh.." Arthur struggled, but then, for the hell of it, he put Tamamo on his shoulders. Her legs hoisted over his head and locked under his armpits. He was going to play her game, for now anyway. "Hehe..." he grinned.

"Ahhh.. this can't be good." Tamamo muttered, looking off to the side.

Benjirou studied the crowd thoroughly now that things seemed to have calmed down. So, he thought looking down, they'd gotten an uncontrollable berserker with a temper the size of his ego, a drunk Irishman (not that there was any other kind...), a samurai and man of the honored sword as well as King Arthur himself (he nodded in approval at this), and... whoever it was that was riding on Arthur's shoulders... The hell?

He took a better look at her. A kimono? Fox ears? A kitsune perhaps?

"Oh! Yeah, here, I can take you all to a dining room with food and drink, but we only have a short while until the monsters show up for us to eat," Daisuke had actually anticipated them maybe wanting to eat, but he actually couldn't give them more time, seeing as timing was absolutely necessary here. Actually, did he summon less than the anticipated number? Oh well, these were all excellent heroes. Except maybe Gilgamesh, he could be more liability than anything.

"Haha! That's more like it, a feast to prepare for battle," Lugh bent his knees and slapped Gilgamesh on the back, "Come now! First we feast, then we battle. What say you?"

Kokoro hoped he'd agree. While she could probably hold him a little while longer, she didn't exactly want to. She needed energy for fighting blasted monsters after all.

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

"...Well you know what? We can make something else, yes?" Elizabeth had no idea what she was thinking putting something like Acid into a pizza... but at least with her supervision, things won't turn out as badly. Assuming they had time, though Elizabeth thought they might.

The gentleman sighed, "I meant your mana. Even if you are efficient with it, too much practice this close to a battle and you might get exhausted if it goes on too long. But..." he paused, looking back to the target, "I suppose that shouldn't be too much of an issue for your kind of power."

----

"That would be nice," the samurai replied, smiling slightly.

He glanced back at the others and couldn't help but chuckle at the kitsune riding a knight. Although he prayed this kitsune wasn't of the malevolent variety. Come to think of it, could Daisuke summon malevolent spirits? Okita made a mental note to ask later.

----

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Momoko replied, her mood immediately turning around, "But what? We haven't got much time left."

"My mana? Ha, that's not something to be worried about at all, ojiisan!" replied Kameyo, her grin returning. That was what the old geezer was worrying about? It was nice that he was concerned, but it was hardly one of the chief worries in Kameyo's mind. "The Gold Gunner wouldn't be much of a gunner if she didn't have the mana to keep up her railgun, would she?"

Gilgamesh, seeing as he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, simply growled as he felt the binds loosen enough for him to move. Glaring, he made his way to the front of the procession (despite having no idea where he was going). After all, a king led, the peasants followed.

"Oh I can see we'll get along well, now won't we?" Lugh smirked and Kokoro sighed. At least the ancient wasn't attacking anyone now.

Daisuke led the way from the room and on through the building, down a hallway and further until they'd reach a place to sit and eat.

Lugh hung back in the group, seemingly avoiding the Golden looking Hero, "So, not every day one sees a Fox Girl riding a Knight," He said, his smile ever present.

Kokoro was decidedly frustrated, having to keep alert this early. These heroes were supposed to be helping. Also, shouldn't there be more than just five? They were going into the unknown, a whole other world where monsters reside, with only five trump cards. And she was able to hold one down all on her own. She was not exactly looking forward to this...

-----------

Elizabeth suggested something for them to make, and it'd take them about fifteen minutes, "Alright, you ready? If we work together it should turn out great!"

King Arthur, with the fox girl STILL on his shoulders, he followed Gilgamesh. He didn't have any mind following the blonde haired man, after all, he just wanted to get things moving.

"Oh hey, I don't have the name of my steed! Who are you again?" Tamamo pushed herself forward and her back arched. She was now eye-to-eye with Arthur, although the former was upside down.

"Arthur." he said with a smile. "You are?"

"Tamamo," she spoke before taking in a deep breath. She gave a little wink and literal STARS flew out from behind her. "No-MAE!" she giggled. Then, she did the impossible. Using King Arthur's shoulders as a balance, she pushed herself up and did a handstand. "But just call me Tamamo!" with a push, she lifted into the air.

"Whoa!" Arthur caught her in a bridal carry. "Don't do that, you scared me for a second."

"Ohhhhhhh~ Have you already fallen for me? It's too soon! We haven't even started dating yet!" the fox girl placed her hands to her face, and shyly looked away. Arthur merely sighed in response.

The old man chuckled, "I suppose not, we only brought in the best after all." It was probably true, these people were all brought here because they were strong enough to fight the monsters, but he couldn't help but worry. He'd seen too many kids sent into combat thinking they were invincible only for them to find out that they weren't, the hard way.

Honestly, Akihiko, are you trying to make me worry? Why didn't you bring them here sooner so I could train them?

----

Okita simply sighed at the attitudes of his companions and followed Daisuke. With these people around, things would be...interesting to say the least.

----

"Oh, that sounds great!" Momoko replied, "Hm, I bet we can get it done in half that time if we put the oven up a bit higher, right?"

Benjirou headed up the rear of the procession, keeping one eye glued on the "King" at all times. The rest of his attention wandered between the new arrivals.

He doubted he'd have any trouble from King Arthur or the samurai. They seemed quiet enough, or at least polite. And he wouldn't willingly get within fifteen meters of the golden boy if he could help it. Still, something about the drunkard and the kitsune concerned him. They seemed... mouthy.

Just don't make eye contact. Don't look at them, they don't look at you. If they don't look at you, they won't talk to you.

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

Gilgamesh burst into the dining room. Alright, he was going to demand that he have the finest cuisine, gold-plated and jewel-encrusted, and that it be brought to him in thirty minutes or less. And because he was in the mood, anyone who failed him in this task would be executed.

Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Ah, no, ahaha, that isn't how it works... just do it as I say ok?" She smiled very nervously but tried reassuring the other girl by patting her shoulder.

--------

As they reached the dining room, Daisuke nodded, "There was this nice girl who offered to cook a meal for us all, she should be done soon I think. How about we all sit and get to know each other while we wait?" Daisuke was probably too enthusiastic about this, but he didn't care. There were so many heroes at once, and he'd only ever spoken to a couple important ones for the sake of training, so he didn't have time to really have a conversation. Now, though? A whole group of heroic figures were about to eat with him of all things, and they'd stick around long enough that maybe he could befriend them?

He wasn't even bothered by the attitude of Gilgamesh, since he had earned his right to be like this in his lifetime, apparently, and there were others around to hold off his possible killing sprees.

Lugh sat at the table, and raised his arm up, "The finest beer this establishment can offer is what I'm after, boyo,"

"Exactly! Save the worrying for other people, worrying about me is just a waste of... worrying!" replied Kameyo, her confidence practically producing a whole other presence in the room on its own. She was nothing but sure of herself, confident that she would destroy anything and everything that dwelled in the monster world.

The elderly man smiled at Kameyo, before withdrawing a gold pocket watch and sighing. "In any case, it seems there isn't much time before the monsters arrive. Perhaps you should meet the people you'll be working with?"

----

Momoko was a litlte confused, but if Elizabeth said cooking didn't work that way, she'd trust the nun. She blinked when the other girl patted her on the shoulder and turned her head to look at the hand.

"So, what do you need me to do?" she asked.

"You know, Momoko is kind of a long name, do you mind if I call you Momo?" Elizabeth smiled brightly before setting to work. She managed to stop Momoko from destroying everything and the two of them made a fine dish.

Seafood was a specialty of the nunnery, as it was the special treat they made with perfect care for the orphans whenever they were able to afford it. And so, with the proper ingredients on hand, the two of them managed to make something wonderful and edible. Since Elizabeth was used to cooking for many, it was easy to send out enough food to serve thirty people ordinarily.

She wasn't sure how many heroes would get summoned, so she wanted to be sure she was prepared. She hoped it wouldn't be more than that at least though...

---

Elizabeth got two large trays and began setting the food on the trays, with the help of Momoko, before pushing it out to the group seated at the table.

(Note: This was about a... fifteen minute timeskip, give or take five minutes)

Gilgamesh eyed the food warily. The scent of it was certainly enticing, but what exactly was it? He would not risk poisoning by some foul enchantress, nor would he stain his lips with the subpar slop of peasants.

But... well, there was certainly a lot of it. And his hunger was that of thirty men after the ruckus during the summoning. He supposed it couldn't hurt. After all, what kind of king would he be if he could be felled by mere food poisoning? And so it was with little delay the King of Heroes began to eat.

Much to his surprise, the first bite passed through his lips, and he found it exceedingly delicious. Impressive, he thought. For a mongrel. Without hesitation, he started shoveling as much of it in his face as he could.

"This food," he said, slurping on chunks of juicy meat, "I like it. ANOTHER!" He bellowed, and smacked his plate, sending it flipping high into the sky.

"Ah, oh hey! Don't break it!" Tamamo leaped up from the ground and into the air. One flip, two flips later, she grabbed the plate and landed just a few feet away from Gilgamesh's seat. "Here you go!" the pinkette smiled as she set the plate down in front of the King of Heroes. Tamamo suck her tongue out and walked back to Arthur and stood right beside him. "I'm good, huh?~" she teased the blonde who just let out a little laugh.

"I suppose, Tamamo. Take a seat and get some food, since, well, I'm hungry." Arthur walked forward and did something out of the question. He took a seat RIGHT besides the King of Heroes. Gilgamesh, the first Hero. Who had the honor here? King Arthur or Gilgamesh? Only time would tell. One bite, and that's all it took. Another and another, soon, the plate was empty within a minute. "AHAHA! I'd like another, please!" Arthur laughed and closed his eyes. It was his attempt to savor the flavor of the absolutely scrumptious meat. It was NOTHING like he had back home! NOTHING at all.

"Mmmmm..." Tamamo took a seat next to Arthur and looked at her own plate. "Mmmmmmmmm.. bleh." she pushed it away, pulling her eyes back onto Gilgamesh. "Ohhh, hi there Goldie!" she said, leaning over the table to get a better look at the red-eyed man. "How are you?~"

"Not in the mood. Now, unless you wish to pleasure me, woman, I suggest you leave me to my meal." He said, eyeing Tamamo's plate before scooping it up.

Benjirou scoffed. Some nice manners on that one. But he wouldn't say anything. Then again, he usually didn't. Instead, he motioned at Tamamo, pointing at the salt shaker.