Crossover Cruise

Having given up attempting to get information out of the unconscious guard; Ryuko followed the others into the break room. As she entered, the first thing she noticed was her scissor blades.

She walked across the room, and lifted them up to inspect them.

"Sure was considerate of them to leave all our gear nearby," she said.  "How did these guys even manage to catch us?"

--

"It's about glubbin' time you set me free," said Eridan. "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable those chains were?"

He retrieved Ahab's Crosshairs from his Strife Specibus. He wanted to be ready if any more guards showed up. Whoever had decided to put him in several tons of chains was not going to be happy once he found them.

He wasn't sure why they'd thought he needed more chains than everyone else. Perhaps they were prejudiced against sea-dwellers. Or maybe they could tell how dangerous he was.

Whatever the case, they were going to regret abducting him. It was time to take charge of this situation. It was time to kick some ass. 

"I don't know about you guys," he said, holding up his gun dramatically. "But I say it's time we showed these kidnappers they've messed with the wrong seadweller! Who's with me?"

Oh yes. That was  speech that would be remembered for generations. Noone could dispute the inspirational power of those words! Any minute now, they would begin cheering; and he would lead them to victory!

Any minute now...

...aaaaaany minute....

...no one started cheering.

[GM POST]

Whoever opens the door up the stairs finds that it leads outside, and the scent of the sea rushes in. Crashing waves and seagulls can be heard in the distance. If they were to step out, they'd see that they seem to be inside a stone fort, and the door opens into the courtyard. The place looks worn down, like it's not being maintained. A few guards can be seen moving along the walls, muskets in hand, but none seem to be paying attention to the interior of the fort and are oblivious to the now open door. In fact, it seems most of the guards are now unconscious by the cells.

Whoever these people are, they are not a well-organized force.

What do you do?

When Vyse reached the door, without a breath of hesitation, he creaked it open and slipped outside. None of the guards appeared to be paying attention so he motioned for the others to join him, keeping a finger pressed to his lips for silence. He pointed to the guards and mimed a knocking out motion. Hopefully, the others would get the message that he wanted to do a sneak attack. 

Rose was one of the last through the door, having followed behind Noel and Eridan. She was ready to go along with the boy's plan but for some reason she highly doubted the same could be said of her comrades. Eridan especially would do something to fuck it up. She could feel it in every fiber of her being. It was simply an inevitability.

"Let me do it," said Ryuko.

Though stealth wasn't really her strong suit; she could probably take down the guard before he could alert the others. It would really just be a matter of running up and punching him.

This plan would be really difficult to mess up. Unfortunately, one of her teammates was about to do just that.

"No, allow me," said Eridan, as he pulled out Ahab's Crosshairs; and aimed it at the guard.

He slowly began to reach for the trigger.

Eridan's bulge would quickly be met by the Soul's foot, "HEY STOP THAT! You're gonna kill them!" What the hell was this guy thinking?

Eridan's gun still fired off, though harmlessly straight in the air. Soul looked up at the light show, then looked over to all the guards who noticed them, "Well GREAT JOB FREAK! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" He shouted at Eridan while pointing at the guards.

Armstrong quickly reared up, ready to create a barrier to stop the bullets should they fly.

[GM POST]

A few of the guards turn at the firing of Eridan's gun.... and promptly flee. It seems they have no interest in combating firepower of that magnitude. The thought that you already took out all of the guards inside has likely crossed their minds as well.

It appears you have a now mostly empty fort on your hands.

What do you do?

Eridan fell to the ground; having been caught off guard by the sudden assault on his nether regions. He couldn't believe someone had just kicked him there! Right when he'd been about to quickly take out that guard.

Soon the rest of the guards began to run away; obviously in fear of his superior sea-dweller technology. Just as he had planned it. They should be thanking him saving the day with his dumb luck masterful grasp of strategy and tactics.

"You're welcome," he said, in a high-pitched voice.

--

Ryuko quickly drew her scissor blades; preparing for what seemed like an inevitable battle. She made a mental note to leave one of the guards semi-conscious this time so she could get them to talk.

However, instead of attacking; the guards rather sensibly ran away. She lowered her swords, looking somewhat disappointed. She doubted she was going to get any answers out of them.

She noticed a gate near the end of the courtyard, and started to walk towards it.

Both Sakura and Satsuki rushed outside once they heard Eridan's rifle go off. Satsuki immediately realized the situation when she saw the state Eridan was in, and seemed irritated. "We might've scared off the minions, but we likely attracted too much attention with that."

Sakura jumped up the walls, climbing to the not-quite-so-high highest point of the tower to get a good view of the surrounding area. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight. "G-Guys? You might want to see this..."

[GM Post]

The island's center has a humongous mountain. With its odd, curved shape, and the pillar of steam rising from it, it resembled a giant bowl or a cup without a handle. Obviously this seems strange- why is a mountain larger at the top? Is it a volcano?

Below the mountain, it seems the island is filled by a pleasant looking forest. Flowers can be seen by the roadside leading away from the fort and towards the bowl-mountain. In the distance, white smoke is rising near the coast on the far part of the island- a settlement, perhaps?

Rose greeted her face with her long lost friend, her hand. Ah, it's been such a long time. If only she had a velvet pillow to go with it. 

"Eridan," She mumbled with a long drawn out sigh. While she knew his screw up was inevitable. She didn't think it would be so spectacularly bad.

She raised her brow when the pink haired ninja (she assumed ninja, though it was up for debate) called down for them. Rose floated up with ease, landing somewhere near the ninja girl. 

"Oh," She uttered oh so eloquently, "Well, this isn't... entirely unexpected."

"What isn't unexpected?" Vyse asked as he pulled himself up to see what the girls were seeing. His eyes widened at the sight before him, "Wow, this is so cool! But what's with all this water surrounding the place? That's weird."

Izayoi leaped up to the same point as Sakura and Rose, ending up standing right beside her as he stared off into the distance. It seems that they were imprisoned for 'some reason' since they confiscated any equipment from Izayoi's would-be allies. This also leads to the other question which would be how they all ended up here to begin with. Upon his arrival in Little Garden, he agreed to go there and live that new life. Here it was likely 'compulsion' than 'volunteerily'. He frowned. He let his thoughts wander into concern for Russel and the others without him there to-... no, sentimentality would do little to nothing for him in this predicament. "So what's the plan?" he asked the others while knowing they had no clue on how to answer.

Noel was astonished by the fiasco with Eridan's gun blasting straight up into the air. The old Noel would've yelped in fear, this one? Well, she stared on in surprise that someone could be that dumb to alert everyone to their location. She summoned up Bolverk ready to fight only... for the guards to flee. Good choice since they didn't have a chance in hell. After reasessing the situation, the girl ran up to see what everyone was staring at. "O-oh my." the ravaged home world of hers didn't have anything that looked like this that wasn't mutated by Seithr. Really it was a sight to behold.

Soul sighed, "Great, they ran off," He then pointed at Eridan, "Oi, whatever-your-name-is, don't go around just killing people, got it?" To be fair, he hadn't known for sure that it would be a killshot, but he was certain that weird contraption was going to fire a harpoon. Now that he saw what type of destructive power came out of it, he knew it would have probably killed one of them.

Armstrong looked around, realizing that they were now alone with no guards. He saw one of the girls making their way to a gate, but some of the others had gone up the wall. He decided that since the others had stayed in a group, he'd follow the girl going towards the gate. He could easily use alchemy to make his way up the wall, of course, but he didn't need to. He caught up to Ryuko immediately.

Soul looked up and noticed the others were surprised at what they saw. What could possibly be up there? He started looking for a more normal way up the wall (He lacked their absurd jumping capability), and as he did so he had more time to think about what was happening to him and the others. He was certain now that there was no chance it was an enemy of DWMA, so it was likely that whoever captured them had done so while 1) None of them were conscious, and 2) seemingly at random, "Yep, whoever locked us up is definitely not cool..."

Ryuko noticed the others were at the top of the wall; and followed them. As she took in the view; she noticed that they were on some kind of island with an oddly-shaped volcano at the center.

She also noticed some smoke nearby; possibly indicating there was a nearby village. Maybe they would be able to get some answers there.

"What are we standing around here for?" she asked. "Lets go see who's making that smoke,"

--

Eridan stared at the strange human; looking somewhat annoyed. Who was this land-dwelling human to tell him off for firing his weapon at an enemy? Said enemy would probably have shot him; given the chance.

"What am I supposed to do? Politely ask them to let us go?"

Soul rolled his eyes, "Uh, I don't know if you realized but the guys around here can't even begin to fight us. It's not cool to go around killing weaklings to make yourself feel better, man," he shook his head in semi-mock disappointment.

[GM Post]

Those of you who like Ryuko's suggestion, you take the road towards what you think is the nearest group of people.

The forest is pleasant, and with the flowers and breeze, it seems to be the middle of spring. The road is a dirt path that does not seem well-worn, lacking in use. The forest has started taking back the edges, so you likely couldn't bring a big cart through here.

For those who stay in the fort for whatever reason, it seems there's a few more rooms unexplored.

The path into the forest is a singular path, so heading towards the mountain must either be done pathless or by looking for paths further away from the fort.

Before they left, Sakura spent some time making sure Armstrong was fully healed rather than just the rush-job she applied before they went to fight. "Well, I guess we should get to know each other, huh? My name's Sakura, I'm a medic. I'm from the Land of Fire... if that means anything right now."

[Saving Satsuki post for later]

Armstrong nodded, "Ah, young miss. Thank you very much for your help. I can tell you are a splendid medic. As for the Land of Fire..." He thought about it. Was it a metaphorical name? "I'm afraid I've never heard of such a place. As for myself, my name is Alex Louise Armstrong, I am a State Alchemist from the nation of Immestrus, and the only son of the Armstrong Family!" As he said so he posed slightly and sparkles were visible all around him.

Soul shrugged, "My name's Soul Eater. I'm a weapon from the DWMA," He didn't really want to reveal that he was a fully fledged Death Scythe, he wasn't interested in bragging at a time like this. Besides, he doubted a single one of them would even get what that means.

"Names, huh?" Vyse grinned at the others whilst pointing a thumb at himself, "I'm Vyse of the Blue Rogues from Pirate's Isle! Nice to meet all of you!" 

"Boy, this place is really weird. I've never seen so much water," The young pirate didn't notice any contradictions in his statement as he started to walk down the path Ryuko suggested. 

"Hmm," Rose placed her fist over her mouth as she went into deep thought. It seemed she was definitely right about dimensional rifts being involved. All these homes they were mentioning, there was no where on earth like them. She didn't notice any expectant looks that might be cast her way until much later, "Oh right, introductions, sorry."

"I could go on a fervent rigmarole about my home starting from my arrival as an infant via meteorite to my part in the ultimate demise of my planet, but... in a way, I'm not sure it actually matters anymore," She shrugged, "So, I suppose I'm simply Rose Lalonde of the garish pajamas."

"Izayoi. Izayoi Sakamaki." Izayoi continued on his walk while half-heartedly looking around. Really, this place didn't look much different than where he just came from. Well, despite the size difference and the otherworldly purple sky. 

"I'm Noel Vermillion, Lieutenant of-... former Lieutenant of the NOL." the girl remembered that she really wasn't afflitiated with them anymore, what with Hazama trying to transform her into the Sword of Kusanagi. She sighed, finally realizing that she must be another world. Where was Tsubaki? Makoto? Ragna? They were nowhere to be found. Granted they haven't been searching for very long. However, this 'world' felt very different. She could tell even without her powers as the Observer that it was something foreign. Her eyes were downcast, lamenting for the very fact she might not see anyone familiar to her for a very long time.

Ryuko noticed that the rest of the group was introducing themselves, and decided to join in. It seemed like a good idea to get to know the people she was stranded with.

"My name is Ryuko Matoi," she said, before gesturing to her school uniform. "And this is Senketsu,"

"Ryuko, you know they can't hear me, right?" said Senketsu.

"They'll be seeing what you can do soon enough," said Ryuko.

Eridan, meanwhile, had decided to make some introductions of his own.

"If you land-dwellers MUST know; my name is Eridan Ampora," he said. "It would be in your best interests to remember it,"

Sakura looked to each person in turn as they spoke. "So... I would guess this isn't your average kidnapping case, huh..." More like an interdimensional space/time kidnapping incident, she thinks to herself.

Satsuki, who was walking by Ryuko, seems to have decided to wait until last to introduce herself. "...I am Kiryuin Satsuki. I'm from Japan, the same as Ryuko. So long as none of you slow me down, we ought to be able to get along."

Soul sideglanced Rose and Vyse a bit, thinking they were really saying outlandish things. When Ryuko introduced her clothes, he threw his head back, looking to the sky and almost wondering if he should pray for an answer to his newfound situation.

Armstrong stood up, stretching his arms experimentally, "Quite the healing you did there. And indeed, this kidnapping seems MOST EXTRAORDINARY!" he shouted the last part of his statement as he pointed somewhere, "We must find our kidnappers posthaste, and have them tell us where we are and what we're doing here!"

Soul sighed, still looking up, "Today's gonna be a lo-" Wait a second. WAIT A SECOND, "What the hell happened to the sun?" He asked, pointing at the sky in an almost exaggerated way with an expression of complete shock.

Sakura looked up, and saw what she could only describe as a normal sun. "Uh... looks fine to me, and I'm pretty sure this isn't the world I'm from." There, SOMEONE had to say it. "What were your homes like? Are you noticing any major changes? This seems like a normal island to me."

Satsuki glanced over to Rose and Eridan, and then looked forward again. "With muskets... I feel like I've gone backwards in time, instead of just sideways in space."

Ryuko listened intently as the rest introduced themselves. They had some pretty outlandish stories; though she supposed she wasn't one to judge... wait, what was that about someone destroying their home planet.

She turned towards the girl; and eyed her suspiciously. Could this girl have been an agent of the Life Fibers back in her world? If they existed in her world; they could have existed in others.  That would explain how the girl had destroyed her own planet... as well as why she fought with sewing needles.

She drew her scissor blade; and pointed them at Rose.

"What was that you said about destroying your home planet?" she asked, her tone sounding somewhat threatening.

"Why must land-dwellers always resort to violence so glubbin' quickly?" muttered Eridan, not really caring what was going on.

"For starters," Vyse began to explain when Sakura had asked her question, "I've never really seen an island surrounded by water, or anything actually! Where are the sky islands and ships?"

---

Rose was about to make a comment about Japan and all the vaguely Japanese names when she found herself at the pointed end of a sword. Ah, so someone did react to what she said. Maybe it would have been better to keep her mouth shut about those little details, but when has Rose Lalonde ever cared about keeping her mouth shut? And so, Rose proved that further by running her mouth yet again in the worst way possible.

"I believe I said it didn't actually matter, but... I suppose someone with such an obvious psychosis can be forgiven for not paying attention," She shot the scathing remark back at Ryuko with as much venom as she could muster.

Soul looked at Sakura, "Different... world, huh?" Wait, so that nagging suspicion about the others... it was that they're all in a world not their own? "Are you sure that sun looks normal to you? I mean, it isn't even laughing... or have a face at all, for that matter," also was it just him or did it seem a bit brighter? 

As Ryuko suddenly turned violent on Rose, Armstrong glanced in their direction from where he was posing. He jumped in between the two, "Now now, didn't I just say that WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER TO TAKE DOWN OUR KIDNAPPERS?!" Any normal person would probably be quite impressed by his staggering muscles as he flexed them and shouted his request.

Sakura noticed the conflict that seemed to be going on, but decided to just keep the conversations she had going since the big guy could probably take care of himself. "Last I checked, the sun wasn't a living being, it's just... this big, burning orb way out in space."

Satsuki decided to chime in on this conversation rather than bother with Ryuko, it seems. "Islands that float in the sky, suns that laugh at you, people who can heal just by touching the wound... it seems there are things that fly in the face of common sense no matter what world we hail from. As for our world... Ryuko herself is likely what stands out about it. You'll see why if you don't calm her down."

"The destruction of your home planet sounds pretty important!" said Ryuko. "And what's that about an obvious psychosis?!"

Before the argument could go any farther; a muscular man with a handlebar mustache jumped between them. As the man yelled something about working together; she couldn't help but be somewhat reminded of one of Mako's rants.

Plus, the man had a point. Now wasn't the time to get into a fight. She put her scissor blades away.

"Whatever; I'll work with her for now," she said. "If it comes to it, I can always kick her ass later,"

--

Due to all the drama going on in the party, no one seemed to have noticed Eridan wandering off towards the oddly-shaped volcano. Had they been Extreme Roleplayers like himself; they might have realized that volcanoes are ALWAYS important.

If there was anything nearby that would help explain whatever was going on, it would be near the volcano. Possibly in some kind of volcano dungeon or something. It occurred to him that he should probably have tried to convince the rest of the group to go with him as backup.

However, that sounded like a lot of tedious effort. So far none o the mooks on this island had proven to be a real threat; and he was fairly confident he could take on whoever he ran into. How tough could any of these land-dwelling humans be?

Armstrong nodded, "Very good miss Ryuko. I hope that we can all get along swimmingly in the future!" He pulled Ryuko and Rose into a big group-bear hug that the two of them most certainly never asked to be a part of. He would let them down just as quickly a moment later.

Soul shook his head, "So for you guys the sun is just a ball of fire? That's... weird, but ok," He shrugged, still a little shaken but honestly not too worried about it. It's not like the sun was all that important to him on an individual level. Looking up though, he realized it may take just a little getting used to.

All this strange talk had indeed piqued Izayoi's interest. Yeah, this little 'trip' was going to be a lot of fun. "Heh," Izayoi smiled, "This all sounds familiar. Being brought from another world into another.. the first time the 'hostess' was kind enough to send a permission slip, but I guess I can't be that lucky a second time." Izayoi wasn't exactly perturbed at the concept. As long as he could have fun, he was alright - but there was a slight worry on how the Community was going to last... ah, no, Jin can handle it. 

Now Noel on the other hand, as Izayoi spoke, she stared at him. He was already brought from another world a second time? This made her head swim. "U-uh." there was the Boundary and the time she brought Ragna back through it by 'observing' but this... was something much beyond her. "I need to sit down." plop, down she went on a nearby rock to gather her thoughts.