Post by Vapovile on Jan 3, 2022 2:24:00 GMT
Erin stared at the table before her, the red-haired man across looking at her with an amused expression. He had a single card left in his hand, while Erin had 2. The card on the table was a blue 1, and Erin had no idea what card Seto had in his hand. She could either change it with a yellow 1, or have it stay the same with a blue 4. She stared at his face, but only got a raised eyebrow in reply.
“What’cha gonna do, my dear little sister?” Seto asked, putting his cheek in his palm. Erin shifted her cards in her hands thoughtfully. Glancing at a nearby glass jar behind Seto, Erin smirked when she saw blue light being reflected. “This! Hah!” Slamming the yellow 1 down with determination. Erin looked at Seto and grinned. She had beaten him.
“Uno.” He said casually. The enthusiasm drained out of Erin’s face. “...huh?” “Uno. You didn’t say it, Erin~.” He chirped. Erin looked on in despair as she drew another card from the deck. Seto drew a card as well, and smiled. “Well, would you look at that?” He placed down a draw 4, quickly said Uno, and laid his final card down. Erin moaned in disappointment.
“And so the master wins again, my little Ichigo! Undone by your own forgetfulness!” Seto declared dramatically, Erin rolling her eyes. “Uuuuugh. I’ll beat you tomorrow!” Erin said, Seto chuckling to himself. “I would love nothing more than a challenge, Eri-chan.” He joked. Seto knew Erin loved Japanese stuff.
Leaning back in her chair, Erin looked over at Seto with a softer expression. “Hey...do you have a minute?” “Hm? For you, I think I could spare five.” He joked. Erin let out a sigh and leaned forward on the table. “Thanks for the time I guess. Anyway, I wanted to ask...since you’re smart...um, what makes me awkward compared to other people?”
Seto’s eyes widened. “Oooooh? Is this related to your new friend you told me about a while ago? What was her name...Caroline?” “Yes, that’s her! She’s um, yeah, really confident. And I don’t know why she decided to make friends with me…” Erin trailed off. A laugh escaped Seto’s mouth.
“Oh Erin, there you go undervaluing yourself again. Well I haven’t spoken to this girl, I can bet it has something to do with your cute charm. I mean, come on.” Seto leaned over and poked Erin’s ear, Erin reeling back and flailing her hands. “How can people resist a reaction like that?”
Erin puffed her cheek in a pout. “So what, I’m just a target for people to tease?” She grumbled. Seto leaned forward and shook his head. “Of course not. You’re one of the nicest girls I know.” “You don’t know any girls.” “LIKE I WAS SAYING, you’re one of the nicest girls I know. Why wouldn’t someone want to see more of that?” He asked.
Erin pondered this. Was it really that simple? Relaxing a little, Erin pushed aside the Uno cards between them. “It’s hard to guess what you’re thinking, you know that?” Erin asked, Seto smirking. “But of course, that’s all part of the plan! Make myself seem like the best brother to impress my baby sister!” Seto stood up in the chair and closed his eyes, posing with his hand up to his face. Erin couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re such a dork. But thanks...I needed that.” Erin said, fully relaxed now. Seto smiled and shifted to get down...but the chair shifted and tipped, toppling over with Seto being sprawled across the floor. Erin looked over to make sure he was ok, but when she saw he was...burst out laughing.
“You...ahahahaha! And the ch-ahahaha!” Erin choked out. Seto smirked at the reaction, then immediately shifted to an eyeroll. “A simple miscalculation by best brother. I must revise my plan for tomorrow’s secret operation…” He said thoughtfully, getting back up and dusting off his pants. Erin wiped a tear from her eye as she looked at her brother.
“You’re such a dork...hahaha…” “Ah, but so are you, my connoisseur of animated Japanese cartoons. We’re not so different, you and I.” Seto put his hand up to his face once more, letting out a loud evil villain laugh he’d clearly spent time rehearsing. He was happy to see Erin laughing. For even if Erin felt more comfortable coming to Haruko or Aria for some issues, Seto made it his mission to at least make his little sister laugh whenever he could. Even Aria couldn’t do that.
—
Located within a remote warehouse in Colorado, three men were walking down the aisles of crates and boxes. One had short blond hair, with ripped jeans and held a large silver handgun in his right. The other two wore baggy black jackets, one having strangely large eyes and tiny pads on his fingers, while the other wielded a spear. The blond man held out his hand for them to stop.
“This looks like it, boys.” He said with a grin, pointing to a large wooden crate on a middle shelf. The large-eyed man leaped up with inhuman strength, clung to the side of the shelf with his feet, and brought the crate down to the ground. The spearman stabbed into its side, prying open the lid and revealing an imposing black coffin inside. The coffin was decorated with runic writing written long ago. The blond man grinned.
“Aaaaah…there she is. You know the drill, let’s get her out of h-” Before he could finish, a metallic noise rang out across the warehouse. The three looked up at the catwalk above…and saw a strange caped figure.
“Halt, vile thieves of the night!” The man shouted out at them, flaring out his cape to reveal more of his form. The man wore a long, flowing black cape over a white suit with light blue tie. He wore a strange jet-black face mask with a single white dot where his right eye would be. The ominous figure looked down at the thieves below.
“You hold the coffin of Countess Alina, terror of Romania in the 12th Century! You vile dogs would set loose that ghoul upon the world once more?!” He boomed. “Well I shall not allow it! For I am…” The man flared his cape out once more, striking a pose.
“Nebula, shining bright in the face of evil! Now vacate these grounds at once!” He declared, pointing at the men. They stared for several seconds…before bursting out laughing.
The blond-haired man stepped forward. “Pahahaha…oh, this is amazing. Who ordered us a clown? Come on, fess up.” He craned his neck, and both men behind him shook their heads. He stepped forward and pointed his handgun at the figure.
“I don’t care who you are, but you die today, clown.” The man clicked the trigger…and saw nothing come out. He looked over in frustration and slapped his gun. “Oh for fu-it’s jammed?!” He said with annoyance. The figure above laughed.
“Wow, what are the odds?! I suppose black market guns aren’t quality controlled!” His face grew into a smile as his tone began to shift. “Shaun Fredrickson, Jeremy Miller, and Kelly Smith.” He turned to the blond man, the large-eyed man, and the spearman respectively. “Formed a criminal enterprise 3 months ago in St. Louis, stealing Hidden World items and fencing them to the Morgan organization. The client for this job is offering $3,000 for the release of this ghoul, and rent is due for you criminals.”
This information made the three men suspicious. “And how the hell do you know so much about us, hm?” Shaun asked, slapping his gun once more. Nebula folded his arms. “I know everything. I know you broke up with your girlfriend 9 months ago because she didn’t like you gambling your savings away, you own a white Ford truck that’s parked right outside…and you are racist toward catfolk.” Nebula mocked.
Shaun stepped forward and pointed. “I’ve had enough, Jeremy!” Instantly, the reptilian man leaped up toward Nebula, who looked down casually. “Part reptilian, can cling to walls easily and has a tongue that reaches 6 feet long. You wear a, whoa!” Nebula dashed to the right as his mouth opened lashing out a long tongue with a spear tip at the end, which swiftly returns to his mouth.
“As I was saying, you wear a spear at the tip!” Nebula laughed as he watched a roundhouse kick coming for his midsection, but strangely…the floor beneath Jeremy was far more slick than he anticipated, sending him sliding backwards. In one motion, Nebula dashed forward, slapped a pair of power-cancelling cuffs onto his outstretched wrists, and delivered an elbow jab that sent the reptile man tumbling into the wall.
Nebula let out a whistle. “Whew, thought that might happen. Laid down some grease before I said anything. Smart, no?” Nebula taunted. Shaun let out a groan and turned to the other man. “Ok, you take right, I’ll shoot from the left. Kill this bastard!”
Kelly dashed up, leaping up toward the catwalk with his spear. “If you’re so damn clever, why don’t I bring you down with us?!” He roared, slashing the catwalk through and causing it to collapse. Nebula leaped off the edge and onto a nearby shelf, where a shot from Shaun narrowly missed his head.
“You know, your accuracy is impeccable. 90% hit rate last I recall. Feeling lucky?” Nebula dove out of the way of Kelly’s spear smashing the shelf he was on, rolling across the ground just as another bullet whizzed past his body. Just as another spear thrust came, Nebula dove forward and grabbed the shaft.
“Disarm.” His other hand came down hard upon Kelly’s left hand, causing him to let go. “Sugar.” He tossed out a strange fine dust at Kelly’s eyes, causing him to reel back in pain. “Flour.” A knee to the stomach caused the spearman to take several steps back. “Eggs.” Nebula unleashed a right hook directly at his head, making the spearman crash into the ground. “Bake for 60 minutes.” Leaping over, Nebula clamped a pair of cuffs on Kelly’s hands, then took a few steps back.
“...cake’s ready.” The strange man casually said, strolling to the right while looking at the leader. Shaun looked dumbfounded. “The FUCK was that?!” He asked, pointing his gun at the man once more and firing 5 shots.
“20, 35, 30, 40, 15…” Nebula said aloud, weaving in unnatural patterns as the bullets all missed him. Shaun tossed his gun and clapped his hands together, arcing electricity between them and creating an aura of electricity across both.
“Should have done this from the start. Try that shit with me, why don’tcha!” Shaun roared, dashing forward and punching at Nebula’s chest, but he swiftly dodged under the arm.
“Time to check out. Breakfast,” Nebula delivered a punch directly into Shaun’s stomach, causing him to reel back and attempt to slam his electrified fists down upon Nebula. “Dress,” Nebula pulled down on Shaun’s coat, causing his strike to go off balance and tumble to the side. “Brush teeth.” He dove across Shaun’s body and delivered a kick to the side of his head. “...present keycard.” And with that, the final pair of cuffs were in place.
Nebula walked over to the crate and grabbed the lid, slamming it back down and running his right hand along it, which now had a strange hologram-like glove across that appeared to be sealing the container back up. Once he was done, Nebula delivered a bow.
“Thank you, thank you. Use this as a learning opportunity, villains.” He declared. On cue, HWIC agents that had been at the perimeter rushed in and began taking the men away.
—
The time was now evening, and Seto twirled Nebula’s mask on his right finger. Aria sat across his desk, looking over the day’s report.
“Good work apprehending those three…but did you really have to go in alone? You had a few Enforcement agents on site.” Aria questioned. Seto smirked and put the mask down on the table.
“What’s the fun in that? I spend most of my days here in this command room, why shouldn’t I have some fun when I can?” He said leaning back in his chair.
Aria let out a small sigh. “That Focus of yours really is unpredictable, isn’t it?” She asked. Seto smirked and twirled a pen between his fingers. “Our world is nothing but a set of possible actions. I simply…cheat to help make things a little easier.” He said. Aria nodded.
“Well, Nebula. Oh right, do you prefer Seto? Maybe Sk-” “Noooope! Seto’s fine, thank you very much!” Seto protested before she said his real name. Aria chuckled as she teased her little brother.
“Anyway, please get those leave forms ready. I hear Mrs. Primrose is going on maternity leave soon, so I’d like you to organize a basket for her.” “Already made, Aria-sama. The office all chipped in a few days ago, and ready for her final day on Friday.” Seto said confidently.
Aria nodded her head. “Thank you. Please send that card upstairs sometime so I can sign it as well. See ya.” Aria waved as she exited, Seto letting out a sigh.
“Hm…perhaps these three might actually have some info on the Morgan organization this time. I’m onto you…” Seto looked at his computer, filled with various profiles that detailed a web of the criminal enterprise. A sinister shadow was at the top, simply titled;
Mordred.
“What’cha gonna do, my dear little sister?” Seto asked, putting his cheek in his palm. Erin shifted her cards in her hands thoughtfully. Glancing at a nearby glass jar behind Seto, Erin smirked when she saw blue light being reflected. “This! Hah!” Slamming the yellow 1 down with determination. Erin looked at Seto and grinned. She had beaten him.
“Uno.” He said casually. The enthusiasm drained out of Erin’s face. “...huh?” “Uno. You didn’t say it, Erin~.” He chirped. Erin looked on in despair as she drew another card from the deck. Seto drew a card as well, and smiled. “Well, would you look at that?” He placed down a draw 4, quickly said Uno, and laid his final card down. Erin moaned in disappointment.
“And so the master wins again, my little Ichigo! Undone by your own forgetfulness!” Seto declared dramatically, Erin rolling her eyes. “Uuuuugh. I’ll beat you tomorrow!” Erin said, Seto chuckling to himself. “I would love nothing more than a challenge, Eri-chan.” He joked. Seto knew Erin loved Japanese stuff.
Leaning back in her chair, Erin looked over at Seto with a softer expression. “Hey...do you have a minute?” “Hm? For you, I think I could spare five.” He joked. Erin let out a sigh and leaned forward on the table. “Thanks for the time I guess. Anyway, I wanted to ask...since you’re smart...um, what makes me awkward compared to other people?”
Seto’s eyes widened. “Oooooh? Is this related to your new friend you told me about a while ago? What was her name...Caroline?” “Yes, that’s her! She’s um, yeah, really confident. And I don’t know why she decided to make friends with me…” Erin trailed off. A laugh escaped Seto’s mouth.
“Oh Erin, there you go undervaluing yourself again. Well I haven’t spoken to this girl, I can bet it has something to do with your cute charm. I mean, come on.” Seto leaned over and poked Erin’s ear, Erin reeling back and flailing her hands. “How can people resist a reaction like that?”
Erin puffed her cheek in a pout. “So what, I’m just a target for people to tease?” She grumbled. Seto leaned forward and shook his head. “Of course not. You’re one of the nicest girls I know.” “You don’t know any girls.” “LIKE I WAS SAYING, you’re one of the nicest girls I know. Why wouldn’t someone want to see more of that?” He asked.
Erin pondered this. Was it really that simple? Relaxing a little, Erin pushed aside the Uno cards between them. “It’s hard to guess what you’re thinking, you know that?” Erin asked, Seto smirking. “But of course, that’s all part of the plan! Make myself seem like the best brother to impress my baby sister!” Seto stood up in the chair and closed his eyes, posing with his hand up to his face. Erin couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re such a dork. But thanks...I needed that.” Erin said, fully relaxed now. Seto smiled and shifted to get down...but the chair shifted and tipped, toppling over with Seto being sprawled across the floor. Erin looked over to make sure he was ok, but when she saw he was...burst out laughing.
“You...ahahahaha! And the ch-ahahaha!” Erin choked out. Seto smirked at the reaction, then immediately shifted to an eyeroll. “A simple miscalculation by best brother. I must revise my plan for tomorrow’s secret operation…” He said thoughtfully, getting back up and dusting off his pants. Erin wiped a tear from her eye as she looked at her brother.
“You’re such a dork...hahaha…” “Ah, but so are you, my connoisseur of animated Japanese cartoons. We’re not so different, you and I.” Seto put his hand up to his face once more, letting out a loud evil villain laugh he’d clearly spent time rehearsing. He was happy to see Erin laughing. For even if Erin felt more comfortable coming to Haruko or Aria for some issues, Seto made it his mission to at least make his little sister laugh whenever he could. Even Aria couldn’t do that.
—
Located within a remote warehouse in Colorado, three men were walking down the aisles of crates and boxes. One had short blond hair, with ripped jeans and held a large silver handgun in his right. The other two wore baggy black jackets, one having strangely large eyes and tiny pads on his fingers, while the other wielded a spear. The blond man held out his hand for them to stop.
“This looks like it, boys.” He said with a grin, pointing to a large wooden crate on a middle shelf. The large-eyed man leaped up with inhuman strength, clung to the side of the shelf with his feet, and brought the crate down to the ground. The spearman stabbed into its side, prying open the lid and revealing an imposing black coffin inside. The coffin was decorated with runic writing written long ago. The blond man grinned.
“Aaaaah…there she is. You know the drill, let’s get her out of h-” Before he could finish, a metallic noise rang out across the warehouse. The three looked up at the catwalk above…and saw a strange caped figure.
“Halt, vile thieves of the night!” The man shouted out at them, flaring out his cape to reveal more of his form. The man wore a long, flowing black cape over a white suit with light blue tie. He wore a strange jet-black face mask with a single white dot where his right eye would be. The ominous figure looked down at the thieves below.
“You hold the coffin of Countess Alina, terror of Romania in the 12th Century! You vile dogs would set loose that ghoul upon the world once more?!” He boomed. “Well I shall not allow it! For I am…” The man flared his cape out once more, striking a pose.
“Nebula, shining bright in the face of evil! Now vacate these grounds at once!” He declared, pointing at the men. They stared for several seconds…before bursting out laughing.
The blond-haired man stepped forward. “Pahahaha…oh, this is amazing. Who ordered us a clown? Come on, fess up.” He craned his neck, and both men behind him shook their heads. He stepped forward and pointed his handgun at the figure.
“I don’t care who you are, but you die today, clown.” The man clicked the trigger…and saw nothing come out. He looked over in frustration and slapped his gun. “Oh for fu-it’s jammed?!” He said with annoyance. The figure above laughed.
“Wow, what are the odds?! I suppose black market guns aren’t quality controlled!” His face grew into a smile as his tone began to shift. “Shaun Fredrickson, Jeremy Miller, and Kelly Smith.” He turned to the blond man, the large-eyed man, and the spearman respectively. “Formed a criminal enterprise 3 months ago in St. Louis, stealing Hidden World items and fencing them to the Morgan organization. The client for this job is offering $3,000 for the release of this ghoul, and rent is due for you criminals.”
This information made the three men suspicious. “And how the hell do you know so much about us, hm?” Shaun asked, slapping his gun once more. Nebula folded his arms. “I know everything. I know you broke up with your girlfriend 9 months ago because she didn’t like you gambling your savings away, you own a white Ford truck that’s parked right outside…and you are racist toward catfolk.” Nebula mocked.
Shaun stepped forward and pointed. “I’ve had enough, Jeremy!” Instantly, the reptilian man leaped up toward Nebula, who looked down casually. “Part reptilian, can cling to walls easily and has a tongue that reaches 6 feet long. You wear a, whoa!” Nebula dashed to the right as his mouth opened lashing out a long tongue with a spear tip at the end, which swiftly returns to his mouth.
“As I was saying, you wear a spear at the tip!” Nebula laughed as he watched a roundhouse kick coming for his midsection, but strangely…the floor beneath Jeremy was far more slick than he anticipated, sending him sliding backwards. In one motion, Nebula dashed forward, slapped a pair of power-cancelling cuffs onto his outstretched wrists, and delivered an elbow jab that sent the reptile man tumbling into the wall.
Nebula let out a whistle. “Whew, thought that might happen. Laid down some grease before I said anything. Smart, no?” Nebula taunted. Shaun let out a groan and turned to the other man. “Ok, you take right, I’ll shoot from the left. Kill this bastard!”
Kelly dashed up, leaping up toward the catwalk with his spear. “If you’re so damn clever, why don’t I bring you down with us?!” He roared, slashing the catwalk through and causing it to collapse. Nebula leaped off the edge and onto a nearby shelf, where a shot from Shaun narrowly missed his head.
“You know, your accuracy is impeccable. 90% hit rate last I recall. Feeling lucky?” Nebula dove out of the way of Kelly’s spear smashing the shelf he was on, rolling across the ground just as another bullet whizzed past his body. Just as another spear thrust came, Nebula dove forward and grabbed the shaft.
“Disarm.” His other hand came down hard upon Kelly’s left hand, causing him to let go. “Sugar.” He tossed out a strange fine dust at Kelly’s eyes, causing him to reel back in pain. “Flour.” A knee to the stomach caused the spearman to take several steps back. “Eggs.” Nebula unleashed a right hook directly at his head, making the spearman crash into the ground. “Bake for 60 minutes.” Leaping over, Nebula clamped a pair of cuffs on Kelly’s hands, then took a few steps back.
“...cake’s ready.” The strange man casually said, strolling to the right while looking at the leader. Shaun looked dumbfounded. “The FUCK was that?!” He asked, pointing his gun at the man once more and firing 5 shots.
“20, 35, 30, 40, 15…” Nebula said aloud, weaving in unnatural patterns as the bullets all missed him. Shaun tossed his gun and clapped his hands together, arcing electricity between them and creating an aura of electricity across both.
“Should have done this from the start. Try that shit with me, why don’tcha!” Shaun roared, dashing forward and punching at Nebula’s chest, but he swiftly dodged under the arm.
“Time to check out. Breakfast,” Nebula delivered a punch directly into Shaun’s stomach, causing him to reel back and attempt to slam his electrified fists down upon Nebula. “Dress,” Nebula pulled down on Shaun’s coat, causing his strike to go off balance and tumble to the side. “Brush teeth.” He dove across Shaun’s body and delivered a kick to the side of his head. “...present keycard.” And with that, the final pair of cuffs were in place.
Nebula walked over to the crate and grabbed the lid, slamming it back down and running his right hand along it, which now had a strange hologram-like glove across that appeared to be sealing the container back up. Once he was done, Nebula delivered a bow.
“Thank you, thank you. Use this as a learning opportunity, villains.” He declared. On cue, HWIC agents that had been at the perimeter rushed in and began taking the men away.
—
The time was now evening, and Seto twirled Nebula’s mask on his right finger. Aria sat across his desk, looking over the day’s report.
“Good work apprehending those three…but did you really have to go in alone? You had a few Enforcement agents on site.” Aria questioned. Seto smirked and put the mask down on the table.
“What’s the fun in that? I spend most of my days here in this command room, why shouldn’t I have some fun when I can?” He said leaning back in his chair.
Aria let out a small sigh. “That Focus of yours really is unpredictable, isn’t it?” She asked. Seto smirked and twirled a pen between his fingers. “Our world is nothing but a set of possible actions. I simply…cheat to help make things a little easier.” He said. Aria nodded.
“Well, Nebula. Oh right, do you prefer Seto? Maybe Sk-” “Noooope! Seto’s fine, thank you very much!” Seto protested before she said his real name. Aria chuckled as she teased her little brother.
“Anyway, please get those leave forms ready. I hear Mrs. Primrose is going on maternity leave soon, so I’d like you to organize a basket for her.” “Already made, Aria-sama. The office all chipped in a few days ago, and ready for her final day on Friday.” Seto said confidently.
Aria nodded her head. “Thank you. Please send that card upstairs sometime so I can sign it as well. See ya.” Aria waved as she exited, Seto letting out a sigh.
“Hm…perhaps these three might actually have some info on the Morgan organization this time. I’m onto you…” Seto looked at his computer, filled with various profiles that detailed a web of the criminal enterprise. A sinister shadow was at the top, simply titled;
Mordred.