ic Assassin's Quirk (IC)

[Thevshi]

Claremont Academy

Freedom City, New Jersey

December 1, 2023, 3:05 PM

 

The last class of the day came to an end for this Friday, welcoming in the weekend. Of course, the students at Claremont Academy had finals looming in the coming weeks, so for many the weekend would hardly be a break. As if that were not enough, the headmistress of the school had suddenly sent word the night before for students to wear the school uniforms for the day, a directive that most of the students had followed at least.

 

Rosalind Sommaripa, Jonah Janse, Bernadette O'Connell, Neko Musume and Owain Jones, where among a throng of other students making their way through the halls of one of the main buildings off the quad. Around them was the typical excited chatter of students, happy to be done with classes for the day.

 

As the group of students exited the building, there was a flash of white light, and the five teens found themselves standing in a wooded area with a light dusting of snow on the ground. They were still dressed in the clothes they had been wearing that day (which in Bernadette's case was a grey and black plaid skirt, and a white dress shirt over which she had a navy blue sweater with the Claremont crest on the left breast), but their bookbags were gone.

 

Up ahead was a stone wall, which at first glance appeared to part of the walls that surrounded the Claremont campus, only, it was much taller. In addition, at a corner of the wall was a tall thin wooden tower that rose up above a stone base. The design of the tower was a clearly Japanese style, with multiple peaks and roofs, likely of the Edo period.

 

As the five teens were taking in their surroundings, a male figure appeared off to one side. "Greetings great warriors, you have a most important mission before you!" The man appeared to be in his early thirties, and was dressed in a traditional men’s kimono of black and white materials, again looking as if it was from centuries ago. However, the man was Caucasian, with blond hair and an impish, childlike grin on his face.

 

"Before you is the fortress of the evil Lord Yamamori, who has kidnaped the Shogun's daughter." The man continued, and as he did, the five teens seemed to leave their bodies as they experienced a bird's-eye-view of what was beyond the wall in front of them. At first glance, it resembled the Claremont grounds, only things were vastly changed. Just on the other side of the wall in front of them, was the area that would have been the athletic fields, only, it had been replaced by what appeared to be a military parade field, with several outlying buildings that appeared to be barracks.

 

Beyond that was another wall, with a gatehouse, which lead to what should have been the faculty residence and the two dorm buildings, but had been replaced by more Japanses fortifications and buildings. The low wall that sounded the gardens at Claremont was still there, only the gardens were vastly expanded, and exclusively of a Japanses style. And beyond that, where the main quad should have been, sat a massive Japanese style castle, rising several stories into the air. Along the various walled fortifications, the teens could see several armored figures slowly walking about.

And then suddenly they were back in the forest before the strange man.

 

"Stealth and cunning will be your greatest weapon as you make your way into Yamamori's fortress, confronting his forces only when necessary." The man said, giving a bow before vanishing from sight with a faint *POP*.

Bernadette looked at the others, a confused look on her face. "What is going on?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Whilst she had a bond with the alien bracelet that gave her power, Rosalind didn’t always understand what it was trying to say. So whilst technically she had a few moment's warning of what was going to happen, she hadn’t been able to figure out the meaning of its frantic clicks and bleeps before they were whisked away to Neverland.

 

Not that it helped with the rather sweeping running of events and she fiddled with the strap of the dungarees as she gathered her senses. Only she could feel self-conscious wearing her uniform in a school for supers, choosing to wear it under her dungarees as if it somehow made it a little less cringe-worthy.

 

“My best guess is that some cosmic trickster…” it was hard to remember which, there were so many “… has either taken us back in time or dumped us in a Kurosawa film! All in all, it is not good, glowing powers do not make for a stealthy approach!”

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko was plucked tight as a shamisen string, tail lashing madly behind her, enough that Owain took a few steps in her direction. Not enough to actually touch her, as that would have just made her bolt, but enough that she knew he was close. "No," she said suddenly, a low whine at the edge of her voice. "No - no, this isn't Japan. Not my Japan." She studied the fortress, yellow eyes narrowing. "Like something from old stories." 

 

"The fae can be cruel tricksters indeed," opined Owain, thinking of how he'd feel if shown even a poor reflection of Camlann. "Is everyone well? Sound in wind and limb - and power besides?" He could see Neko's eyes, ears, and tail, of course, but those were part of her - not her magic. He smelled the air; and was struck by the distant scent of horseflesh, and the quiet of life before the horseless carriage. Perhaps this was closer to home than he thought. 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette had listened to Rosalind's assessment, giving a sigh of frustration with regard to the apparent actions of some cosmic being or another when the redhead heard Neko's reaction and looked over to the Japanese teen. The redhead gave her friend a smile of sympathy at the blatant cultural misappropriation before Owain's question caused her to glance over to him.

"Hmm, I feel fine." The Irish teen replied. "As fer powers…" suddenly there was a second Bernadette standing next to the first, the two redheads glancing at each other before the original looked back to Owain, "seem ta be workin' as normal."

 

The duplicate looked over to Neko to give the cat-girl a small grin. "Shall we get on with playin' this little game, at least until we can find whomever is behind this so we can kick their arse?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Rosalind began to glow faintly as she started to hover a few inches above the ground, and as she always did she fished her flying goggles out of her pocket and put them on her head.

 

“Well it seems that my powers are working okay!” she looked at the others, thought this thing was still super weird for a simple girl from New Jersey

 

“Should I maybe scout things out from the sky? They did say we should be all sneaky like!”

[Avenger Assembled]

"Agreed," said Owain. "Come, Neko," he told her encouragingly, "we will show them they aren't so clever. Adreyn," he said out loud, his voice almost a whispered prayer. Smoothly his outline shifted as he collapsed down to the shape of a raven, flying up into the sky after Starshine. 

 

"I know what to do," whispered Neko. "Multi-Girl, whatever you are about to see, you must trust me." And then her aspect seemed to ripple and shift. Now she was a peasant girl, clad in a battered, dirty kimono and standing high on geta, stepping with authority as she carefully picked her way down the dirt road to the castle's front gate. She had a basket on her back, bamboo woven tight, and from its head a baby's face was clearly visible, peeking out alertly as she sang a sad song loudly enough to be heard in the castle, and headed for the gates:

"Mori mo iyagaru, Bon kara saki nya
Yuki mo chiratsuku shi, Ko mo naku shi

Bon ga kita tote, Nani ureshikaro
Katabira wa nashi, Obi wa nashi

Kono ko you naku, Mori wo ba ijiru
Mori mo ichinichi, Yaseru-yara

Hayo-mo yukitaya, Kono zaisho koete
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi!" 

 

 

 

[TheAbsurdist]

Jonah loomed over the rest of the people who were stuck here, his thumbs hooked in the shoulder straps of his backpack. His heavy brows knitting together as he frowned. Normally he might have a snarky response, but, ah... "Did we get hit by a truck?" He turned about, scanning their surroundings as he reference isekai setups. He glanced around, and he frowned a little more, as he moved after the rest, keeping up his 'normal' human face at the moment.

Unhooking his hands, he brushed them over his shorts, and then moved them up to pull his hood up, and the gaiter like mask up over his face to cut off the steam that was coming out in a stream from his face. 

[Thevshi]

Mutli-Girl

 

Bernadette dismissed her duplicate for the moment as she looked over to Rosalind as she hovered in the air, glowing faintly. "Well…maybe stay low? So ye an' seen by everyone in the compound?" She suggested with a shrug as Owain transformed into his raven form and took to the air as well.

The redhead’s attention was soon on Neko, giving her roommate a slightly puzzled look before nodding. "Of course, no worries Neko. Jonah an' I will see about tryin' ta find a way to get over the wall without raisin' any alarms." She said as she watched Neko transform and start off down the road towards a nearby gatehouse that led into this first section of the fortress.

 

Glancing up at Jonah, the Irish teen nodded with her head in the direction of the wall through some of the trees. "Let's go, an' try ta say low." She said before starting off.

 

Walking toward the gate, Neko found too foot soldiers standing guard at the open doors. Both were dressed in dark green clothing, over which they wore a haramaki cuirass and kaubuto helmets. Each had a sword on their belts and held a naginata. As Neko's disguised form approached the gate, one stepped forward to block her path. <"What is your business here?"> He asked in Japanese with a stern tone.

[Avenger Assembled]

"<Please sir,>" said Neko, her eyes downcast, "<I have traveled all day with my brother on my back. All we need is a warm place to sleep tonight. He will sleep and cause no trouble; I have given him the herbs.>" She looked up at him and really looked. She had played many parts in her time and this time she played another one. She licked her lips nervously and blushed, not quite making eye contact with the stern soldier. This was a role she played from experience. "<I am an entertainer,>" she said warmly, putting a faint tremble in her tone. She'd been just a girl then but now she was a woman of eighteen. "<I could entertain you brave soldiers.>" 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Looking up into the soldier's eyes, Neko could see they seemed almost vacant as he regarded her a moment. But there was only a momentary pause before he stepped slightly to the side, <"We shall see what place we can find for you for the night."> He simply, gesturing towards the gate before starting off slightly ahead of her. The guard led Neko through the gate. Inside she could see the cleared space for military drills and training that had been visible earlier. Off to the left were some stables, while the guard led Neko towards the right and a building that appeared to be a barracks.

Out in the wooded area, Bernadette and Jonah moved slightly through shadows, getting as close as they could to the wall under the cover of the foliage. The redhead kept a close eye on the soldier that was walking along the wall ahead of them, apparently heedless of their presence. Passing along the wall, the solider entered into one of the towers, momentarily out of view.

Bernadette turned back to regard Jonah. "Do ye have a way ta get up onto the wall?" She asked. "If not, we can move up there an' I can probably help ta lift you up with a bit o' a toss."

[Avenger Assembled]

Kid Gawain carefully didn't keep in formation with Starshine, lest he be mistaken for some familiar spirit or other. Instead, he hovered on the breeze, eyes down like a predatory bird on the hunt, then let the updrafts near the castle walls take him higher. He didn't drift too close, lest someone with a crossbow inside decide to take him for dinner, but he tried to get high enough to see what Neko was doing inside. The others had accepted her journey inside the castle walls, but he knew her better than any of them... 

 

Once she was inside the castle, Neko kept her eyes open and a soft, feminine smile on her face, even as a voice repeated inside her head over and over again - Play the game. Play the game. Play the game. A sage reading her mind would have recognized the stern tones of the second Crimson Katana. When she had reached the midpoint of the courtyard, Neko took a deep breath - and began to sing. She sang with all her throat, dancing in a circle as she moved about the courtyard, careful to keep up the illusion of her appearance as she did so. 

 

Kiso no nah, Nakanori san,
Kisono Ontakesan wa, nanjara hoi!
Natsu demo samui, yoi yoi yoi!
Hah, yoi yoi yoi no, yoi yoi yoi!

 

Awasho nah, Nakanori san,
Awasho yaritaya, nanjara hoi!
Tabi mo soete, yoi yoi yoi!
Hah, yoi yoi yoi no, yoi yoi yoi!

 

It was an old song, for an old place. One that soldiers far from home would remember. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Neko began to sing, the soldier accompanying her stopped to watch. Several other soldiers that were marching by in the courtyard also stopped to listen to her song and watch her dance. As the words drifted on the wind, the nearby soldiers on the walls also stopped their patrols to watch.

 

Flying low, Starshine managed to reach a portion of the walls without any apparent alarm being raised. Not seeing any soldiers along the walls or visible inside the tower nearest her, she took the chance to fly up higher and land upon the sloped roof, landing and ducking down behind what cover she could find as she peered out at the area before her. She could see a couple soldiers on the walls, but they had turned their view inward, and were watching a Japanese girl that was singing and dancing inside the courtyard.

 

Higher up, Gawain glided along the wind currents, keeping his distance from any of the towers on soldiers on the walls. He could see Neko in the courtyard, acting as a distraction. So far it appeared to be working, as the attention of most of the guards around her had been diverted. For the moment, there was an opportunity for the others to try to move across the edges of the courtyard to the inner wall, beyond which lay the next portion of the fortress….

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

To be honest, Rosalind hadn’t expected to get this far, her glowing aura normally disallowed anything resembling stealth, so for a moment or two she thought about what to do next.

 

They’d need to find out what was going on and chances were better if she was inside the building rather than on the wall. So with the soldiers distracted by Neko, she never failed to surprise with her skills Rosalind found, Starshine made a break for the building keeping an eye out for anything that could be used as a disguise.

 

Hopefully, her luck would hold for just a few minutes longer…

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Running up next to the wall, Bernadette put her back to it as Jonah came over. Lacing her fingers together, the redhead half boosted, half tossed the taller teen up the side of the wall where he could grabbed the edge of the battlement and pull himself up on the walkway.

The Irish teen then took a couple steps back herself and took a running leap up to the wall, vaulting over the onto the walkway next to Jonah. Taking a moment to take in what was going on, Bernadette saw Neko out in the courtyard drawing the attention of most of the soldiers. With a nod of her head, Bernadette hopped down inside the wall, moving over behind the barracks building. Once Jonah hopped down after, she started leading him along the inside of the wall, using the distraction and what cover there as to make their way towards the inner wall and the next portion of the fortress.

 

Up above, Starshine glided down to one of the doorways off the walkway. Stepping through, she caught sight of the backs of two guards up ahead as they stepped out the opposite door leading to a walkway that gave them a view of Neko’s performance. Just inside the doorway was a wall on which several hooded clocks hung, apparently for rainy or colder weather.

 

Down in the courtyard, more soldiers began to gather around as Neko continued her performance. For the moment at least, it seemed that all eyes were focused on her….

[Avenger Assembled]

All the soldiers were watching now, or at least as many as she could plausibly have arranged. Neko knew ways she could get all of their attention, but that she would not do, not for the attention of whatever stray kami with a fascination for medieval Japan had caused all of this. When she was done singing, she smiled and spread her arms. "<Now,>" she said, raising her voice so that it carried to the entire castle. "<You have shown me hospitality, great ones.>" She bowed and raised her head, and as she did so her eyes seemed to flare to brilliant gold, a tail unfolding behind her back and ears over her head - and then another tail, and another, as fire rose behind her. "<For that - you will live. IF! YOU! KNEEL!"> She snapped her fingers and ran as a demon rose behind her - its body vast and face unspeakable, horns writhing with the impaled, wailing bodies of the innocent, a red rain of blood dripping down its black, grotesquely swollen flesh as it bellowed to the sky. "<KNEEL! BEFORE! YAMA!>" 

 

Recognizing (with something of a shudder) one of Neko's favorite illusions, Kid Gawain dived behind the next line of defenses in the castle, diving into what he called in his mind the 'inner keep' even if he supposed it must have a different name in Japanese. This was not the first palace of a fey warlord he had breached, whether in stealth or any other disguise. As soon as they touched down, he reached for Starshine's hand and said aloud "Anweledig" before they vanished from view. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Rosalind was caught for a moment watching the show that Neko was doing downstairs, it was an impressive display and for a moment she forgot what needed to be done. Luckily Gawain got his attention back, she didn’t understand the language but she could work out the intent.

 

Acting quickly she ducked inside the tower and threw on the cloak, as long as they didn’t look at her feet things should go rosy. Time was a wasting so she started to move deep into the building, hopefully some answers to be found inside.   

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Several dozen soldiers had gathered in the courtyard or on the walls of the northern courtyard to watch Neko's performance. When she stopped and suddenly revealed her terrifying illusion, those soldiers all reacted with panic. Some just dropped their weapons and cowered in place, others began running in terror. In moments the courtyard and the watch towers nearby were a scene of chaos.

 

But even as many fled, other soldiers emerged from more distant buildings and spotting the giant illusion created by Neko prepared their weapons to fight. Gawain quickly concealed himself and Starshine, the pair made their way out of the tower and started across the courtyard toward the inner walls as the chaos began unfolding around them. Groups of soldiers could be seen organizing and preparing to defend the castle, while others were running in terror.

 

Over where Bernadette and Jonah had been sneaking around the perimeter of the walls towards the inner wall, a group of four soldiers with bows emerged from a nearby building. Spotting the scene before them, the four halted and began to draw arrows. Bernadette reacted immediately, rushing forward towards the back of one of the archers, as she drew near, there were suddenly about a dozen duplicates of the redhead, that split up and attacked each of the archers in pairs. Working together, Bernadette and her duplicates quickly took the four down before they could fire a single arrow, but now she was out in the open as two additional soldiers emerged from the building and began to draw their swords….

[TheAbsurdist]

Jonah's skin turned blue as he leapt from cover, his body dissolving into a cloud of icy mist that landed after Bernadette's attach, and spreading out to cover her. This was not an ability he showed off, actually he never showed off really, apart from his general toughness and strength. "This is gonna get cold I am sorry. If I tell you to get away from me, please listen." His form somewhat visible at the center of the fog, as it spread out, and he was being attentive to their surroundings.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Jonah moved over near Berandette and covered them both in his icy mist, he could see the two soldiers who had drawn their swords shift into defensive stances as they became confused by the sudden chilling fog. For the moment they appeared uncertain where either of the two redheads were, and had not been able to see Jonah before the fog had filled the area.

 

Toward the center of the courtyard, a few soldiers who had been watching Neko’s performance were cowering on the ground, terrified by her illusions, the rest had fled. But half a dozen soldiers were emerging from buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard from where Bernadette and Jonah were, and while frightened by the illusion, where still preparing to engage, readying their spears or drawing swords.

 

Starshine and Gawain were both invisibly moving through the courtyard, not far from where those soldiers were assembling…..

[TheAbsurdist]

The mist swirled and rushed at the two men drawing their weapons, moving quickly until it coalesced into his rather large frame, which erupted out of of that fog like an ice demon. Shifting his stride, he turned his hips to them, and changed to a hop to let him bring one leg up into a sidekick into right to the guards face. Jotunn's momentum carried him through, and his foot landed thunderously as he was face to face with the other guard. The icy stream of his breath pouring out into the air around him through his face mask.

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko Musume 

 

With a harsh shriek, Neko tore open the sky with her claws, an infinite legion of flaming kasha pouring out to shriek at the soldiers, promising to drag their filthy infernal souls to the very depths of the lowest hells. "<And when you see the yama kings,>" hissed Neko through them before she ran herself, "<you tell them who sent you there!>" And then she ran on little cat feet, having kicked her shoes off on the way, head low and arms behind her, scrabbling furiously before she leaped over the near wall and climbed her way up into the next level. 

 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

With Neko's illusions overwhelming the majority of the soldiers gathered in the main courtyard, the catgirl was easily able to slip away and get over the inner wall to the next section of the fortress. On the other side of the wall, Neko found a worn road that went through what appeared to be a forested area and further into the fortress.

 

Over to one side of the courtyard, the soldier that was near Jotunn and Bernadette had drawn his sword, but could not see through the icy mist that surrounded him, and simply backed up and held his sword out in front of him to try to keep any enemies at bay. Standing between Neko’s illusions and Jotunn's mist, Bernadette and her duplicate also turned and ran towards the inner wall, leaping up and easily vaulting up onto the inner wall, turning back around to watch for Jotunn to follow.

 

Elsewhere at the opposite end of the courtyard, Starshine and Gawain were still invisible, as Neko's illusion engulfed the nearest soldiers to them. The pair were clear to make their way towards the next section of the fortress….

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko/Kid Gawain

 

Once the dynamic duo were reunited on the other side of the wall, they took a few minutes to recuperate, arms linked together, as they waited for their friends to arrive. They'd been through worse things than this, but that by no means meant this was an easy thing. (Kid Gawain had let his and Starshine's invisibility slip once they were reunited with Neko, recognizing the look on her face when she was alone.) 

 

"Silence and distraction seem to be the order of the day," said Gawain to the others, "come, let's stick together." And so they did; knight with his sword drawn and cat creeping behind alongside the road, heading towards the next step of the adventure. 

 

 

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

When Starshine had started her day she hadn’t expected to end up in a mock Japanese castle watching troops experience illusions (she hoped) of massive monstrous whatever’s. Still it wasn’t time to worry about such things, onwards to find out what was going on and figure out what this was all about.

 

“I’m going to make a break for it, if you need a life let me know!”

 

Hopefully, their luck would hold out and she wouldn’t have to worry about just who the guards were and how good they were!

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Once Jotunn caught up with them, Bernadette and her duplicate dropped down onto the other side of the inner wall and led the way over to where Neko, Owain and Rosalinda were gathered.

 

"Well, wasn' tha stealthiest, but we got through" Bernadette said with a small grin as her duplicate looked down the shadowy path that led into the woods from where the teens stood.

"So…do we take tha obvious path, or wonder inta the woods an' try ta find our way?" The duplicate asked the others.