Post "Return of the Sinner"

[the_innocent_blade]

[1]

[Needless to say, Kurou is kind of kicking himself right now after what happened. Thanks to his 'kindness' Master Therion was able to come back to life and summon Yog-Sothoth. On top of all of that, someone he cared about was now dead. Yeah, he's kind of having a bad day.

He sits on the deck of the Chalice just firing round after round from both of his pistols rather absent-mindedly.]

Why did you even give me these Ennea?

[2 A bit later]



[Al appears on the comm, looking a bit better than Eibon was doing. She still looks pretty worried though.]

I know it's pointless to say anything about how tough this will be. I've seen for myself what you all can do; however, that is not my main concern.



If you do not know yet, Yog-Sothoth is connected to all points in time and space. Which means it will be impossible for us to know where it will lead us one we enter the gate. Once we pass through it we will travel throughout the entirety of every universe that exists.

[Al pauses for a moment.]

We will likely never be able to return to this universe.

[3 After Al's Announcement]



[After hearing the announcement Kurou only has one thing to say.]

...Just leave dealing with Master Therion to me.

Comments

3

[fermionprincess]

Surely you do not wish to deal with this miscreant all by yourself!

[the_innocent_blade]

What other choice do I have?

I'm not going to let my friends be separated from their homes.

[fermionprincess]

What chance of success does a single individual have? I believe that when an evil god requires a sacrifice, a dozen should act as company - and prevail, emerging victorious through a miracle.

A miracle of science.

[the_innocent_blade]

I...don't know what my chances of beating him alone are, but it's different this time.

If you all ended up stuck in some god-forsaken place because of me...

[fermionprincess]

[Alessandra seems to puff up.]

To catch the day as it passes, and find the cause worthy for living or dying for - or as the case may be, to face the threat of being trapped in an otherworldly location for all eternity!

You should know that this is the very teaching of House Consenesco of which, lest you forget, yours truly is a Champion of!

Therefore, into the fray shall I go, be the end result bitter!

[the_innocent_blade]

[There's just lets out a small sigh, he's smiling at the very least.]

Here I was thinking that I was the only one foolish enough to want to go through with this.

[fermionprincess]

Let history be the judge of our foolishness and or heroics.

3

[sexygodofscienceandwar]

Yeah, can't do that skipper.

[the_innocent_blade]

You heard what she said. It'd be better if only one of us went.

[sexygodofscienceandwar]

Yeah, I did. And if we lose, everyone gets to get real comfortable with the same fate that Tiberius had. As much as I trust you and Al...that's a situation where we want all the firepower we can get.

I've got a promise to keep, too.

[the_innocent_blade]

A promise?

[sexygodofscienceandwar]

Yep. Eibon wants me to be fighting the Outer Gods and their minions, and I quote, "even if the flesh is stripped from your bones and your mind splintered." It was part of my contract with her.

And i'm not in the habit of disappointing women.

2-Eibon's like a million times better old sister than Ethel

[gift_of_magus]

Al.

...I am sorry that this has to happen, when you are still so...young, is the word. My experience will be of little use with this level of crisis; beyond the gate, we will be relying on your and Demonbane's strength.

Are you making your preparations?

[the_innocent_blade]

There's not much left to be done. I'm just hoping that not many of them follow us through the gate. You know how they are...optimistic to the end.

[gift_of_magus]

Yes...I do not think you should have told them there was a chance.

These are the kind of people who would bet their lives on "a chance", even if it was less likely than winning the roulette 30 times in a row on the same space...

...It is rather annoying.

[the_innocent_blade]

Even if I didn't say anything they'd still believe that there is a chance. It's easily their worst trait.

I also believe it's their best one.

1

[curse_u_reflexes]

Maybe she thought that you'd need them, that they could make a difference out there.

Considering what they can do, I'd say it was a wise idea.

[the_innocent_blade]

Heh, they didn't really help that much against that reborn bastard.

[curse_u_reflexes]

But you really haven't had a chance to use them against him though. He was a lot more concerned back there with summoning Yog-whatever than staying around.

And we'll still get another chance at taking him down, so don't worry much.

[the_innocent_blade]

I did try to shoot him when he showed his smug face.

[curse_u_reflexes]

And afterwards if I read the debriefing right there was gravity crap... stuff that by all rights no normal person would've been able to survive. But you're just fine...

... So don't give up, alright? Something boxers learn early on is battles are won in their mind first. If you can't see yourself beating someone, you'll never be able to do it for real.

[the_innocent_blade]

Heh, you have a point. If those Anticross losers could do it we should be able to do it no problem.

[curse_u_reflexes]

Maybe we can trick Master Therion into summoning like... Cthulhu's really nice twin brother? And then hit him really hard when he's exhausted from that.

[the_innocent_blade]

Yeah, I'm sure we'll be able to pull that one off.

3)

[clumsy_moe_appeal]

BWAHAHAHAHA!

I see through your plan Daijuuji Kurou! You want to steal the glory of defeating Master Therion and saving the world from the countless hordes of monsters that lay beyond those immense gates yourself and satiate your perverse lusts on the hordes of women that would come flocking to you afterwards!

[Yeah, West just found you and was off the mark as always.]

Always acting so cool even in the face of insurmountable danger! Truly you are the man who has always been able to oppose my brilliant mind at every turn! But if you believe that I, DOCTOR WEST am simply going to be left behind on such an endeavor then clearly you have went far too mad when you had fought in the depths of Cthulhu - either way, you truly would be lost adrift at sea without my BRILLIANCE!

[the_innocent_blade]

I'm only going to say this once.

[Kurou takes in a deep breath. The words struggle to come out of his lips.]

Y-y-y-

[Saying this made him feel sick to his stomach.]

You're too smart to be throwing away your genius to the winds.

[clumsy_moe_appeal]

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[clumsy_moe_appeal]

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[clumsy_moe_appeal]

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[clumsy_moe_appeal]

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[the_innocent_blade]

[He expected a pause but nothing this bad. Poke poke.]

West? You alright?

[clumsy_moe_appeal]

[Processing. Processing. West-OS has successfully rebooted. Searching files. Opening Folder. File Selected. Executing HAM.exe. Kurou. West's head lowers for a moment as a soft chuckle rings in the air. Its soon followed by a full out laugh as he throws his head back as it just keeps going... but... this laugh is different. It's not his usual 'So much smarter than you' laugh nor his 'I'mma gonna blow shit up' laugh. When he looks you in the eyes, its that same expression you saw during the events of the Big C. The same brilliance and determination and respect.]

Alright? Kurou Daijuuji, I am better than alright! To know that my greatest rival truly values my intelligence that highly that you would not risk my own life alongside yours.. AhahahahaAHA! Words cannot describe the sheer satisfaction I feel at knowing that I truly have your respect to such a degree!

[He smirks as he points at Kurou, almost accusingly as he continues.]

HOWEVER! If there is one thing that truly irritates me, even after hearing such a heartfelt plea to preserve my brilliance for the sake of the generations to come is that you believe that I am not enough of a genius to be able to assist in ensuring your certain victory over Master Therion and use the guiding light that is my greatness to chart a course through the infinite paths that you seek to walk upon for this final, epic battle to return us to our true existence among our fellow man!

Like it or not Daijuuji Kurou, the ribbons of our destinies have been intertwined ever since you evaded my grasp on the day we first encountered each other! Over countless battles we have fought against and aside each other I know this to be true! Where you go, I shall go as well! For there certainly cannot be a Daijuuji without West!

[the_innocent_blade]

Well, now I know for sure that there's nothing I could say to convince you to not tag along.

Don't blame me if we end up stuck with each other for the rest of our lives though.

2

[cleavestwice]

The Bureau has several techniques for dimensional travel. You don't believe any of them might...?

Re: 2

[the_innocent_blade]

[She shakes her head.]

No, our very existences would be lost if we do not concentrate on trying to maintain them through the gate. Simple dimension travel while we exist in that state; in that place especially, could potentially just end up leading us to a place far worse.

[Like the Universe where Force happens.]

[cleavestwice]

[Don't even joke about that.]

You'll eventually end up somewhere, though, won't you? And from there, if you've prepared a return spell in advance...

[the_innocent_blade]

It would take a tremendous amount of energy to send everyone back but...hmmmm.

[That actually seems to get Al thinking about something.]

[cleavestwice]

It's worth a try, isn't it?

3

[saikyocivrobo]

Do you really think you can do it alone?

[the_innocent_blade]

Maybe, maybe not.

I think I'm the best option if we're going to be sending someone by themselves.

[saikyocivrobo]

This is not a case of maybe. If you go alone and fail, then we're all screwed!

Besides, you know some people will tag along no matter what you say.

[the_innocent_blade]

I wasn't planning on failing!

[saikyocivrobo]

Since when anything we do goes exactly according to plan?