Kazooie

-April 17th, 2000-
-10 AM-
-Diluculo Branch 22-

All things considered, that could have gone a lot worse. The mission was, by no means, a total success. There was definitely a lack of synergy among them, Cade wasn't sure how to get over that though. Maybe it would come to them as they worked together more, it was hard to say. At the moment, all he wanted to do was lay in bed and rest. If he missed breakfast, he didn't care. He could grab lunch using his parents money, he wouldn't have to worry about breaking into his own funds for minor things for a while. Buying love, and all that.

He heard a small noise come from his nearby tablet. He reached over to grab it, in case it was a mission update already... He shouldn't be, considering they were supposed to be stocking up for the next mission. But, it was still probably a good idea to check.

    "so . . . how was that combat mission with the Major? haven't heard much about it."

He paused as he read the message, he had forgotten about the chat function... Or maybe he hadn't even properly looked at it. He took a deep breath as he started to type in a reply...

"It was... Rough. The creature was real and very angry. It came very close to causing major injuries to us. I don't know how much we're allowed to talk about exactly, but it was a kid. Apparently his Id turned him into a creature that just ran on instinct."

He paused there, before continuing to type a bit.

"...I don't like that. I know Akiko says her's is useless. And mine is apparently strong. But one that turns the user into a beast like that..."

He shook his head as he sent that message. It was uncomfortable to say the least. He started to run through the tablet, he had an order to place. The April Special from the shop, the communicators. If he was going to protect the others, he needed to stay tuned in at all times. He tapped at it, adding it to his list, along with scanning some of the other options. He could keep using a dagger, potentially, but... He wanted to expand his options. He tapped on that pistol and ammo option, "...Strictly for emergencies. And I'll need to practice with it."

Click.

Checkout time.

Kendra let out a little sigh as her monsters exploded into little particles, it was annoying enough to keep things on the board when all her stuff was tiny. Now Lord of the Red was back and ready to start destroying things whenever she activated a card. “Draw.”

She pulled a card from the top of her deck with a quick pull, turning it over in her hand before promptly sliding it into the disk, “I activate Battery Charger. For a small cost, I can special summon one Batteryman monster from my grave.”

“Ah ah ah, not so fast!” Amely would give a grin as she held out her hand again, “Lord of the Red, destroy her face-down with Knight’s Order!”

Kendra tapped the screen of her disk as the sword lifted up, “I’ll chain it, Portable Battery Pack. With it, I can special summon Batteryman 9-Volt and Batteryman Solar from my Graveyard.”

As she spoke, the blocky battery sprung back onto the board, turning around in the air as a pack of batteries appeared above it, one of them splitting off and thumping against her deck. A single card popped out of it as Kendra tugged it out and revealed it, “When 9-Volt is summoned, I can add one Batteryman from my deck to my hand, and I pick Batteryman AAA… And Solar lets me mill a Batteryman, this time AA.”

Solar turned towards the deck, a beam of electricity sparking from it as a card popped out, which Kendra sent to the grave. “...And with Lord of the Red’s effect resolving, both of them are destroyed.” The batteries on her field began to sputter a bit, little crackles of electric static from them spewing around the field, before they fell over and disappeared, returning to the Graveyard.

“Now, Battery Charger resolves and I can special summon Batteryman AA from my Graveyard. From my hand, Batteryman AAA.” As she summoned them, the two batteries sprung to the field. AA sparked with orange energy, while AAA was surrounded with green on one, and purple on the other, electric sparks crackling more and more… “And when AAA is Normal Summoned, I can special summon another one from the Grave!”

As she spoke another pair of triple A batteries rose up from the ground, matching the first pair that was summoned…

Amely gave a small frown, “Lord of the Red, Knight’s order to destroy Batteryman AA!” She waves her hand as if giving an executive order, before Lord of the Red opened his mouth and a wave of energy came from his mouth in what looked almost like a sonic burst to shatter the Batteryman AA!

Kendra covered her face with her arm at the burst of energy, Batteryman AA getting whisked away into the air as the battery exploded, disappearing into the void as she hummed, “...That was two uses now, right? Right…”

She flicked a card in her hand upwards, showing off what looked like an oversized car battery. “By banishing Batteryman 9-Volt and Batteryman Solar from my graveyard, I can special summon Batteryman Industrial Strength from my hand!” She put the card into play and between the two Batteryman AAA, a hulking, outdated looking hunk of junk began to rise from the ground. Either hand of the machine was holding the metal end of jumper cables, glowing electricity sparking from the ends…

“And to end this. I activate the spell card, Short Circuit!” As she did, Batteryman AAA took their positions on either side of the rolling Industrial Strength, compartments on either side of him opening up to let them inside. As they did, the ends of those jumper cables began to charge with power, before slamming down into the ground. 

“With Short Circuit, all of the cards my opponent controls are destroyed as long as I control three or more Batteryman monsters. Go.” As she gave that order, electric currents charged up from the ground underneath Galaxy Eyes, the projections becoming distorted and bent, colors turning faded in some areas and sharper in others. Lord of the Red was met with a pure explosion of electric energy, shattering in a much more explosive, though less visually impressive display.

“Now, Industrial Strength, attack directly.” One of those hands began to twirl the jumper cable in the air, lashing it forwards towards Amely for the final hit.

Amely’s eyes widened, “My beautiful comraaaaaades!” She’d let out a small scream before dramatically falling on her knees after being electrocuted!

Kendra let out a tiny snicker as she covered her mouth, “...Good game, you’re, uh, gonna be okay, right?” She rubbed at her cheek a tiny bit, before deactivating her duel disk, “...Uh, you two are ready, yeah?” She glanced over at Astrid and Vega, finally she could sit again.
 

"Alrighty then! We've got about a week left, so we should get as much practice in as possible, yeah!?"

Kendra groaned gently as she lifted her head up from her spot on the table. She knew it was coming, but that didn't mean she wasn't at least a little bit hopeful that she'd be able to sneak through the day without putting in too much work. She let out a low sigh as she lifted up her hand, "Do we really have to do this today?" She was prepared to accept her fate if she really couldn't escape, but that just meant...

“Of course we do! If not now, then when!?” Vega replied excitedly.

She let out a little sigh as she stood up and made her way towards the fridge to pull it open, grabbing a large can from it that she promptly opened up and started to drink from. Her hand squeezed at the can for a moment, the crinkling sound of the metal as she tightened her grip echoing through the room as she made her way back towards the table.

"-hyyy don't we pull sticks and duel against whoever? Y'know, instead of sticking to the others who know our style best. I even have some popsicle sticks ready! I marked two of them with blue, to face off first, another two with red for second, and left two of them unmarked. Sounds like fun, yeah?"

Sticks. She let out a little sigh as she waited for others to grab their own stick, before grabbing one herself. She tugged it up to take a look at the color, but as she did the first pair was already made. Chloe and Matt were the first to go... That's unfortunate. She woulda rather just got it out of the way once she knew there was no way out of it.

...Second though, it'll work. She held up the end of the Popsicle with the color marker on it, Red. Not optimal, she wanted her work to be over, that's all. "Looks like I'm going second... Which one of you has the other red?"

-April 16th, 2000-
-9:34 AM-
-Pine Barrens, New Jersey-

It was a child.

It was an Id. That wasn't reassuring to Cade at all. He was lucky apparently. He got something useful, something even considered powerful...

And here's an innocent person, cursed with something that turned him into a beast. He took a deep breath as he seemed to shiver a little bit, his hands moved in the air as the books began to orbit back towards him. They pushed together as he frowned a little bit, bundling up as they slid back into his backpack. His hands clenched...

"The rest of you, we're heading back. Luckily, no one was injured... But I apologize as your superior for what happened here. I will have some words with the leader of the branch."

That snapped him back to earth. His head shot up as he heard what the Major said, a deep breath escaping him as he nodded his head. "...Understood Major."

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

-April 16th, 2000-
-10:30 AM-
-Diluculo Branch 25, New Jersey-

The trip back gave him time to properly... Collect his thoughts. It wasn't easy, either way. He couldn't get over the idea that he could have been in that situation. He could've been the one, in a less lucky life, to have to deal with something as terrible as that. But he wasn't.

It wasn't fair, really.

But life wasn't fair, was it? He didn't even really process if the kid was alive when everything was going down. But of course it was an Id. Creatures like that didn't exist, they didn't just pop up out of nowhere either. Having it be an Id running wild was... Basically the only answer to it that would've made sense. He hoped Nika could get some answers about this... Since even she seemed to be in the dark a bit.

He, on the other hand, wasn't going to get any answers even if he went looking for them. He instead opted to visit the cafeteria, grabbing a cup of coffee from it as he took a seat. He sipped from his drink idly, a little sigh escaping him as he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, before glancing up, noticing Akiko muttering to herself. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth... Looked like he wasn't the only one who was in a bit of a state after that. He took another drink before standing up, making his way towards her, "...You did a good job keeping up with what was going on out there. I don't think any of us were... Really prepared for that."

This wasn't okay. The commander was right. What business did a set of new recruits have out in the wilderness, fighting off a creature like this? It wasn't right, Ann and Akiko weren't built for this. Even Lucia and he weren't cut out for this. It was out of their league right now, even if he had the sheer power according to their analysis, that didn't mean he was able to use it properly yet.

Cade's hands quickly brought themselves together as he started to move the wall off books, slamming together to reorient the wall of books in front of him. His hands opened up as he thrust them in the air in front of him, two of the books began to rush forward. He aimed them straight for the monster's face as it started to snap and leap forwards toward him. There was no hesitation as he used the books to block key parts of its advance. The two smacked straight into the creature's face, creating a narrow strip that it could see through... But also they could monitor the movements of it's head. Two of the other books smacked into the creature's claws, Cade's hands opening up as he gave them a thrust forwards, trying to upset the creature's balance as he took a deep breath, "Go... Down!"

"Rusalka, get back here! Shit... Cade, trip her!"

"Merde! Akamanto, I can't stop her. I'll try to subdue the creature!" Frustration welled inside of him as he watched Ann start to run off on her own. With the way he had moved the wall suddenly, there was not easy way for him to try and stop her from moving forward. The best thing he could do was to keep trying to find the best way to upset the creature's balance... Or perhaps, knocking the breath out of it. With the creature's claws being held up by the books, that left its chest exposed... And Cade brought a hand back quickly, slamming it open palmed into the last book he had with him. It shot forward, aimed for the monster's chest to try and knock the wind from it. "Heel, beast!"

The Sleeper

"Don't just stand there gawking! Take this thing out while I keep it occupied!"

Cade immediately snapped to focus on the Major, his hand rising up into the air, flattening out as he gave it a quick jab forward. One of the thick books rotating around him, suddenly lashed forward to smack against the side of the beast, while the others began to rotate out from around him. With the sudden jump away from the Major, his focus shifted to look over the monster in front of them, a little mumble escaping him, "Horrid creature..."

The fact that it suddenly jumped back and seemed to be done didn't really ease his nerves though. As it rushed off, he drew the book he had lobbed in it's direction towards him once again, having it return to the proper orbit. He was tasked with protection here, and that was going to be rough. Akiko and Ann weren't built for combat in the slightest, he would have to be on top of things at this point. That meant listening to every single word that was said...

His books began to orbit around him a little faster as he planted his feet on the ground firmly, bring his arms together. The books quickly began to group together, leaving no gaps between them as they floated in the air nearby, listening to the directions that Ann was starting to give out. The location of the beast was critical, and the makeshift shield floated towards that side of him, ready for him to launch it outwards. He took a few steps closer to Ann and Akiko, ready to get between them and the creature if necessary. "Akamanto, if the creature charges, let me block it first."

I've got a vague idea on a character potentially, so noting interest. Not promising that character creation will be a success, but working on an idea at least.

the only pokemon game that really matters has finally returned to us

 "Alright, let's get looking. Starting with these."

Cade had to admit, that was pretty interesting. She was given the freedom of flight and enhanced sight, that freedom was only something he could imagine. It was too bad her abilities were limited to touching animals, if she could pull things like that from memory alone... Was it really limited to touch? Would it work with animals that were not longer alive? What about products made from animals? His mind was wandering a bit as the search went on, but... It was boring.

There wasn't really anything dangerous happening yet, and his books were in free orbit around him, which didn't take too much focus to keep up. The trail was growing more interesting as they went deeper, hoof marks and trees clawed made it clear that something was happening here, but what it was... Well, that was still up in the air...

What wasn't up in the air was the stench that was in it. As they moved forward, it was getting worse and worse, the group stumbled up a half-eaten, decaying bear, which promptly caused Cade to wrinkle his nose. He grumbled a tiny bit, the orbit of his books seeming to slow down as he had them turn horizontal, his hand tilting to match, ends touching around him as they started to move up and down instead. He took a small look around the area as he mumbled, "Obviously that one is... Fresh. But the rest of these have been picked clean it looks like..."

He frowned as he glanced towards the others, "Be on guard. Whatever this is, it did take down a bear. We don't want to be caught unprepared."

-April 16th, 2000-
-9 AM-
-Front Entrance, Diluculo Branch 25-

Branch 25, then on to the mission proper. He wasn't sure if he should be nervous, but he... Really wasn't. Growing up, he was taught that he was meant to be seen, not heard, and that tend to go well in this sort of environment. With the warning that they were going to be in the barrens for a while, well... He wasn't sure if he needed to prepare more than he had, he brought most of what he thought he would've needed already... 

That said, the quick interaction there between the Major and that man caught his attention. It was definitely quick and to the point, that wasn't surprising for Volkov really. But there definitely seemed to be a hint of... Distaste for the other major, it was hard for someone to hide that level of sourness. Even by her standards, that was straight to the point. He wasn't going to question it, himself. He made his way back towards the bus once it was near time to leave, a little sigh escaping him as he settled back down. It was hard to get a good read on what was going on with this operation at times. Commanders contradicting each other, a sense of disrespect as a result... Were all government entities this odd?

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

"We will not be splitting up. We are hunting for a supposed amalgam of a creature, with exaggerated features, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for any signs of unnatural life. I assume you will be able to help us with that, Cucuy?"

Ah. A reminder. He had almost forgotten about the code name deal, even though he had been trying to figure out what the hell a Pangurban actually was. Ah well, he would have to try and recall the other codenames as he went along. Cucuy was given to him, which lowered the amount he would have to bring back to mind...

Then there was the matter of her warning. An amalgam of creatures was not something that was going to be pleasant. Even worse, she seemed to have information about some weird... Abilities it might have. Strange information would be nice to know ahead of time, but he wasn't about to try and pull information out of her. No... His hand twitched a bit as he lifted his hand up, the books from his bag starting to lift up and into the air. Five large books began to orbit around him steadily, evenly spaced apart as he took a small glance around. He started to move along with the others, his movements attempting to stay on the quiet side...

"Apologies, Major Volkov, but it came to my attention that you harbored what seemed to be some sort of disdain for Major Drake when you spoke with him? Is he an entity that we should be more careful around?"

Oh, seems like he wasn't the only one to have noticed how tense Major Volkov had been. In fact, she seemed to have even more of an idea of how bad it was, compared to him... But he wasn't sure he wanted to get into that himself.

On 5/4/2020 at 7:00 PM, radio414 said:

Haven’t you heard about the bird? Don’t you know the bird’s the word?

@Just Blake ban this man pls

On 5/14/2020 at 8:40 PM, Yui said:

What is your favorite onomatopoeia for bird sounds?

Definitely CAW. It's just the most versatile sound, it could be anything! Ominous, angery, happy. Best sound.

Bree is good because of Kazooie, but I don't really count it since, well, fictional bird.

-April 16th, 2000-
-5 AM-
-Diluculo Branch 22-

When those tablets started to blare, well... Cade wasn't pleased really. Sleep was already hard enough to come by here, being woken up before dawn just for this, that's just too much. He slowly roused himself from his sleep as he mumbled, reaching over to grab at the tablet as it blared for his attention. He wasn't entirely sure what this was about in his half-awake state, but he managed to make out a few words on the tablet. There was buttons to click, something about missions, he couldn't care less right now. He just wanted the noise to end.

He gave the tablet a few quick pats and smacks to try and stop the screeching, and was met with the sounds of mission registration. He mumbled a tiny bit as he took a closer look at the screen, finally sitting up after the noise stopped. He had to be in the front hall at seven. Delightful. 

He heard the sounds of Ann entering the bathroom as he looked at the tablet, seemed like she had made the same decision then. He dragged himself out of the bed and started to get dressed in some casual clothes... There were a few places around here that were open this early for breakfast. He could grab a quick one, get back and take a quick shower, and then meet in the front hall... It was probably a good idea to grab a few extra snacky type objects for the mission too.

The only good thing about picking this mission... Well, he would be able to earn his own money and this will give him a chance to avoid asking his parents for any aid for a little while.

-April 16th, 2000-
-6:30 AM-
-Room 203, Diluculo Branch 22-

After his breakfast, (There was actually a delightful little family owned business that opened for breakfast not too far from the base, he would have to visit them a lot.) and a quick stop by a local convenience store on his way back to the base. He had managed to grab a little shower, getting himself prepared as he packed his bags. He had maybe... Ten minutes before he needed to be in the front hall, he definitely didn't want to be late, so all that was left was to start packing his bags. A few books of various sizes were a given, but in the extra pockets he made sure to pack away some extra things. A small, personal medical kit that he had picked up before leaving his home, a canteen of his own, the little snack bars he had picked up from the convenience store...

He seemed well enough prepared, at least, he hoped. All that was left was the dagger he had forgotten to put away after the sparring match, but... He wanted to take it anyway. The forgetfulness just meant it was one less trip he had to make down there today. He strapped that on underneath his sleeve as he grabbed his bag and made his way towards the front hall.

Unsurprisingly, Nika would be the one heading this mission. As he wanted for the car to arrive, he pulled one of his books from the bag to crack it open, humming idly as he started to read. The car wasn't that late, at least... He didn't feel like it was that late. He admittedly stopped keep track as soon as he got here.

"Pile in. This is not our vehicle, but the organization's, so please do not damage it."

He glanced at the car as he nodded his head, entering the shuttle as he took a little glance around. Coffee sounded fantastic, so he made a beeline for it to start preparing himself some, a little sigh escaping him as he did. When it was ready, he took the cup back to a seat carefully, settling down as he did. A two hour drive wasn't too bad, but... Admittedly, he wasn't experienced with traveling like this. He took a little breath, before taking a sip of his drink...

"...Major Volkov? When we arrive at the destination, what's the first thing we should prepare to do? I can't say I know much about... New Jersey, really. It didn't come up when I reading up on the plane ride over much."

"I promise this is no test, but I was supposed to keep you guys occupied until Nika returned... So why don't we just share a fun fact about each of ourselves or something? Like, something that isn't going to be compromising in combat, so Nika can't protest..." 

Cade was, admittedly, a little bit tired of this already. They were just reprimanded for being too open earlier, and while that may have been about their powers, this wasn't really something he was interested in talking about now, after that. Some of the others seemed unsure about what they were going to open up with, and to be honest, he couldn't blame them...

He wasn't sure he wanted to say anything at this point, but it seemed like he wasn't going to have a choice. The others were slowly making their way through their own 'fun' facts and it was all relatively mundane. Piano, drinking, nature...

He let out a little sigh as he closed his eyes briefly, rubbing at his head slightly as he waited. Something as minor, as unimportant as possible was what he wanted to dig for here, something that would never, ever be important on a day to day basis. "Well... I suppose I could mention something about the brief time I spent visiting Spain... It was... Alright enough. It wasn't long, and I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked."

He shrugged his shoulders a little bit. He wasn't the type to go on about things, and... Well, while the trip itself had been fine, he had been on his own for the most of it. His parents weren't very interested in sightseeing over taking care of their own personal business.

At least it didn't seem to upset her, really. He wasn't looking to cause rifts so early in the lifespan of this little... Experiment Diluculo was working with. It wasn't his intention at all. But she seemed to not mind too much, even if, maybe, it was just an act on her part. He shook his head a tiny bit, "That's about as much as any of us can do."

He didn't press that topic though, he had gotten out of this deal lucky, from what he had experienced so far. She had changed the topic quickly though, and while he was about to respond, she quickly spoke up in French, a little chuckle escaping him as he nodded his head, before responding back to her, "Ah, yes, I come from France. It's nice to... Occasionally speak French. I was planning on doing exercises while here, to make sure I didn't grow rusty with it."

The conversation went back and forth, Cade appreciated that he would be able to at least practice his native tongue while here. It wouldn't do to forget it entirely.

-April 15th, 2000-
-2 PM-
-Front Hall, Diluculo Branch 22-

He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit relieved, at least. No matter what side of the combat he was on, he would feel a little bit... Weird about it now, considering that note in the memo he was given. If he really was at risk of growing over reliant on his Id, he wanted to try and start combating that as soon as possible... But he really had no idea where to start. He didn't have much in the way of prior training, combat-wise, it was all based on his athletics earlier in life and his recent experimentation with the Id...

He raised an eyebrow when Ann requested a particular habit of the captain's be... Toned down. He hadn't thought much of it, but... He supposed it was reasonable that some of the others might not be entirely comfortable with it. He coughed a little bit as he tried to avoid commenting on what she said...

Instead, when there was a moment for him to speak up, he did, "How should we expect to be alerted to missions? Will we get much warning ahead, or is it more likely that we don't get much time to prepare?"

Admittedly, the answer... Didn't matter too much to him. No matter what it was, it was something they were going to have to deal with it either way. Very rarely did new recruits get any real say in how things work. But... It helped to at least be prepared for the sudden change of plans, if that's what was likely.

"And that's time. If the three of you need a quick shower, there's a locker room at the back of the gym. You will receive reports about your performance and things you need to work on, as well as your future assignments, once we are done with our meeting in the mission room. It is down the hall, on the right. You are dismissed until then."

On one hand, it was nice that he was able to... Subdue Sergei without too much hassle, on the other, it was a little frustrating to see the big talker admit defeat so easily like this. He had expected more. Was that something he should have been thinking?

 "Let's just settle one thing though, if I wasn't fighting you...I would've copied your Id. Too much of a hassle to have to literally fight you for control of those things."

Cade raised an eyebrow at the statement, it was sort of hard to tell if that was meant to be a threat or a compliment. The tone was definitely a bit aggressive, but... It was hard to see that as anything other than a compliment. That boy was obsessed with strength, and after everything, here he was saying that Cade's Id was definitely worth copying. He shrugged his shoulders in return to Austin, "Practice getting the hang of it in your spare time, I'd love to see what someone else can figure out with it."

Time to shower.

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

-April 15th, 2000-
-10 AM-
-Mission Room, Diluculo Branch 22-

"On top of that, you have room assignments~" Maddy cut in, producing a smaller piece of paper, "I don't know if you were informed that last night's rooms were temporary or not, but we have larger rooms fit for two people, bathrooms built in and all. Your file includes your room number, as well as your roomie."

Cade took a deep breath as he finished the shower and made his way towards that Mission Room, just in time to get the envelope handed to him. He nodded his head as he listened to the duo speak, a small sigh escaping him as he shook his head gently. He wasn't entirely happy about the fact that they were going to be sharing rooms, surely there was plenty of space without them having to worry about roommates...

There were a number he wasn't particularly keen on sharing a room with. Having no say in who he roomed with was even worse than the fact that he would have to share a room in the first place. Especially once he began to move in the collection of books that he had brought with him...

He shook his head for a moment as he started to open up the envelope that had been provided to each of them, his focus drawn immediately to the code name.

Codename: Pangurbán

Pangurbán? The word sounded familiar, but he couldn't really be sure why. He must've run into it while reading at some point, it was definitely something old, if he remember right, maybe one of the books he brought with him had something on it. He would have to shift through the collection and see what he could find... And in the worst case, he could write home and see if his parents could check the library for him. As long as he spun it as important to his tasks over here, well... He was sure they would comply with a little work. Even if they were a bit slow.

Powerful. Perhaps too powerful, reliance on Id may end up being a handicap.

He wasn't entirely expecting notes on the sparring so soon, considering it had just happened, but... There was good news here. He hadn't made the wrong choice in coming here, if he was considered too powerful, that meant he could do some good and get some freedom without worrying about being sent back home.

On the other hand, he didn't the idea that he might be overly reliant on his Id just yet. It was too useful for day to day life to not grow accustomed to it, but he had to admit... For combat, relying on it alone would definitely leave some openings. That's why he grabbed that knife during the sparring, after all. In close quarters , he was at a disadvantage, and long range wasn't something he was built for. That meant midrange was his strongest area, and that was definitely a tight spot to maintain against anyone particularly aggressive.

Results of sparring were positive. Do your best to keep up to that expectation or higher.

And the expectations begin. It couldn't be much worse than his parents, at least. They were extremely hands off and still had those high standards, at least here he should be able to get reasonable help when it was needed. He let out a little sigh, it wasn't bad news, honestly. It was just... Familiar. The last bit of business... His roommate.

Ann Fernace

This was... Entirely neutral to him. She seemed relatively low-key, which is about the best he could hope for...

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

His bags were already taken to his new living space thankfully, he wouldn't have to deal with lugging them himself, but the bag he brought with him to the sparring match was a different story. That one, at least, was only full of books, so moving it wasn't an issue. As he opened up the door to Room 203, he took a small glance around, noticing that Ann had already made herself at home. He gave her a brief nod as she was putting away her own things, his hand lifting up just a tad... And the books he had stored in his backpack were ready to float out onto his bed. He hummed a tiny bit as he started to move towards the luggage that had been dropped off in here, a few cases here and there... Two of which he promptly just slide underneath his bed. They only barely fit underneath, while his other travel bag was brought towards the provided dresser to unpack his clothes.

Once his clothing was unpacked, he sat down on the bed... And with a flick of his hand, the books around him lifted up. He doubted any of these would have information about Pangurbán, really. They were all leisure books, things to distract him on the plane, or give him something to study up on... As the books orbited around him, he took a glance across the room towards Ann, a small cough escaping him, "...Ann, you were... The one who could feel pain from others right?"

Such a terrible thing to be burdened with, he couldn't imagine having to deal with that on a daily basis. He also realized almost immediately that he probably just shoved his foot into his mouth, who would want to talk about something like that? He shook his head a tiny bit, the best thing he could do was... Avoid bringing unnecessary pain for the time being, he was sure that wouldn't be easy if they were going to have regular training exercises, but... He certainly didn't want to the cause of extra burden. "I'm sorry, that probably isn't something you'd like to talk about."

On 4/2/2020 at 12:04 PM, Comrade Duck said:

What's your favorite childhood cartoon?

My post here never posted and I just realized it.

Definitely Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's kind of a generic choice, but I recently rewatched it and most of the episodes hold up very well, I honestly can't recommend it enough if anyone hasn't seen it, but that seems... Pretty unlikely. But, if you haven't, it's coming to Netflix pretty soon, which is really cool!

Azula remains one of my favorite villains from anything, at all. She's fantastic.

Those two seemed ready to fight among themselves for a moment, at least, that's what he was hoping they would do. A long, drawn out battle between Sergei and himself wasn't something he was excited about, and he wasn't sure that he would be able to take him down either... So it wasn't a perfect situation to be in for him or Austin. He took a deep breath as he suddenly clenched his fists, pulling his arms backwards to tug all the books right back to him. They began to orbit around his torso steadily, keeping a consistent distance apart from each other as he prepared for the next attack... And his stance loosened up a bit. His previously wide stance narrowed out, his feet moving much closer together as he prepared for whatever the duo had planned...

But what he got wasn't what he expected. Austin spoke, and it was him admitting that he was down and probably out of the fight. If that was true... Why bother announcing it out like that, especially considering it wouldn't do any good to lure him over if he kn-... Aaah. Cade's eyes flashed for a moment with understanding as he pondered the earlier demonstrations... He wasn't able to experience it himself, but it seemed to fit the bill of what that Akiko girl had described her Id as before...

Cade didn't have time to ponder if he got the lie or the truth. He gave a quick nod to Austin as he retained that loose stance. Even if it was the lie, it went exactly as Austin said, Sergei had went off to offer a hand towards him... And with a steady, fluid motion of his arms, the books moved as if they were a wave towards Sergei's legs, smacking right into them to bring the Russian down to the ground. His swift, fluid arm movements became rigid without warning as he moved the books up into the air above Sergei. The books opened up suddenly as he jerked his hands down in the air, closing them into fists... And the books fell towards the fallen boy's wrists and ankles, determined to snap into place and hold him down. 

He didn't know what Sergei's reaction time was like... And he had to hope Austin would concede the fight there, if he didn't and instead attacked him, that would mean his focus would be broken enough for Sergei to get back up, but this was the best bet for now. If Austin conceded like that message implied he was going to do... Well, an early victory would be more than welcome in his eyes. His breathing was getting heavier, he practiced his Id plenty of times, but... Never under a stressful situation like this. It was new.

Sergei's charge directly at Austin gave him a moment to plan his own movements, and when that charge began, his stance shifted. His feet moved from being widely planted apart to being much closer together, his arms moving to be parallel to each other, fingers spread out with his shield arm slightly further out. The shield was definitely not in an effective position to block now...

Not that it would matter too much. His plan, in the end, wasn't going to involve too much blocking with it either way, he really doubted it would do much to deter these two. He grinned as he watched Sergei's attack run towards Austin first, prompting the Copycat to use his first copied Id already. That absorption Id, no less. That one was certainly going to be weird to fight against, but at the very least he knew what trigger had been pulled first... He just has to hope that there isn't another surprise waiting for him.

Oh wait, another surprise. Austin had decided the best way to attack Sergei was to charge at him instead, of course. His feet quickly shifted as he sidestepped to the left, putting him in a better spot for him to bring his right hand up into the air, fingers pointing upwards as the books promptly moved like a wave. Three of those large textbooks met Austin's punch head on, halting his advance right there. The books shook from the impact, if it wasn't for his Id they would've went flying... And if not for Austin absorbing that chain, he probably would've had quite the pain in his hand from it.

The two remaining books began to orbit in the air around Austin, opposite of each other, as he made a quick chopping motion with his left hand, palm facing upwards. The book on Austin's right quickly chucked itself towards his leg, aiming for the boy's ankle as the other book orbiting him returned right towards the little collection of books hovering in front of him.

Even if he could meet that attack head on himself, it didn't seem smart. Putting a bit of distance between him and his opponents was the best thing for him to do, to make sure he had room...

Hello to people who might look at this, and welcome to Birdie's Musing, a miscellaneous blog that'll include all sorts of things!

I tend to jump about in my projects and interests a lot, and while I've never been diagnosed, I'm starting to think I have a form of ADHD because I tend to have hyperfixations at any given time. My focus and attention get so deeply into one thing that I kinda just... Tune out anything around me, and it never seems to stick around for as long as I would like.

So this blog will be a way to capitalize on that!

For those of you who might've been interested in the Onix Only Run, don't worry, I fully plan on bringing that here... I just plan on doing it in the form of a video instead of doing it in picture format. Picture format for Pokemon... Turned out to not be the best way of doing things, I found. It was clunky in a way that I just couldn't keep up and it was killing my wrist. It might take a while to get it done in video format, but I intend on completing it before the end of summer, since I have to relearn all the video editing tools.

Before that though, there will be a variety of topics I talk about here, and this post will serve as a table of contents for anything I do!

The first addition will be within the week, I have a particular topic I want to cover this time... And it'll be split up over weeks, my personal Top 10 list of animation in the 2010's. It was a really... Interesting decade for animation, and I wanna talk about my personal Top 10. This list will include both anime and western animation on it, so look forward to the first entry to that in the coming week!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Things are to be done and added!

"Laurent, Shustakov, and Rankin will be sparring each other in the center of the room. I would have preferred to have you in one versus ones, but that's not the situation we find ourselves in. Never forget that adapting is important."

Adapting, hm? It wasn't exactly the most thorough explanation, but really, what more was there to be said about this? They were going to fight. It was unfortunate that he had to fight the endurance man, he couldn't exactly wear him down through attrition if he just never got tired. That was going to be a little bit... Frustrating.

Mr. Copycat on the other hand was a nuisance on another end. Even though his Id did take practice to use properly, he would be able to move the books either way and possibly mess with whatever plans he had, which means things had to be less of a setup and more of an instinct game, this time. He would have to play more aggressively than he would like...

The closet. Was there anything in there that would even be that useful for him to mess around with? He made his way to the closet after dropping his campus bag towards the sidelines of where they were going to fight, stepping into the closet to start looking at the options they were given. He wasn't exactly very well versed on how to use most of these things, but... A knife certainly wouldn't hurt to pick up. He dug around in the closet for a moment to find one that came with a sleeve and a strap to slide it up his sleeve, before grabbing a shield to attach to his left arm. It was small... But that just meant it wouldn't get in the way of his movements too much. He stepped back into the main spot of the room, stretching a tiny bit as he did.

"Heh...got my weapon. Guess you two better hurry on up...otherwise I just might attack right now."

Cade rolled his eyes a little bit at the display from Austin, he wasn't surprised about it, the guy seemed pretty intense in his... Attitude before, so seeing him ready to brawl without a warning didn't surprise him. He took a stance near the center of the room, where Nika had indicated where they were going to fight, "Already so impatient? I guess I can't blame you, I've never flexed my Id in a situation like this before..." He planted his feet firmly on the ground, the arm without the shield lifting up into the air suddenly, forming a fist as books flew from his backpack, five large textbooks forming a vertical 'wall' right next to him.

"It'll definitely be new."

Cade frowned. He already found a way to disagree with the superiors here, that certainly wasn't a good sign. This was a strange situation for them to be in already, and if they were going to work together to any degree, it was important that they be able to talk and trust one another... As best as they could, at least. Creating an air of distrust already? That was definitely a 'bold' strategy.

Of course, he wasn't going to SAY that, despite really wanting to. Ultimately, it wasn't his goal to disrupt the peace around here. No, that would run the risk of getting him removed, and heaven forbid that happen.

He bit his tongue lightly as he folded his hands together on the table in front of him, fingers laced as he took a little sigh. The other powers here that followed him up were interesting at least. A pair that seemed to focus entirely around pain, they may have to be kept apart a little bit...

The attribute thief was certainly something he would have to keep in mind. Who knows what kind of havoc he could cause with the ability to absorb things like that? It would definitely be a sight to behold!

And last... Was another form of attribute theft, this time in the form of animals. One for inanimation, one for living creatures, how interesting. It seemed there was no one quite like him, Sergei, or the Akiko girl... Assuming you didn't count Mr. Copycat, of course.

With the introductions fully done, it was time for them to consider whether it was better for them to go for the sparing match... Or a boring physical.

"Well, we all better go. Giving us a time limit is probably some other secret test. We fail,they have an excuse to chew us out again."  

He wasn't wrong. They didn't need much of a reason to get more scoldings, and Cade was very curious to see what the training ground sparring was going to warrant exactly. Just how would this group use their abilities in a combat sense? It was too tempting to just ignore the possibility... "I suppose it's time to head out, I already know what I want to see."

· · ─────── ·?· ─────── · ·

Of course he chose the former. He might not have much in the way of combat training, but he has a Id that he has a decent grasp over at this point. Single-mindedly focusing on learning to control it... Along with a few extra experiments here and there, he felt he could at least hold his own enough to make this worth it. He was used to being underestimated.

He entered the training grounds with no fanfare, he wasn't prepared to see the two pain related ones here. He figured, at the very least, the one who was required to hurt himself was going to go with the physical and make sure he was prepared for this. Seeing Copycat and Sergei both here wasn't surprising, they both had quirks that could be used in combat from the sounds of it. He made his way towards the group, his bag slung over his shoulder as he did. The Russian boy was greeting the Major now, is that what they were supposed to do upon getting here? Either way, he fell into line with the group, waiting for their orders on how this will actually work.

He didn't want to interrupt the others, so he just settled into place, a book sliding out from his bag and into the air in front of him as he scanned the room, occasionally turning his attention back to it and then the others. How long the wait was going to be wasn't at the forefront of his mind, but a good read between then and now wouldn't hurt anything, he was going to have to bring out the books at some point anyway.

On 3/26/2020 at 11:47 PM, LordCowCow said:

Rank the 5 flavors of food

Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savory)

Umami, Salty, Sour, Sweet, and then Bitter.

They go best in pairs usually, buuut when I only want one at a time, this is usually what it is. Savory is easily my favorite, sour and salty are close, but those are things I normally associate with snack goods, and Salt and Vinegar chips are my jam.

Sour is great for candies. Really good!

Sweet and Bitter aren't bad though, I just prefer the others other them. I can appreciate all the flavors.

also I never saw this question and i just saw it, so now we're bumping this thread up with it

talk about food some more

Recipes/Foods you tried that you didn't expect to like but did?

Least favorite food in general, just. Something that you don't eat.

The blandest meal you ever had.

Food is good.