paixaorpg | Mission Probable! [active]

Entry tags:

Mission Probable! [active]

Character(s): Ashe, Dias Flac, Isaac, Phoenix Wright, Toshiro Hojo, Yaten Kou, Miles Edgeworth
Content: The severely mismatched group rescuing Cloud, Maya, and Zack
Setting: Fortress of Darkness (2L)
Time: Friday late night
Warnings: none so far.

The ride on the buggy had been much too bumpy for her comfort, but she manages to utter no word of complaint through the journey; which they all should applaud her for. Rubbing her bottom while trying to make sure no one notices, Ashe looks around at her current companions. There is only one word that can truly describe the group: mismatched. Chuckling to herself, she tries to remember all their names once again.

There is the tall blue-haired man named Dias Flac and the tiny silver-haired woman standing beside Dias is Yaten Kou. The two seemingly-sophisticated men are Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright; Mr. Wright's hair is able to defy gravity while Mr. Edgeworth's is not able to. And then, in the middle of them there is the kidnapper. They had to explain a lot to her when they first met; about why Cid is not coming and why the kidnapper is with them, but she figures that asking too many questions would annoy them. And then she had to explain about Isaac. She ended up telling them that Isaac was lonely and she figured that it would be nice to take him along as he seems powerful anyway, skipping the violence altogether.

A realization snaps her out of her reverie, and she clears her throat before speaking, "So, I suppose we should go into the Fortress now? I recall reading Zack's entry where he ranted about how hungry he was," she skipped the part about having a tail, hoping that they would not be expecting her to fix that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Miles brought the buggy to a slow stop in front of the fortress, getting out and grabbing the bag Hojo insited they bring along before taking Hojo's arm and pulling him out through the driver's side. The taller man had insisted he sit in the front seat due to his severe motion sickness, but Edgeworth had also assumed it had something to do with the fact that the backseat was full of people who could really care less if Hojo were alive.

Miles really had no idea as to why he had come with the group--Cid had insisted the lawyer go in his place, since the 'young 'un' was sick and since 'that kidnapper don't like me too much'. He had managed to decode the rather poor english and had hesitantly agreed, but found that the buggy was rather easy to drive. He still had the pistol he'd taken from Hojo hours before, should the need to protect himself arise.

He looked over as the charming young blonde spoke up, then said, "Good idea, Mrs. Ashe." He shoved Hojo forward, pulling out the pistol and pressing it against his shoulder. Should the need arise, Miles wasn't sure if he really had what it took to pull the trigger, but hopefully his act was convincing enough to fool Hojo into listening.

"Lead the way."

Yaten yawned, streching. He was a light sleeper, but even a catnap helped him regain what energy he might need for this. He rubbed at his eyes- somewhere along the line, he had fallen asleep, and as a result, changed back. Yaten watched Hojo and Miles, slightly amused, but generally all business. That brooch was in his hand.

He kept silent, but stood beside Miles, green eyes glaring at the tall scientist. The senshi was ready to transform and fight, if the need arose.

He was also trying to read the scientist for any flickering changes of emotion, which explained why he was staring holes in the kidnapper.

At first glance Phoenix wasn't sure that the buggy looked, well... safe, but he was particularly relieved when he stepped out of it still in one piece. Though she hadn't said it out loud, he had to agree with Ashe; the group was indeed quite mismatched. The most notable, however, was Maya's kidnapper himself.

He made sure to keep an eye on Hojo; Phoenix didn't really think the scientist would try anything with a gun pointed at him, but he did give up a bit too easily for the defense attorney not to be suspicious. Not to mention that if he did try something, Phoenix was fairly certain that Miles wouldn't pull the trigger.

Not that Phoenix would have really been able to do much if the scientist DID have a trick up his sleeve, of course. He was just an attorney, after all; brains ~~and good looks~~, certainly not brawn.

As far as emotions went, Hojo was pretty easy to follow. For most of the trip he was attempting to control an onslaught of motion sickness so he was mostly just irritated. Be the time the buggy came to a halt he was pale and slightly green, his eyes closed in an attempt to keep from feeling too sick.

He was rudely awakened when Miles reached across the buggy to pull him out and it took a lot of self control to keep from vomiting on the lawyer's shoes. Something told him that would not be the wisest course of action at this time. Besides, once he was on solid ground again he started to feel a bit better.

"You could have just asked me to get out, you know," he said as the barrel of his pistol was buried in his shoulder. "No need to be so rude."

While she is not exactly fond of violence, she did not feel uncomfortable when Miles dragged the kidnapper out of the buggy roughly. Miles seemed dignified enough, but it is still obvious that this Maya is someone important to him as he seemed very upset at the kidnapper. Ashe gets off the buggy as gracefully as she can, looking over at Isaac who is just getting off the buggy after her.

Isaac had been unnervingly silent throughout the journey and it scares her as she cannot guess just what could be running through his mind at any given moment. She did not tell any of the other companions about his mental state, but hopes that Isaac can hold up the 'sane' facade through the rescue mission. She will think of something to do with him afterwards.

Miles had shoved the very green kidnapper to the front, telling him to lead the way while pointing a gun to his head. Ashe stepped back out of instinct, but it was not the gun in Miles' hand that scared her; it was more the fact that the kidnapper did not seem fazed by the fact that a gun is pointed right to his head. The man must have something up his sleeves to be so calm about the whole situation. You could have just asked me to get out, you know. No need to be so rude.

The man even has the nerve to talk back to the person holding the gun! Narrowing her eyes in suspicion while keeping a safe distance from the kidnapper, she chuckles dryly at the spectacled man. "Well, I suppose no one here sees any need to be so polite either."

Miles could feel his cheeks start to burn from embarrassment as Hojo chided him for his rough behavior. He still didn't want to believe that the scientist was going to cooperate wholly with what the prosecutor wanted, but he didn't act like he had any ulterior motives.

Of course, he was only a lawyer and while he did have brains ~~and was also the better-looking of the two, since HIS hair didn't defy gravity~~, he wasn't too good at reading people outside of the courtroom. Especially when he was going on some sort of rescue mission where his life very well might be in danger, and to make things worse, he was dressed in clothing borrowed from the old man back at the shop and he felt like he was getting a cold.

So walking around in the rain and snow with only a dress shirt and pants wasn't a good idea, he noted bitterly.

"Well, I suppose no one here sees any need to be so polite either."

"The lady is right," Edgeworth said, shoving the muzzle farther into the taller man's shoulder. "Move, please."

Perhaps the 'please' would be polite enough for the moment.

Ashe wasn't the only person thoroughly bemused by the eclectic gathering. When Dias had first realized that most of the crowd inside of Cid's shop was actually coming with him to this fortress where the people he'd been hired to rescue were reportedly being held, he'd had a hard time deciding whether to be offended or simply stunned. Entirely aside from the implication that he wasn't fully capable of handling the situation on his own - a group of this size just didn't make sense. If it were a matter of stealth, then no more than two or three people would have been appropriate; for a more storm-the-ramparts approach, they'd need a small army. But this group was too large for any sort of stealth and ridiculously small for storming anything much larger than a lemonade stand.

Not that he'd necessarily expected superior strategy from his current employer. Whatever Miles Edgeworth had been on his own world, or was now, Dias knew the look of a scholar. If the man had any experience at all in combat or strategy, which the mercenary doubted, then it was through reading about it in a book. This wasn't necessarily a character flaw - Dias himself had once been untested in the ways of battle - but it meant that the person calling the shots was doing so without any practical experience.

Dias mentally shrugged(an impressive feat). He'd worked for this type before, nobles mostly. Provided the man had the sense to hang back and let him work, it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Any obviously suicidal or ridiculous plans Edgeworth came up with, he'd simply ignore - after all, Edgeworth would be paying him for his results, not how he achieved them.

Still...he ought to bring up his concerns, as much for the other mercenaries' sakes as in an attempt to educate Edgeworth on how this sort of thing was generally done. Just because Dias had the sense not to go marching to his death on the order of someone who had no idea what he was doing didn't mean everyone did.

"If the plan is for this whole group to go marching in the front door to make sure everyone and anything inside knows that we're here, fine," he said, not making any attempt to hide his skepticism. "But it seems as if we'd hit opposition pretty quickly that way, and we'll be more likely to hit each other than anything else if we're all bunched up together. Not to mention the fact that a place this big will take hours to explore unless we split up."

Dias studied the group, trying not to look quite as...incredulous as he felt. These were mercenaries? "If we really need him - " He jerked his head slightly in Hojo's direction, " - then he shouldn't even be brought in until those of us who can fight have cleared a path. He, and anyone else who can't fight, ought to stay here with the...buggy until then." Dias almost prided himself on having learned the name of the strange machine so quickly - it was just as well he didn't reveal his ignorance to these people. "Someone ought to be guarding it anyway."

The mercenary considered for a moment, then shrugged. This was more than he'd said all at once in a very long time. "It's up to you, of course," he said, referring to Edgeworth. "Personally, I think I could handle this alone, and that the rest of these people are just going to get in my way while I'm trying to do my job. But if you don't want to listen to my advice, then at least send me in first. It's hard to swing a sword when you're in the middle of a group." Of course, even if Edgeworth denied him that request, Dias could always split off from the rest once they were inside the fortress.

(OOC: Wow, that was long. XD )

Hojo was becoming increasingly annoyed with the blue-haired swordsman. It wasn't often he gave up control as easily as he had, and here this man had to go and keep pulling all the cards out of the scientist's sleeve and ruining the whole thing. It figured they'd pick up someone who knew what he was doing in the assembly of this(ridiculously oversized) rescue party. Besides, at this point he was wet and freezing AGAIN and wanted to go inside.

"If there WERE any danger here, don't you think you would have seen some hint of it already?" Hojo asked, stepping away from the gun at his shoulder and turning around. "You would have been attacked long before now if there were any sort of formidable force here, I can assure you, and standing around out here talking should have gotten us noticed by this point. There's nothing here."

Isaac didn't get motion sickness, and he certainly wasn't claustrophobic, so why exactly was he so quiet? So tightly wound?

Maybe being bunged together with a group of weird strangers, one of which previously turned him to stone, the other carrying a gun (a piece of armory that Isaac had never even seen before) was enough to make him feel a little on the edgy side.

Why was he here anyway? For what good reason in Hell's pleasant valleys did this princess of ash think he'd come in handy? With a especially sour looking expression he got out of the strange vehicle and stood up, all lanky-limbed like a daddy long legs, back hunched and his gait half-arsed.

His plan, you see, was to slowly sink to the back of this teddy bear's picnic and slink away, so long as that blond wasn't keeping an eye on him... Ugh... She always kept an eye on him, what did she expect anyway!? It made him feel awkward to just look at her. He usually didn't go out with the intention of killing someone, not kill them, and then hang around with them afterwards. What sort of good idea is that?! It's not a good idea, that's what.

And who were all these boring sods anyway? Lanky, scrawny scientists? Chunky gun-totting maniacs? Strange lady men (ohh, but that one's not bad looking), some multi-coloured jungle monkey with blue hair, the gunners friend (mhmm, friend), and of course... Ashe, the one who started all of these commotion.

If he had his spear he'd pop off all their heads like the heads of unripened dandy lions and feed them to the crows...!

Well, maybe not... Maybe not if he was shot in the head first.

[OOC: OMG you guys's posts are making me die with laughter. ♥♥]

The lawyer listened patiently to both the blue-haired swordsman and the lanky scientist and pondered both points carefully before speaking. Just because he wasn't in the courtroom didn't mean it wasn't a wise idea to listen to both testimonies before coming up with a verdict.

"All right," he said finally, nodding at Dias. "We'll send you in first and give you a bit of space before coming in after you... let's have someone keep an eye on the rear, as well. Dr. Hojo can tell us where the lab is once we get inside." He looked up at the swordsman, almost to see if he was doing this correctly. "Does that sound fine to you?"

"If there WERE any danger here, don't you think you would have seen some hint of it already?"

Dias gave the (now dripping wet, as were most of the rest of them, but Dias was faintly surprised how much satisfaction there was to be had in seeing this man Hojo looking like a drowned rat) kidnapper a withering look. "Not if they were hoping to draw us inside, no," he said with finality. Then he turned his back on the man; there were enough distractions without him, and his words carried the least weight.

His gaze rested briefly on the tall, leather-clad man that had just unfolded himself from the buggy. Dias had learned to trust his instincts years ago, as evidenced by the fact that he was still alive, and something about the man unsettled him. The fact that he looked almost as surly as their captive didn't help, either, because at least Hojo was bound and relatively harmless...

But Dias was sufficiently distracted from his concerns by Edgeworth's accepting, well, pretty much all of his offered advice, which was gratifying; promising, even, in that it suggested that the man was both intelligent enough to learn and to accept the advice of those who knew better.

That he seemed to be looking to Dias for approval...well, that was also good, although it was a lot better for Dias than Edgeworth himself. A man that easily led could be easily manipulated...

Fortunately for Edgeworth, Dias didn't have much patience for underhanded machinations. If the man let him call the shots, then all that meant was that Dias would be able to get his job done more effectively; his only interests remained finishing the job, getting paid, and making his way back to Alphonse and the others.

"You're the boss," he replied to Edgeworth's inquiry, although he at least gave the other man a nod to show his approval. Then he shifted his gaze over to Hojo again. "If that one makes trouble while I'm gone, break some of his fingers. Start with the thumbs."

Of course, Dias doubted any of his new 'mercenary' companions (except, possibly, the tattooed one...) were ruthless enough to actually break Hojo's fingers. But the graphic threat alone might be effective enough to keep the man in line.

"You should tell me what the people I'm looking for look like before I go," he added, glancing back at Edgeworth again.

Miles paled slightly at the mention of broken bones. If the threat alone wasn't enough to keep Hojo in line, then it was enough to make Miles want to ask Hojo to do so. Broken bones were most certainly not on the list of things Edgeworth was particularly fond of.

Of course, threatening or causing any sort of harm was not exactly on that list either, or even something he thought himself capable of. Why was he here again?

Oh yes. The old pilot was a bit too soft and let Miles take care of things. Though he assumed it was probably best that the person trying to organize this rather odd rescue mission should be along with the rest of the group, but... probably not if he was going to get in the way.

His grip tightened on the butt of the pistol. It was a bit too late for regrets now.

"I don't think that will be necessery," Miles said, clearing his throat. "As for the victims... The girl is about 5' tall, thin with long hair and wears a short kimono-like dress. The other two--" He brought his brows together, trying to remember the old man and little boy's descriptions. "They're around my height, with ridiculous haircuts. One is blonde with a big spike in the front, and the other has dark hair with many spikes in the back. They're well-built men since they're soldiers, but probably weakened considerably."

He slung the sack of food Hojo had brought along over his shoulder and continued.

"We'll being following you a few minutes after you enter and trail at a safe distance. Yaten and Ashe, please keep an eye out for any threats behind us."

Once outside the domes, Riku took a deep breath of the humid--but fresh--air, listening to the sounds of the natural world settling down for the change-over from diurnal to nocturnal that took place every day at this time. Sunset had always been Riku's favourite time of day. The bridge between light and dark somehow seemed to suit him best.

But he had no time to enjoy his surroundings. People were in trouble, and it was at least partly his fault.

There were no buildings to leap and swing from out here, just the stands of ruins which were unsafe for use as gymnastic equipment. He wasn't about to swing from the trees, and the pull of that distant Darkness on his heart was so much stronger out here... Riku decided to cut to the chase and open a Dark Gate to the fortress. He felt less bad about doing this than he did when he used Ansem's powers. At least this wasn't a destructive spell, and it was one Maleficent had taught him, not the Seeker of Darkness.

Riku followed the corridor out onto the ramparts of the fortress, unwilling to gate straight to the lab for not knowing what might await him there. He turned and was just about to leap into the ventilation system when he heard the sound of an engine puttering across the wilderness.

What?

He crouched down and waited as it drew closer, extending his other-senses to attempt to get a feel for the passenger. There were...a bunch of them. But only two who were significantly dark presences. He easily recognised the taste of the first; Ansem had been the one to awaken the mad scientist's true evil, after all. Riku had been there.

Was Hojo returning with new test subjects? Had he assembled or re-hired the crew Ansem had put together? These didn't feel like those people.

Riku waited and listened as the engine drew right up to the fortress before shutting off. Hojo's was the only voice he recognised. In spite of the arguing below, none of these people seemed to be the doctor's friends. That was a relief. Still, if this was the rescue party Cloud and Zack had mentioned, they were stupid to bring Hojo with them. Riku didn't have much faith in their common sense or chances of success.

Hearing a strong voice preparing to lead the foray and go inside alone, Riku ducked into the fortress to await him in hopes of getting more answers. In the deep stillness of the pitch black grand hall, Riku was just another shadow. His blindfold kept out the darkness.

Behind his back, Hojo's hands tightened reflexively into fists at the threat. This swordsman certainly knew how to cause the most damage with the least amount of effort. You take a doctor's hands, you kill his immediate effectiveness and possibly his career.

So, then, it followed that he should make the most use of his hands while he still had them.

Keeping his hands in tight fists, Hojo concentrated a bit, one of the materia in his chest glowing just a bit brighter as it was activated. A thick black goo slicked his palms and for now he simply held it there, skin tingling. He had to wait for that damned swordsman to leave before he did anything. The acid didn't burn him, but as for other people, or perhaps rope? The stuff was incredibly useful.

A good Bio spell was always a handy thing to have.

Long-haired woman in a kimono...blond with spiky hair...dark-haired man with spikes in the back. Dias filed these descriptions away. They weren't terribly specific, but good enough to go on for the moment.

Just a few more details to get straight before he headed into this fortress...

If Hojo was waiting for Dias to stop paying attention to him and leave, his situation was going to get worse before it got better - the swordsman turned his attention fully on the scientist. "I tend to kill my enemies," he said in a low voice, "so I'm going to assume you don't want to be marked as one of them. So make yourself helpful and tell me what I'm going to find inside, and where these people are."

Hojo didn't doubt Dias's statement at all. He inhaled deeply, somewhat shakily, and tried not to look intimidated.

"They're in the lab," he said flatly. Either he was adept at ill-timed sarcasm or he was still rather determined to be obstinate. "It's doubtful you'll find much of anything of note in the majority of the fortress, however, and if you do I didn't put it there."

Dias smirked. It wasn't a nice expression; genuine smiles from the mercenary were quite rare. "Covering all the angles in advance, hm?" he murmured, seemingly more to himself than Hojo. "Anyway - tell me where this lab is."

Hojo glared, irritated. It looked like he was going to have to tip his hand early... how annoying.

"In the basement," he said. "There's not much else down there, so it shouldn't be hard to find." Wait, didn't he claim that it WAS hard to find?

As far as Hojo was concerned it didn't matter if they knew he was lying by now. Not at this point. Now the only thing was to get there first -- and that would mean getting rid of the swordsman.

He would wait until Dias was inside to do anything. He was confident that he could get away from the rest of the group fairly easily.

Edgeworth watched the exchange closely, watching Hojo's face carefully for any sort of hesitation, scanning to see if there was any chance he was lying.

"There's not much else down there, so it shouldn't be hard to find."

There. He'd blinked and swallowed right after that--wait. That was right... it was what Miles had caught him on before, back in the shop.

"OBJECTION!" He shouted once again, placing his hand roughly on Hojo's shoulder and thinning his lips angrily. While he was well-aware of the fact that he was indeed not in a courtroom, he was hoping to startle Hojo enough to make him slip up. Now he could see why Phoenix always pressed his witnesses until they ended up talking. "Dr. Hojo--I believe we had this discussion before. The whole reason why we brought you here in the first place--" he paused, somewhat dramatically. "--was so that you could show us where the lab was." He pulled his hand off the other man's shoulder, placing it on his hip while the other hand still keept the gun leveled at Hojo.

"Would you care to explain yourself?"

Well, it certainly did startle the poor scientist. He jumped at the sudden outburst, taking a few moments after the question to calm down, let his heart slow a little. He WAS slightly amused by the lawyer's use of theatrics, though.

Explain himself? Hojo shrugged. "Not really," he said, shaking his head.

The poor, dejected lawyer's face fell at the flat response given to him by Hojo. Kidnappers nowadays certainly did have nerve, didn't they? Miles had to wonder briefly if Gumshoe ever had to deal with people like this.

He frowned, a crease forming between his brows as they pressed together. He fumbled with the pistol, cocking back the hammer and aiming at Hojo's shoulder.

"I would appreciate it if you cooperated with my request."

Considerably upset at the fact that she was being ordered around and also being told to stay back, the corners of her lips form a pout, but she says nothing in disagreement as this Miles Edgeworth probably know more about rescuing than she does. Stepping aside from the seemingly dangerous Dias and Hojo, she steals a glance at Isaac who had gotten off the buggy and is looking very out of place due to his height and the tattoo covering the whole of his exposed skin. What had she been thinking when she brought Isaac along?

A gust of wind shatters her thoughts, however, as she shivers at how cold the weather is. Being from the desert, she is definitely not used to very cold climates. Nights are cold in Dalmasca, but she was always kept inside and never allowed outdoors in late hours. Hugging herself in an attempt to make herself warmer, she cannot help but chuckle at how Miles seemed to be very annoyed by how unintimidated the kidnapper is. That is truly unnerving; this scientist must have something up his sleeves to be so calm about being bound in ropes.

Pulling her sword out of its sheath, she turns to Miles, "I apologize for the interruption, but did you mean for I and Yaten to stay behing by the buggy or go in with you to watch your back?" Ashe hopes that Miles would tell her to go inside as she certainly does not wish to stay out here in the cold.

"OBJECTION!"

Dias turned to give Edgeworth a long, measured look, one with faint 'you have got to be kidding me' overtones. The swordsman hadn't been to a courtroom (well, unless you counted a king's court) even on his own world; as far as he could tell, his employer apparently suffered from a disease that caused embarrassing outbursts at extremely unusual times.

Oddly enough, that wasn't the reason he was almost laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the man. Rather, it was the 'I would appreciate's and 'would you care to's and especially the 'please'es that were amusing Dias. Did Edgeworth really think he was going to get anywhere being nice to a prisoner? As Hojo had already proved, all that was necessary to foil the nice approach was a simple 'no'...whereas refusing Dias' own approach would require Hojo acquiescing to having some of the more fragile bones in his hands fractured in several places.

Still, Dias reflected, that was precisely why he had been hired - to put his expertise at Edgeworth's disposal. Besides, it was best not to too openly criticize his meal ticket, at least not until his payment had materialized. If Edgeworth knew what to do, or was capable of doing it himself, then hiring Dias wouldn't have been necessary.

"Of course he was lying," Dias said flatly, burying any outward hints of exasperation at having to state a fact that should have been obvious. "I would have been more surprised if he hadn't. However, I doubt he's lying now, if only because of what I would do to him - or will do to him when I come back - if he was." He resisted the urge to tell Edgeworth to put away the weapon (whatever it was; Dias still hadn't ascertained that) he was waving around unless he was planning to use it. Perhaps it, like the threat of breaking Hojo's fingers, would keep the kidnapper in line even if it wasn't terribly likely it would be used.

"Anyway, we've wasted enough time," he muttered, turning away from Hojo to give the structure a measured look. Large, dark, forbidding...your standard bastion of evil, no mistaking it. Dias was almost cynically surprised that there weren't minarets with gargoyles. "Give me ten minutes before you follow me." And with that, Dias began striding toward the fortress, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

Ten minutes ought to be enough time, even in a place as seemingly large as this, to find the stairs to the basement laboratory...and to put plenty of room between himself and the rest of their little group. No matter what was waiting inside, Dias suspected he'd be far better off on his own.

(OOC: I'll make another post especially for you, Riku-mun, where Dias actually enters the fortress. <3 This one was more for the group outside.)

[ooc: kk. whenever you're ready.]

"Doctor, the only reason you're here is because you said we wouldn't be able to get to the lab without you." If Phoenix had a desk, he would have slammed his hands on it. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, so he opted to cross his arms and glare at Hojo instead. "Yet now, it's the other way around! Seeing as that was the only reason we would bring a kidnapper back to where he keeps his victims, I think an explaination is necessary, don't you?"

Dias studied the decidedly heavy-looking doors in front of him. Anyone with eyes was able to see that the fortress had been constructed almost entirely of some dark material from at least a mile off(at least in the daytime; at night the place was probably close to invisible unless there was moonlight), but even Dias had expected some sort of paint or magic to make the place look the way it did...not for the entire building, doors and all, to be made of jet-black stone. Obsidian, jet, perhaps even the dark damascus metal from his own world - it was impossible to tell exactly what sort of material the place had been made from, but the entire fortress was as black as a hole in the spectrum of light. It almost made the area around it seem darker.

And perfectly smooth; this detail unsettled Dias. It was as flat as the surface of a mirror, without a single flaw that Dias could see; the rain all but sheeted down the walls. When he reached out and ran his fingers along the surface, his gloves didn't encounter the least resistance. Even if the structure was newly made, without having had time for weather and other sources to create any sort of imperfection in the stone, there was no way anyone could cut a surface so perfectly - and it wasn't as if they were even bricks of stone. It was as if the entire fortress had been carved, with supernatural precision, out of a single black gem the size of which Dias didn't even like to contemplate.

It wasn't a human structure, that was for certain. Demons would be Dias' first guess, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd faced off with some, but it didn't exactly put him at ease.

He pushed - or, more accurately, shouldered - one of the doors open, doing his best to keep from silhouetting himself against the light of the outside in the doorway; making himself into a perfect target was not on his agenda. But nothing seemed to move in the ~~entirely unsurprising~~ dimness beyond the doors.

Dias stood by (but not directly in front of) the open door, mulling over the possibilities of what might be waiting inside for him and how he could best handle each scenario. Then, with a brief glance back at the group he'd left behind - no obvious problems there - he stepped into the fortress and was engulfed. The contrast between the light outside and the darkness inside was so immediate and so palpable that there was simply no escaping the word.

[ooc: Oh, I thought you meant a whole new post. XD Do you want to go on threading, to keep ours separate from the outside action?]

Riku was starting to become impatient by the time the voice who'd announced he would be going in alone finally arrived. The sound of the great doors being opened was unmistakable, the twilight blinding, even with his eyes shut. Luckily (sort of), Ansem had designed the doors to shut in any new visitors.

The man didn't exactly freeze where he stood as soon as the light was gone, it was more like he became very still. Riku could respect that. He didn't feel afraid, which was more than Riku could have said for himself not long ago.

Something about this guy felt familiar...

Knowing that his voice wouldn't carry outside the fortress, Riku spoke from where he stood many yards away. "If you came to storm the castle, you made a big mistake bringing Hojo along."

Riku had not heard the last exchange where it had been revealed Hojo had lied to them so that they would bring him here; he didn't have to. He knew the sort of intentions Hojo had; Ansem hadn't implanted them exactly, he'd only encouraged what was there. But that had been foul enough to start without the boost of Darkness Ansem had given the mad doctor.

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Mission Probable! [active]

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To Dias, whenever you're ready, baybee. <33

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For Riku~

To Dias

To Riku

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