bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

the cross✘medium meme

[the first edition]

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way! From you first cigarette your last dyin' days.

Fiction often thrives on the conflict of groups not getting along. The funny thing is, half the time those groups don't even know why they dislike each other. This can lead to hilarity, tragedy, or the often romanticized doomed lovers.

In this meme, characters have been divided (by themselves or by society) into factions loosely based on medium types. What started this whole affair? Who knows? All that's obvious is there's bad blood on all sides.

[the rules]

one. This meme is cross-medium. That means tagging characters from a different medium/origin. In example, video game characters can tag characters from comic book, live action sources, anime, etc. For clarity, western animation and anime will be considered different mediums for this meme.

two. Characters' names, canons, and general preferences can be put in the comment box or the subject.

three. Other people reply with the scenarios they rolled.

[the scenarios]

Take a chance and roll the dice.
ROMANCE OPTIONS
1. This is the start of something new. You've just met this great new person. They could be the one! Only problem is, you're from the opposite sides of town, if you get the meaning. What to do?

2. I just can't be with you anymore, Alejandro! The stress is too much, or your family/gang/faction has found out about your romance with the enemy and you're being forced to end it. Even if it breaks both of your hearts.

3. At the end of your rope? Elope! You love birds can't stand all the fighting and separation, so you're leaving this town in the dust to start a new life.

GEN OPTIONS
4. Friends in enemies' clothing. You have a friend on the other side, but the climate keeps you from broing it up. Meet in secret and hang out, even if it's risky.

5. Do you bite your thumb at me, sir? Hey, look! It's somebody from the rival side. Looks like they're mocking you. This means war, you know. Fight, fight, fight!

6. Kill Bill. That other faction somehow wronged you, and now you want revenge. Maybe it's closer than you think...

7. Make up your own option!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Walking through the sleepy, seaside village, a young woman in an ornate kimono silently took in the scenery. This world was something altogether unfamiliar to her, one of the thousands she'd walked through in her millenniums long lifespan, but at the same time it was nothing new. There were humans, common weather phenomena, and everything else Saori has come to expect from fairly primitive planets but each place she visited always brought with it its share of unique experiences.

People in the village maintained a cautious distance, her attire and demeanor clearly off-putting the simple fishing folk. It was rare that strangers passed through, and rarer still for those strangers to be carrying swords and dressed in fine cloth. These were simple people, she knew, so she took no offense to their unease, instead contenting herself to a quiet stroll along the docks. Eventually, she made her way down to the beach, but the overcast sky left her feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

With an almost flippant wave of her hand, the storm goddess worked some of her magic, causing a sudden shift in the weather patterns what would result in a torrential downpour in a matter of minutes.

Hopefully nobody minds getting a little wet?

The quiet, lush world is unfamiliar to him too, and filled with people who are equally unfamiliar with him. Despite his impulse to be open, to let them be afraid, but this was a different world. They had done nothing, knew nothing except their culture and their lives.

His fight wasn't with them.

This caution kept him outside of the village, determined not to involve them in a battle that wasn't theirs. Clad in his tattered cloak and scarf, his tangled hair loose and wild, he likely didn't appear too different from them at a distance. His claws were discreetly hidden for the moment, as was his cleaver. If he didn't speak, no one would stare at his teeth. It was for the better, this way. No one would have horrifying fairy tales to tell their children on the dark nights to come.

He is already present on the beach when the woman arrives, sitting languidly on the opposite side of a pile of rocks. He heard her approach, caught her scent on the wind...

Frankly, he didn't mind the rain.

"So you've finally arrived, Kimura Saori." Though courteous enough to use the preferred name order of her culture, Viral isn't courteous enough to move from his position. "I was wondering when we could get this over with."

Saori had felt his presence long before he'd spoken, his aggression permeated the entire beach, and his foul temperament was something wholly troublesome. His very tone spoke of a strong preference for violence, which of course set her on the defensive. For a long moment, she said nothing, merely eyeing the scruffy, wild looking figure and taking a measure of his worth. He was clearly inhuman, but she couldn't quite place his origin.

As her hand strayed near her blade, the rain began. Slowly at first the gradual pitter-patter of water begin to pick up, drenching the entire landscape save for the storm goddess that had summoned it, the artificial weather not daring to touch its mistress.

"Who are you, and what is it you desire, stranger?"

Viral stands, shoulders relaxed and arms hanging by his side, and regards the woman for a long, cool moment. She didn't recognize him, despite their repeated conflicts on the battlefield already. Perhaps, like him, she was only given a name and little more.

He only recognized her by her grace and poise, by her skill with that unearthly power of hers. Beneath his cloak, a hand lingered near the hilt of his cleaver.

"I am Viral, former vice-commander of the human eradication forces and the man you've defeated thrice in battle now. I'm here with orders to defeat you."

Unspoken was his intent to reclaim his honor.

"Viral. I am afraid I do not remember you, and I've no desire to duel you this day. If you have indeed fought me three times, then you should know what it means to engage me. If you are truly intent on violence, then know I will show you no mercy."

Her voice was icy and dismissive. She really didn't recognize him, even as an enemy commander. She'd defended humanity for a thousand years, and if she'd taken time to remember every victory, she'd be another thousand years old. She'd wonder if he was mistaken, except that he'd know her name.

Still, she stood stoically, not stepping an inch backward. Her divinely sharpened senses told her that his clawed hands were about to close on a wicked cleaver, the tenseness in his body giving her all the clues she needed. This wild man was almost beneath her, and would be a more fitting opponent for another of her comrades, but here he stood, willing to take his life into his hands.

She would answer his challenge, should he dare bring himself to go through with it...

Mercy wasn't his desire, nor was submission. Three times he had been defeated by her hands, leaving with him with his Enkidudu in shambles and three times the shame. Goddess or no, she was still human--

The Spiral King ordered him to live and be a messenger, with an immortal body that would never fail him over the ages. There was no way a Beastman would ever best a human. They were artificial beings, completely lacking in the fundamental ideals that formed the basis of humanity. Even immortal victory was utterly beyond his capabilities.

...perhaps he had spent too long among humans over the last several years. He was starting to understand their reckless determination.

He withdraws his cleaver, gaze sharp. His prior purpose didn't matter. He had a new commander, with new tactics and new commands.

"It's more than just my orders that drive me," his voice is closer to a beastial growl as he speaks. "It's all the more reason why I won't lose!"

He lunges with preternatural speed, grinning madly, his blade glinting in the chaos of the storm.

As the madman growled at her and drew his weapon, Saori sighed and raised her hands in an 'oh well' expression. There really was nothing for this one, it seemed. He clearly had some sort of warped sense of honor that compelled him to fight. It certainly wasn't what she'd expected when she'd walked through the Ring-Gate this morning, but at least it wasn't going to be boring. His soul burned with feral desire, a boiling sensation that did hold her attention. What he'd do if he won barely registered in her mind. There was no room for defeat for the immortal goddess, and therefore no room for caution.

When Viral lunged, Saori twirled to her left, her robes immediately shifting from the restrictive, formal kimono into a loose hakama, a gleam of silvery light the only indication of the change. Her long, braided hair whipped around behind her, the silver filaments contained within buzzing with sorcerous lightning. Without skipping a beat, the elegant fighter lashed out with a wicked snap-kick, squarely striking Viral across the back.

"Slow. How would you expect me to remember you if you move like a slug?"

Not human

The combined momentum of his lunge and her kick drove him forward into the sand, where he lands in an animalistic fighting stance and pauses in momentary breathlessness. She was too strong, too fast to be a normal human. He knew that, but felt that their odds were more even once they were on foot.

Not so. It was rashness that fueled him, and rashness that drove him to lunge again without reply to her taunt. The blade strikes--

That grin is almost manic. "We haven't fought like this before. That was a test."

Human is something nobody had called her in two-thousand years

Viral's brash assault was met with something altogether new on her part. She stood, legs wide, unflinchingly awaiting the beastman's voracious lunge. At the very last instant, just as the weapon was about to crash into her skull, Saori's palms snapped upwards catching the wide-bladed cleaver in an impossibly strong grip. The attack was stopped cold, millimeters from her face.

"Haven't we? I'm sure with your abilities, it went something exactly like this."

Her voice was as cold as frozen steel, her words hanging in the stormy air. For a long moment she made no sound, her chest didn't even rise and fall to breathe. Then the silence was rent by the sound of screaming metal. Saori's lithe palms began to press inward, bending through the cleaver like it was nothing, turning the weapon into a useless lump of metal.

Then the goddess retaliated with her own lunge. Impossibly fast, her delicate fingers dropped the ruined cleaver and struck, driving straight for Viral's chest. The speed and strength of the strike was merely a test, probing to see if the wild man could even keep up with her motions. Over and over she struck, arms lashing out like bolts of lightning, the staccato of blows ceaselessly increasing in speed, trying to find his limit. How long could he keep up?

He dodges her fingers--barely. And again. And again. With her impossible strength and speed, it was all Viral could do to dodge. Saori was right. Their prior encounters indeed had ended up similarly.

It didn't stop him from wanting to try again. Immortal body or no, he knew he was going to need to do something drastic.

Even he couldn't dodge forever.

Indeed he couldn't. The amount of beings who could maintain a defense against her martial arts prowess were few indeed, and the majority she'd ever met lived on the Yggdrassil. This beastman, Viral, had made a grievous error challenging her. Swift as an arrow, Saori's hand knifed passed his desperate defense, finding purchase on his chest. Electricity exploded through his body as the static charge she had built up in her hair was unleashed, the silver wires braided in snapping and popping like a gorgon's reptilian locks.

The smell of burning hair and charred flesh filled the air as Saori's foe rocketed backwards into a nearby dune, leaving a deep furrow in the soaking sand.

"This," she declared as her feet stamped down into the wet dirt, "is your final warning. I will offer you a chance to leave, no harm done. If your honor demands that we continue, I will cease to test you. It will...as some humans say, be 'on'"

The raw power of her attack was stunning, like her beauty and dedication. Viral claws his way out of the furrow in the sand inch by brutal inch, chest heaving from the exertion. The wounds were already starting to heal because of the Spiral King's final gift and order, but the pain was a parting gift from his opponent. While he was in the sand, invisible knives stabbing him as he breathed and moved, she stood there as of she had done little more than swat a gnat away.

"There is no way a beastman can ever defeat a man of the Spiral," Lordgenome told him during his final conflict.

He knew in his gut that Saori was more than just that.

Pulling himself back on his feet, he regarded the woman with an icy eyes. "I'll submit for the moment," he said, voice rough and low. Victory was impossible.

Knowing this didn't make it easier to take.

Saori shrugged, lowering her hands from their defensive position near her chest. It really didn't concern her, Viral was no true threat, nor could he ever be by his very nature. She was the Oncoming Storm, who's fists could shatter mountains and who's mere presence could change the outcome of a mortal war. She worked under the Mandate of Heaven, answering only to to her own responsibilities. But, this was no cause to be unkind. The beastman had swallowed his pride, and was willing to admit his mistake.

"Then you will live to see tomorrow. Thank you, for seeing reason. I take no pleasure in unmaking lesser beings," Saori finally said, her voice stern and matter of fact, without even a twinge of irritation.

"Would you care to watch the storm?" she asked, "I do anticipate that it will be most excellent. The weather patterns of this world are unlike any I've seen for the past few centuries."

'Unmaking' him would likely not be an easy task, not when the man who made him was strong enough to live lazily on his thrown for 1000 years. He knew the history, knew the ramifications. There was no reason for the Spiral King to lie.

Viral refrains from saying all of this, knowing it was unwise to argue with a woman who can break cleavers barehanded and call down lightning from the heavens. Instead, he decides to show that he's a little more than just a savage beastman with a flimsy cause.

"I didn't ask for your compassion--but thank you."

He nods and gazes upward at the chaotic sky, not bothering to move his wet, tangled hair from his face. Tense muscles release, and he's calm again. He takes a deep breath, inhaling the salt and the rain and the ions of the storm, and sighs. "This storm is impressive."

It would also be unwise to argue with a being who's very nature was tied into the fabric of reality. But she didn't continue that vein. Instead she turned away from Viral, clasping her hands behind her back as she watches her handiwork. Her clothes returned to their original state, the same silver flash transforming them.

"You don't need to ask for my compassion. I'm not a monster."

Saori could feel Viral relax, the fight had left him. She smiled quietly to herself, glad to be done with it. It almost always left her feeling unfulfilled. The burning hunger that had lurked in her since Yoritono was not at all something she was pleased with, but thanks to that horrible night it was inescapably part of her now.

"Thank you. I try."

With a silent command, the rain that beat down on Viral ceased, the storm obeying unquestioningly. The cool, sea air assailed her nostrils, cooling the furnace that Viral had begun to stoke, and causing her hair to lazily drift behind her.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful as a world illuminated by lighting. There is something truly magnificent about such things. Even when I was human, I loved nothing more than to sit on an open porch and play go during a storm"

He said nothing when the storm abated, merely gazed at her with cool eyes. Saori seemed almost a different person when she worked her divine powers like this. Less of a warrior. More of an artist.

Certainly not a monster--there was something about her that he wasn't certain he could describe.

There was an undeniable thread of envy that curled around his heart as he watched this. Being around humans had given him a taste of what he could never have. The air of calm despite the chaos that clung to Saori was among them.

"There is," Viral said in reference to the lightning and it's majesty. "It sounds almost...peaceful."

He was a being created to fight. The concept was almost foriegn to him.

"It is peaceful. There is nothing, in all the universes, quite like the joy of a summer storm, a spring rain, or even a fall morning mist. Weather, no matter where you are is constant. I truly am blessed to be so tied to it."

Saori's voice is placid, and somewhat reverent. Her divine powers wove a tapestry of lights in the clouds, brilliant blue bolts of elf-lightning stabbing into the horizon. Her lip twitched in a soft smile, but she did not look at the beastman.

It wasn't that she considered him beneath her, no. It was merely that Saori wasn't sure what the creature wanted. What drove him? Surely, beastmen had feelings and dreams, things that gave them reasons to wake up in the morning. She wouldn't ask normally, but she could feel his emptiness.

"Viral, why did you come here this day, truly?"

Her question was hard, and one he found himself asking on an almost daily basis at the worst of moments. Why did he come? Why was he here? Why must he fight humans?

There was no denying that the moment was peaceful. Watching the brilliance of the storm from a distance would have made most of his recent associates stare in awe. He sighed, contemplative. It wasn't reverence that made him watch. It was sheer observation of face.

"To see for myself," he answered after a moment. "To observe, to experience. Beyond that? I truly can't say."

"What is it you wish to see, Viral? Truly, what is it that your heart desires? What do you pine for?"

Saori asks this, genuinely curious. The confusion the beastman felt was something she had once felt, when she'd first gained the spark of divinity. He was but a fraction of her age, and had no guide. Kindness compelled her to ask, and to grant if she so could.

The questions were difficult for a man that was fiercely determined not to think about them. Any hesitation, any sign of weakness, could still do him a great deal of harm. Pain was still something he preferred to avoid, even if it didn't bring him death.

When Viral searched for the answer himself, he came across something he couldn't easily define. The weariness he felt for the last several years. "Peace, I think," he said. "Although I've never known it, I do know that I won't meet any kind of victory on my own."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

Viral// Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann //OTA

You know who...

No roll. Let's just see how this goes.

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