Org. XIV (story)

Slipping on a pair of boxing gloves, Vita took her stance opposing Jackie. "So, me first? Hm, how should I go about this one...?"

She nods to herself. "Okay, fair warning, I'm going to do something kind of insane and impractical. Don't let down your guard, or this might seriously get you hurt."

The girl took a step forward before leaping into the air, coming down with a kick aimed at the trainee's right shoulder.

In martial arts, flying kicks aren't really meant to be used; they're only taught as training aids. But that's not totally common knowledge, so desperate opponents are likely to try it. Let's see how she counters this one. And just in case I actually connect, I'm avoiding her head. This much planning should not be going into such a patently stupid maneuver.

< He's just being his stubborn old self xD>

"Oh, yeah..." Hercules gave a sheepish grin as he looped an arm around Aleri's shoulder with the gentlest grip he could muster. "That's why you're going to bring me around!" He said cheerfully.

Aleri returned the smile. "Well, I guess this is fine. Just don't lean on me too hard, or you'll put me in the hospital, too!"

The two moved along through the blank halls of Castle Asylum, quickly reaching the door to the Round Room and entering. Xeromus, who was sifting through some papers, glanced down when he heard them come in, then looked back at his documents with a furrowed brow.

"Hercules, you shouldn't be up and about. You have some good timing, though; I've just received a report on the evacuation of Olympus Coliseum. We managed to rescue a number of your world's inhabitants, but we don't know how many people haven't been saved. Our most recent information on the population is from over a decade ago, when you were still in training. Understandably, the population of the world has increased since you've been around to save them from monsters, but now we don't know how many people we're missing."

The Nobody sighed, covering his face with his free hand. "...We only saved as many as we did because, in recent months, more of the citizens of Asylum have been applying for work here. Our manpower has increased considerably, but none of the older members we contacted for help with the situation responded."

He removed his hand from his face, revealing a look of total animosity. He slammed his fist into the side of the chair he sat upon. "Since we apparently can't get all of our old members to help at a time like this, I believe the situation calls for some reorganization. I will be contacting everyone this organization has associated with and clear our standing with all of them. We cannot act until we know who can be relied on, and I feel that drastic measures must be taken to get things in order as fast as we possibly can."

"Now, Hercules, while you're here, if you would inform us of what happened, that would be helpful. We were going to have Thalia report, but you're here, and you're conscious."

Hercules nodded, his expression shifting to a dead serious one as he limped to a chair and took a seat wearily. "It's kind of hard for me to explain," he admitted quietly, "But that black mud came out of nowhere, erupted deep from the depths of hell. Hades fought something within it, a person... thing. I don't know how to describe it. But Hades... was absorbed. I couldn't feel him anymore... like he..." he trailed off, his gaze haunted at the memory.

There was a slight twitch on the Nobody's face as he listened. "...So, for now we have to work under the assumption that Hades has been assimilated into that miasma-like substance. If the underworld is even still there, another god will have to take command of it for the time being. As for the idea that even a god could be absorbed... that's troubling. And it was capable of wounding both you - a demigod - and Rexial, whose fighting ability is among our best. For now, anyone who encounters the miasma is to run immediately, until we find a way to combat it."

"Now, do you recall anything about the others? A scout had informed me that Thalia engaged two suspicious characters in a fight before I ordered her to retreat. The more we know, the better-equipped we are to deal with this, and we are woefully uninformed."

Jackie merely smiled and rolled forward, popping up into a low crouch right as Vita landed. With a two-handed swing, Jackie aims a strike at Vita's legs, hoping to trip her by smashing her ankles forward and leaving the boxer prone. Regardless of the outcome, she would spring to the right, ready to tumble if need be.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Vita sprang right back up, pulling her legs up over the swing, avoiding by the tiniest margin. Her upper body remained in roughly the same position, leaving her arms in a position to strike. She made a couple of light jabs before her feet touched down again, at which point she quickly sprang back a few paces.

"Good move, but your lack of experience fighting humans showed a little bit, there. If you had timed your swing to hit as I landed, it would've been a lot more likely to connect. I think. Not too knowledgeable about spears, really, so I can't be sure."

Keeping her distance, and staying crouched, Jackie kept moving slowly to her right, delivering sharp stabs from her spear at the other woman, keeping the timing of them erratic and harder to predict. Aiming them near whatever part of Vita was closest to her, she tried to keep Vita at bay, while at the same time attempting to punish getting in close. "I feel like I'm learning a little... You martial artists were always a little hard to spar against."

Vita cracked a smile. "I was just thinking the same thing about spears. The zone of a fighter using a spear and a fighter who uses their body, those are just completely incompatible. I need to get in close to land any hits, and you need me to stay away, or you're not going to be able to use your own weapon correctly. So it results in fights like this, where we can't have prolonged clashes."

She shifted a few times, always escaping the head of the spear by a hair's breadth. After one strike, the girl danced back a few more paces, slipping off her left shoe and tossing it into the air in one quick motion. The moment it was out of her hand, Vita dashed to Jackie's right, dropping into a slide and making an attempt to sweep her feet.

It was the wind mage herself that responded to Xeromus' question. Thalia appeared in the doorway, clutching an ether in one hand and ready to stabilize herself if need be, "They're powerful. Stronger than anything we've fought before. Maybe even rivaling X-Sigma."

The grim downcast of her face was clear as she crushed the ether absorbing the magic energy within and standing more upright.

"We won't be able to just force our way through like we have before." Thalia spoke with formality, her years of training instinctively giving her the tone in front of Organization XIV's leader, "I fear that our current firepower especially with Lance and Maya recuperating, won't be enough."

"My suggested course of action is a reconnaissance mission. We need to know what we're up against and the only way we'll know that is by investigating this. I suggest we go back to the Olympus Coliseum."

-----------------------------

Phoenix took a moment to interject with the pair's spar, "Good form from the both of you. Though the use of downing strikes with a spear are unnecessary in most circumstances. Use your reach first."

Jackie nodded and smiled. "Yes ma'am-- Really, miss Vita? I expected exponentially better from yourself." Falling not even for an instant for the shoe trick, Jackie's eyes stayed locked with Vita's own and hardened, even, at the cheap trick of distraction. Sidestepping the woman's slide, she used a hand to steady her spear and the other to thrust at Vita's outstretched knee at it's full length before drawing herself and the spear back.

The strike landed squarely on Vita's knee, pinching her limb between the training weapon and the floor. Moving quickly, she pulled her body towards the point of impact, setting her other foot and hand against the ground, grabbed the spear with her remaining hand, and yanked it up, letting go of it and springing back before Jackie capitalized on her being downed.

"I was just testing you with the shoe trick. You tend to dismiss details that don't seem important, right?" Doesn't give me a good idea of her ability to split her focus, though... "But you picked up tracking my movements faster than I thought. Good work."

"Maybe I should stop doing things all... not-like-me, and just do things the way I normally do. You'll probably learn faster if I stop forcing it." The martial artist bounced from foot to foot a little, her movements becoming slightly more energetic. "...So, let's see if I can't get into the mood to just fight you like normal. And drop the 'miss' part, I'm barely any older than you! Not to mention, we're the same rank now."

Using her crouched stance, she leapt high into the air, soaring over the recruit's head, and landing directly behind her. From this new position, she tried to give her sparring partner a light tap on the back.





Xeromus drummed his fingers on her side of his chair. "...Thalia, do you have any idea how many people I've already tried contacting to do just that? I appreciate your input-"

Aleri continued to give his boss a strange look.

"-but goddammit, I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone! Susan is on maternity leave, Siks likely left to be with her, Zane and Sally want nothing to do with fighting or dangerous missions anymore, Nathan and Dispatch have both vanished, A certain two knuckleheads went and broke each others' limbs earlier, Rexial got stabbed and is now receiving medical attention, you yourself are still recovering... Kotank is literally the only person who can probably do it. I'm otherwise occupied, and we don't know about Siks for sure."

He paused, rubbing his temples. Aleri took the chance to speak. "...Does anyone in this place know how to stay down? I swear, I'm gonna go back to the emergency room to find Rex walking around and talking about getting revenge. Heheh... heh..." His nervous laughter died off quickly.

"...Five of our members are assigned to posts here, and can't be dispatched to do this. So, our options are for me to go by myself, to send Kotank, try to contact Siks again, or send in grunts."

"I could go." Aleri offered half-heartedly.

"Or you could stay here and try not to break your other arm. Open up a channel to both Kotank and Siks."

There was a tone as a connection was attempted.

-Kashykk, Kotank's old house-

Susan lay on the bed, calmly sipping a glass of ice water, whilst Siks sat in a chair beside her.

"You need anything else, hun?" He asked.

Susan shook her head. "I think I'll be fine."

"You want me stay here?"

She nodded.

"Okay. I'll just-" Siks was cut off by a beeping coming from the nearby computer.

"What's that?" Susan asked.

"The emergency comm channel I left Xeromus before we left." Siks explained as he approached the computer. "Something must've come up." He tapped a few keys before answering. "Number III, Siks speaking."

Just after he said that, he saw onscreen that he was not only being patched through to Asylum, but also to Kotank's personal communicator.

<Thanks for being patient, man.>

"We need somebody to perform reconnaissance on Olympus Coliseum. Almost everyone else is either unresponsive, or are recovering from fatigue and injuries. Kotank, Siks, you are the only members we can send out at the moment. Siks, if you'd rather stay behind and let Kotank handle this, I won't blame you. This mission is going to be more dangerous than most of the missions we have issued in the past."

Xeromus paused before bringing up another subject. "...Also, we've asked all members to return to HQ as soon as possible for re-organization. We understand your circumstances, and will make an exception for both Susan and Siks. However, we would like you to inform us of when you might be able to return. Another threat has cropped up, and we need to be prepared."

"What happened?" Kotank asked, his concern setting in. For a mission as dangerous as Xeromus was describing, something major had to be going on.

"Olympus Coliseum has been mostly submerged in a black mud. According to Hercules, this same mud absorbed Hades, god of the Underworld. Rexial, Thalia, and a man by the name of Necro were able to respond quickly. They encountered a being that we assume is linked to the black mud. Both Hercules and Rexial were injured during that fight. Once Rexial was out of commission, two more people revealed themselves. We don't know their intentions, but I can't imagine it's anything good. I had Thalia retreat so that we could treat Rexial and Hercules. We need to know more about this situation. Can either of you go find out what's going on?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kotank stated, "But I don't think the big furball is the one you want on a Recon mission."

"Well, I sure as hell can't leave!" Siks exclaimed, sagging back in his chair, "I can't take the CChance of Susan going into early labor while she's alone."

"Siks, they need your help out there," Susan protested from her bed.

"So do you." He insisted.

Susan merely grunted in frustration, before an idea came to her. "Kotank! How fast can you make it to Kashyyk?"

"Good idea," Siks agreed, "He can stay her end keep an eye on you while I'm gone. Kotank, can you do it?"

"Xeromus, send a team of grunts to prep my ship, I need to be off-world ten minutes ago. Siks, as soon as you can, get to the castle. I'll be there to look after Susan before you know it."

"Consider it done. Thank you for your cooperation, we'll tell you the moment we can afford to send you back."

As he spoke, Xeromus sent a the command by text.

"Siks, be extremely careful. Thalia, is there anything you would like to add?"

<Apologies for lateness, as always >_< Should be more free these coming weeks>

Hercules opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Thalia as he stepped back to let the Queen talk. He looked away, feeling unbearably weak and powerless. An emotion that was incredibly foreign to the demigod as he finally stepped forward, "Xeromus," he gave an awkward cough as he raised his head to meet Xeromus' eyes firmly, "I need to go back there."

<I just kinda feel bad for Herc, since he didn't get to say much after he tried so hard just to get there.>

Xeromus looked back at Hercules. "I have no right to stop you, but I would recommend staying and recovering. But I've seen enough of you heroic-types to know you're not going to be stopped by a massive chest wound. Aleri, give him a quick patch with your magic so he doesn't reopen the damn thing and accompany him. If you insist on rushing out, the least I can do is have someone watch your back."

"I can keep an eye on him," came Siks' voice, just before he exited a Dark Corrridor to his chair in the Round Room. "Don't want Al hurting himself even more. Besides, I'd feel better having someone with me who knows what I'm dealing with."

"I can help with that," came another voice from the entrance. Looking in it's direction, Siks saw a man he didn't recognize.

"I take it you're Necro."

Aleri held back a sigh of relief. He was concerned about Hercules and Olympus Coliseum, but Siks was right. His broken arm was a weak point for enemies to target, a limb he couldn't use in battle, and he would generally have to be careful about moving. And he had somebody else to check up on.

He glanced at Thalia, figuring that she was most likely to recognize Necro out of the people in the room.

The regent took a step back, bowing slightly, "Fortune smiles upon us. Greetings, Necro. Xeromus, Aleri, this is Necro, a friend of Lance, he can be trusted."

Feeling embarrassed after realizing how much she had intruded on the conversation, she bit her lip unintentionally, "My apologies for intruding, Hercules. I understand that the situation means much more to you than the rest of us." She bowed apologetically and tucked away a strand of blond hair fixing her gaze back on Xeromus.

"Hercules has a right to pursue this situation more than any of us. I vouch for his passage and will provide support as necessary." The young woman smiled in admiration, the spark of will in Hercules reminded her of another hard-headed young man. "We should leave as soon as possible. There's little time to waste."

--------------------

Phoenix stepped between the pair, putting a stop to the combat by catching Vita's fist and Jackie's spear shaft, "That should be enough for today, we'll look into weapon on weapon spearplay tomorrow. Vita, if you wish to continue joining us, I'm sure the company would be appreciated." The weaponmaster smiled gently as she stepped away from the two, "Any questions before I go?"

"With all due respect, Thalia," Necro spoke up, "I think it's better you remain here. If those two are still in the area, then keeping this mission covert is our safest bet. That means keeping our numbers low."

"He's right," Siks agreed, "We're pushing it with three as it is. On top of that, your still recovering. Hercules, as you said, has a right to seeing this through, and I need someone else who can hold his own if things go south. Necro seems like his injuries have already healed, so I'm taking him and Hercules to help me investigate the situation."

"We're going to need to investigate two things," Hercules' back straightened, his lips set in a hard line. "One is that black mud. I don't know what it is but it might give us some clues to why those two set that monster free. And the second one is..." he hesitated, his gaze downcast. "I need to know why the Olympians... didn't lend us their aid."