Welcome to Gaia! ::

Harrison called the first volunteer back up. He didn't stop the music, this time, the announcements of position more private.

He flipped open the latches on the suitcase. Inside glittered a blue collection of pill bottles, something strange and powerful about the glass. They glowed softly.

"This," he said, "is our newest from the lab guys." He picked up a bottle and shook it, producing a meager rattle. "The plastic is mixed with our Kingdom's miasma. It only makes two pills at a time. You need to take them together for the full effect. It's on the experimental side, but it should take the edge off of any injuries. You can use them for yourself, or give them to somebody else. Just be smart about it. After a while, the bottle will fill itself up again. Same deal, two pills."

He handed the bottle over, then gestured for the volunteer to sit. A folding chair had been positioned opposite of the Boss's chair.

WIth surprising care, he took the volunteer's right hand, and swabbed the inside of the wrist with alcohol.

"Now," he said, drawing a gun out of the black box B0nez had been typing into, "this may sting a little." The gun was covered with whirring, robotic parts, and connected to the box via a series of blue, glowing wires.

B0nez adjusted his glasses, addressing them directly. "Oh, don't worry. Everything's covered. You won't have to rely on Hughsey's artistic merit. Just my technical expertise."



"Gargantuan," B0nez continued, "One of our security officers. ...And, heh, with a, shall we say, non-selective appetite. ...Loyalty is a very valuable trait, especially in our organization. ...How much do you know about carp? Don't answer, I'll tell you. They're strong. Brave. They swim upstream, and even climb waterfalls. If they get caught, they lie on the cutting board waiting for the knife without a single quiver. Like a warrior facing a sword. There's a legend that a carp who climbs the right waterfalls can get transformed into a dragon. ...And let me tell you, G, the situation we're in is sink or swim."

While B0nez talked, the gun blazed to life, lasers dancing in a pre-set pattern to inscribe a design into G's wrist.

The tattoo glowed a hot blue.

When Harrison finished, what was left was a giant eye, and insinuating itself around it, a scaly leaping carp, with flowing fins.

"Welcome to the ranks."

G: (Pawn) Carp



"L.C. Malodore," B0nez looked the family doctor over with a friendly grin, "Your services are, as always, appreciated. The family is in dire need of a field medic, and nobody on our payroll rivals your...precision and care. You've offered to waive your usual fees, which is generous, but we'll see you get ample compensation. In the meantime, it should give you a chance to study some of the anatomy of members from the various kingdoms...very personally. As for what I've picked for you... there's a lot of animals with associations to medicine. But only a couple with the kind of lifespan you've offered the family via your collective efforts. Cranes are supposed to live a thousand years. I'm hoping for two."

Maladore: (Pawn) Crane.



"Serafina Arai. Ahhh, the Senator. Good to have you. There are different kinds of wars, and while you may be required to get physical, it's strategy we need. And maybe some smooth-talking. Not, heh, my personal strongpoint, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. Still, we both know you were never shy about going for the throat, when it came to your political opponents. And not much was left after. It's why we always got along so well. I've selected an animal that's got a very...similar bite."

Serafina: (Pawn) Komodo Dragon.



Fortunately for Nuk, Harrison seems to have been too busy to notice the discrepancy in fidelity.

"Nukpana. Shape-changer, eh?" B0nez asked, "Must be nice to be able to walk around in someone else's skin for a change. And it seems like you've been very busy paying off debts...not yours, obviously. If you make it out of this, you can consider those cleared. If not, we do our best to provide for our family, and we'll see that your...heh...assets are taken care of."

B0nez adjusted his glasses, clarifying,

"That's not a threat. We have papers for eh, bereavement, s**t...where was it."

"You're square and we'll get your s**t taken care of," Harrison growled, "Long as we're not all underground by next Monday."

B0nez cleared his throat. "Anyyyyyway. Um, let's see my notes, sneaky, shadows, scrappy- okay. Got it. Well, I always liked trickster mythology anyway."

"Wonder if we can teach him heel," Harrison grumbled, aiming the gun. ...Maybe he had noticed the discrepancy.

Nuk: (Pawn) Coyote.

Jerry blinked at the pill, his face suddenly gaining a sheen of sweat. "I'm... I'm not allowed. Last time I ah... sampled it... er... Boss wasn't happy."

There had been a lot of collateral damage.

He cleared his throat.

It was tempting. So tempting. Just a small hit... he could maybe do a half dose?


---


Roar had been stumbling back to the party from a well deserved quick jaunt with one of the girls when he spotted the two near the door just outside. It was a good thing he had stepped out for a bit of fresh air. A deep growl escaped his throat as he hurried toward them, ready to announce this was a private party and forcefully remove them until he spotted the injuries on the young woman.

The ex-Boxer gave a gruff, "Hold it!" before blocking the way into the casino, "Alright, who sent you?"

Vegas? Olivia tried to get her mind to search for any information she had on the Kingdom. Blue, was the first word to pop into her head. And then a few other details, and then... a few other details. "Oh," Blue Kingdom. That would explain all the lights flashing in her eyes, not making the pounding headache any better.

Not the first place she would have chosen as her own first outing as well, but well, it probably was a better choice than some. Though, Olivia couldn't think of which ones off the top of her head. "I think I'll be okay..." she mumbled, a little for her own benefit as well as to appease her new companion.

"Why-" she began to ask him, until it slowly dawned on her why indeed. "Oh." She realized sadly. "Right." And with good timing too as ... well, someone new was there to ... greet them.

Olivia stared. And stared hard, well with one good eye -which was relative - while the other was being pressed upon by her palm. Old habits died hard and she fell into silence and glanced at .... oh crap, she forgot to get a name again. The other guy. Better for him to talk.

Roar had gotten her attention when she saw him return and nearly shove out a pair of...newcomers? It had taken some convincing to get Po to allow her close to the newcomers but eventually Roar would find Candace's hand on his shoulder. "Manners, Roar." She chuckled, standing beside the gruff man and looking the two new faces over. How..interesting. Po stood nearby, scowling with suspicion and crossing her arms. Candace was nothing but polite and cordial. Allies.

"The Silver kingdom? What a pleasant surprise! On her head? Well, we have several doctors here who can attend to her." Candace told them with a smile, patting Roar's arm. "Let them in, Roar. The Silver kingdom has never caused us any problem in the past." And if they were stuck here then they had nothing to worry about. Candace looked back at Harrison who was beginning to call up groups to tell them what their role in this upcoming battle would be, her lips pouting when she realized he hadn't called her yet. Patience, Candace.

"So your portal malfunctioned? That's terrible. What happened?" She asked, turning her attention back to the two new visitors with a look of concern until she realized something. "Oh! I'm sorry! Where are my manners, I'm Candace. It's a pleasure to meet you both. What are your names?"

He didn't need to say more, the point had been made, the offer laid out there on the table. There was a sadistic twist of delight as he could only hope the man would take him up on it, let him enlighten him. He was confident he would, if the draw was raw enough to coax him into that kiss, it'd bring him to his door later. Still rather breathless and flustered himself, it took a bit to realise he still had the claws summoned and dismiss them.

Harrison called Nuk up to the stage and Rep could have laughed but resisted. He could only imagine the raw terror the request might evoke, and he watched the results from where he stood - relieved his game hadn't been spoiled, merely postponed - before heading back to the bar once again. This time he steered clear of alcohol, simply took a sip of water and sat uncomfortably on a bar stool. Drinking cold water didn't have the same effect as showering in it. Sad.

There was a bit of a discussion with some newcomers nearby and he glanced over, wondering if anyone had been insane enough to gatecrash a major Watch soiree and what their relative life expectancies might well have been as a result. He stayed out of it for the time being however, his own concerns more immediate.

Tracey was finally done cleaning up how upset the royal blue had made Massacre and the tiger seemed once again in better spirits - albeit hungry again. Tracey's spirits didn't look quite as high, she couldn't remember a worse night in some time and took a seat next to Rep at the bar, peeling off the rubber gloved he'd borrowed to scrub up the mess. Mass, entirely oblivious to the inconvenience he'd caused was just glad gravity was back in co-operation and that colours were back to normal. He hopped up in front of Rep on the bar and lay down in front of him, tail dangling off the edge, he gave him an affectionate pat before gesturing at the stage.


"Looks like it's getting down to business." he mused. Tracey nodded. "He's dishing out power right?" Another nod. "What if he doesn't give me any?" Tracey didn't comment for a time, just eyed him carefully. "Then I suppose you don't go to battle William."
"If I stay here I'll go ******** crazy. I hate meetings."
Tracey resisted the urge to sarcastically remark she'd never have guessed. "Just wait and see."
Preferably quietly.

Of course, in the Blue Kingdom, things were always done a little outside the rules. There were two Kings, bonded together via the resource all Kingdoms needed to survive, connected by what gave them their power in the first place: miasma.

B0nez and Harrison's fates were linked. If one went down, so did the other. There were advantages and disadvantages, but between each other, at least, there wasn't much conflict. The two were partners.

When B0nez and Harrison called up the next volunteers, it was as a pair.



"Matthias Duffy, and Kasi. This is an ugly situation, but that is your area of interest. You'll forgive me if we make some modifications of our own."

"Hey, Doc," Harrison said, swabbing his wrist, "we appreciate the hand. You were always good at cleaning up messes."

While Harrison held the tattoo gun steady, B0nez fired a text back.



After Matt was done, Harrison gestured for Kasi, and imprinted an identical tattoo into her wrist. For better or for worse, Matt and Kasi were in it together.

Matt: (Pawn) Butterfly
Kasi: (Pawn) Butterfly



"Riyo. ...Nice. You'll find plenty to entertain you, even if the other Kingdoms don't make a business out of it. And this is the right place for someone of your...finesse, heh." B0nez cleared his throat, "If you can't find anyone during your trip, we can recommend several very nice pet-sitting services..."

"On the house," Harrison said.

"Not that your animal should come as any big shocker." B0nez leered, "But you know how much I like the-"

Harrison shot B0nez a dirty look.

Riyo: (Pawn) Cat



"Doctors! Rin Alder and Byrr. Still have a bit of the last job on you, I see. Well. Welly well well. There's more where that came from. Hmmm, some of your colleagues call you The Butcher, you know. Not that it's unjustly earned. And there are lots of butchery sorts of animals- the Shrike is known as the Butcher bird. Impales its victims on thorn bushes. Sort of a territory display. And then there are butchery animals- Pigs, Chickens, Seafood..."

"Get on with it," Harrison said, already drilling the design into Rin's wrist.

"But we think as far as prey animals go, this one will be more to your liking. And does some impaling of its own. Not to mention it comes with...um, a lot of natural drives..."

After Rin was finished, Harrison put the same design on Byrr's wrist.

Rin: (Pawn) Stag
Byrr: (Pawn) Stag



"Melvin Wood. Salvia. Your commitment to the organization...and the, heh, product you supply has always been top notch. We've defended you, of course, from your detractors and the people who can't appreciate perfection in art. You like the bottles? You know more about their composition than the others here, just, heh, try not to sample it all at once. Out there, you're the only one who do on-site testing, let us know the quality, and so forth. Just...do your best to keep out of trouble. We're sending Salvia with you." To Salvia, B0nez said, "You know the drill. And we've got extra weapons and ammo for both of you, if you get in a tight spot."

"It's lasers," Harrison reassured Melvin, "Nice and clean."

"As for the animal, let's just say you've lead your fair share of clients down the proverbial rabbit hole in your time. But a little extra speed never hurt anyone. And besides, rabbits are lucky. In the Casinos, you need whatever extra help you can get."

Melvin: (Pawn) Rabbit
Salvia: (Pawn) Rabbit



"Taimaaaa. My friend. You know I always have a soft spot for our informational network. I almost considered giving you a spider, you know. But I thought you might prefer something more...ubiquitous."

B0nez looked up momentarily from his programming. "Are those Silvers? Heyyy, very interesting. See if you can't bring them here after we've finished up. Wonder if we're at war with them too. The Voice did say all Truces...."

"We've got some former-Silvers in our ranks already," Harrison said, "they never caused any trouble. Wonder what they're doing here..."

Taima: Raven

"Because what fool sends only two lambs into a den of lions?" Candace rolled her eyes at Roar's behavior. "No roughing them up, we'll take them to--Roar put him down they can walk just fine." Candace gave the mans arm a light swat.

"Forgive him, he's all brawn. Come, we'll take you to see Harrison and then we can see if Rin or Malodore can check your head." She shot Roar a warning look. Be nice.