Journey Through The Multiverse: WBX (RPG)

[Psyga315]

The Great Wall of China, occupied by their finest soldiers. One of them overlooked past the frozen tundra. Soon, a bird flew to him, and hit him on the head, knocking him over the wall and fell onto the ground to his death. One of the other soldiers noticed the bird. He then saw hooks getting onto the wall.

"We're under attack! Light the signal!" He shouted, before he too was dispatched, but not by the bird. His leg was hit by a staff. As the guy looked up, he saw a man in his thirties approach him, holding a steel object in his hand. He then pointed the object towards the soldier and absorbed the life energy out of him. The soldier dropped dead onto the floor. The man, simply named Guy, smirked as another man, more muscular and older looked at the signal fires being lit up across the walls.

"It seems they know of our presence..." Guy said.

"... Perfect." Shan Yu The Hun said.

---

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MULTIVERSE: WORLD BUSTERS XTRAORDINAIRES

---

A fleet of ships were soon flying close to a world, some of them were unique, others were uniform. There was one ship that was shaped line an arrow, and this was where the key members of the newborn faction, W-B-X, were having their meeting.

"Alrighty!" Their leader, a young kid around 14-or-so, said to his crew. "Our first mission! This is going to be awesome!" Itezaki Dan said. He was standing behind the W-B-X symbol, a two headed jay with an arrow in its mouths and the letters "WBX" on its body. He then pointed to a man in black and red armor, John Shepard, and smiling. "Tell us the sitch, Sheppy!" Dan said. Shepard pulled out his papers and read outloud.

"We have arrived in a world where it's set during ancient China. An army of Huns are set to invade China. That is what our scanners showed us when we arrived to this world. Our job, according to our leader, is to go on the world and... well... bust it. Not exactly sure how we'll do that though." Shepard said, crumpling the paper. 'Though if it were up to me, I'd convince both parties to kill each other and take over the country in the wake of their destruction...' Shepard thought.

"Right then! Prepare yourselves, we will be beaming down in five. May the odds be ever in your favor!" Dan said. That catchphrase was one of the many things Dan picked up in his first trip with Shepard. As far as Shepard is concerned, the saying was more to his "Good luck and godspeed". Shepard then went to prepare for the mission, taking his assault rifle and storing it on his back.

[stratofarius]

Jonathan Walker watched the entire thing with major interest. He had been sitting on the chair closest to Dan, looking at everything with wide open eyes, always fiddling with his laser screwdriver. Once Dan finished speaking, he immediately jumped up on his feet, putting on his colorful shawl and turning to the nearest person with a big wide grin.

"Oh boy! An adventure! I love adventures. They're so fun and colorful." he said, nodding. "Hope this one is way more better than the last one. Destroying towns populated by small creatures is not that fun, you see. It gets boring after quite a while. Really boring. Reaaaaaaally boring. Hi! Who exactly are you?"

[Flanker]

A quiet, unobtrusive whine of motors signalled Sergio leaning back in his own chair, his eyes focusing intently on both Dan and Shepard. Although they possessed a glow, the effect wasn't immediately obvious even at the best of times, unlike the small alternating bands (with integrated serial numbers) of vibrant blue and inky black that made up his irises.

"You just give me the word and I'll make 'em wish they'd never crossed paths with us, Commander," drawled Sergio, a relaxed, casual smile making its' way across his face as he made a languid shooting motion with one hand. His cybernetics still felt more than a little alien - as though someone had stolen his body in the night and replaced it with one belonging to a stranger with flesh of steel and veins of wires.

Johnathan's rambling garnered an askance look. Hopefully not everyone here was loopy. "Sergio Morricone, partner. What's it to you?"

[Rain]

Ancient China... if only she came from a world where such a phrase had any meaning. It was, in a certain ancient martial artist's experience, supremely arrogant to assume that everyone was familiar with the history of another's world. The irony was that they were going to drop her into a combat situation with which she was intimately familiar, as it resembled her own to a frightening degree of accuracy.

"What is 'Ancient China' like?" the smooth voice asked, one of the few things she had said since being picked up as she gazed forwards blankly. She certainly looked like she'd fit right in.

[stratofarius]

"Oh. My name is Jonathan. Jonathan Walker. But you can call me Walker." he answered, in a much more calm tone. He then turned to the smooth voice, raising an eyebrow, and he began to tap his laser screwdriver on his chin.

"I never really payed much attention to the History books I've read on my spare time," he said, approaching the voice. "But Ancient China is usually described as a feudal place, filled with walls, people wearing robes, lots of samurai walking around, wood, lots of wood and women constantly being denied positions of power. Or something like that. I may be wrong."

[Psyga315]

"No worries, miss," Shepard said to Baijiu, placing the Assault Rifle on his back as it collapsed into a small compact size. "I am not all that knowledgeable of Ancient China myself. The furthest I can think back to was the First Contact War. Dan doesn't know much of China as well, so, in a sense, this is probably going to be everyone's first time there." Soon, Dan arrived, securing a quiver on his back and holding a wooden bow. "Oh for the love of..." Shepard said.

"What?" Dan said.

"We've been over this, bows are hardly effective compared to guns." Shepard said.

"But, that girl... she could..." Dan tried to argue, but he was interrupted.

"One, she was a professional with the bow, and two, there weren't any guns in that arena. You lack the expertise, and have access to guns. Take it from me, never bring a bow to a gun fight." Shepard said.

"Hmph... I'm gonna bring this anyways... just to prove you wrong!" Dan said to Shepard. He then went to the controls, where he scanned on his map. "Now... where is a good place to beam down?" Dan said. Shepard then pointed to a village near where the map showed mountains.

"Perhaps here. We may need to win the favor of one side so we get some initial support. That or if the villagers refuse to cooperate, we can always try to turn it into our base of operations." Shepard said.

"Hm... Excellent thinking. Alright, everyone get ready, we'll be beaming down to that village in a minute." Dan said.

[Flanker]

Sergio was rather surprised as he saw Dan with a bow and arrow in tow. Crazy kid... this is who he actually signed up with? Clearing his throat and sitting up slightly - which aggravated the dull ache around the spot where flesh met metal - he said, "The Commander's right. Guns are more accurate, have better stopping power... the works. Bows may be quieter, but somehow I doubt we're gonna have much opportunity for sneakin' around. You've got guts though, I'll tell you that. But it's your call."

When Dan told everyone to get ready, the cowboy cyborg settled on to his feet. He felt it was a good time to have a dose of Neuropozyne, as he probably would not have an opportunity to use it once they were planetside. He also needed to get his Diamondbacks and load them up for the mission. Sergio left the room.

[Rain]

"Guns are the weapons of cowards and novices," Baijiu pronounced, not caring that at least two people in her presence were carrying guns. They had always, always seemed nothing more than toys to her when she had first encountered them, and a specialised archer could, with practice and a lifetime of dedication, achieve things that made guns seem worthless. The ancient girl ultimately placed all her faith in the strength of a human body; collections of metal and flame were untrustworthy and limited.

After that, she fell silent, waiting for the inevitable transportation to their destination. Or being shot. Whichever.

[stratofarius]

"She's right, you know." Walker said, lazily pointing over at Baijiu. "The greatest weapon in the world is obviously a laser screwdriver." At this point, he showed Sergio the little device he had been holding for the past hour or so. It didn't look like a screwdriver, and it certainly didn't look like a laser, but it seemed like it was Walker's favorite tool. He proceeded to mess with the laser screwdriver, pressing a few on its buttons, in a weird demonstration directed at both Sergio and Baijiu. "Over 420 settings! Can do anything: lock doors, open locks, hack into computers... it doesn't work on wood, though. That doesn't change the fact it's the greatest tool in the entire world- no, the universe!"

He waved his arms up in the air, pressing one of the buttons, and sparks flew out of a computer console behind them as the screwdriver activated the console's shutdown command. Walker looked at the console, then at Baijiu, then at Sergio, and shrugged. "On the hands of a genius, this screwdriver is the most dangerous tool in the universe."

[Psyga315]

"Very well! We shall have a small contest! Which weapon is superior: Arrows, Guns, or Screwdrivers!" Dan said. Shepard pointed to the device Walker held in his hand.

"But... That's a tool, how is he going to kill with a tool?" Shepard said, though Dan was too busy yammering on, turning on the ship's AI.

"Yo! AUTO! I need you to calculate somethin' for us!" Dan said as the ship's AI moved itself to Dan. The AI was locked inside a white futuristic steering wheel. It was funny how they got this guy. During their road trip to recruit people, Shepard raided a ship that was parked on what looked like a deserted earth now regrowing and yanked a deactivated AUTO right out of it. After some tinkering, like removing some of his directives, AUTO was made their AI. Though he's more or less used to preform inhuman tasks, tasks that would save people some busywork, such as what Dan was about to tell him. "I want you to record us fighting the Huns and keeping track of who killed who, then calculate which weapon did the most killing. Can you do that?" Dan asked. AUTO's single red eye dimmed and its wheel spun a bit before it spoke.

"Yes Boss." This was an AI that piloted a ship that housed a chunk of Earth's population. Now it's being used to track body counts... Life, don't talk to him about life.

"Alrighty! Let's go!" Dan said as he punched in some codes on his computer. Soon, the people who were going glowed in a blue light. Then they could feel themselves being yanked, as if right out of their bed. The light blinded them, and when the light faded, they found themselves in the village, with snow falling onto the wintry setting. The Chinese villagers came out from their homes to see the members of WBX.

[stratofarius]

"See? This is Ancient China." Walker said, pointing at the village around them. "Although it's... snowing. Which is weird. I remember seeing drawings of Ancient China in springtime."

Noticing the villagers approaching them, Walker raised his hand and cleared his throat. "Do not be alarmed. We are simply visitors from... another... town. And we have a very important mission, so do not interrupt us, and we shall... not... interrupt... you. I think."

[Rain]

"If there is to be a contest, I request that my fists be added," Baijiu said, stepping away from the group as they arrived and stepping away. Though she had no illusions of fitting in with the general populace--her clothing was far too expensive, and how many Chinese had flaming red hair?--it would be nice to not be associated with someone so utterly gormless as Trotter.

[Flanker]

A short time prior to the teleportation

Sergio forced the pills down his throat, feeling almost instant relief as the Neuropozyne worked its' metaphorical magic. God, what he'd give for some method of freeing himself of the drug. It felt like he'd been tethered to a pole, and if he went too far he was at risk of strangling himself. Power came at a price, as always.

He then picked up Mercy and Salvation, eyeing the revolvers with the same look one might reserve for exorbitantly priced jewels. The twin monikers had been passed down to each pair of guns Sergio had owned, and the Diamondbacks were merely the latest in a distinguished line drenched in blood and rumours. The cyborg had ammunition for almost any conceivable situation, but for this particular mission he felt he could get away with hollowpoints - hopefully ancient Chinese armour would prove fragile against the might of a modern firearm.

He smiled knowingly to himself as he got up and dusted off his yoke, putting on a poncho for extra warmth. He looked forward to besting this world's champions, and the ones after that, and so on. He would make a name for himself everywhere he went as the greatest gunfighter not just in the New West, but in the multiverse period.

---

Present

The cowboy watched as his breath condensed in the air. The natives only drew a casual glance before Sergio returned his attention to the snowfall. He had little, if any, experience with snow, and so it was still something of a novelty. Using a special implant in his throat, Sergio opened a communications link to Shepard, although to anyone else he would simply appear to be doing nothing as he didn't properly speak. "Hey, Commander, can I have any kills made thanks to that Typhoon doohickey added to my total?"

Returning his attention to the natives, he said, "Don't worry 'bout us - return to your business. We aren't going to hassle you unless we need to."

Hopefully that slightly more professional version of what Walker said would be sufficient.

[[OOC: I forgot to add the Infolink to Sergio's sign-up; basically, it's a perfectly silent way of communicating with others over long distance. It can also display an image of whoever he's contacting on to his vision, though not vice-versa]]

[Psyga315]

Baijiu and Sergio's requests were granted, as Fists and Typhoon were added to the list.

The Villagers looked calmed by their diplomacy, but soon began to notice something coming from the end of the road. Smoke. They then saw them: Huns, in the hundreds, marching towards their village. They began to panic and run off.

"So... These are going to be our target practice! Alright, get ready!" Dan said, preparing his bow for the attack, while Shepard loads up his Assault Rifle. Meanwhile, in a far off distance, away from the battle, an armored figure stood on the roof of a hut, eying the battle with its single Cyclops-like eye.

[Rain]

Mere soldiers? An excellent warm-up. Baijiu took a half-dozen paces towards the advancing soldiers, then stopped. Some would be cut down by the cowardly weapons those behind her (though not the bow; that would simply miss horribly due to inexperience--and she had no desire to show him how it was done) but, this way, the majority of the advancing group would encircle her. What better way to begin to erase billions of years of skill atrophy than to challenge ridiculous odds?

Face a blank mask, the redhead began to do some simple stretches as she waited for the battle to begin.

[Flanker]

"On it, Commander! Lemme show these amateurs how a real cowboy does it." The soldiers elicited an excited smile from Sergio. They were no gunfighters, but they would allow him to finetune his aiming (although there were so many of them that it seemed impossible to miss anyway). Feeling the need to put on a show, Sergio tossed his guns into the air and caught them with unerring precision.

Once the Huns were in range - which was sooner than might have been expected for a pair of revolvers - Sergio opened fire, moving with inhuman speed and accuracy thanks to his cybernetics. Eight shots were punctuated by short pauses as he stopped to reload - even with his artificial enhancements he could only fire so fast, which annoyed Sergio somewhat - weren't his augmentations meant to unlock his body's potential, not limit it? He would need to either improve his cybernetics (and his familiarity with them) or modify Mercy and Salvation, though since they were in the middle of a mission he doubted the Commander would appreciate him asking to be whisked back to the ship to make further modifications. Nevertheless, his stance and footwork were calm, self-assured; if nothing else, the cyborg was supremely confident in his ability to shred his opponents.

[Rain]

... and then the Huns were upon her, a column of lightly armoured soldiery preferring melee arms against such sparse targets as those present than wasting arrows. Spooked by the actions of Sergio but nevertheless confident in their sheer bulk, they continued their forwards advance to cut down and gulf the stretching woman. Only... it didn't turn out like that.

The first soldier in reach was brought down by a palm strike to the face, head knocked back at a macabre angle and skin around his neck tearing from the force of the blow. The man alongside him slashed with a polearm of some description; one the martial artist couldn't identify but gauged to be some type of axe or halberd. The redhead sinuously slid aside, hands grasping the shaft firmly and tugging, pulling the wielder rapidly into the path of another attack, sword effortlessly tearing flesh. At the same time, the ancient martial artist flung herself up, legs providing the extra momentum her arms couldn't.

And then, for a glorious second, she was above the horde, soldiers beneath her dropping like flies from the guns. But guns were a coward's weapon; any real warrior would fight with their flesh scant inches from the blade.

Gravity resumed and Baijiu dropped, alighting on a head and crouching in a smooth movement. The Hun's bow and arrows, easily accessible on his back, were grabbed, and Baijiu hopped to another head before a sword scythed through her previous point, using the time to string the bow and knock an arrow. Blind though she was, she was a master of her art--and such trivial things as shooting at point blank, where missing was nigh impossible? Easily done.

Two shots were released as fast as her arm could move before an errant tug too much snapped the bow and the redhead had to release it, dropping into the mass of flesh once more to temporarily evade retribution. A rapid sweep and bodies fell around her, buying an instant to crack their heads like nuts. Fist, knee, elbow--it didn't matter what.

And, for the first time since WBX had picked her up, Baijiu was smiling. A faint smile, but still a smile.

Even when she took a sword to the back in order to finish off the last of the downed soldiers.

[Psyga315]

Shepard then opened fire with his assault rifle, taking down a couple of Huns. Dan, on the other hand, was busy aiming with his bow and shoots his arrow at one Hun, then focusing on another.

AUTO kept track of who was leading, and so far, Baijiu was first, with Sergio just trailing behind. Dan was dead last, second only to those who actually haven't killed, and Shepard was in the middle of the list.

The number of Huns seemed to wane a bit... It seemed that it was a pretty minor invasion force.

[Rain]

The martial artist's face didn't betray even a flicker of pain as the soldier started laughing, glad to have grievously wounded the demon that had killed so many of his friends. Probably to the horror of any of her allies--if they were paying attention--due to her keeping the regenerative ability a secret until now, Baijiu slammed her elbow backwards and snapped the soldier's neck.

Before he hit the floor, the redhead had drawn the blade from her back and pirouetted to face the rest of the soldiery. Those close to her were wary now, with the number of corpses that surrounded her and the fading bloodstain. They didn't have time to try anything, though, as Baijiu shot forwards, enhanced strength cleaving through flesh and bone with ease. Three soldiers were cut through with a short series of strokes before the blade was too dull to be any use.

So it was launched like a projectile through the head of yet another. As was half a body, causing one person to simply fall over and another to break their back. They would have survived, possibly, had Baijiu not returned to the area and proceeded to kick several of their fellows in the face, using their heads as springboards after breaking their necks, on top of them to give her a small pile of bodies to stand on. Standing up was a joke. Breathing? They'd be lucky.

And those who had the bright idea to encircle the martial artist found that she had made this mound for one reason alone. This time, when she used her hands to spin, her feet were at head height. When the red and green blur returned to being an upright fighter, they were also on the floor.

Things soldiers were not trained to deal with: ancient martial artists with ki-enhanced abilities. The lack of co-ordination (and horses) at this point was really hampering their effectiveness.

[Flanker]

Sergio kept pumping lead into the soldiers, using the distraction of the others to ensure that he (mostly, anyway) remained unmolested while also providing himself with easy shots. It was simple and efficient, designed to maximise enemy casualties while minimising the risk he put himself at.

In a way, he felt like he was the eye of the storm; while battle raged around him and threatened to suck him in, he felt rather detached. Serene, almost. Since this was the first time he had fought an actual army - he had only had to deal with roving groups back home - Sergio realised that in some ways it was rather different to the raw intensity of a gun duel. This was altogether more impersonal, something of a discrete transaction of death. It wasn't something he wished to deal with too often - after all, none of these men could pose a real threat with ancient melee weapons. He hoped that their strongest would arrive soon, so he could handle him personally.

[Psyga315]

Sergio and Baijiu's points increased as the Huns were eradicated from the village. The villagers soon came out, to look at the people who had just saved them from the Huns. A little girl, holding a doll, also came out of her house to look at WBX. Soon, one of them went up to them.

"You... You've saved us! How can we repay you?" A villager asked Walker.

[Rain]

Baijiu looked almost serene, perched upon the mound of Huns and gazing off into the distance. In actuality, she was doing her best to check whether any were dying or just playing dead, in the little time available before too much noise took over. One, only one, that was healthy rather than dying or dead.

"Coward," she hissed, driving her foot through his chest and then straightening, approaching the girl by Walker. She didn't trust that mad fool at all; she was certain that he would do something stupid. And then she'd have to break his arms for the rest of the trip.

[stratofarius]

"By giving us information we may need. And some food might help. In case we're here for a long time, shelter." Walker said, tapping his laser screwdriver on his hand. "But for now, just information and food. Pack them on a nice cloth bag so we can take them on our long journey, will you?"

She patted the girl on the head and turned back to Baijiu, smiling. "Great job there! I'd love to help, but I... I..." He chuckled, looking down. "I don't know how to fight-- I mean, don't have a weapon... b-but good job anyways. Thumbs up!"

[Psyga315]

"Don't worry, we'll provide you with food..." He said. He then turned to his family members, who rush off to get food. "As for information, I can't provide... We don't know where the Huns are hiding..." The villager said.

"Just tell us about the current situation." Shepard said.

"The Huns... They aim to attack China and take over it... There may be more where that came from..." The villager said.

"Cool! Can we attack China too!" Dan said. Shepard pulled him back.

"Forgive him... He's... hyper." Shepard said.

"I'd go back if I were you... This won't be safe for people like you..." The Villager said.

"People like me? Did you see us take out those guys? We were on FIRE!" Dan said.

"That you are..." Someone else said. Dan and Shepard turned to see a Chinese man with short black hair and a leather uniform with a symbol on it. The symbol was a picture of a two headed bird perched on the globe with the letters DCD on it.

"Oooooh~! He looks so cool! Who are you? Do you wish to join us?" Dan asked him. The Chinese man simply chuckled. He then boastfully shouted out...

"I AM YULAW! I'm nobody's bitch! YOU..." He then points to Shepard. "are mine!"

"Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?" Shepard said, aiming his Assault Rifle at Yulaw.

"I don't need to know you. You... only need to know me. I WILL BE

THE ONE!"
GABRIEL YULAW

said as he ran to Shepard. Before he had time to fire, Yulaw had already punched Shepard about twice, knocking him across the field. The villager retreated as Yulaw noticed the arrow fired at him by Dan. He caught it and snapped it like a twig. He then posed, waiting for others to attack him.

[Rain]

"Your opponent shall be me and me alone," Baijiu declared, daring any of the others to disagree. This man was a melee fighter; hand-to-hand was her speciality. He could demonstrably move fast enough to prevent a gun from firing, which put Sergio at a disadvantage, and it would just lead to friendly fire if anyone shot at two engaged in a brawl.

He was fast, though, and with her ki control still recovering after years of trying to utterly quash its existence, she was far from capable of simply pumping lifeforce around her body and outmatching his physical capabilities. With what limited amount she could control and manipulate... she would have to keep moving it to those areas that most needed the speed boost.

Her first move was a simple jab towards the chest. Simple, but as fast as she could manage at this point.

Though she always had a plan B if martial stuff wouldn't suffice. Blow her skin to shreds.