Distant Land... (Open)

Saber nodded, "Yeah that was the point." He said. Then he walked to the roof access. "By them seeing that they will either assume I'll do it again or try and use this building to escape." He said he opened the door and leaned in close. "You see I specifically chose this building because it has access to the underground network." He whispered. "The metal piping and stone will mask any signal. Hell I can't even teleport ou..." He froze for a moment and then he smacked his palm to his forehead... "I am such an idiot..." He said. He took her by the hand again and walked into the building. He paused for a moment. "Okay I've had a change of plan. My original plan was to use the underground network to get to the airport. Now we'll just use it to get several blocks away from her and I'll teleport us to Japan. Tokyo Tower is still in the same location in my time so it's the perfect land mark." He said. "Any objections?" He asked.

Saori just shrugged. "I don't have an issue with it, sir... though... it is kind of funny that you went to the trouble of setting things up for us to fly to Japan because you forgot you could teleport... maybe that's just me though..." She paused, mulling that over. She sure had had alot to think about the past several hours.

Saber nodded, he thought about passing it off as a diversionary tactic but he had already fumbled. He just hoped she didn't think any less of him. "Well I would say I'm only human. But i'm not. I may have taken some damage in the fall last night. I'll run a diagnostic later. Let's just hope they take the bait and the plane will be a diversion." He said and walked down the stairs. He paused a moment. "Oh and um, you don't have to call me 'Sir' My name's Saber." He finished and started walking again.

Saori blushed a bit. "Sorry... since I was created, I've had to call everyone 'Sir' or 'Master' and things like that. The only people I could call by name were my sisters. It's habit. I'll try not to call you 'sir' anymore though, sir. I-I mean Saber..."

Saber smiled. "Tell ya what. You can call me sir if that's what you're comfortable with. You can call me Saber when you feel you're ready." He offered. Then he made his way to the elevator and pressed the button. When the elevator arrived he hit the lobby. When it reached the second floor he stopped it and opened the door. From there he proceeded to the basement and finally into the underground network.

It stank down here. He knew Underground Network actually meant Sewer. He didn't like traveling like this and was sure Saori didn't either. He moved along the murky water pausing to look at the girl. "You okay? He asked.

Saori actually seemed not to care at all. "It's not as bad as it could be. Honestly, it'll be hard to kill my mood. I'm finally free, after all... and because of you... he can't hurt me. I believe you when you say you won't let him." She smiled warmly at him, obviously happy despite the smell.

At that Saber smiled and his resolve doubled. When he was sure that they were at a safe enough distance he pulled out his largest sword and used it to open a manhole cover. He replaced his blade and took Saori in his arms again. "This may feel a little weird." he said and accessed his E.E.S. There was no Maverick Hunter H.Q. here so he had to relay the information through the satellites. There was no real traceable information just basically bouncing information off it's transmitters. As soon as his calculations were finished the air around him began to charge with energy and his feet started to lift off the ground. Then the world disappeared in a flash of blue white.

((O.O.C. Everyone with Saber is teleported to Japan. I'll be continuing this thread in Japan))

Saori could feel the signal passing through the air, and actually couldn't help a little giggle as she felt the energy charging in the air. She glanced down as his feet began to lift of the ground, and then she looked directly into his eyes as the blue light flashed. Freed from a hell all her own, she was embarking on a new adventure.

~~~~

Meanwhile, one James Fulton was drinking a bit of scotch as he watched the crackling fire in the fireplace. Just an hour ago, he'd gotten off the phone with the very man who created the Erodroids, telling him what had happened. Five minutes later, a signal was sent out. Twenty minutes after that, the signal had activated the Hunter Project in every research lab across the Multi-verse. James didn't know any of this. He only knew that soon, he'd have his favorite pet back. He grinned as he traced his thumb over the edge of the skinning knife in his hand. "Run, run, little pet..."

[Out]

Mid afternoon a bright light lit the sky. Though not as bright at night it was still eye catching. Then 5 objects came shooting out of the energy field. Hitting the water at Mach 1. A few minutes later 5 figured climbed their way onto the London Bridge.

Blade looked around. "Is that it? Is that all we got through?" She asked. Doc walked over and examined her as well as her team mates, Lug-Nut, Desperado and Shade.

Lug-Nut looked around. "You sure this is the place?" He said in a very deep grating voice. It resembled a bass gargling gravel.

Doc nodded, "Yeah these were the coordinates he used." She said.

Shade said nothing as usual. So Desperado talked for her. "Well, y'all need ta figger it out. That portal was a one way trip." He said with a southern accent.

Blade held up a hand. "Okay, let's get our bearings. I'll try and radio base while the portal is..." and the flash of light vanished. "Never mind." she said shaking her head. Then she looked to her team "Shade recon, Desperado try and see if we're in the right time. Doc you're with me and Lug-Nut, weapons check safety on." She ordered.

Shade seemed to fade from sight as she activated her optic camouflage and Desperado walked over and picked up a paper off the ground. He checked it with his chronometer. It had just finished linking up with the satellite network.

Lug-Nut checked his weapons and Doc finished up her examinations. "You all are functioning with in normal parameters." She said and looked around. "Where the heck are we?" She asked.

Blade looked to Desperado "We're in London England. Looks like it's 2039 or somethin." He said. Then he checked his pistols making sure they were working properly.

Blade nodded and got on her com. "Shade report." There was nothing just a simple double click letting Blade know that everything was 5 by 5.

Valvatorez had been in the Earth Realm for about a couple of months now. It hadn't been his first time being here, but that had been roughly thirty years ago. So when he finally came back, he had to once again try to scramble to adjust to some of the newest things they had invented or change. That was one of the things he liked about this realm; unlike the Makai who had long since stagnated progress wise, this place was constantly moving forward.

No matter. Once I'm strong enough and able to wrestle control from the old establishment I'll move the realm to this new century. Kicking and screaming if must.

Hm..the kicking and screaming part doesn't sound as bad if its some of the old fossils.

Valvatorez made a mental note of that for later.

He wasn't a fool. The hybrid knew as a whole, not each realm needed to be ahead technology wise but there was no excuse for the things he had seen in Makai. While those of higher station and blood were able to live more or less content lives, the other ones weren't so lucky. You had to scrap for every piece of food, clothing or item you had. There was something to be said about someone who had earned their stripes the hard way and hadn't merely been born into it.

In the Makai, just below the nobles and the ruling were the elite warriors. They didn't exactly have the same privileges of the 'higher class' but they were better off then the normal civilians. Below the elite warriors were the normal ones, below that the commoners and civilians and further down which being the rock bottom were the slaves. On the very top end were the various 'Lords' and Ladies. Those who had enough power and land to do as they pleased. Not all of them were bad, though the more decent ones were outnumbered.

For Valvatorez to change things, it was going to take more then just power. He could get powerful enough to overthrow the lords but if culture wasn't change from the bottom side up, then nothing would long term. This was why he decided to travel. One reason was to research and learn how the Earth Realm and other realms did things, and maybe grow stronger during his stay as well.

During his stay, somehow he picked up a companion already by the name of Kiena Lambort. Judging by her scent, she was a Pokemorph of some kind and his guess had been accurate. He had heard that term before, but he couldn't recall where; he'd have to go and think about it later.

Kiena had claimed she had once been a normal human before her change, Valvatorez having seen something's in his time here previously hadn't taken it with a grain of salt. Not to mention while it was very faint now, there was the trace of human within her scent wise. Add that, and his gem indicated as such. However, he wasn't sure on the how part.

How was he exactly going to prove a company that had a good public image such as medicine and the like was truly a two-face? He had no solid proof or evidence of any kind, nor was he known too well among those in the Earth Realm. Valvatorez however, had made a promise to help her and the others, and if nothing else he always tried to keep his promises.

The first order of business was finding any of the others, so far there had been next to nothing. Not that he was expecting them to say in bold letters 'Here I am' but anything would suffice at this point.

So far it had proved interesting. Earth had something called 'Nobus' which was something of a specialized police force. It also had dedicated hospitals and other things his home realm was seriously lacking.

One thing at a time. As long as it doesn't rain.

The young half-breed(by his races standards) frowned when storm clouds began to roll in. If fate exist, it seems to have taken a shine to me.

He needed to hurry up out the rain, he was cursing himself for not having the foresight to stack up on more of those special pills that allowed him to tolerate water. It was an invention of Hiiragi Inventions and sold well; being that there were other races that suffered ill effects from rain. Kiena, nearby, dug deeper into her cloak. She standed out because of it but she tended to hide her looks a bit more with her clothing.Or tried to.

Valvatorez also noticed some unique people out, one of which looked like they wore armor. He at first thought they might be Biodroids of some kind; though he couldn't say that for sure.

Blade looked up and saw that storm clouds were gathering. "Okay people let's regroup. We need to get out of the open and formulate a plan." She said and started walking. The rest of her group settled in behind her.

Desperado spotted Valvatorez, "Hey now. He may have some info we could use." He said.

Blade looked over and nodded. "Wait here." She said

She walked over to the man and smiled. "Hi there, you wouldn't happen to know where we could find some lodging would you? Maybe something with WiFi or some kind of interweb connection?" She asked.

Valvatorez's musings were cut short when an attractive young woman came up to him to ask him a few things; the one he thought was a Biodroid of some kind. There was something in the back of his mind that told him otherwise. Typically, Biodroids looked completely human for the most part and the only time you saw them in armor of any type was in extreme conditions and it was something that wasn't always on. It didn't matter though. It was just his intellectual side thinking.

Kiena for her part, just silently waited she didn't know the stranger just yet and Valvatorez seemed to have it handled. It still annoyed Valvatorez how she covered herself with a cloak; there was no need too. Other races walked out in the open

"I do. In fact, we're heading there at the moment." He pointed to a nice hotel west of them. "That there is Vyer's hotel. It's a bit up there then average in price range but its not all that bad and it has this..wifi you're looking for."

Blade smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much." She said and bowed slightly. "Would you mind leading us there. We had just recently arrived here in London and have yet to gain our bearings." Blade looked back and waved the rest of the group over. Looking back to Valvatorez She continued to smile. "My name is Blade." She looked to the others.

The one in the cowboy hat nodded and tipped his hat slightly. "Name's Desperado." He said with a thick southern drawl.

The large tank like one simply nodded. "I'm Lug-Nut." he said in a deep baritone voice.

A short woman with a red cross on her chest walked over extending her hand. "I'm Doc." She said with a smile. She couldn't have been more that 16 or 17.

Blade smiled and inclined her head towards the black clad woman standing behind Valvatorez. "That's Shade. She doesn't talk much." She said.

Desperado chuckled. "Try not all darlin'."

Valvatorez was still trying to figure out what they were, then shrugged it aside mentally. It didn't matter what the person's being was. What mattered was their heart and how they acted and treated people. In his hundred plus years of living, the only constants of life were few and far in between. Still, he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

'Perhaps they're part of Nobus?' That would make sense, but somehow he doubted it. If that was the case, they would of likely knew the area more, or have someone already acting as a guide for them here.

"I'm not exactly from here myself, though I do know my way around. My name is Valvatorez." The half-breed said politely. "And this is my friend Kiena, she doesn't talk too much until she's used to you, usually."

He began walking towards the hotel, deciding to ask. "If you don't mind me asking, are you Biodroids or perhaps working for Nobus?"

Getting Vyer's hotel didn't take that long, it wasn't that far to begin with. In the lobby in various tables and the like were people on laptops, reading or otherwise waiting for different things. The person at the front desk was seemingly bored, as if they were trying to keep up from falling asleep.

Blade and the others followed. "No, We're Reploids. As for this No Bus..." She shook her head. "No we're Maverick Hunters. A special detachment with the Stars Unit. We're here looking for our leader, Saber." She said. She didn't want to divulge too much. Namely them being from the future. She looked around and nodded to Doc. "Find a connection and look for Saber. If possible see if you can hack into the global communication system. Maybe we'll get lucky and he has his com on." She said.

Doc pointed to herself. A nervous worried look on her face. "Umm... Me? I... Um... I'm not really designed for that. T-that is to say, I'm not Log-On. I don't know how to hack into computer systems." She said.

Blade closed her eyes. "Damn... I spaced, sorry. I'll see what I can do. First we need local currency. It seems they don't use Zenny here." She looked to Valvatorez. "Excuse me sir, I hate to impose being as you've been very helpful and kind to us, however we're in a bit of a bind. Would you mind loaning us some currency? I know you don't know us and have no reason to trust us however we we would be very grateful." She said and managed her sweetest smile.

Valvatorez found that curious. He had never heard of a race called Reploids, nor had he ever heard of Maverick Hunters before. Was it something new to earth? It could be since he wasn't always on the Earth Realm so it could be something recent. It had been at least two years since being away from here after all. But something in the back of his mind nagged at him that wasn't the case but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Reploids and Maverick Hunters..I've never heard of those.." Kiena muttered more to herself, shifting under hood to become more comfortable. Despite Valvatorez insistence she had no need to hide herself like that, she was adamant. It frusterated him. Perhaps it was part of him that didn't understand wanting to hide what you are, much less being ashamed. He had always held up his head up high, regardless of what others thought. If only he could teach Kiena the same..

A interruption from the young woman Blade cut the half vampires musings short, and he turned his attention to her. It wasn't a weakness Valvatorez liked to advertise(some would definitely take advantage of it, and some already did to his dismay) but he had a sense of chivalry. That was why a beautiful woman like Blade smiling and asking politely basically made him fold.

'So much for self discipline.' Another part of him remarked.

Valvatorez reached into his pockets, pulling out what seemed to be cystal coins. There was blue, Red, and green ones. "Here. Blue are worth five, green ten and red twenty. They're called Pinca, and they're currency used here and other places. It could be exchanged for American Dollars, though I wouldn't recommend it since they're lower value these days. Pinca isn't from here, its an currency from a place called Alus. There's..other currency in use from other places. Some worth more then others, and some is close to useless."

Blade nodded with a smile. She bowed slightly. "Thank you very much." She said and slipped the gems into a hidden compartment somewhere on her person. "Is there anything we can assist you with?" She asked.

Doc was getting frustrated with her feeble attempts to hack into the orbiting satellites. "M'am, I can't seem to get in the system. Their safe guards are different from what my history records show." She said.

Blade nodded. "Well we'll just have to find him another way." She said and turned to Valvatorez. "Sorry about that." She said with a smile.

There was something, a few things but none which he'd ask people he barely knew. Rather it would be too much to ask, all things considered. "At the moment, no. However, you seem to be looking for someone. Do you have a picture? Maybe I've seen them pass through." It was doubtful, but you never knew until you tried.

Kiena shifted under her cloak, moving a bit closer to the half vampire. She didn't really say anything, having nothing to add.

A little girl walked into the building, looking a bit scared and lost. She couldn't have been no older then six or seven at the most. Her clothes were a bit dirty and she looked tired, as if she hadn't gotten that much sleep. It was easy to tell she wasn't human with her wings and other features though no one would be able to tell exactly what unless they could feel energy, scan or had some means to tell otherwise.

The child seemed..jumpy for one reason or another. It was also noticed, when they came in, there seemed to be no sign of parents, relatives or any type of guardian. The young girl went deeper in, then seemed to panick about something and bolted, or rather just behind Lug-Nut under a couch.

A moment later, a tall, toned and muscle man came in, having pointed ears a sign they weren't human either. They looked around then walked towards where Ameya was, but stopped seeing while not intentional, Lug-Nut was in the way. "Excuse me." They said pleasantly. "But there's a little girl just behind you, I appreciate it if you'd kindly move as they have something of mine and I'm her care taker."

Trembling a bit under her spot, the girl didn't move but was whimpering just barely audible to most people. They were too scared to say anything to the man, or what she really had on her mind.

Blade smiled and nodded, "Yeah, i'm looking for my brother. He came into this time- er city in search of a felon. After that it get's complicated." She held up a small disk with s blue gem inside. The gem began to glow and then an holographic image of Saber appeared. "This is him. His name is Saber." She said.

Lug-Nut glanced over his shoulder and then back to the pointed eared man. "I don't think she wants to go with you. It's my experience that if a humanoid is that scared there's a reason." He grumbled.

Doc walked over to the girl. "Hey there kiddo." She said as she knelt down. The reploid extended a hand. "I'm Doc, don't worry I'm not gonna hurt you." She said with a smile. "You wanna tell me what's going on here?" She asked.

The little slip caught the perceptive vampire hybrid's attention. "Time? So you're more time travelers?" Then he stopped himself. "Never mind. That's your business." While Valvatorez found himself partly interested he knew they were still strangers and he had no business prying into things like that.

When the picture of her brother came up, he looked closely at it before shaking his head slightly. "I apologize. I haven't seen him before. I would have remembered somebody that distinct. Kiena?"

The Pokemoprh looked as well. "Nether have I."

* *

The man who was looking for the little girl frowned slightly. "Something just scared her is all, she's always been jumpy like that. I'm her legal guardian."

Under the couch, the girl didn't move for a moment. Then after a minute she slowly came crawling out; her wings were gone now. Instead she looked completely normal at the current time.

"I don't want to go back.." The little girl said in a small voice.

"Is there a problem here?" The voice came from an elderly woman who looked to be in her sixties with the name tag 'Molly' on it. It was obvious she was the manager of the hotel, her otherwise would have been long but faded brown hair was done in a bun.

"I just came back to get Ameya, I'm her legal guardian. My name is Eras." The man said, looking to Lug-Nut then to where the child was talking to the doc. "She ran away just now, she's always been a bit jumpy."

Molly paused, thinking then answered. "Then I'd like to see some documents please. You understand why I'm skeptical with her acting like this."

"I don't have any on me."

"Then, you can wait here until the police or Nobus gets here to do some checking."

That didn't seem to please Eras. "..That won't be necessary. I'll be back with the proper documents." Then he left rather quickly after that.

Molly sighed. "We'll, if that wasn't suspicious."

Lug-Nut nodded "Yeah it was. He looked to a dark corner of the lobby and the darkness... moved. Shade followed the man. Activating her stealth camo she flipped through the air and off walls.

Doc looked at the girl and reached to picker up. "It's okay honey, we'll wait her and see what happens. Okay?" Doc began to examine the girl for cuts or bruises. "Are you hurt anywhere sweety?" She asked.

Blade nodded "Well couldn't hurt to ask i suppose." She said and turned to the others. She looked to the girl and to Doc. "Big sister complex." She muttered with a smile. Then back to her host. "So what do we do now?" She muttered thinking of their next course of action.

Desperado walked over to Molly, "Howdy, thanks fer the assist back there." He said and tilted his hat slightly. "Somethin aweful funny is goin on and i'm itchin to find out juss what it is." he finished.

Eras was more then a bit pissed at himself, that wasn't suppose to happen. How that child had managed to get away was beyond him. However, she was the only one who could apparently activate the key to where they needed to go. This was just a set back, they could get her back eventually.

The man kept going on his path, which lead to an alleyway. After checking around to make sure nobody was around(didn't know Shade was following them) they placed a hand on the dead end. Chanting something in another language, rune-like symbols appeared on it, a light glowing brightly to the point of blinding and then they were gone. Vanished out of thin air.

Only a gray scale was left behind, along with a ripped piece of paper with some writing on it they had left in their haste to go where ever it was.

* *

"It seems you're in the same predicament as we ourselves are." Valvatorez said, thinking. "If that's the case, perhaps we could travel together to help find your brother. We have no clues where Kiena's own may be, and the more eyes out in the open the better. Up to you naturally. Kiena, you have any objections?"

While Kiena was slow to trust new people, she wasn't paranoid. And so far Blade and hers lot had been nothing but kind. "None."

*

Ameya didn't respond instantly, but she seemed more comfortable around Doc and the others. So she did allow herself to be picked up without making too much of a fuss out of it. "No..." For the most part that seemed to be accurate, there didn't seem to be anything on her. At first. On closer inspection , there was slight bruising on her neck. Doc would've only been able to see it more clearly because of what she was.

Molly smiled slightly at Desperado. She always did like those types of accents. "I've been in this business for ten years at least, you learn a thing or two about how to read people in that time. If he's the 'legal' guardian or not, that child is obviously scared of them. However, I don't think that's the case here. A child might be scared of a abusive parent but they usually go back anyway out of some misguided attempt."

She sighed then. "Poor dear. She looks a lot like my grandchild." Molly reached into one of her pockets, pulling out what seemed to be a medallion of some kind, it began glowing red briefly. Molly blinked, then smiled a bit. "Ah. Seems we know what the little one is now. She's a Red Dragon, don't see those everyday." Molly put it away. "Not that it matters, I was just hoping it might shed some light on things. I'm going to call Nobus to do some digging. In the mean time, could you please look after that little girl? I'm a old woman I can't do too much if he decides to come back and its obvious he's not human."

It seemed there was a lot more to the manager then first glance.

Shade landed in the alley after the man and company had vanished. She examined the wall and played back the chant in her mind. Nodding she turned and made her way back to the hotel.

***

Blade smiled. "That sounds great." She said to Valvatorez. Turning to Molly she nodded. "We'll keep an eye on her until the proper authorities arrive." She said Lug-Nut nodded. His massive shoulders dipping slightly.

Desperado was about to say something when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see shade "looking" at him. Her faceless mask blank and unemotional. She held out her hand and the others gathered. She then replayed a holo recording of the man in the alley. Up until the point he vanished.

Desperado tilted his hat back and let out a whistle. "Dang, that guys slipperier than a greased hog in tha runner time." He said and Shade nodded.

Blade looked to Molly and Valvatorez. "Any thoughts?" She asked.

Valvatorez had a pensive look on his face. "..It seems to me there is some kind of magic, of what I can't say without having been there directly. That scale, I'm not sure what it is."

"Dragonscale." Molly interjected, surprising the half vampire. "I've never seen one like that before, however." She took a glance where Doc and Ameya were currently at. "It's definitely a dragons, I'd know for sure."

Kiena had one question on her mind. "You seem to know a lot about these sorts of things."

The old woman chuckled lightly. "It comes from experience dear. I used to work for Nobus, back in the day. Had to retire from the front lines after my luck started to run thin. Then I just started running this place." While the doc was checking up on Ameya, she spoke kindly to the girl. "Dear, would you like something to eat? A little bit hungry?"

"..A little." The small red-head said.

"I'll fetch you something." She knew dragon children needed to eat more then the average child because of their constant growing bodies and energy they burnt off. This changed when they got older. One of the employee's came over, exchanging something with Molly about getting some food before going back to get something for Ameya.

Molly was about to say something more when he left hand began to shake a bit, but she didn't seem too worried. "..Excuse me.." She went to the side for a moment, pulling out a small container and taking a pill with shaky hands. The shaking seem to reside after that when she came over. "Sorry about that."

Valvatorez frowned. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine. Just by products of getting old." Molly assured. "When I was younger back in Nobus I was a Ki user, but I threw it out of balance. It made me sick and I can't channel it too well anymore. Not that I need it, I'm afraid this old woman action days are over." She chuckled light heartedly. "What about you and the others? Would you like something to eat?"

She didn't think too much about the hologram, she just assumed Blade's group was from Alus. The truth was much stranger then that.

Blade smiled and nodded to the woman. "Yes please." She said.

Doc looked back "Food sounds great."

Shade nodded.

Lug-Nut shook his head.

And finally Desperado took off his hat. "Much obliged ma'am." He said and bowed a bit.

Blade turned back to Valvatorez "Could you help me with something. We don't have dragons where we come from, would you mind showing us what one may look like?" She asked. It wasn't mission pertinent to her however she had always like mythological creatures.