Strengthening the deal (Phalanx and Gran-Chan)

So it would appear on that casual morning in the shop that things had change as a bit as Sky woke up and went through her usual ritual of getting ready for any other day. For one the shop which was usually open at the crack of dawn was currently closed, her dear sibling deciding to sleep in for once in his life rather than start running about before everyone else. She highly doubted he would stay sleep for long, but as she moved passed his room and peeked in, she found the guy half hanging off the makeshift bed he had created.

She smiled gently as she went into the room and after a bit of a gentle pushing got Oki to at least get in a better position on the bed that would not cause him to come crashing down on his head later. Heh. Even though they were older now, she still couldn’t help treating him like a kid sometime. After all, he’d always be her younger brother no matter what anyone said or did. The kid was the center of her world and while the road had been rough, very slowly they were becoming closer. A sign of good things for the future.

A future that needed to be written a bit more faster. Sky exited the room closing the door behind her quietly. She would move down the hall flipping open her cellphone as she made a quick text to one of her contacts to get moving on things on their end. After that small bit of business was done, she would go downstairs and grab her shoes and bag. She’d sit in a chair and began working on getting on her shoes as she waited for her partner in crime to get up and down the stairs.

Today was a big day for them. One that would make or break their partnership. See they were going to explore an alternate world, but this time it was not the school, it was the other side of the richest and most lively of the islands, Penecia. Quite excited, Sky had talked with Phalanx about the island the night before and after some a while the pair came to the agreement that it was good to go there to train and also gather what information they could. Who knew? Maybe these gods and demons she had been hearing about could be discovered in such a place. Or maybe some treasure to collect.

It was very exciting. Very exciting indeed. So much was balancing on this visit that the girl would’ve rushed out alone if she didn’t have a partner to worry about. Even after she had gotten her shoes on and even managed to grab a quick bite to eat, she sat for a bit more before Phalax came down.

When he finally did, she would hop off her stool to greet him.

“Let’s go!” she would say excitedly before pulling lightly on him (as if she could budge the machine) as she headed to the door like a child being promised to go to the candy store. Once outside, the pair would head towards the station to board the train that would take them to their desired island. The walk and trip would leave room for chatting if they wanted to and even when they reached the island it would be a while before Sky found a tucked away rift between two shops to go into without all eyes seeing them. Once she was at the rift, she would look over at Phalanx with a grin before excitedly stepping through to the other side.
____________________________________________________

Starting Point::

Phalanx sat down by the window, looking out on the bustling streets outside... He was restless, and since his awakening, Neptune was itching for things to shred, and tear apart. So much so that Phalanx could hear it in the Persona's voice when he spoke (the little that he actually did.) and the android was starting to agree with his persona on that front. He wanted to get stuff done. So when Sky asked him if he wanted to go explore one of the alternate worlds, he couldn't say no. And thus the majority of the night before today was spent planning and preparing for the excursion. The two knew very little about Alternate Penecia, but it was a good place to start... No SE.RA.PH units had been seen around that area anyway... At least not to Phalanx knowledge, and the last thing he wanted was to go to Malstu again, and risk getting captured...

"Well, I'm ready when you are, Sky. Let's move." He stood up, and got ready to leave.


Neptunes hissing tone echoed through Phalanx's head. You could tell he was getting excited over this... After all, he had relished taking out those other units, why should he not enjoy crushing Shadows as well? // Indeed we are, Neptune. Don't worry, I'll let you have your share. //

The two found themselves standing outside the portal eventually. The mysterious blue glow was... entrancing. Phalanx stared into it with a determined expression. "You ready?" He asked Sky. If she would say yes, then he would enter the rift without another word... It was time to put this alliance of theirs to the test!

Exploration Theme:

As soon as Sky and Phalanx went through the rift, Cheshire who mostly stayed quiet and sleep on the other side, stretched within the girl’s mental landscape before sinking his claws into everything and becoming one with her. She could feel everything now. The tension of this world that found itself caught between two sides and the eagerness of Phalanx and perhaps his own persona that was awakened. The feelings were delightful and caused Sky to stretch as she let out a content hum and looked around the place they were in. It appeared they were in some form of room. The walls and flooring suggested a building or compound that had withstood many battles in its time.

Curious, but all she could feel on this side was a malice her own persona delighted in. Hehe. Must’ve been her boss here then. The big guy she had made a deal with to serve and bring servants to him. Yeah, she needed to get a move on the collecting front, but that would have to wait for the moment. Right now she had something else to settle, namely to see if she and Phalanx were compatible or not.

She wasn’t worried about the data part. Nah, she kind of figured she and he were more or less on the good end on that front. No she came to this place to test the fighting compatibility of the partnership.

If things worked like they should work then this would be more or less a piece of cake and if things got a bit out of hand they could retreat back to the portal, right?

They had an escape so now all they had to do is survive this test that would pit them against the shadows if she remembered correctly. She just hoped no random storms of death appeared like in the desert.

She’d hate to have to run without exploring and finding out what she could about this place. She wanted its secrets, so then….

Sky would glance over at Phalanx with a smirk as her eyes twinkled with excitement.

“Oh yes. I am always ready,” she said as she walked across the room and headed towards the door. She would pull it open and step out into a long hallway that led straight when she looked to the right and turned when she looked to the left. Hrm…which way was right and which way was wrong. Did it really matter?

It probably did, so Sky went with her instincts on this one. The turn was more interesting than the straight and narrow path, but at the same time probably more troublesome. Looking back at her partner, she would gesture the way she was about to go.

“Let’s see what awaits us down the hall,” she said with a light giggle clearly ecstatic about this whole thing before she turned away and began to move.
_________________________________________________

Movement:

Phalanx could feel Neptune's bloodlust itching within as the two stepped through the blue rift... Much to his suprise, he found himself standing in a room, not too large in size, and apparently quite worn... So this was the war-torn world of Alternate Penecia Island huh? He summoned his Soulbound weapon, Longinus in his hand, it's red metallic surface glisening from the little light that managed to make it's way into the room. There was rubble and debris everywhere, and the door in front of them, although seemingly functional, had seen better days.


Neptunes hissing voice echoed within Phalanx's mind with a playful tone. Perhaps his persona enjoyed this a little too much? Well, there was not much Phalanx could do about it. As the two approached the door, the android could feel a tinge of hostility in the air... Was it just shadows? Or was it perhaps someone or something else that wished them dead? ”You're excited about this, aren't you? Well, it's going to be fun, if nothing else, heh.” Phalanx wore a thin smile on his face. What awaited them beyond this door? There was only one way to truly find out...

When the duo stepped outside the room, Phalanx could hear a slight rumble in the distance... Was it the battles waged outside that caused it? Probably. But what could cause such a tremor in the first place? A large shadow? Or something entirely different? It was truly impossible to tell at present. When Sky pointed down the hallway, suggesting they would go there, Phalanx gave her an approving nod. ”As good as anything.” He honestly didn't mind Sky taking the lead. Letting her intuition as a treasure hunter lead the way sounded like a good idea at the time. Hopefully this would be the correct way to go. ”Alright then, let's go.”

And down the hall they went, sneaking cautiously, in case there would be an ambush. You never know when an enemy could show up... Especially in a hostile world like this one. Luckily enough for Phalanx, SE.RA.PH hadn't begun their search around Penecia yet for him, so they should be relatively safe from any uninvited guests... then again, just because he hadn't seen any of them on their way to the rift didn't mean that there weren't any on the island... With this in mind, Phalanx proceeded with caution, giving Sky a warning that SE.RA.PH units could show up. It wasn't very likely, but better to be safe than sorry...

Movement:

"Well, look at what we found here... They are all yours, Neptune!" Phalanx smirked as Neptune appeared in a cloud of black and purple smoke, unleashing a bright light on the two shadows.

Stats:

Passives:

Actions:

Cheshire was relaxed in Sky’s mind as her soul bound weapon, a strange sword, appeared in her hand in a quiet whisper of dark purple light tinged with the deepest of crimsons. She held the sword loosely in her hand as she simply enjoyed being in a place that ironically emphasized her feelings on what her own world deserved. It needed to be torn down and built up again. It would be a perfect world flawed by its scars only, but alas that was the future. Let’s focus on the now.

“But of course I am. This is a gold mine of information and more. Besides, seeing how well you can handle pressure is always exciting,” Sky said giving the other a wink before turning to face the door.

They would move out and enter the hall. While Phalanx didn’t seemed to mind following her, the machine was tense and concerned about ghosts of his past coming at them. While that was a possibility in such a wonderfully musical place like this, Sky had to wonder something.

“Would they follow you into a war zone?” she asked pausing for a second as she held a hand up to her ear listening to the rumbles from outside. She would smile as she looked over at Phalanx with a confident grin.

“Let them come if they dare,” she said with a giggle before resuming her walk once more.

She moved down the hall, spotted the shadows lurking in the way and smirked as Phalanx went in for the kill. He tried to use some form of light attack upon the beasts, but how effective that was not seen as she hopped back and summoned her own persona.

“Show them to the floor, Ches!” she said as the humanoid cat grinned and then raising its clawed hands to the air summoned a medium sized mouse made of earth, grabbing the mouse by the tail it would sling the squealing thing towards the shadow before it.

If it hit, the mouse would explode into a painful rocky blow, but if it missed, it would simply phase through the creature and disappear without harming it.

Stats and Actions:

"I've grown tired of this. You're just Trash!"

Stats:

Passives, Strengths, etc.:

Actions: