OPEN | It's Raining Skyfallen

[sixthdeadliest]

Who: Six sixthdeadliest, OPEN
What: This time, the Convergence is dumping people in Little Love where Six has set up shop. Time to meet the new neighbors.
When: January, all-month
Where: Little Love, Kansas for most of the month. One prompt is in Central City, Michigan.
Content Warnings: Should be fine. Will update as needed.


[January 3rd - 10th: Little Love, Kansas (De-Aged)]
Six was rather irritated that he'd been transformed into a kid about ten years old, the same estimated age he'd been when One had found him. At least this time around, he was scrawny and a bit underfed, not starving and half-dead.

Still hated it though.

But life went on, and apparently so did the Convergences. And it looked like Little Love was their latest pick for a dumping ground.

He craned his neck to look up at the latest newcomer. "You're new. Just arrived or moving in from out of town?"

[January 11th - 31st: Little Love, Kansas (Normal Age)]
It felt good to be big enough to properly handle his magna blades again. Even with the shuriken constantly on his person, he'd felt naked.

Now that things were calming back down to their typical chaos, Six wandered the area to see what might need to be done to fully restore the weird status quo.

[January 14th: Alliance HQ and the surrounding area, Central City, Michigan (Nanite Checkup)]
Six adjusted his jacket. While he waited for the results of the tests to come back, he had plenty of time to kill. He might as well go out and about.

First order of business, coffee. He could put that gift card Prodigy had given him to good use.

Second, well, he'd just take in the local sights and browse the shops for anything he might need that Little Love didn't have.

[Wildcard]
Want to hit up Six but don't see anything that matches? Throw it my way!

Comments

[sixthdeadliest]

"Six. Nice to meet you."

He maneuvered the chair around to grab the teapot and the tea leaves. Adding the hot water to the leaves to allow them to steep, he turned back to her.

"Welcome to this version of Earth. You came through one of the confluences, same as me. I've actually been here for a few months now."

[weakest_ninja]

“Six… nice to meet you, too.” Sakura replied.

“A confluence? That’s what that portal was?” She asked. “I was told something about… ‘super powers’ and ‘heroes’ and ‘guilds’ and… it’s all too much.”

[sixthdeadliest]

He nodded as he retrieved a pair of mugs for their tea, continuing to let the leaves steep.

"It is a lot to take in at once. My world went through something somewhat similar about five years ago so it was a bit easier for me to hit the ground running. I can't say I know the specifics of how these confluences work, but I've been around long enough to get the general idea."

He set both mugs down on one side of the table, his side, before he brought the teapot over. He didn't pour just yet -- One would've found some way to reach through the multiverse to smack him if he tried pouring before it was ready, EVO transformation or no -- but sat ready to pour for his unexpected guest when the tea had finished brewing.

In the meantime..."Tell me what you've been told so far and I'll answer any questions you might have as best I can."

[weakest_ninja]

Sakura let out a breath, trying to make sense of everything before explaining what she remembered.

“First, those guilds. Alliance and Society. They claim to be heroes and villains, but it can’t be so simple, can it?”

[sixthdeadliest]

"That's not quite accurate, no.

"The guilds offer housing, medical treatment, funding, etc., to its members so long as they abide by their guiding principles."

Six began to pour the tea. Green tea, to be exact.

"The Guardian Alliance's guiding principle is that power must be used selflessly. Meanwhile the Society of Villainous Reformation believes in freedom from responsibility. On the surface, it seems to be divided into a guild for heroes and a guild for villains if you want to use those terms, but it's not that simple."

He set the teapot down and pushed the first mug over to Sakura.

"The Alliance seeks to protect this world from threats from within and without. A noble cause, but they have a habit of marketing their members on social media. Theoretically, this is supposed to boost the general public's confidence in Metas, but it also attracts those who only want to make a name for themselves."

He started pouring his own mug.

"The Society believes that someone is only obligated to use their powers for personal benefit. It publicly runs a rehab facility for former criminals and to help keep troubled young Metas from going down the same path. However, because their guiding principle promotes selfishness, they do end up providing resources to those who'd cause trouble though they keep their members from attempting anything like triggering the Apocalypse."

He set the teapot down again, picking up his mug.

"The third option is to go it alone, but unless you have skills that can transfer over to the civilian sector, it can end up being the much harder row to hoe. I'm a member of the Alliance because my skills don't carry over to civilian life that well and I need the benefits that being part of a guild would grant me. It has the added boon of being similar enough to the organization I worked for back on my world that if anybody else from there shows up, they'll likely be drawn to it." He shrugged. "Mutual exploitation."

[weakest_ninja]

Sakura took her own mug and listened to what Six had to say. This made the whole thing a little more complicated than she thought.

“Well, I can’t go the route of going it alone.” She said, taking a sip. “I’m only 13. There’s no way I can handle this world on my own. But both those groups…”

Both sounded good, but Sakura was inwardly prodded by what Six said about the Alliance.

“Tell me more about the Alliance. You said people make names for themselves?”

[sixthdeadliest]

"The Alliance isn't just trying to protect this world. They're fighting a PR war to try and calm rising anti-Meta sentiment. This means turning a lot of its members into celebrities to put on a good face. There's a lot of money and social capitol in being a celebrity, so some people will join up purely to set up their brand."

Six took a sip of his tea.

"Since I didn't pick up any powers from the confluence that brought me here or any others since then, the most they can use me for on a PR front is a demonstration that non-Metas can work with Metas. I largely chose to be stationed here in Little Love because it didn't have much coverage from either guild in case of trouble, but being so far out in the sticks means it's more of a hassle to bring me in for PR purposes more than they absolutely have to."

[weakest_ninja]

“I see… PR work… and celebrities? That’s a far cry from home, where we’re ninja and we help others with various missions.”

The idea of being a celebrity, though. She’s already thinking of how she could use it to win over Sasuke.

“But, if that’s the case, I… might need help.”

[sixthdeadliest]

"The celebrity portion is just added on top of everything else. They mean well, but there are things I'd rather avoid personally."

Being a celebrity was not his idea of fun.

"You're thinking about joining?" He raised a surprised eyebrow. "I didn't think I was that convincing."

Not that he'd been trying to convince her either way, just lay out all the intel he knew so she could make the best decision for her situation.

[weakest_ninja]

“Not joining, not yet.” Sakura said. “I’m… pathetic. Even if I was to join them, I have no idea how to fight, more or less use any abilities I have.”

She let out a sigh.

“Before I came here, I was part of a mission to protect a person from some… unsavory people. I froze up but the boys on my team… they handled it.”

She looked at Six.

“If I’m going to be of any help, I need to be able to fight.”

[sixthdeadliest]

"I could teach you a few things. You wouldn't be the first teenager I taught. At the very least, it could give you a head start in figuring out what your fighting style is."

Though given he was currently in the body of what looked like a ten year-old, that probably sounded strange.

[weakest_ninja]

Blink. Blink-blink.

“But… you’re a kid.” Sakura said, tilting her head. “Probably no older than I am.”

[sixthdeadliest]

"Not exactly."

He awkwardly pushed his sunglasses higher up on his nose.

"There's actual magic here, and someone thought it'd be funny to turn quite a few adults into kids. I'm actually in my thirties."

[weakest_ninja]

“…what?”

Sakura blinked in confusion. “Actual magic…?”

It certainly was no jutsu that’s for sure. This caused her to sigh and shake her head.

“This world is getting weirder and weirder…”

[sixthdeadliest]

"Welcome to the madhouse. It's awful," Six said dryly.

[weakest_ninja]

“Eheheh… oh, boy…” Sakura could only mutter.

Deep inside her, however, a voice ranted and raved about just how stupid this place was and she really wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

“So… what should I do now?”

[sixthdeadliest]

"It's up to you, really. Thirteen is young, but you still have plenty of options on how to get by. Though if you're serious about learning to fight, it might not be a bad idea to start by looking for a teacher while you're looking for somewhere to live."

He paused.

"And if you're planning on remaining unaligned, figuring out how you're going to earn money for rent and food. I don't recommend life on the streets."

[weakest_ninja]

“That’s a lot of questions and I don’t have many options.” Sakura admitted. “If that magic wears off, can I come back to see what I can learn from you?”

[sixthdeadliest]

"Honestly, I could probably teach you a few things now. I was about this age when Master started teaching me."

And a lot more scrawny back then.

"It'd mostly be tricks for dodging and using knives and shuriken, but it's a start. I can't properly wield my swords like this."

[weakest_ninja]

“Oh, that’s actually fine, honestly!” Sakura said. “Something that basic would be best for me.”

[sixthdeadliest]

Six nodded his understanding. "Once we finish our tea, I'd like to do a basic spar to get an idea of your current skill level. Also any bad habits you might need to break." He raised a curious eyebrow. "You mentioned something about a mission...?"

[weakest_ninja]

"Haaa, yeah. Y'see, as shinobi, we're meant to run various jobs that are determined by rank. As genin, the lowest level, we're really only allowed to handle D-rank jobs and sometimes C-rank. However, the person who requested the mission we were on lied about the danger because he lacked money." Sakura said. "We completed it, but it... wasn't pretty."

[sixthdeadliest]

This was not adding up.

"You're training to be a shinobi at thirteen, and you don't think you'd be able to make it in this world on your own?"

If anything, the girl should be able to easily protect herself. What was she doing asking for basic knife fighting lessons?

[weakest_ninja]

"W-Well, you see, I..." Sakura stammered. What was she going to do? Or say? She'd be laughed out if she told him that she was too focused on making goo-goo eyes on the pretty bad boy to even think about being a fighter!

As she tried to figure out what to say, she groaned and held her head, slumping over... before she looked back up at Six, grinning, her eyes now a piercing blue.

"Because the girl's absolutely love sick!" she finally said, her voice a little more louder. Say hello to the Confluence-awakened "Inner Sakura". "She's too focused on trying to win the boy on her team to even try to be useful and she won't admit it!"

[sixthdeadliest]

There was a very pregnant pause, Six's eyebrows shooting high above his sunglasses in surprise.

"...I appreciate the honesty." One eyebrow lowered as the other remained arched. "Do you have a name?"