[letter to all Heroes + action]

[red_planet_blues]

[A letter delivered to all Heroes of Light:]

Seems like just about everyone recognized someone in crystal status when the new guys were brought in the other day. Even some of you new guys did. As someone who's been here since this whole mess started, I can tell you that this is the first time that that's happened. Same with your violent arrival.

I never much liked this whole deal, and I'm liking it less and less every day. Some used to think that the Crystal of Fire was just sort of doing this and no one knew why. If you ask me, this past week's been a big clue pointing to someone being behind this. Not only that, but all that weird doppleganger stuff, like the ones we've found in the Magitek complex or around town only make everything even weirder. Someone out there sure knows a lot about my home planet, at least, and now we know they know plenty about the rest of yours, too.

Whatever this is all about, it's got something to do with that Lady Kalki and the Emperor. That's about all I got out of those dang spies when I saw them in Trano Golsaucia last month. You know what I miss? When I had an entire planet as my jurisdiction, not just one city. Otherwise they'd all be sitting in jail right now.

What I'm trying to say is that we can't just sit around and hope all this stuff just starts making sense sometime soon. It ain't. We need to do it without waiting for anyone to slid in and solve these problems. First things first: find Kalki. That means heading into the Empire somehow. And that means a whole mess of danger.

So who's interested?

- Sparks Nevada
Marshal on Mars
Captain, Aqures Ixen Police
and one ornery Hero of Light

---

[B: action/moogle

When the Heroes had been told they could once again bring items from home by Jessie, what Sparks had asked for was his Marshal Station. Asking for a small, rocket-powered, AI-equipped building is a bit of a tall order, and when too many days pass with no word from Jessie, Sparks figures it for a loss.

However, his moogle Red gets word that there's a delivery for her charge today, surprised to find a book had been brought for him instead. And what a book! Titled, "We're From Earth: A Tale of Star-Crossing Lovers", the book is apparently about the marshal himself and written by his ex-girlfriend, the famous writer Rebecca Rose Rushmore. Sparks is more of someone who will talk about his past exploits than anything personal, despite Red's attempts. A sucker for juicy gossip, Red's hit the jackpot.

She does give an honest try in not reading it, since it's his mail and not hers, but she can't resist. After all, what will one little peek hurt? Just a page or two! Naturally, she gets completely sucked in. The book is full of all kinds of sordid details she wasn't expecting, and Sparks comes off as a total jerk. Instead of flying directly to Sparks's house, she can be found reading the book while ambling her way there, her face glued to the pages.]

No way! [She gasps quietly.] Sparks, how could you, kupo...!

[Seems she's so enraptured that she's not looking where she's going or how low she's flying, and she smacks right into you, book falling cover-up at your feet. She squeals in horror to not only have done that, but to be caught red-handed.]


[[ooc - If you want to answer both prompts, go for it, but it might be easier to do it in separate tags.]]

Comments

[nankurunaisa]

...Um, I kinda wanted to talk about all of it.

[She's feeling nervous about the entire thing, so she tugs at the corner of her blouse with one hand. She's restless.]

There's a lot I don't understand...but I'm stuck here, too, so I should know! But I don't know who else to ask. Like, what's a doppleganger...? Where do you guys even learn all of this stuff?

[red_planet_blues]

Right, that. I learned about this stuff by bein' in the middle of it, that's what. C'mon. Might as well go inside. Gotta toss this thing into the fireplace anyway.

[He snapped the book closed, and waved Hibiki along to follow him.]

The short version is this: we ain't brought here randomly. Someone knows who we are 'n where we come from. That someone's the Empire. Y'know that Magitek center in the Sixth District? Coupla months back, some Empire spies infiltrated the place, so we all had to go in and take care of 'em.

[nankurunaisa]

[...So the book is going to be burned, huh. She doesn't say anything at first, she just nods and follows. She's uncharacteristically quiet.]

W-wait, they know who we are? You mean there's someone who spied on me and decided to bring me here? [She doesn't have to explain what she means. Her. An idol. Not a sheriff on Mars or a fighter like Kairi.] I've been trying to keep up with everything, I want to be in the middle of it, but...what did you learn there?

[red_planet_blues]

[Sparks waves a hand at her; slow down, kiddo.]

Never said I had all the answers yet. We don't know why they pick us, or how, or why. Or uh, much of anythin'. What I did learn was... Well, so those dopplegangers, right? Those were inside the Magitek Facility. We went in there cuz there was some intruders, who turned out to be Empire spies. But before we found them, we found a box with these, like, wax heads in 'em. Not quite like a robot, but kinda. Thing was, they were of me and everyone in my group. Then in the next room was five more, but the whole person, not just the head. And they were of folks I knew back on Mars. Mine was there too, missin' its head.

Oh yeah, and inside the box was a note from someone named Kalki. So that's one of the reasons we been lookin' for her. Have ya ever been walkin' around town and thought ya saw someone familiar? That might got somethin' to do with alla this.

[nankurunaisa]

What's a Magitek Facility, exactly?

[But aside from that one interruption, she does quiet down and listen to the entire conversation. It's a struggle. She really wants to say something and opens her mouth once to do just that, but she somehow manages to finish listening without asking more questions.]

...N-no, I don't think that's ever happened to me. But that's all so creepy! Even if they were just wax heads...and why of people that aren't even here? [Hibiki's face changes after a second, like she's had a realization, but then she shakes her head.] H-hey, this is gonna sound really out there, but...you know all about the Calamity, right? And how it's why we're supposed to be here?

[red_planet_blues]

Uh, a place where they make this stuff called Magitek armor. Like this armored robot things. Not that there's any in there. Trust me, I've been lookin'. [Being a Magitek Knight and all.]

Yeah, beats me. But someone clearly knows about me 'n where I come from. Heck, two folks from Mars even got dragged here by the Crystal after I was. Reckon it ain't just random as some mighta thought it was.

Did I mention that once we put the head on that copy 'a me, it snapped to life and then pulled a lever that dropped blades down, that chopped the heads off the ones of the other Mars folks? Cuz this story ain't weird enough, I guess.

["Out there", huh. Sparks's face is impassive, but he raises an eyebrow.] Yeah, I know about the Calamity. Whatcha gettin' at?

[nankurunaisa]

...Why would it do somethin' like that? Was it tryin' to hide something? I guess you probably wouldn't know that either, huh.

[She doesn't want to think about the randomness of everything. She's starting to feel pretty bad about getting Hamuzou and Inumi involved, but this isn't the time to think about that or talk about that.

She feels like it's a little dumb, so she chuckles to herself, ready to dismiss it as nothing. She's not really a plotter, a thinker, a planner—but she's going to remember that at least Sparks was willing to listen.]

Well...it's kinda like this. I was thinking, back when I lived in Okinawa, there was this boy who would always chase Kokemaro! So I stopped letting Kokemaro go that way, but...he only started being mean to someone else's pet, instead. It was really awful! Kokemaro was safer, but it wasn't like the problem really ended, y'know?

[And that probably sounds completely unrelated.]

What I'm trying to say is that with all this kinda stuff happening...dopplergangers and crystals of people from home appearin' and then disappearin'...maybe the problem isn't really just limited to right here. If they can bring stuff from our worlds here that bothers us, maybe the bad stuff can go to our homes, too. I know thinking negatively isn't gonna help, but...if the Empire and the Calamity are doin' bad stuff here, what if they're doing it in reverse, too? Like in the story, maybe there's more than one pet being chased and bullied.

[And of course, once she finishes, she rubs the back of her neck and tries to dismiss it.]

Mm...no, no, it's...silly to think about stuff like that, isn't it? All I really did is ask more questions again, didn't I?

[red_planet_blues]

[She almost loses him with the anecdote, but by the end Hibiki could tell he was thinking it over from the expression on his face. She had a point. There's no way to know for sure.

And the idea makes him a bit angry, because he knows how easy it would be for the Barkeep to draw Sparks, Red and Jim back to Mars to handle it, but he won't. All that nonsense about not being able to interfere.

Sparks's eyes narrow, and he frowns as he chews on this idea. Without him there, Mars could be falling apart!]

N...o, no, I mean, ya could be right. But we ain't got any way 'a tellin'. Y'know, I know someone who could fix all this in a jif. But he'd go on about not being able to "interfere" with his amazing cosmic powers. [That line's delivered with a healthy dose of mockery and air quotes.] Reckon that's another story for another day, though. If the Empire knows this much about us, I guess it's totally possible for 'em to be able to visit our homes. Meanin' I need to get back to Mars sooner than later to find out and kick 'em out.

[nankurunaisa]

Y-yeah.

[That's the first thing she says. It's a horrible conclusion to jump to, but if Miki and Takane were brought here as crystals just to upset her...does that mean people back in Japan are being attacked or something?]

I mean, I knew you were gonna say that! There's no way of knowin', but at least I feel a little better saying it at all. If they're attacking my friends, I'm gonna have to find a way to stop them, too. But...if they are doin' other things out there, there must still be a way to stop 'em over here. That's what I think, anyways.

[red_planet_blues]

Yeah. Pretty much this whole thing stinks. But all more reason to keep motivated to stop the Empire before they can do anything else to us. They may have some weirdo science magic, but we got heroes assembled from all over the cosmos with a whole range of skills. We just gotta put our heads together 'n outsmart 'em.

[It may seem like wishful thinking, but if there's anything Sparks has, it's boatloads of confidence in himself. He sincerely believes he can help stop all this stuff. It's just going to take some time, some careful planning, and teamwork.]

[nankurunaisa]

Right? Ever since comin' here, there's been all sorts of amazing people. I've met you, all sorts of warriors, an imp, a demon, a princess...it's like I'm readin' some sort of adventure story. So if anyone can stop the Empire or find out what's goin' on, [because part of her believes that the Calamity is still a very serious thing] it has to be us.

[And she's just the idol, but she has one more thing to say. But she straightens up before saying it.]

I even found somethin' only I can do here. I wasn't so sure before, but after talkin' to you, I feel a lot better! Thanks, Sheriff.

[That's not quite right, like usual.]

[red_planet_blues]

Marshal. [He adds that in quickly. He can't just let it go. There's a big difference!]

Right. We'll handle this. In the meanwhile, if ya wanna know about anythin' else that's gone on here before ya arrived, Zelda keeps the records of everythin' from everyone. Y'can catch up that way, too.

[nankurunaisa]

R-right. Marshal! That's what I almost said.

[She laughs a bit nervously. Too loudly.]

Mm, I'll do that. I have a right to know, even if I'm not a soldier or anythin'. But you know...I think I'm on the way to gettin' the hang of something. It's kinda weird, because I never make plans.

[She exhales and relaxes her shoulders.]

Thanks for takin' the time to talk to me. Geez, when you're like this, you almost remind me of my Producer, but he's not as scary.

[red_planet_blues]

It's nothin' don't worry ab-- Wait, what? Scary?

[He looks a little surprised at that. He's never considered himself to be scary.]

[nankurunaisa]

Mm! That's right! Scary!

[But since she's smiling wide when she says that, she's definitely teasing him. She brings her hand to forehead offering a salute to the Marshall.]

Good luck with the book and everythin'. For some reason, I feel really energetic, so I'm gonna get some work done! I'll see you and Mercury around, okay?