Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-26892768-20190520151915/@comment-26892768-20190522161101

The world Torchwick, the castle, and Eliza have found themselves in is dark - very little natural light is present, and strange ruins lay around them. If one were to look closely, one could see the skeletons of those who lived here before, clinging on to various valuables.

As for the ground...while Eliza's first inclination is to say it's sand, further examination shows that's not the case. Rather, the closest thing she can compare it to is...snake scales...

"Well, someone's self-indulgent." Eliza mutters under her breath as she recalls the voice of the ring, rolling her eyes as she drops the scale she was examining. The two constructs of her bodyguards are silent.

Then an orange light makes itself known. As Eliza looks up, she sees it - the remains of some humanoid creature cradling a small, orange, lantern-like device, perched high on some ruins in the center.

This is it. This is the thing that'll grant her power beyond her wildest dreams.

And like hell is she going to let anyone else get to it before she can.

Her sclera go black as her irises glow a yellowish orange, cat-like fangs showing through her smile as she says the first thing that comes to mind:  "Mine."

And she leaps for the lantern, her constructs following her as she takes flight.

Elsewhere, in Eliza's home world...

A black limo of some kind pulls up to the idol's home, stopping in front of the door. The limousine opens up, and out of it steps a young woman with brown skin, turquoise hair, and a rather risque orange and black outfit, outlined with diamond patterns.

...and a hat with giant muscular arms.

Forgot to mention the hat.

This is the woman commonly known as Cerebella. To the public, she's simply a very good acrobatic, but behind the scenes, she's an enforcer for the largest mafia in the Canopy Kingdom - the Medicis.

The latter plays into the reason she's here. See, there's been rumors floating about of the Skull Heart resurfacing - makes sense; it has been seven years since the last Skullgirl, and that's typically the gap between their appearances - and because of that, the Medici are looking to use their connections to Eliza to find it...because apparently she's some kind of really old blood-sucking not-vampire thing thanks to a Parasite.

Cerebella wasn't terribly surprised when she heard that - I mean, Eliza's managed to look the same for years, and plastic surgery only goes so far. Makes about as much sense as some of the theories she's seen go about.

But anyway, apparently this means Eliza can smell blood, and that can be used to track the Skull Heart and the current Skullgirl in control of it. Cerebella's just hoping she can find it quick, she has another assignment she has to get to...

Cerebella walks up to the door, and Vice-Versa (the hat mentioned earlier) knocks.

She's greeted with a rather disheveled-looking Horace. "Yes?"

"I need to see your boss." Cerebella states bluntly.

"...my apologies, but madam Eliza does not have any-" Horace stops himself as Cerebella gestures to the limo behind her, making it clear who she's working for. "-never mind. Come in."

Mayapple takes a moment to wave at the newcomer with a grin, then turns back to Mikoto with a sigh. "I understand - truly, I do; I have my own kingdom to run back home - but I'm not the one in charge here, so...I can't really-"

And then a large pink crystal nearby begins to glow.

"Oh!" Mayapple walks over to the crystal, tapping it a few times. "Maybe this...will..."

She trails off as the crystal displays two "feeds" of a sort - one focusing in on 9S, and the other on Cerebella.

The latter in particular is showing Cerebella from the back, and Mayapple can't help but blush like mad because, well...that skirt is not exactly the most effective.

The rings of the Star Sapphires pulse, informing them of what they're looking at.

"...o-oh! Soon-to-be recruits!" Mayapple tries to laugh off how flustered she is, mentally repeating to herself that she has a girlfriend and is very happy with her yes sir. "I guess we're supposed to watch, then! Not exactly very helpful in explaining why we're here, but it's something, right?"