She stops, and very slowly and politely directs you to the shower. It's a surprisingly modest room, not like the opulent structures. This one was clearly not meant for guests.

When you get out, you find a surprise outside of the bathroom door: a large, empty metal sheath with a small stylized heraldry on it, a shield with four images on it: a gripped quill, a griffin holding a sword, two winged swords crossed, and a man holding a zweihander. "Karnstein" is written above another griffin on the top of the shield, while "St. Mark" is written below it.

There is no blade inside it, but it was definitely meant for a weapon such as yours. It is not a precise fit for your weapon, but it has a latch at the top to secure the weapon when not in use, and with a flick of the thumb it can be opened and a weapon drawn with one quick motion.

Beyond that, no other surprises await you for four hours.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!* Someone can really hit that wooden door your room has. Which sounds like Laura with the next words. "Wake up, sleepyhead! The day starts early around here!"

The electronic clock in your room suggests that it is 0600, on the mark. Apparently it is set for military time.

Incoherent noise comes out of my mouth as I try to speak on too little sleep. I knew it was a bad idea to try to sleep. I stumble around and get dressed and then come out pretty much awake.

I'll go and find Laura

"Thank you for the sheath for my Zweihander. It looks like it has some history though. Anyway, Good Morning. I don't usually do only four hours of sleep."

My stomach growls on it's own at this point.

"Ah I guess it has been a bit since I ate. Breakfast perhaps before we go to Mr. Changs?"

She's right outside your door, dressed in solid white business suit and pants. You notice all of the injuries from a few hours ago are all gone. "Hiya!"

She looks to the sheath. "Huh. I didn't even remember we had that. Jeeves must have taken it out of the vault for you."

"That's...really odd of him. I guess...he was serious when he said he'd try to help...you?" She seems confused by this. "Oh, well. We do have the connections to help you with that. If you were serious about that dojo thing, anyway."

She cheerfully changes the topic. "Anyhow! Breakfast! The white suit will make it a challenge." She started walking away. "Here's the plan: I'm going to take you to Chang's Bang Up Shop after we eat. There we can talk to the evasive old duff, and after that, you are on your own. I've got a LOT of interviews today, and a lot of specials to help out in. I'll then meet you again tonight, and we can stop a terrible thing from happening."

Jeeves is not present in the dining room this time, but a still steaming meal is waiting for you both. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, glass of milk...it's a pretty high octane meal. "How does he DO that? He can always make it fresh, but I never see him leave or arrive when he does. I'm half convinced he just orders it, and doesn't want to tell me."

Meal eaten, corvette gotten into...

"So, how's it feel, meeting a real life superhero? I'll just tell you it's not what its cracked up to be in the comics. And so you know, I also have to dress like I'm going to a funeral, bought from Hot Topic, or am going to a death metal concert in order for the spirits to not get mad at me during the day. House has to be the same way, hence all the gothy stuff."

She's driving really fast, almost fifteen to twenty miles over the limits in several parts of town. She's managing it like a professional race car driver, but it still feels like you are on a Six Flags roller-coaster.

"So, how long have you been at the business of being a hero? I've been doing this since I was sixteen."

"I will need to thank Jeeves when I see him again. This is a really nice sheath. A Dojo would be nice as a source of income. It's been far too long since I got to do a normal job for actual money."

I Eat ravenously. I Haven't had enough to eat in a long time due to those people in the fallen cyberpunk would not having enough to feed me.

"I have no clue, But it is delicious! How long has it been? I don't remember. Months? that sounds about right. I'll need to thank him... that would mess with our story. I'll need to thank him. But hold back on the praise I want to give for this amazing meal."

I ride with her. My Fearlessness causing me to not care how dangerous she is driving

"It's interesting how you are similar to one of the comic book heroes from my home world. Is there a DC Comics that Publishes Batman? Still I'd imagine that it is pretty hard to be in your position. All in all, I'm glad I met you."

At her question I say

"How long have I been doing this? It's hard to say. My internal calender tends to get messed up from world hopping. Let's see. It Was the local year of 2009, I was a utterly normal boring nerd. Although I did like taking Martial arts. I Was attending ITT Tech In Nashville. A friend of mine asked me to set up Linux on his new computer. Something with the new 'Scriff Inside' in it. He spilled a drink on it and I got electrocuted. It hurt and I died.

I woke of in a Dungeon and Dragons Dungeon and ended up fighting Kobalts for my life. I discovered that I could channel chi to do magic. While fighting a troll I messed up and drew in all the chi around me. Killing everything around me. A Dragon Mind Controled me into releasing all the chi stored within me. I exploded. It hurt and I died.

Crazy stuff happened. It hurt and I died
I got shot while sleeping. It hurt and I died.

I was a unarmed gladiator on a space station. I fought Captain Kirk, Spock And Jack the Ripper. I was really stupid and pushed my magic too far.  I exploded. It hurt and I died.

I Organised a group to fight a type of plant that steals lifeforce at a distance. I was there about a year. Then I messed up in my magical research and development. I exploded. It hurt and I died.

I was another space gladiator. there was no magic here. I Fall to my death exploring some ruins. It hurt and I died.

I'm in a place called the Final Empire.It makes Rime city look like a day in the park. I integrate myself into a noble resistance movement. I ended up confused by a passage and talked with The Goddess Athena who directed me to another verser called Jhiaxus. Who I still owe Lessons in a Style of magic to. He Sent me to THe Plane of War. I did not in fact die.

The plane of war is an plain of indestructible iron that is a few light years across. I teamed up with Mario,Ryu and a girl with the power to teleport things. To fight Demon clowns and aztec prists and Rescue Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. We defended some hill and then got attacked by parakoopas's then a Balrog showed up and I had to fight it.I gathered more red mana than my soul could handle. Injuring it. I fused a thousand lighting bolts into a spear and stabed the balrog with it. he staped me with a sword of fire and darkness. It hurt and we both died.

I'm in a modern world with gods and demigods running around. Tried to teach some demigoddesses magic. They didn't listen to me and gathered enough red mana to level Alabama. I took it into myself and used it to stage a fireworks show.I'm surprised I didn't explode. This got the attention of the Greek Gods. They sealed my power with a torc that did the magical equivalent of tying both my hands behind my back. While they where doing this Titans kidnapped those two demigoddesses... I tried to save them. I went to hades and back. I punched out and out philosiphied a ubermensch wanabe. I Literally clawed my way down the throat of hydra so I could rip and tear into it's gut. Incidentally causing it to explode and sending me into hades in the first place. I stood up to Atlas without my the vast majority of my magical might. And it was all for nothing. at the last minute I messed up with my magic and those two and those that where these to help me died. The Dying didn't hurt that time. The weigh of my mistakes hurt.

An expy of France is being invaded by Muslim expy immigrants. And their government is too stupid to stop them. I ended up climbing Yggdrasil to get knowledge to help them. I died on my way up from poison from a dark elf. But continue due to a blessing from Hel. Being dead yet sill moving whule my organs undergo necrosis is rather unpleasant. being dead has some advantages, such as not needing to breath. Which helps since there is no air up there. near the top I am challenged by giants. I out wrestled Old Age. and I Nearly Beat Famine in a eating contest do to trickery. Butthe last thing he wanted me to eat was human flesh. This pissed me off so much that I called down Solar fire to cleanse Niflheim. I died a failure yet again.

A dark future where Cyberpunks overthrew the magacorporations. I stayed at a haven and used my intelect to recreate some of the comfort of the old world. It was nice I stayed there a few months. but I never got enough to eat. Then the ruling body pissed me off and I when of a quest to prevent them from getting what they want.I ended up doing things like surfing an avalanche of cars down. I just... no longer feared death. this stuff is fun. I got in contact with an AI that runs the water plant. But before I could help him I encounter a guy that needed to die. But he rigged up a ICBM with a nuke on it to attack his position when he died. I died.

A fantasy world with an insane amount of magic running though it. I fight off Fey. I met an alternate parallel verser version of a friend I had in my homeworld. Ed, Goes by Mentat now. He apparently picked up a smart girl during his time as a verser. I'm not sure how she is going with him. He notes that my aura is damaged and that is part of the reason I explode all the time. He broke the tork sealing my power. He teaches me Acashic Martial Arts so I have a style of magic that will let my aura heal. My Avatar beats more knowledge of magic into me. I fight fey yet again. and get ripped apart by pattern spiders. I didn't know I could be ripped apart in those ways.

My Last world. A world sized Battle ship that is also a Primordial called Autochton. I am captured by the Exalted, Superpowered beings with enough magi in them to destroy a sun. I scare them with my Acashic Martial Arts. but I talk with them and make deals to help them fight the foes that ran them out of the known universe. Other Primordials. They captured Mentat too and pissed him off by not listening to him. I diffused the situation by talking. I had a deal to talk with one of their diplomats...But Mentat died from the stress of what he was doing before that scared them.The diplomat wanted to help place me in their military the part I wanted to go into requires skill as a craftsmen. So I made My sword. I Stomped the ground to dislodge a Metal spirit and then Punched it continuously until it was in the shape of a sword then I purified it with red mana. Anyway. It turns out that the Diplomat was a Primordial Double Agent. and he attacked me accusing me of being a fey. I fought and caused him to show himself as an Akuma.
then he transformed into a great beast with many tentacles. I cut him in half and then he split into many clones to cause havoc in the city we where in. Straining my Acashic Martial Arts, I sheathed my sword in the concept of 'destruction' and then stabbed him with it. causing all the clones to explode. But I paradoxed hard. and caused the thing running the world to glich and stopped time.

Then My Avatar showed up again. Wanting to fight me. But I was told that fighting or using magic directly against your Avatar is a really bad Idea. So I try to bargan with it. that didn't work.
I didn't want to fight it there because there are innocent people around and a battle between us would rip the fabric of reality asunder... So I sacrificed Myself. and My desire to fight the Primordial creators of that reality. I let it kill me so those people would be save. Sigh. I could have done so much more if I stayed... But those peoples blood are not on my hands. and that was all I could do there.

So in total. I think I done this for two or three years. Sorry for the info dump. I'm not much of a hero. But hopefully I'll make a difference here before I die again.

The magic here wont let me do such absurd things. So I'm not as strong as I am normally"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:22, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

She pulls into a parking lot at high speeds and comes to abrupt, if safe, stop. She steps out of the car, smoothly sliding a pair of sunglasses on. "Wow. I'd call all of that crazy, but considering that I have come back from the dead, and receive orders from beings in charge of death, and that they really don't like that I keep using my old name butwhatdotheyknowIneededtodoitinordertobringdownmyparent'skillerandIcan'texactlyundoitwithoutbringingundoattentiontothemsonowtheyarealwaysangryatme..."

She takes a moment to stop, prop a hand on the car for support, and take a few deep breaths. "Anyways, I thought dying once was unpleasant. I can't imagine doing it over and over. And coming back someplace different each time? I can't tell if the shinigami court would like you or hate you."

The location you are at is a run down former cafe turned into a garage. There are several damaged cars outside of it, and a few that look like they could actually run.

You hear a old man's voice from inside the shop, deep, clear but raspy with age. "Hello again. I guess you found that ally of yours I mentioned. Figured you might go and make your own 'ally.' But you found one a real one instead of making a thug into an unwilling ally. Come in, come in, both of you. It's not every day I predict the actions of beings that have no fate. We have a lot to discuss and little time."

She goes right in, hand over the top of her face to stop the sun from getting to her. It isn't much of a walk to see the speaker, a short, old oriental man wearing oil and rust stained overalls. He is calmly spinning a tire iron in his hand. "Walter Chang, at your service. But I suspect she told you that, and you aren't here about a car, are you? What do you need to know?"

OOC: Depending on your inclination, she can ask a question or comment first, or you can. Let me know OOC.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

I reply to her statement.
"Well, It's better than the alternative of dying permanently. Knowing my luck they would think I'm somesort of abomination."

I raise an eyebrow at Mr. Chang know that I don't have a fate. I'll follow Laura in.
When he invites questioning I'll say.

"That is quite impressive Mr. Chang. Considering that even I can't predict where or when I'll show up in my next world. How did you do that? Actually a more important question would be 'What do you know about me?"

I'll take a look at Mr. Chang with my chi sight.

Chang's aura is rather odd. It's like he is here, and not present at the same time. He's like Laura in a way, but between reality and fiction. He has swirls of white and blue flowing in a smooth fashion around him.

He looks you right in the eyes. "You see me, don't you? Just as you can see her. I didn't so much predict your coming so much as I predicted something would appear where you were at, and it wouldn't be a demon. It wasn't removed from fate like a demon or a shinma, and its not outside of fate like shinigami. You have an aura that would confuse the uninitated for a god."

"Shorthand: Laura has no fate, because she has died. Her fate was realized, if ahead of schedule. A god, or a powerful spirit, actually has a powerful fate, because they are bound for a specific job in the universe. Whether they choose to do it or deny it, their role defines them one way or another. You are different. Your fate just doesn't end. It spirals into the great unknown, and just keeps going. It's actually rather unsettling to look at for a long time."

"Are you Incarna? I've been working for the Heavens for sixty years now, and I'd like my back pay for that time." He's half joking with you, judging from his tone and goofy smile.

Laura cuts off the ability to answer. "Chang just knows things, because he has spirit contacts everywhere. I'm on a bit of a time crunch, so I've got a question of my own: what exactly happens tonight, now that he is here?"

Chang loses the smile, and looks rather grim. "The vision is unchanged. The Bricks burn in a vast fire, many people die, and then...the monster is here. That's all my vision tells me. Then a lot of destinies end early. Nothing changes, because neither of you are a part of fate. It doesn't account for you intervening."

"Ugh!" Laura is not pleased with this. "Then why on earth did I search him out?! If nothing changes, what was the point? I invited this guy to my house, because I thought he might be the monster!"

"That..." Chang is clearly confused. "Doesn't make any sense."

Laura just throws up her hands in frustration, and yells again in fury. She breathes out calmly, and goes into cold voice mode. "I have an appointment. I'll be in the Bricks tonight. Make sure you are present. Chang won't go, because he has really stupid oaths. But you are not bound, and you might be a powerful ally."

She walks off going straight for her car at a brisk walk, and Chang just raises an eyebrow at you, inviting another question or action.

I call out to Laura
"I'll see you then! I'm Not bound by fate So maybe We can Change Fate together!"

I turn to Mr Chang
"While I can't see fate yet.Something about your aura is extremely odd. Like you are both real and fiction. Which is unsettling because I've seen fey before. What exactly are you? Laura said you are Tennin. But that doesn't mean much to me."

You hear her car starting up, and she drives off with her usual precision.

"Huh. Young people." He speaks this dismissively as he looks at her drive off. He then turns to you. "A few of us broke something in Heaven a long time ago. That was very stupid, whatever the intended reason may have been. Means normal folks have a hard time keeping us in mind. Makes it easy to be forgotten, but hard to be recalled. Arcane, is the word I have heard used for it. Annoying is mine. Makes business difficult to build up."

"Tennin is a term used to describe those who work for the architects of heaven, the Shinma. We don't get along with Shinigami normally, and we do not work together as a rule. They see Shinma as being just as meddling in the world as any demon, and they have a good point. I am neutral, these days."

"But the point is that we work for the Celestial Bureaucracy, and make sure overzealous demons die. In theory, anyways. Demons are the only thing I will fight, and while I can see their hand in the upcoming event, I don't think they are what will be driving it. Look for Black Dragon dealers during tonight's event. That drug is somehow important, but I don't know how."

"I see. Well then. I'll keep an eye out for that Black Dragon stuff.
Well. I have a few hours to try to figure out how to make my magic work with the world so I'm not ripped apart by pattern spiders again. "

"Pattern spiders, you say?" He props himself off the wall. "The only reason they would attack you at all is if you were somehow interfering with their job. Meaning...someone has taught you Do."

"Well, it is truly best you have found your way to me. Do is more than merely magic. It is likely the pinnicle of fighting craft. Not even the Breath of Heaven comes close, nor our own Celestial Ladder, although it most resembles the Ladder to me. I'm guessing you have learned the craft before you learned the discipline. For a normal person, this would be tantamount to suicide. The power of Do, without fail, kills or maddens its wielder eventually. It is the gift of the Shinigami, granting great knowledge at the cost of your life."

"I suspect death is not a problem for you, and madness is not something you have learned to fear. But death will still remove you from our world, and in some ways you are more fragile than we are. So, to use Do, you must learn control."

"If you are willing, I will teach you as much as I can before sundown. Then you must be gone, if you intend to fight. I personally think this is unwise, but if you are willing to take the consequences for such things, you should do what you feel is right. I simply cannot see how to stop such a force as I am seeing without doing its work. I can see why she might have thought you might be this monster. You radiate power. You just don't radiate that overwhelming sense of...nothing else. The monster is here." He says that last line like he wasn't quite paying attention.

"Don't panic yet. It's not here-here. Nor is it close. But it will be."

"Breath of Heaven? Celestial Ladder?... Anyway. You are right. Death just moves me to my next world. And without my magic I'm just a somewhat tough normal human.

Please teach me what you can. Restraint and control are not my strong suits."

"Good. Sit down, right where you are, and do absolutely nothing but sit there until the sun goes down. If you fail at this, I will look at you. That should be punishment enough. Succeed, and you will learn how to master your Do. I will return soon." He turns and leaves before waiting to see if you are even doing that.

"... Ok. I assume that thinking is included in doing nothing. Ok I can do nothing."

I sit down in a lotus position and start clearing my mind and enter no-mind.
And I sit there.

About five minutes later, he comes back in, toolbox in hand. "Excuse me, but I need you to move. I have a car to work on, and you are in the way of my business. Please move, young sir."

I continue to sit there.

He is clearly getting perturbed, although just a little. "I am aware I told you not to move. That order has been cancelled. Now, please, get out of my garage. I have work to do."

I continue to sit there.

He sighs. "I see. Well, I suppose I will simply work outside. If you are here in one hour, I am calling the police. Then you will leave."

He walks outside, and leaves you alone.

Your chi sense gives you some interesting knowledge about this place. There is a lot of red and blue power lines coming in here, mixing with white power lines. Oddly, Black mana seems to just skip over and around this shop. It is still in the city around you, but Chang's shop is an island in an ocean of darkness. There are also beings here...spirits within the latent tools and parts.

He returns after an hour. "Well, time is up. The police have been summoned. Get out of my shop. Now."

I continue to sit there.

He stands there, after a bit tapping his foot while looking at the entry way for incoming vehicles to his shop. The edges of your vision are beginning to play tricks on you here. You swear you see tiny beings moving in and out of the objects in his shop.

"The RCPD is notoriously slow to respond, you see. They are legendary in that respect, among other negative ones. So unfortunate. Perhaps if they were better, prophecies and fighters would not be needed to save the innocents that still exist in this city."

"Well, I cannot run you over with the car. I might have, in my youth. And while you are not mortal, I don't like testing my oaths. So, I guess you get to sit there, looking stupid, in the middle of my shop."

"I am going to the scrapyard. I will be back in two hours."

You are getting a bit uncomfortable. Especially when he comes back, after what feels like forever, with two large and glorious ham sandwiches, sits himself at a table close to you, and sets the other sandwich in front of an empty seat next to him. "As long as you are being a fool, you might as well be a fed one. Get up and eat."

Well ether I'm going crazy or I'm starting to gain enlightenment

My stomach growls at the smell of the ham sandwiches.

I continue to sit there.

He eats his ham sandwich calmly. "Now you are just being ridiculous. Now you are offending the little god in charge of the sandwich. Surely you are catching glimpses of the spirits in this place? You can likely see him, begging to fulfill his purpose in the cosmos, and provide you with the strength you will need tonight. Stand up, stop looking like a crazy person, and get some food in you."

You do actually think you see a small entity overlapping with the sandwich. It looks like a small ball with spidery legs, fading in and out of your vision.

I'm need to understand in order to fight tonight.
I continue to sit there Until I am enlightened.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:01, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

"No?" He finishes up. "Now that is just plain rude, on many levels. I will put the sandwich in my fridge. Perhaps a sane man will eat it later."

He walks out of the room, you hear a door opening and closing with a distinct plastic sealing noise. He returns.

"And that doesn't bother you." He puts a hand to his forehead. "You are really testing my patience today. In all seriousness. Get. Out. Of. My. Shop."