In the Etherion nearby a small floating prism; the Leviathan known as Talon in distress. Not from an attack. At least not one directed AT him, but one taking place inside him. The conflict started because the newest member of Ori and Asura's Familia wanted to pick a fight to find out who's the strongest. Specifically against Asura. He however didn't seem all that eager to fight as he just stood there taking all of her aggression and hardly even reacting. An occasional twitch of his head in response to getting kicked, the mere flexing of his pectoral muscles deflecting her sword swings and not budging an inch from his spot. Needless to say, it was not going well for the newcomer. But still she persisted.
"Are you about finished?"
Asura stated in between her stikes as he was becoming more and more annoyed. The woman huffed and in exhaustion after using Asura as a punching bag for about an hour. Dropping to one knee with her sword dug into the ground, she tried to catch her breath. Ori took this as a sign that she had given up and that it was safe to approach.
Now that she finally stopped moving around so much, Ori could get a good look at her. When she was fighting it mostly felt like he was watching a white blur move across the halls, but now that she was still he could make out her features. She wore an elegant short dress with exposed midriff, cleavage, thighs, and her right shoulder. A long cape draped over left shoulder. She had knee high leggings with high heels and her entire pale attire was detailed periodically with black lining as well as black tassels hanging from her waist and a black fur band around her right forearm. Underneath that cape Ori swear he spotted what looked like a prosthetic arm which was all black, of course. Her long white hair almost covered her right eye that he assumed were BOTH a reddish pink color if it weren't for the bright flower coming out of it.
"You came out of that...Nihilism-thing swinging. I'd be a little more scared if I wasn't so impressed by how quickly you recovered. That was almost instant."
Ori tried to break the tension with compliments, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears. This woman clearly outmatched. Like a canoe trying to ram a battleship; it was a fight that was clear to everyone that she could not win. This reality only served to piss her off. She thought to herself: "What the hell is this guy made of?!" Asura seemed to recognize and respect her anger, if nothing else.
"Your attacks are too half-assed. You merely use your anger guide your blade. I use it to guide my very soul. Come back in 12,000 years when you've mastered TRUE rage."
The woman calms down despite his goading. Not wanting to sink to his level; she regains her composure and criticizes him.
"...You aren't THAT strong. Anyway, don't think this means you've won or that you get to be leader here."
She spoke firmly and confidently. In fact, all of her mannerisms accentuated her confidence and bossy attitude. If Ori could describe her in one word for her appearance, personality AND voice, it would be...LOUD. This Familia was not exactly hitting it off, but they didn't have time kiss and make up.
"We've spent so much time letting you...vent your frustrations on Asura that we missed the welcoming of our next member. Pit should have already pulled them out and explained some things to them by now."
The woman scoffed at Ori's impatience as she reluctantly followed them back to the room while the DRDs start repairing some of the damage to Talon's innards. One of them made a noise that sounded like blowing a raspberry at her. As they walked back and Ori lightly jogged in order to keep up with his larger comrades; he realized something.
"...Oh! I almost forgot. What's your name, Ma'am?"
"Don't ever call me Ma'am. I am an Intoner and my name is Zero."
"Ah. Well, nice to meet-"
Ori cut himself off as they opened the door to the room only to find Pit, alone and unconscious.
"P-Pit!"
Ori ran up to the angel and used his light to restore him. Pit slowly started to regain himself as he came around.
"Pit. What happened? Who did this to you?"
"...How? He disappeared. How is he back?"
"Pit?"
"His name is Kokichi. And he is bad news. His Familia rejected him. EVERY Familia we put him with rejected him because he was untrustworthy and a liar."
"Why is he on Talon?"
"That, I don't know. Nor can I tell you how he managed to evade me for so long that I though he drifted off into the Etherion OR what his plan is. But I can tell you...he took her."
Asura stepped forward.
"Took her? You mean our new member?"
"...Yes. I'm sorry. I can't stick around to explain. I have to report this to the Lotus right away!"
Zero crossed her arms and looked down her nose at all of them.
"Hmph. Already losing track of people? So, disorganized. This would never have happened if you had yielded to me sooner, Asura."
"I don't recall yielding to you AT ALL."
As the two of them bickered; for a brief moment, Ori's voice suddenly overshadowed both of them.
"SHUT UP! ...This is serious. One of our members has been kidnapped! What do we do in the meantime?"
Pit stood up and summoned his exit portal.
"...Stand by. Other Familia's won't find out your missing one if you go about business as usual. Assuming you even meet other Familias. Your final member will have to be put on hold while I work on a rescue operation. Gozet can NOT find out about this! Hopefully, Natah has been keeping her ear to the ground and can provide me with assistance...covertly."
Asura nodded as he relinquished the responsibility to the angel. Zero nonchalantly left the room without a care in the world. Ori however did not like the idea of leaving this matter to others, but what choice did he have. None of had figured out how to even communicate with Talon; let alone pilot him. But then...how did this Kokichi person even get here without a Leviathan. Surely, Talon would've done something that tipped them off if another Leviathan was approaching.
"Alright. I'm off. Keep your spirits up, Spirits..."
His attempt at a joke to provide levity did little in that regard. Ori waved him off.
"...Good luck."
Back on Moya in the mess hall; Mercy was trying desperately to make sense of the kitchen and what exactly was food and what wasn't. It all looked alien, yet familiar at the same time. She turned to look at Niko sitting excitedly at the table and Kamina with kicking his feet up as he leaned back somehow in a chair that was attached to the floor.
"Kamina!"
"W-What?!"
"...Feet off the table. Unless you want them to get served up with your meal."
Niko giggles as he cringes from the thought of eating feet. Kamina does as he's told without question. He felt in inclined to listen to her despite the fact that he never let anyone tell him what to do. But for some reason, he was embarrassed that he got caught. She let Kamina off with a warning as she returned to cook mode.
"...Now. What would you boys like to eat?"
Niko's eyes widened and his pupils became enlarged as drool started to drip from his mouth.
"...Pancakes!"
Kamina paused for a bit, still trying to shake off that weird feeling but also a little creeped out by Niko's enthusiasm.
"Uh...what he said! Oh! And some Pig-Mole steaks!"
"Alright. Coming right up...I hope."
Moya automatically lit up certain areas of the kitchen as Mercy started to make sense of things. Mercy appreciated the help, but was a little weirded out by the fact that the kitchen was teaching her how to use itself. She adjusted soon enough though. After she got comfortable, she bagan to make idle chit-chat with the boys.
"So, now that we're a full Familia...what do we do now?"
Kamina answered immediately as if she would reward him with more steak for speedy answers.
"No idea! But hell; it should be fun either way!"
"Watch you language in front of Niko!"
"Y-yes ma'am!"
He snapped to attention without even realizing it. She wasn't even that intimidating. How was she doing this? But the more he looked at her and considered how she looked at them in turn; he started to piece it together. He thought: "Is this what it's like to have a mother?" Kamina remembered his father fondly and with great reverence. But he never had nor understood the purpose of a mother. Niko seemed to be treating her with the same respect as well. Maybe she just had that kind of nature to her that made it easy to look at her that way. He muttered to himself.
"Might be nice to play house...for a while at least."
"Hmm? Speak up, Kamina. Did you want something on your steak?"
"Ah...no thanks! I'm good! Hey...you know...Moya seems to like you a lot."
"Really? She doesn't do stuff like this for ALL of you?"
"Well...Nevermind."
"Huh...Oh. Niko, how many pancakes do you want?"
"A dozen! No...a FIVE DOZEN!"
"Sweetie, you're gonna turn into Roadhog if you eat like that!"
Niko tilted his head.
"Roadhog?"
Kamina raised an eyebrow.
"Sweetie?"
Mercy lightly blushed as she laughed it off.
"...Sorry. Maybe I'm getting a little TOO comfortable. What's taking Sora and Esdeath so long?"
Kamina wondered the same thing.
"Eh...probably making out."
"W-what?!"
"Or killing each other. Hard to say when it comes to Esdeath."
"You...you ARE joking, right? What kind of person is she?"
"There's your answer right there. She ISN'T a person. She's a monster."
"And you just left her ALONE with that poor boy?!"
Kamina chuckled to himself as Mercy looked confused by his attitude.
"Heh. Because he's a MONSTER in his own way. He'll be fine."
"...I...see."
She whispered to herself.
"Heiliger Strohsack. I trade up one team of freaks for another."
"What was that?"
She quickly readjusted her tone.
"Nichts. Its fine."
*Now we got Zero from Drakengard 3 and confirmation of Kokichi from Danganronpa V3. I've decided to change the rules for choosing your character thing. The fact that they have to be dead to be in the story is a moot point so I'm removing it. Just pick your favorite character, living or not.*