kaisou | video | un: captamerica

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video | un: captamerica

WHO: James Rogers & You!
WHERE: Gemini
WHEN: February 5th
WHAT: James has a proposition and a question for the network!
WARNINGS: Talk of death and grieving practices and.... I mean, it's James. There's no way the robot apocalypse won't come up.

[The camera clicks on to a view of a chair in front of a desk in a slightly cluttered room in Meropide. It's clear some effort went into tidying it up, but there's still a few shirts and socks strewn over the place and the wall is a mess of overlapping posters of various scenic views and national parks. James is partially in frame, adjusting the camera angle before stepping back, seemingly satisfied, and going to take a seat.

He's in his Captain America outfit, a blue-black top with a red star stitched into it, his hair combed back nice and neat-- he's in work mode, not chaotic little cat gremlin mode.]

So... hi. For those of you who don't know, I'm James Rogers. I came here from a different world last September, so I guess I'm what people would call an... isekai? [It's so obvious he's never said that word out loud in his life.] Anyway, that's not-- ... what I'm trying to say today.

[He makes a face, takes a deep breath, squares himself up a little more in his chair, and...]

My home world is one of many that we know of. We've been dealing with alternate realities for a long, long time. With worlds that become entirely new realities based on a single decision or a won or lost battle-- the place I was before Kaisou, I was living and dealing with three completely different versions of the guy who raised me. So situations like this aren't that uncommon for me.

And at home-- we have a team. A group of people with extraordinary abilities who came together to help fight unthinkable forces and just to help the people of the cities they lived in. In my world, I'm the leader of that team, and in the place I was before this, I helped put together another branch of it. I'd really like to do that here, too, but...

[EXHALE] I guess I just really don't want to step on any toes, and you guys have been really organized here. It's nice to see.

Because of that, I just want to know if there are any other people around my age with abilities or powers either from their worlds, or from Kaisou, who want to get together to train and maybe form a response squad in times of danger. My... father believed that the most dangerous thing people with abilities can do is not know how to use them, and I know I've gotten some weird abilities since living here that I definitely didn't have in my world.

So, if anyone wants to join the Avengers-- or at least the Kaisou branch of them, let me know! I'm sure with all the spirit realms and places constantly showing up around the city, we can find a place or two to get together and figure things out.

[This is, by far, the most anyone has ever heard James speak at once. Seems the boy can channel his father when he needs to! But as he leans forward to turn the camera off, he pauses, and sheepishly adds a little aside--]

Oh, and... for anyone who isn't interested, maybe I can just ask you a question. What... do people typically do to honor those who have died, here?

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"Support, huh?" James lapses into thought for a moment, trying to think of something in his world that might be equivalent to that. "I think I'd like to see what that means, if you don't mind? There's a few different types of supports that we have in my Avengers back home, as well as in my parents' generation. There used to be healers, I think, and we have an archer on my team who has a lot of different trick arrows he uses. He can slow people down, deflect attacks-- things like that."

He's really curious as to what Ritsuka means, now.

"I'll reach out to her to make sure. Persephone, right?"

Edited 2025-02-05 17:16 (UTC)

"Well, to really show you we'd need to fight something..." Yes, she said we, she meant it when she said she's not the one fighting. "But basically it's like, say if you have a a swordsman and an archer. If they fight together they can cover a lot of things for each other and be even better, right?

"But what if you had a third person? Someone who maybe doesn't even do much in the fight directly, but keeps an eye on what's going on, and knows what everyone else can do. That person could help both of them, telling them when there's an opening, warning about an incoming attack, and because now they don't have to worry about keeping track of anything else, they can both go all out even more than before. Something kind of like that, basically."

A tactician and field commander rolled into one, essentially. And like James, once you got Ritsuka talking about the technical details of what she did, a lot of that hesitance and downplaying her own skills disappeared. This was what she did, after all, had more or less been her life for a good three or four years, it was familiar and easy to talk about.

"Yep, that's right!"

"There's some monsters in the spirit realms, right?" James does not seem to be concerned about this at all. "Or we could see what jobs are up right now, I know the Aides are trying to organize helping people out, but there's also what's on the job boards around town. ... and I guess there's the mountain, but I haven't been there, yet."

He's thinking, lapsing into thought with his chin in his hand, trying to think of the best course of action, here.

"I'm really curious about what you're talking about-- any time I've been in the field, I have to keep an eye on everything going on while I'm fighting, so having someone who can help keep an eye on everyone would be great."

"Some of them, yeah. There's always plenty in Hyrule, though some of the other spirit gates don't have much. I've been to the mountain, but you have to make sure you have a way to deal with the cold there."

She had the advantage of a couple of magical items on that front, at least.

"You think so? Back in my world, it's pretty much the only thing I can do, that and a few support spells. So..."

Ritsuka was used to dealing with fights where, well. Suffice it to say the combatants on both sides were so far beyond human in sheer power that participating directly herself had never really been an option.

"I've learned not to discount anyone's abilities, or what they can contribute to a fight or helping others," James is honest about that, emphatic even. Though...

"Let's... maybe avoid the cold, then. I'll check on Hyrule and see if there's anything people have seen that won't be too dangerous, but will still be a nice challenge. I'm pretty confident in hand to hand and with my shield, but I'm still getting used to the abilities I've gotten since coming here, so maybe you'll also be able to see something I can do with those that I haven't thought of yet."

It's clear how much James is wired for thinking like this. His entire life has been training and preparation to become the next Captain America, to end the threat to humanity and rebuild what they'd lost.

"Oh, I've been to Hyrule a lot, if you can tell me about how strong you are, I know which monsters to look for."

Or, you know, just start with the weakest and work from there. Ritsuka had plenty of experience just assessing things on the fly, after all.

"I can teleport there, too--well, anywhere I've been before, basically, and I can bring people with. Though if you'd rather look around a bit yourself first that's fine."

It was almost funny, wasn't it, how as soon as she felt she was in familiar territory, suddenly Ritsuka was nothing if not confident.

"No, that's perfect," James is grinning, hearing about what else Ritsuka can do. Teleportation-- it's weird, that she didn't think that was an offensive power. He knows of superheroes who made their entire career just over teleportation. And to be able to bring other people with her?

Honestly, it just feeds into the thought James was having, hearing Ritsuka talk. She's definitely selling herself short, doesn't seem to fully understand the kind of contributions people can have even without world-ending powers.

"I want to be reachable today, in case anyone else has some questions," and to check out Shio's restaurant, but he'll keep that one to himself for now. "But maybe we can work our way through some monsters tomorrow? I kinda want to see where you'd put me, strength-wise, against anything over there."

Ritsuka had been used to being a perfectly ordinary person who was surrounded by litteral geniuses and legendary heroes. That sort of thing could do a number on a person's self-confidence as it was... And here in Kaisou, while she had found herself with some powers of her own, well. The one thing she was genuinely confident at being good at had never really been an option.

In any case, Ritsuka nodded.

"Sure. Just let me know when, and where you want to meet."

In the end, after figuring out a few other things with Persephone and Shio-- he had a shrine and a restaurant to visit, after all! James had dropped a pin to the harbor, not too far from one of the entrances to the underwater Fortress he's been calling home for the past few months.

He's starting out early, for once, even though it had taken a few dozen alarms to make sure he rolled out of bed and managed to get dressed in time to make it there. But he'll be waiting for Ritsuka the next morning, dressed in his Captain America uniform, pressing a few buttons on the metal gauntlet around his left forearm, making sure he's able to call the hard-light shield it projects at will.

But when he catches sight of Ritsuka, he's smiling, raising one hand in greeting as he moves to meet her. "Hey! Ready to fight some monsters?"

Edited 2025-02-13 20:04 (UTC)

Ritsuka was used to early mornings, having never let the habit slip even after her time in Kaisou. Originally, it had in part because she'd wanted to be ready in case she returned to Chaldea at any time... But now, well, it still seemed like a good habit to be in.

That, and she was honestly looking forward to the chance to try this out. Something more like how she was used to fighting, before she'd ended up here. So Ritsuka showed up in plenty of time, wearing one of her mystic codes, the fox tail that she'd had ever since first getting cursed over a year ago peeking out from under the outfit's skirt.

"Of course!" Her reply was, naturally, full of her usual cheerfulness, though there was also perhaps a bit of quiet confidence underneath it, to. "Have you been to Hyrule before?"

Edited 2025-02-13 23:26 (UTC)

James smiles, something a little lopsided and very relaxed, despite what they're about to set off to do. At the very least, he looks and sounds pretty confident, as well.

"Nope, not yet. I haven't really been into the gates much, I've been spending my time mapping out the city as much as possible."

After all, it's always good to know potential ambush and escape routes in the place he's stuck calling home.

"I've done some research, though. So I do have my phone on me," he reaches into a pocket, double checking the charge on said phone, if just because he's pretty sure it needs to be working in order to register teleport points and such.

"Okay, then we can make sure you stop by some of the shrines to register them. The ones near the towns and stuff at least for sure."

Not to mention the first one just inside the gate, which Ritsuka naturally pointed out and explained what to do to register it to the app. Hyrule was a large realm, so she knew how useful they were.

"But anyway... Well, I guess you can decide how much to tell me beforehand about what you can do, but I at least need to know about how strong you are."

If he'd prefer to test he ability to figure things out on the fly, she could do that. Or, she could take note of all his strengths and abilities and pit them against a real--but not impossible--challenge. Either was fine by Ritsuka, as both were familiar territory to her.

It’s nice, honestly, to be following behind someone when going into a combat situation. It’s different than how things tended to be for him back in his world, where he was the one performing Ritsuka’s job, keeping everyone organized and making sure no one was in over their head, that they were able to keep up with their own challenges, all while fighting his own.

It’s... nice, in this realm. It’s untouched nature almost as far as the eye can see, peace and calm that has him slowing his steps just a little in order to take it in. To just feel the sun on his skin and the wind in his hair. Sights like this are nearly impossible in his world, after all.

“Wouldn’t hurt to tell you, I guess,” he looks up at the sky for a moment, hands on his hips as he thinks about how he personally wants to go about this. “I’m a hand-to-hand combatant, mostly, though I do have a shield I can use for both defense and offense. Other than that, I’ve noticed my strength has picked up a bit since I got here, and I can control the wind a little.”

As if to demonstrate, James holds up a hand, some leaves picking up from the ground nearby and floating lazily through the breeze around his hand before moving along.

“I haven’t trained much with magic, though. I didn’t have any abilities like that back in my world.”

"Hmm, so a a bit stronger than most people..."

Ritsuka thought about that for a moment. Considering how tough and fast the various monsters were here, well, there definitely a few that would be no problem even without her help.

But going after those wouldn't really give a good idea of how this worked, would it?

"I think I have an idea where to look," she held out a hand. "If you're ready to go?"

"Stronger, maybe a bit faster--" James shrugs a shoulder. He's not trying to brag or anything, he's used to operating around people who are anything but human. "My main strengths are that I'm pretty agile and quick to react."

But despite that, he is starting to grin, feeling adrenaline beginning to pick up. It's been so long since he's gotten into a good brawl.

"Ready and willing," he reaches for Ritsuka's hand with a casualness that might betray that he's more than used to being flung around via all sorts of magic.

Edited 2025-03-18 19:34 (UTC)

It wasn't a brag when it was an accurate assessment. And Ritsuka was quite used to being around people with outright superhuman abilities, herself.

(Which was no small factor in why she was so aware and critical of her own weaknesses, but that was a matter for another time.)

When James took her hand she focused, and with a swirl of golden light suddenly they were elsewhere. A grove or small forest, by the look of it.

"There should be one of them around here..." Ritsuka said quietly, mostly yo herself, as she glanced around. Well, she was smelling as much as she was looking, having found herself suddenly with aa ridiculously good sense of smell some time ago, but that was beside the point. After a moment she nodded and pointed.

"This way. Try to keep mostly quiet, and we should be able to catch it by surprise."

What waas 'it'? She didn't say... But as they proceeded through the trees, the normal forest sounds were joined by another one. Something low and rhythmic, almost like... snoring?

James was probably going to need all the agility he could muster very shortly.

Hff, James is going to have to get used to teleporting. Being thrown around by his flying siblings has nothing on being actually, fully transported. Which is going to be his excuse, if Ritsuka notices him stumbling a little as they come out of that teleport. At the very least, it doesn't take too long before he has his feet back under him, following after Ritsuka as she looks around and--

Ah, that's a sound that has James's hair standing on end.

Within seconds of first hearing that snoring, James is falling into a half crouch, moving slowly and carefully through the grass and the trees, listening and trying to pinpoint the direction that sound is coming from.

"I take it you've fought what we're sneaking up on?" he's quiet, voice almost carried by the wind, more than an actual whisper. He may not be that good with his elemental abilities, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been playing around with them, a little.

Being fully teleported or transported really was disorienting, especially at first, Ritsuka was all too familiar with that. So even if she noticed, she didn't say anything. Besides, there were more important and immediate matters at hand.

"Not by myself. Most of the time when I'm here I avoid the monsters. But I've been up against plenty of giants before in my world."

She said it all entirely matter-of-factly, like that wasn't particularly impressive. Because, well, for her, something like this really was pretty run of the mill. And while she'd figured this would be a bit of a challenge for James, Ritsuka was pretty confident that the two of them could handle it.

'It', of course, being a huge, round, red giant of a monster snoozing away in a small clearing. The ground around it littered with refuse, from fruit peels to animal bones.

"These are called hinox. They apparently mostly stay in the woods, but they'll attack people who come near them."

Which posed quite the problem when the locals needed to hunt or gather firewood.

He's... going to circle back around to that dismissive mention of being used to fighting giants. Since, well, that's not something that's typical even in the world James is from, and there are a lot of wild things back in his world.

But as he finally manages to see the clearing beyond the treeline, James can't help the face he's making once he gets his first good look at the hinox Ritsuka has led them to-- and boy is the smell not making things any easier.

"Eugh-- why do monsters always smell horrible?" he's tempted to redirect the wind around him just to try and clear the air a little bit, but... well. If this is their target, it's time to go into business mode, isn't it?

So, he lets out a breath, rolling his shoulders and letting his eyes drift over the surroundings, taking in the mess of bones and food scraps, the nearest trees, anything that could be used as cover or a way to get up higher, should he need the leverage.

"So... territorial trash monster. Got it," he turns towards Ritsuka and grins, his right hand moving to his left, hitting a button on his gauntlet that expands the hard-light shield attached to it. "Ready?"

Trash monster, monster that simply left the remains of its meals lying everywhere... Same thing, right? Just so long as one didn't think too hard about how that related to anyone who stumbled unprepared into its domain.

"Of course." She'd been ready since she brought them here, though naturally Ritsuka had the advantage of knowing what they'd be up against. "Try sneaking up on it to get the first strike, but be careful."

She, of course, would hang back and give directions and support as needed.

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