Komodojoe

Morgan "If only things were that simple for once..." Morgan said as she depressingly rested her head on her hand. For a moment, she wished things were as simple as they were during the tournament, then she realized that it wouldn't really matter because the simplicity never existed. Not knowing something isn't the same as something not happening. The lack of knowledge just gives the illusion that it's more simplistic than it really is. Ignorance is bliss, but that doesn't necessarily make an action justified. Speaking of ignorance, Morgan couldn't help but feel concerned about that man, Arcturus. The fact that he can supposedly erase memories is quite unnerving. Actually, now that she thinks about it, she can probably scratch out the 'supposedly' part. Other than the challenge to Hiroki and the man's name, the quiet girl was drawing a blank on anything else that might've happened. The fact Arcturus has that power is frightening enough. If that much was true, then he could very well be as strong as Swag says. She started to wonder what else that could mean for them, but perished the thought before she got lost in her own thoughts again. Her eyes widened as she recalled that she was the last to speak, and in such a negative tone. "O-oh, uh..." Morgan started, hoping to pass off the attention, or at least the attention she thought she'd drawn to herself, to someone else. She actually wanted to rewind things back to the topic of the plane of Envy. And thus, she turned to Adam. She doesn't seem to mind his presence as long as his ego doesn't get the better of him. She really hoped it doesn't get to that point, especially at this moment when she's looking to him for answers. "S-so... what exactly happened in Envy? I-I mean... do you know anything else... about it, or... I-I mean... well..." Before she was able to entirely express her concern, she became flustered over her own embarrassment and ended up overthinking her own question. As a result, she's now in a bit of a loop of trying to reword her own question. Basically, what the question would boil down to is: who actually managed to annex the plane of Envy, how did they manage to accomplish doing so, and why did they do it? ...Whatever the answer might be, now might be a good time to interrupt her, though she will eventually get around to asking the question if no one does.

Morgan Morgan had stood for a bit longer than Hiroki did, but she eventually pulled out a chair to sit down, silently waiting for Swag's explanation. Well, at least that's how it started. It may have become apparent that she became distracted a few seconds later, probably still a bit shaken from recent events. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was before, though. She still felt bad about leaving Mommo behind, but from what Morgan took from what the God had just said, she had the choice not to tag along. That put her at ease. She wasn't forced to join them. She didn't have to fight. At least not yet, anyway. She wanted to learn more about what was going on before she made a choice. While she knows a bit from what she was told, she wanted something a bit more... concrete. And when she finally does, she can only hope everyone would understand. The silent girl didn't notice that she had her gaze set on her hands resting on the edge of the table until she snapped out of it. She looked in Swag's direction, still being unable to make eye contact just yet. Despite that, however, she did her best to focus. She wanted to learn as much about this as she could.

((...Three young women? Guess that means me too... My bad. I guess I was waiting for something else to happen. Should be easy enough to catch up, though.)) Morgan Morgan was a bit further away from the other two, lost in her own thoughts. It probably hasn't even been a minute since she stepped foot outside. She definitely took her time as she was pretty much dragging her feet the whole time as she was trying to figure things out, looking back over her shoulder as she wondered if what she did was the right thing. Once she stepped outside, she paid little attention to her surroundings as her mind ran through thought after thought and ended up stopping a ways away from the other two as she remained silent and unnoticed... or so she thought. Morgan acknowledged and appreciated the man's advice, despite only giving him a nod. It already seemed like a possibility that it would happen, but now she knows for certain. She might not like it, but any chance of being welcome here was gone the moment she left Aries' throne room. It's not like she had any other plans. The shy girl only began to walk off before the Hellfire Knight asked her question. She wasn't entirely turned away from them and ended up looking directly at the other contestant as a result. The entire thing was, at least to Morgan, kinda rude considering he was just giving them a fair warning. HK's not really in a position to be wrongfully wary, though. "I-is that really necessary?" She said without really thinking. "All he's doing is giving us a heads up." Her voice was pretty quiet, might even be inaudible from this distance. She immediately averted her gaze regardless. Morgan didn't feel like she was necessarily wrong, but she did feel like she was a bit rude herself. She didn't mean to come across as rude or hostile, but she feels like she does whenever she speaks her mind like that. It's one of the reasons why she's so quiet. At this point, she just wanted to get back to the train and pretend that didn't happen.

Morgan "...I-I see." Morgan's heart sank when Mommo made her decision. She didn't want to see anybody get hurt or killed, and that's all war seems to bring. Even if a soldier were to die a painless death, their loved ones would feel sorrow. And sure, the fighting would eventually stop, but at what cost? It wasn't that she was entirely against helping the Tenth if what he said was true, if the she really was just alone and afraid. Morgan can relate to that to at least some extent. The problem doesn't really have anything to do with trusting Aries since he basically just laid out his plans in front of three of the best fighters in Tempest. Having Mommo on Aries' side would help a bit as well. I'd be nice to have a friend if she were to choose Aries. That being said, she has friends and family back home as well. Can she really do that? Can Morgan Belle leave everything behind for this? ... The answer is no, the reasons for that being the people she cares about at home and too many unknowns. The former is obvious. Morgan can't really say what she's been told on either side is false, since a few of the things she's heard have been conflicting, mainly about the Tenth. Granted, she trusts Aries enough as stated above, but it's only to the point that she believes that he believes Cardinal. She'd have to meet the "God" herself before she had any real opinions or beliefs on who she is, which might be a bit ironic considering Morgan is, well... Morgan. She also believes she knows enough about the events leading up to the tournament to believe that they're true, but whether or not Cardinal posed any real threat to all of Tempest is still up in the air. She knows a bit about what the Tenth is capable of, and she could take an educated guess on top of that, but what she would do further down the line seems to be the million dirk question. Basically, taking what Morgan believes to be true and the rest with a grain of salt, it seems to be a bit of a gray area for her with no real right or wrong answer. She feels torn, unsure of what to do about all of this. Right now, she would like to stay out of this until she's figured things out, but she doubts she'll get that luxury. Either way, she can't side with Aries. Not until she's sure it's the right thing to do. "I'm sorry, but... I-I can't help you." Morgan says, sounding a bit upset. "I have friends and family back home and I can't turn my back on them like this. I can't even begin to imagine how they'd feel if I did that to them. Not to mention that this is war we're talking about. There's gonna be a lot of fighting and killing. I don't want any part of that. I-I mean... I'd like to help, but... i-it's just... I-I..." She looks over to Mommo, her eyes beginning to tear up. It's obvious that she feels guilty for not siding with her, but it's either her or everyone else. "... I'm sorry." Morgan's head hangs low as she turns around to make her way out of the throne room, fighting her own tears as she did so.

Morgan "W-what?!?" Morgan was shocked by this statement, more than enough to not even feel any sort of embarrassment from such an outburst. War against all of Tempest... Is Aries out of his mind? Even considering Wrath's environment and how they could use it to their advantage, a war against the other planes sounds like suicide... Oh, wait. She forgot about the people who moved over to Nil. They would likely assist Wrath since the Tenth is involved. Still sounds like a bloodbath when you compare numbers, though. "Lord Aries... a-are you sure about this?" She asked nervously. "I-I mean... I can understand wanting to help and protect someone, especially if what you say is true, but... i-is this really worth going to war over?" Aries could very well be leading his people to slaughter and ruin. She wanted no part in this, that much was obvious. And despite knowing his answer, she felt the need to ask anyway. She wanted to hear him say it. Not that it would really help much, but still. He'll be leading his people down what may very well be the point of no return. She wished that there was a way to keep this from happening, but she felt certain that he had no intention to. She began to feel distressed as everything started to sink in.

Strider vs. Queen Strider's jets flared to life as Morgan attempted to dodge the projectile, but she had no chance of being able to do so. If she didn't transfer half of her jet's energy, she might have been able to dodge it, but that obviously wasn't the case. Actually, she didn't account for it's high speed and power either, so... she probably couldn't have either way. She took the hit head on and stumbled backwards, her jets just barely catching her before she could fall over. At least that's more energy that she can use later. Morgan took note of Queen's projectiles and the fact that he could transfer energy to them, much like she could to the bullets for her machine guns. Except for the fact that, according to the damage absorption readings, Queen's projectiles seemed to act more like ones fired off from a railgun. She's curious as to why that is, but she's not willing to go too far out of her way to find out. Still wanting to test the waters a bit, Miss Belle fires off a few more rounds as she moves in to about the same distance she had before she fired off the first few rounds, albeit at an angle so she moves off to the side as she did so.

Dreaming Guardian Unfortunately, the Guardian was a bit further away from Exile and Bartek than she would've liked. She tried to get over to either one of them a couple times, but each attempt seemed to end in failure, with the last one ending with a large amount of rubble landing right in front of her. She wasn't necessarily harmed in any way, but it was getting increasingly difficult to stay calm in these trying matters. "Ah, crap. What am I... How am I supposed to-" She stopped mid-sentence and looked back to her Golem. She facepalmed when she realized she forgot the automaton was even there to begin with. "Duh! I could just... What am I doing? I'm just making more work for myself!" The summoner used her Golem as cover as it got down on all fours. A bit of a tight fit, but she can easily change that. She altered the form of the torso, pushing the "belly" area inward and the back further out, making a sizable dip for her (and maybe one or two more people depending on their size) to hide in. This way, even if its limbs do give out, she wouldn't get crushed by her own creation while still protecting herself from up top. After that, she would use her unique position to assist with the rest of the team, whether it was to guard the more exposed members by transferring portions of her barrier to protect them, or if they're already protected well enough, she'll assist Bartek and Exile with the falling debris by pushing them aside.

Strider vs. Queen Despite keeping a close eye on Queen, Morgan couldn't really find anything that stands out. He wasn't doing much of anything other than blocking her attacks. The only thing that she can take note of is that the God couldn't keep up with the pace which, while the info wasn't bad, it wasn't much to go on in terms of what he can do. She needed to know what she was up against so there wouldn't be any surprises later on. The girl altered her direction to back up from Queen a bit and spoke an order to her VI. "System..." She started. "Transfer half of the power from the jets to the EAS, along with the machine guns... oh, and the shotgun" Command Accepted... EAS activated. Speed is now 3 from 5. Firepower is now 2 from 6. Points given to Armor: 3. Speed is now 3. Firepower is now 2. Armor is now 6. Strider skidded to a halt as she swapped to her railgun and popped off a few shots at him. Again, she was paying close attention to his movements, keeping her half-powered jets ready in case she needed to evade. She didn't see any reason not to take a hit, but Queen was a God for a reason. The last thing she needed was to be caught off guard as bad as she was last match. Although she can't really see him throwing himself out of a jumpsuit, there are still quite a few things left to be unexpected. Regardless, Morgan needed to figure out what the God was capable of before he got the upper hand.

Strider vs. Queen Morgan nodded in response to Queen. She had been giving it everything she's got from the very start of this tournament. The only difference between then and now is that she's up against the God of Greed, and that's not much of a reason to start holding back now. It would at the very least be an insult if she did. Of course, she wasn't just doing it for herself this time. This time, she also had to prove to Queen that his fears and doubts are misplaced, and she had every intention of doing so. She may also be a bit nervous about fighting a God, but she was determined nonetheless. Strider's jets flared to life, and soon enough, she was just about as ready as he was. "H-hey, so... I know we're supposed to be fighting and all... but at least let me return the favor by wishing you good luck. It's... it's the least I could do after everything you've done for me." When all was said and done, Morgan would begin with a quick dash to the right. Her arms extended forward as she let loose a hail of bullets from her machine guns, keeping a close eye on her opponent to see what he would do.

Morgan "W-Well, It's not like someone can be weaker in every way, just like no one can be stronger in every way..." Morgan began, but paused when she realized that she could've said that better. "I... I was always taught that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. No one's the best at everything, and no one's entirely powerless either. Some people can do things that others can't. There's nothing wrong with it. Everyone's just capable of doing different things. It's all part of what makes us-" She stopped abruptly when she realized what she was about to say. Remember what the Black Idol said during the first Travel Phase? The Gods became Gods by overcoming their humanity. To say, or even that they're human might be a bit insulting, or at the very least, pointless. Although, it's not like the Gods are all perfect either, so maybe it's not as bad as she thinks. Still, it was enough to make her stop in her tracks and now she would have to start back up again. Actually, at this point, it would probably make more sense to just get right to the point. "...Look, all I'm trying to say is, no matter what happens in those matches, whether it's between us or anyone else... Don't count us out. Everyone here is capable of doing many things. Great things. Trust me, everyone I've fought in this tournament are some of the strongest I've seen. It's okay to have doubts, but... I'm sorry... but to me... it sounds like you're not giving us much of a chance..." ((I probably would've done the actual quote, but it's not letting me do quotes from locked topics for some reason. Oh, well. This works too.))

Morgan ...Queen just gets right to it, doesn't he? Guess that's kinda fair considering what the invite he sent Morgan was for, but never did she even consider that the God would go as far as to bring her along for an expensive meal. Good thing she dressed nice for the occasion, with a nice pink dress shirt and a white long skirt. Although, it's not really all that surprising in hindsight considering the service he provided for everyone when they all got there. The only other possibility for this kinda thing would be... It just dawned on Morgan that this could very well be a date. Not like she can do anything about it now, though. It's too late for that. She made her bed, and now she's gotta lie in it... metaphorically, of course. There will be no pillow talk. But she would have to talk here and now. You'd have to be a jerk to accept an invite to let them get to know you better and not say anything about yourself. Although, I guess that does say something about someone, just not a good something. "W-well... I, uh..." She started. It would be quite obvious to see how nervous she was. "I-I was actually born here in Greed, but my family and I ended up moving to Pride when I was very young. One of my brothers and one of my sisters live here, so I drop by this plane often, especially since my brother's usually the one that does the changes on my mech for me." A few seconds of silence passed before she spoke again. "As for why I'm fighting in this tournament, well... it's a bit hard to explain. I'm not all that interested in becoming a God. I'm really in this to try to become a better person..." Morgan paused, wondering if she should tell Queen the whole story. She opted not to, but he should at least get the general idea. "You see, I have this... I've had a bit of a jealous streak for as long as I can remember. I try to keep it in check, but there are times when I just lose control... and someone usually ends up getting hurt because of it. I entered this competition hoping to get rid of it, and I did that because..." She may have gotten a bit carried away and started to look a little depressed, Queen could probably hear it in her voice near the end. "I just... I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially because of me..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but... I'd rather not go any further on that subject."