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BASH HIRABAYASHI
SCENE:
Serpents Arc 1: Scene 1 [Friends in Low Places]
LOCATION:
Mach Sling Bowling Alley, West-Side Central District
PARTICIPANTS:
Anna, Darius, Raphael, Dante, Vincent, August, Reina, Lucy
✕ POTENTIALS BANNED:
Metabolic Overdrive [Reina Higasa]
Friends in Low Places


The closer Bash got to his target, the more adrenaline pumped into his veins. Finally. The appetizer that was his scuffle with Raph had held his hunger off for a while, but it was finally time for the main course. Had he not been so focused on actually handing the first hit, he’d probably be drooling right now. If he managed to get his hands on Lucy, the Tigers as a whole would take a pretty hard hit. After all, what was a King without his Queen?

Just a few more centimeters, and he’d finally be–

Before he could even finish his thoughts, the fire extinguisher that he had been banking on to hit the Queen flush in the back of her blonde head, was knocked away by something he didn’t see. Then, Lucy’s mouth started to move.

—-- drop the air! —-- CHARGE.

He had forgotten the names of the two the Queen had given orders to seconds after he heard them. He could care less about the first guy, and to him, Reina was known as ‘Bakahime’. But, those demands obviously meant something to the two nameless Tigers who stood near her, as they immediately sprang into action once she was finished speaking. While his feet carried him closer to his prey, Reina darted towards him, her arm losing its shape and transforming into a mangled– yet somehow still neat– set of metallic claws. She swung at him, but he was able to dip low enough to evade the razor-sharp digits and finally land a hit on her shoulder. In an instant, her arm began reverting back to its original form. Now, all that was left was to finish her off, once and for all–

Bash’s attack was halted by a sudden strike that restricted his movement. A chair had been tossed at him, and it whacked him directly in the face, causing him to instinctively stop his attack and bring his hands to his nose, which was now stinging with pain. “FUCK! GOD FUCKIN’ DAMN IT!!” He hissed, glaring at Lucy, who was clearly the one who threw the seat at him. A vein bulged out of his forehead and he tightened his fists. That was the last straw. This blonde bimbo wasn’t leaving this fucking bowling alley alive–

Bash couldn’t even take a step before something new had slammed into him. This time, it was much heavier, lifting him off his feet and causing him to slam directly into the nearest wall, with the unknown object still connected to him. He felt his head make a pop! noise against the hard wall, and when he opened his eyes, his surroundings were spinning.

Mother…fucker…!! This ain’t target practice… you pussies!” He uttered, rubbing the back of his head and looking down to see what exactly had been chucked at him this time. What he had seen laying there horizontally on his lap wasn’t even close to what he had expected to be there.

His eyes narrowed furiously at the sight. Instantly, his body was filled to the brim with a heightened form of rage that he hadn’t experienced yet today.

Don’t tell me…

You lost... again?

After I put my fuckin’ trust in you…?



…I’m gonna fuckin’ kill


For the third time, Bash was interrupted. It was as though some higher power wasn’t allowing him even a moment to himself to fucking think. However, this time, nothing was thrown at him. There was no knife, no chair, no blood-manipulating idiot– Instead, he was interrupted by sound.

RUN, GET OUT OF HER-

As soon as he heard little-miss-queen scream ‘run’, his eyes began scanning the room at a high speed. As he frantically searched for what could have possibly prompted the triumphant, cocky woman to scream, the only threats he saw were the Tigers they were sharing the bowling-alley-battlefield with. At least, that was until he looked up. Swiftly, Bash shoved Raph off of his lap, causing him to roll over onto the ground in front of him, and planted his body over him on all-fours in some sort of instinctual attempt to protect his fellow Serpent from the collapsing roof. Then, the impact of the ceiling finally collided with him, causing him to jolt downward as he took the brunt of the hit.

Once the rubble was finally done falling, Bash shakily rose to his feet, throwing a heavy piece of ceiling off of him and onto the ground next to him and Raph. It hit him hard– and his world was still spinning. The sound of broken bodies and screams of pain from those who actually managed to survive weren’t helping much, either. He didn’t check to see if Shaw was alright– the only thing he was focused on was the huge advantage they had just gotten that could have only come from Anna. If anyone was still on the ground by the time he got to them, he’d stomp their heads in until he could see the imprint from the bottom of his boots in their fucking brains! Slowly, he prowled the area, hoping to find a big catch writhing on the floor in pain. Where are you, Bitch?? I’ll make you wish you never threw that fuckin’ chair!!

Help?...

Unfortunately, a familiar, weary voice caught his attention before any blonde heads of hair did. His golden optics caught sight of a trapped Darius, squirming helplessly beneath a particularly large piece of roofing. Without wasting any time, he immediately dashed over to his downed junior, squatting down and hooking his fingers beneath the rubble before slowly lifting it with all his might.

It made sense why Darius couldn’t lift it himself. Despite being an HP, this was one heavy fucking piece. And his upper body was being restricted by it. As Bash lifted it– grunting as he did so– he thought to himself.

If it was one of them Tiger pieces of shit under this stupid rock, would I really be able to take ‘em out…?

With one final exclamation, and a thud as the roofing hit the ground, Darius was free. Bash reached down to lift his gangmate up, noticing some blood dripping off of his own head onto the floor beneath him.

Looking Darius in the eyes, he shook his thoughts away.

I’m Bash, god damn it! The strongest Ace in Serpent history! Of course I fuckin’ would!



Elenion Aura Elenion Aura The One Eyed Bandit The One Eyed Bandit WhiskeyMarten WhiskeyMarten The Regal Rper The Regal Rper Doctor Llamabean Doctor Llamabean BriiAngelic BriiAngelic OverconfidentMagi OverconfidentMagi
 
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Kazue Kaneko
SCENE:
Dragons Arc 1: Scene 1 [Eye of Providence]
LOCATION:
Dragons’ Surveillance Room, East District
PARTICIPANTS:
Kasumi FabulousTrash FabulousTrash , Yo Taigakitt Taigakitt , Meirin (mentioned) QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel
Eye of Providence


< < < Remember

The first barrage ended. As the cannons loaded their next volley, Kazue did the same with her gun, replacing the single expended bullet. She did not take cover, instead relying on her Potential to stay out in the open and keep line of sight to Yo as she advanced.

The second barrage ended as soon as it began. There was almost cause for concern as more projectiles started decimating Yo's newly formed frozen barriers, but the guns off in the distance were destroyed by…Meirin?

After Yo melted down what remained of her ice walls and Kasumi came back from HQ, the person Kasumi had been calling, the giant figure in the distance, who was indeed Meirin, was put on speaker. A confirmation that the guns were no longer a threat arrived through the phone. Kazue holstered her gun, leaving the safety off, and put away her earplugs.

As the other three had a conversation about the current situation, Kazue stayed silent and took it all in. Their discussion yielded a few important bits of information.

Another objective had arrived. Seek and destroy a laptop that was related to some kind of attack.

She had finally been updated on why she had been awoken.

The one thing she was brought here to do was unnecessary, as someone losing consciousness from overexertion wasn't a problem. Such is the power of Homo Potentialis.

Concerningly, those massive cannons from earlier were left behind like fodder. Those terrorists had either deep pockets or nothing to lose.

Her decision was made. Kazue’s response to Yo was, “I’ll come along as well."

>>> To Next Post

 
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TIGER'S
SCENE:
Tigers Arc 1: Scene 2 [Money Talks]
LOCATION:
The White Tiger Casino, West District
PARTICIPANTS:
MONEY TALKS
One thing led to another, and soon enough, the Comedy Mask Man realized that their continued presence here had become redundant. Their mark had fled, with Del in pursuit. They weren't being paid to scuffle with the Tigers. This had gone on long enough. Keeping his gun leveled at the pretty lady luck in his sights, he flicked his gaze to his partner, and transmitted the following message.

It's time to go. Leave her.

Tragedy Mask received the message, loud and clear. He let himself sink through the floor once more, leaving Cassidy to her own devices as he tunneled toward the place where Comedy Mask lay. It only took a touch for his Potentiality, his intangibility, to spread from his body to the body of his partner. And like they had done previously, the pair of them disappeared into the bones of the building.

In that same moment, the elevator dinged! Reinforcements had arrived! Only it was the wrong kind. Armed men in black riot gear swarmed out of the elevator, assault weapons raised at any and and all movement as the elevator doors closed shut behind them. Apparently someone on the ground floor had summoned the car back.

 
MARKUS WEISS
SCENE:
Tigers Arc 1: Scenes 2/3
LOCATION:
Albino Tiger HQ, West District
PARTICIPANTS:
Isobel ( Saturn_moon Saturn_moon ), Ezra ( Lucem Lucem )
THE HIGH LIFE
Markus' keen eye noticed something... Not something about Titus, useless log that he was. It had become abundantly clear before now that the fat cat would need a bit more persuasion before he was ready to be helpful. Not that Markus needed his cooperation. Nah. He just needed that fellow from the party. What the hell was his name, again..?

Nah, nah... He had noticed the way Isobel's expression collapsed at the sight of the hummingbird, the shock, the instant she'd tried and failed to hide it, hide it from him. Markus had seen it all from out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, he shifted in his seat, as did his attention. Titus was forgotten, for now. Markus leveled a chilling gaze at his fellow Tiger, and pointed the phone screen in her direction. A touch of incredulity in his voice, Markus asked, “Do you recognize this?”

Before the wheels of his mind could really start to turn—turn toward dark thoughts, thoughts of rebellion, of treason—the pilot clicked into the communication through their headsets and informed them that they had arrived at Tiger HQ and were preparing to land. Annoyed, Markus shot Isobel a glower that said they'd be discussing this later as the chopper slowly descended onto the helipad and killed its engine. A throng of attendants were awaiting their arrival. One of them snatched the door open as soon as it was safe, allowing Markus to burst out and thunder down the causeway, daring his entourage to not keep up.

“You." Markus snapped in the face of one of his entourage before jamming a thumb back over his shoulder in Titus' direction. "Take 'im upstairs. Make sure he's comfortable. Markus wasn't finished with Titus Latken yet. Not by a long shot. But for now he was irrelevant. Besides, he had some questions that needed answering first.


It didn't take long for Markus to sequester himself in one of HQ's myriad board-style meeting rooms. This one was a spacious corner office suite with wall-to-wall windows that overlooked the district and a large wooden table in its center, lacquered to a shine, sporting six comfortable chairs around its periphery. Markus didn't sit down as he was joined by Isobel, and by extension Ezra who'd accompanied them this far already. A squad of his goons had posted up outside the glass door to ensure there would be no interruptions. At least none without consequence. Markus was pacing slowly back and forth at the front of the room, a Tiger in his den.

“So..." He stopped pacing, planting his hands flat on the cool wood of the table as he leveled a gaze at Isobel. “You wanna tell me what you know?"

When is a question not a question?

RIght fucking now, that's when.

 
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TRI (& VARGFANG!)
SCENE:
Serpents Arc 1: Scene 3 [We'll Do It Live]
LOCATION:
Housing Zone 4, North District
PARTICIPANTS:
Tri, Yuudai, Delynn, Yeona, Kisara
WEAPON:
Lovemaker 2000, Flashbang, Megaphone
We'll Do It Live
fae14764-dae3-41a5-aa84-a3e234aac9db-jpeg.961272
Hm. Strip club. "Sure," Tri agreed. He never went before, so might as well. It also sounded like a good place to use his Lovemaker 2000. As for whether he was actually interested, that was another case altogether.

With a thought, the glow around Yuudai disappeared. Tri conjured it out of habit to prevent collateral damage, but casting them away was just as easy. Pink Girl's fight entered the smoke, so he cast his neutralizing field her way. She was just as loud, stealing his limelight. Tsk. He couldn't say he isn't a bit jealous. What's her name again? Kisara? Well, didn't matter. He had a larger matter at hand. Physically.

Tri watched Vargfang's transformation with much interest. He looked fuzzy, like a large carpet. If cleaning blood from carpets wasn't a pain, he wanted a carpet like this. Well, the King could also be fuzzy, but he was pretty sure he would get more than what he wanted if he asked to feel his fur.

Just as the seed of a dangerous idea formed in his mind, Wolf Man stuttered and brought Tri back to reality. Tri frowned. "Like I said, it's Lovemaker 2000. The name is for both the gun and the gas. A super-aphrodisiac prototype..."

His gaze trailed down Varfgang's awkward pose. Tri clicked his tongue, in annoyance and envy. Right. He also can't hug this guy without getting attacked in both senses of meaning. And he really wasn't confident in overpowering someone around the King's level of strength, particularly not one buffed with pent up carnal desire.

"We need people, but only strong ones. That's why it's fine if the mom there dies." He gestured with his megaphone at the woman out cold in the car. Die. Casual in its utterance, true to the Jack's indifference to the act. Ultimately, he killed people with the same remorse as one did when breaking a clay pot. There was some pity in the value lost, but not moral quandary. It was only a matter of breaking, and not breaking. A pain, or not a pain.

The same flat eyes returned to Vargfang. Scrutinizing. "Well, but it's not okay for the police, so it's even better. Good guys have it more difficult."

They were actually at a stalemate. The only thing stopping Wolf Man from mauling him was victims. If he actually kills someone, Wolf Man might ignore the victim and attack him. Also, that look and drool made him feel a different kind of danger. What a predicament.

Hm. Should he just attack him? Take the initiative? He didn't have a problem morally, but it really wasn't cool. Kinda lame. Being a pervert wasn't cool. Unless...

Tri smiled. Stiffly, slowly having it widened, into one with something else behind it. "You are big. It's nice."

The word casanova (cool) left many impressions, like the word femme fataleand seducer (also cool). Tri was none of those. He exuded blithe carefreeness as he approached Vargfang with a relaxed gait; Lovemaker 2000 aiming at the ground, his other hand casually in his pocket and the megaphone thrown at the car, forgotten. If he wasn’t a stubbled middle-aged man in tattered coat and shirt, he would be cool.

The werewolf man didn’t step back from the approach. He instead growled deep, lowering his stance.

"It's a pain. Right. Fighting, it's a pain, so let's just not fight and do something else." Tri mimicked the perverse smirk he saw so often on Yuudai and ended up looking sleazier than a snake oil selling conman. Their height difference was only accentuated so close together since Tri had to look up.

"So. Wanna put sour cream in the burrito?" Yeah, that sounded cool. Self-satisfied with himself, Tri got bolder. With the Lovemaker 2000 casually prodded Wolf Man's hands. His hands, and the thing it was covering.

Poke.

Vargfang’s nose scrunched as his claws attempted to snatch the gun off Tri. Or smash it. The old man was correct though. Vargfang was in a predicament with the hostages. The idle threat about killing one of the them… “Fuck no! I gotta girl and I ain’t about ta fuck around with some old man.”

The werewolf’s eyes flickered over to the hostages holding place as he attempted to put himself between the vehicle and Tri.

The gun smashed into the ground with a huge crack. It was a prototype, after all. Puff of pink smoke exploded from it, leaking from the few ammunition left inside.

“Well. I don’t like wolves either. Hup.” Amidst the thick smoke of love, Tri kept his calm. Obscured by the smoke, he chucked an object at Vargfang and fled for the car with eyes closed. Moments later, a blinding white flash exploded.

A wolf whine of surprise could be heard in the pink smoke cloud as Vargfang took a couple steps back, blinking heavily, “Fuck!”

Seducing Wolf Man wasn’t cool at all, but Honey Trap was cool. Not expecting to succeed from the start, Tri took advantage of the wolf man’s focus on Lovemaker 2000 to distract from his other hand: the flashbang nestled in his pocket.

"Heeey, King. I'm out of here," shouted a blind Tri unenergetically. "get the blind wolf on heat away from me- ow."

Tri crashed right into the car. Fumbling his way into the driver seat, he turned on the ignition and revved the engine. Urgent as everything was, he still remembered to pick the megaphone-shaped megaphone from the shotgun seat and made an announcement.

"Attention." VROOOOOOOOOOOOM. "Bye, suckers. Thank you for your attention."

Tri stomped on the pedal, ready to drive off.


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Charlie Hughes
SCENE:
Phoenixes Arc 1: Scene 1 [From the Ashes]
LOCATION:
Phoenix HQ, South District
PARTICIPANTS:
Boltius.
From the Ashes


Charlie swallowed some saliva as he stared intensely at his phone. He was reading the message from Lyric describing that things were getting more troubled, and by the sound of Boltius' speaking with Panda through his own phone a minute ago, it sounded like they also had their own complications on their end. Charlie could feel shivers running up his spine, sure he's had multiple encounters with hostiles in his line of work so far, but most of the time they weren't cause of any big conflict. This case, however, seemed to be an unusually large inter-gang confrontation, there was no other logical conclusion given the issues at hand. He did not want any of this, Charlie knew this was going to end up in blood being spilled, lives being taken. He shivered at the thought of having to kill someone, or even worse, seeing more of his dear gangmates killed.

"She wants us to backtrack; meet up at the nearest nightclub. C'mon let's go"

Boltius words snapped Charlie out of his fearful trance. The red-haired man had burning determination in his eyes, the type of determination that could let one act in moments of chaos, the type of determination that Charlie needed right now. He slapped his cheeks with both of his palms at the same time twice followed by a deep breath. He reached the inside of his jacket and retrieved a short and thick black stick, and with a forceful flick of his wrist the stick extended into a sturdy steel baton.

"Alright, let's go... but also"

Charlie walked closer towards Bolt, worringly staring at his new yet dear comrade.

"Bolt, if you feel that things at any point get too dangerous, please take my hand, I swear I'll protect you."

His face now relaxed slightly as he moved aside.

"Well, lead the way!"

 




































  • scene...



    from the ashes

















BOLTIUS



Vulken's Little Bro
"BLITZ"​












"C'mon, let's go," Boltius took a few steps before stopping and checking to see if Charlie was ready.

Looking at her, there was something about her he couldn't quite pin. Something in her expression. An indescribable air, as he wasn’t particularly known for his ability to read people.

When she smacked herself on the cheeks, he lifted a defensive arm and gaped, “Wha-!?”

All strangeness aside, he found it rather cute, but that didn’t stop his confused reaction.

Following that, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a black rod that, with the flick of her wrist, extended into a baton. Boltius gave a nod of approval and relaxed; however, he tensed again when Charlie started to approach him.

As she neared, his eyes glanced between her and wherever else, and his head drew back as far as it could. “Uuuuh…”

Then, Charlie spoke, "Bolt, if you feel that things at any point get too dangerous, please take my hand, I swear I'll protect you." She stepped away and added, “Well, lead the way!” And Boltius stood bewildered in place.

He couldn’t actually believe what he heard. Was she serious? Did he give the impression of a damsel-in-distress? He thought in silence, growing frustrated. Since long ago, he’d been trying to cultivate a self-image of courage, loyalty, and dependability so that people would stop viewing him as just someone’s little brother.

What he lacked in smarts, he wanted to make up for in strength. He wanted to be relied on–but, for that, he needed to be reliable, hence his passionate willingness to throw himself into whatever work was available no matter how menial.

The flickering flame that was his temper whipped violently as if stirred by wind. He didn’t realize it, but his hands had balled into fists at his sides now; his knuckles, white.

Boltius struggled internally for what might have been a few seconds to Charlie but minutes to him.

He couldn’t organize his thoughts.

”It’s okay to ask for help.” His mother’s voice cut through the fog. ”If you always say you’re fine, eventually people stop asking. Then what?” He pondered those words, trying to fit them into the puzzle that was his current situation.

One of his practiced morals was to always be a good sport. He decided then that to deny Charlie her desire to be relied on would be putting her in a position that he, himself, wouldn’t want. So, he exhaled a long, controlled sigh, and that confident, toothy smile lit up his face once again.

There's nothing wrong with relying on a comrade when you need it.

Boltius turned to Charlie with a fist pointed toward her and one eye closed, and he clicked his tongue against his back teeth. A short lived pose before he dropped his hand, opened his eye, and passed the blue-haired woman up to lead them off in the rendezvous location. “I think you and I are gonna get along. I like your attitude.”

He turned until he was facing Charlie, walking backwards with a hop in his step, and clapped his hands together twice. “Toss me your phone, I’ll input my digits.”

Charlie did just that, and Boltius followed up like he said, putting himself in her contacts as Blitz. As he tossed the device back, he said, “In case we get separated.”

Turning forward, he threw his arms up behind his head, interlocking his fingers against his backward-facing hat, and kept a steady pace. “So, where was it you said you was from? North? East?- No, it was West, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was West. I remember~ So… what? You some rich broad? What’d you want with the Phoenixes?”












































♡coded by uxie♡
 
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RAPHAEL SHAW
SCENE:
Serpents Arc 1: Scene 1 [Friends in Low Places]
LOCATION:
Mach Sling Bowling Alley, West-Side Central District
PARTICIPANTS:
Anna, Darius, Bash, Dante, Vincent, August, Reina, Lucy
FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
Why... Won't... You... Die!?

Every slash was another near miss, his closest swipe slicing through only fabric. And with every near miss, Raph could feel his addled brain rattling off-kilter inside the cavity of his skull as the momentum of his own swings threatened to throw him off-balance. But there was no stopping. There could be no slowing down. He had to do this. He had to. For himself. For— no. Only for himself... If only his opponent would fucking cooperate.

Through gritted teeth he spat, “HOLD STILL!”

Raph raged. Oh, he raged against this feeling, this burgeoning maelstrom of frustration in his mind was becoming so intense he thought his head might burst. It was as though he were fighting a ghost... Like trying to stab pure air. His face surely by now was flush with fury and exertion... When the flickers of an idea shimmered across his mind... He could always use that. For the briefest moment, Raph considered it... It would've been a colossal waste of product, but... It might be worth it. If only to wipe that idiotic expression off of this guy's face.

Alas, no... That wasn't meant for small fry, Raph reasoned, even as he failed to land a single hit.

Breathless, a bewildered Raph swung for the irritating fly in his sights one last time, making one last desperate swipe with his bloody blade, only to come away with nothing, again. Nothing but air. “Coward,” Raph gasped, as even the effort of hoisting his blade-arm was becoming too much. His whole world was spinning as his stomach was either doing somersaults, or jumping rope with his intestines, he couldn't tell which. Raph let the blade and his arm dangle inertly by his side. Not like there was a point in keeping up his guard. He wasn't going to hit anything, anyway? How pathetic.

Still, Raph cursed the Tiger with every fiber of his being. He wanted to see him bleed, more than words could descirbe, more than anything in the world in that moment. Come on, then. Come over here and I'll make you wish you'd never been born, Raph thought poisonously. If Raph's needle couldn't reach its target, then Raph would simply wait and let his prey come to him. After all, the Serpent boy still couldn't decide what was more infuriating, the fact that he couldn't even touch August with his blade, or that up until this point, the Tiger hadn't even tried to hit him back, apparently content to dodge and evade Raph's assault. It almost made Raph appreciate Bash for all his stupidity, at least fighting him wasn't a chore.

In a bitter twist of irony, Raph had his wish granted sooner than he'd anticipated, for in one moment the Tiger had gone from before him to behind him, riding his wind currents like some kind of... Flying Tiger..? (Don't ask me for simile, right now. I'm concussed, you assholes.) Raph's eyes widened in surprise as he tried in vain to whirl around on his heels and bring his dagger to bear against his now-too-close-for-comfort opponent.

Too slow.

Raph didn't feel the kick to his back. Not at first, anyway. First came the column of pressurized wind that the kick had displaced on its way toward its target. Then came the kick. Raph felt the top and bottom halves of his body begin to bow backward and in on themselves as the force of the strike threatened to fold him like an old mobile phone before launching him torso-first off of his feet and through the air like a spindly-limbed cannon-ball.

If asked, Raph probably couldn't pick out any singular intelligent thought amidst the swimming whirlpool of sounds and images flashing in his brain as his body went reeling over the hole in the sidewalk and through the front door to the bowling alley which he, at this point, most definitely hated. He might've screamed. Then, as abruptly as it had begun, his impromptu flight was abruptly over. Before he knew it, he was tumbling head over heels and hand over fist across the dusty floor before landing in a heap after a friendly wall kindly soaked up what little momentum he had left to spare... Only, hold on a moment.

Either his mind was truly turning to yogurt inside his skull at this very moment, or Raph had managed to pick up a few extra limbs along the way. And those limbs seemed to be attached to a torso...

A human backstop? Hmph! How fortuitous.

Raph wondered who it was he'd barreled into? A Tiger? Ideally. A civilian? Probably not. If he had, they'd be naught but guts and gore on the floor by now. Whoever it was, Raph had half-a-mind to thank the poor bastard for cushioning his fall... But then again, he really should've seen this coming. Of course, when the stars cleared from his vision, there was only ever going to be one face staring back at him. And, there it was, a face made for war... Those golden eyes gleamed brilliantly in the dim fluorescent light of the bowling alley, like twin suns eclipsed only by thick locks of sable hair.

How... Perfect.

Yes, it's me. Again. La-dee-da.

I'm not thrilled to see you, either, you kn—

Raph's brow furrowed. Something—or was it someone?—had interrupted his and Bash's mutual-yet-still-one-sided mental conversation. His brain was still a bit foggy so it took him a moment to catch on to what had just happened. Ah, that's what it was. Eventually his lagging mind caught on, but that still didn't explain what Bash did next.

Someone had screamed something, but Raph's brain was still too scrambled to piece together what had been said. But apparently Bash had managed it. Raph almost cooed mockingly as he watched Bash and his little brain working overtime, trying to figure out something-or-other. Raph didn't know what it was that had his 'Superior'—the thought of that still curdled his blood—in such a state. Raph didn't really care. The only reason he hadn't extricated himself from this awkward closeness yet was that he waiting for the room to stop spinning. Once it did, he'd get to his feet and, assess the situation from there... He was also kicking around the idea of calling this whole thing quits to go home and shower off the stain of all of this unwanted contact.

Bash seemed to hear that—had Raph said the last bit out loud, or was Bash a mind-reader now?—as he not-quite-gently shoved Raph off of him, his back now planted flat against the dirty carpeted floor of the bowling alley, with Bash standing over him. Now, where have I seen this before? Just kidding!

Indeed, Raph was used to this. This part—this little dance of theirs—was familiar by now. Here's how it goes. Bash hits Raph, then it is Raph's turn to reciprocate. Rinse, lather, repeat. It was a closed-loop system of violence by this point. Almost no wasted energy, if you discount the psychological and/or emotional varieties. In any case!.. If memory served, the count was Bash - one, Raph - zero. That meant that now it was his turn to hit back—even if Bash's 'hit' had really been more of a shove—and Raph planned on doing just that. Only before he could, Bash did something... Off-script.

What? What are you doing? Get off! Raph said, a bit panicky. Or perhaps he only thought that. Eithe way, Bash didn't seem to hear, or reply. Then the ceiling came down, and Raph's confusion was abated, but not for long.

Raph flinched as the large slab of ceiling landed square on Bash's back. He watched as the shock of its impact coursed through the Ace's body and caused him to lurch ever-so-slightly downward, which caused Raph to flinch again in turn.

His mind was racing. His mind was blank.

Black locks of hair fell in his face, accompanied by a cloud of dust and emulsified sheetrock that threatened to clog his lungs if he took too deep a breath. That wouldn't be a problem, though, because throughout this whole ordeal, Raph had been holding his breath without realizing it.

Raph laid there for a moment after Bash had risen, but not because he was hurt. The opposite, in fact. He was unscathed. And the reason he was unscathed...

It didn't matter. But it did though. No, it didn't.

As soon as he felt safe to move again, Raph balled his hands up into fists. This would not stand.

He wouldn't stand to be taken as weak, as someone who needed to be coddled. Someone who needed to be protectedI don't need help. I don't need anyone's help. But more than anything, I don't need your help.

Raph was standing, now. He was about to confront Bash—who was too preoccupied fetching Darius from beneath the rubble to notice—for the second time that day when, suddenly, amongst it all, unfortunately, there was Anna. Right on cue.

The sight of her, in all her absurd glory, mask and all, was enough to give Raph pause. It wasn't to say that he'd missed her. Really, any company was a step up from what he'd been dealing with all night.

“Bravo, darling. You really... Brought the house down.

Raph made sure he had her attention through those ridiculous eye-holes in her mask before he pantomimed giving her a round of applause for absolutely obliterating this shit-hole of a bowling alley and everyone inside of it. Truly, he was impressed.

Having all but forgotten—or at least repressed—the moment prior to Anna's emergence, Raph was prepared to call things a night. But then someone else caught his eye. A pretty—more like pretty dumb—blonde was picking through the wreckage on the other side of the bowling alley. She was apparently trying to dig out some of her less-than-fortunate allies. Raph left Anna in the dust as he sauntered toward the woman. This was the Tiger Queen, no? How... Delicious.

Hello, darling, Raph cooed, his head half-cocked to one side in a venomous fascimile of a smile. Looking for someone?

This is certainly good enough, right? Raph thought, asking an unseen presence for permission of some sort as he fumbled in his pocket for a small, clear plastic vial filled with a glossy, blue liquid, all the while keeping a close eye on the scythe-wielding vixen. She just looked like the type to try something underhanded.

Yes, yes... This is more than good enough, Raph concluded, as his smile widened and reached his eyes, manic and gleeful. He produced the vial and flicked off the stopper before he downed the contents in a single, greedy gulp.

I think it's time for a field test.


 
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SCENE:
Phoenixes Arc 1: Scene 2 [A Gathering Storm]
LOCATION:
South District
PARTICIPANTS:
A Gathering Storm
Helva trusted Libla to do her part, she may not be willing to one of the most aggressive shadow friend she has, but she was more than willing to harm those that attack her friends or allies. And considering she knows and likes the Phoenixs better than the Dragons, she was going to side with the Phoenixs, she doubted Libla even trusted the Dragons much anyways. She just hoped that Libla doesn't get emotionally manipulated, but Helva didn't have much time to ponder as she noticed Alex had finally stopped in front of some place, another restaurant, figures. What is the deal with those two and freaking restaurants anyway? how unoriginal can they get, nevertheless Helva resisted the temptation to ram her car into Alex, which would likely cause a dent and opted to park her car away from Hector. Opting to instead walk on over to the Alex and Hector with a annoyed expression on their face. As Helva approached Alex had dropped Hide to the ground, Helva released a annoyed breath before offering her hand in order to help Hide up, though her eyes were more focused on Alex, Akane and Hector than it was on Hide.

After a bitter moment, Helva received a report from Libla stating I got Vulken from the Dragons safe and sound, he is a bit bruised up, but i'm sure he will make it. I still need to get Reika and Vamp though, they are currently in the water and the Dragons have destroyed our part of the bridge. Once i get Vulken to safety i'll go get Reika and Vamp, stay safe Helva! Helva was happy that Vulken was at least safe, despite how annoying he could be at times, she just hoped Reika and the Vamp guy would come back safe as well. It seemed that Reikas team needed to regroup, and maybe launch a counter attack on Dragons territory at a later date. Helva debated on weather or not to tell the others about the situation at the bridge and ultimately decided to do it just cause she liked Hide decently enough. So Helva nonchalantly added "Spirit (Libla) just rescued Vulken, he was hurt in the fight against the Dragons, the Dragons goal was to apparently destroy our side of the bridge, they succeeded, and Reika and Vamp seem to be in the water below the bridge."
 
PHOENIX'S
LOCATION:
South District
PARTICIPANTS:
Nearby: Reika ( Taigakitt Taigakitt ), Dimitri ( The Prophet The Prophet )
A GATHERING STORM

The boat hadn’t made it to Central. Instead they were lucky enough to have left no earlier than they had as they watched in horror as the bridge collapsed to pieces with large slabs of concrete and numerous cars and people plummeting into the river below. The impact of which caused a large wave that beat back their boat before the crew below managed to get the control back.

“OI STRAIGHTEN THE SHIP”

Armas screamed from the main deck as several others went down to help with the stabilization. From the other end of the boat he could hear Lavinia’s screams even without them being shouted into the megaphone.

“OH GODS. THERE’S PEOPLE BEING DRAGGED DOWN IN THE RIVER.”

He started to run to the front of the deck and saw as people were either desperately swimming for their lives, searching for others, or doing their damn best to keep above the water. He cursed as he shouted at the people on the main deck gawking.

“LOWER THE FUCKING LIFEBOATS.”

He hadn’t exactly trained for rescue or any other form of aiding people but it wasn’t like they were going to do nothing. A few people he recognized as cowering behind Lavinia earlier like cowards went to the stern to begin lowering boats with a pair of people in each to help. He heard a splash behind him and threw his head back only to see Angelo was no longer on the boat.

“ANGELO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING.” Lavinia screamed

He should have known Angelo wasn’t going to stay put. He saw the kid swimming out trying to reach a nearby brat that looked to be just barely managing to tread water.

“I’M HELPING.”


He dropped his jacket and as many layers as he could that would get in the way. Well at least the kid was an HP. He stepped on to the railing almost immediately regretting it before kicking off and joining in the efforts below. He was going to hate this in the morning. Luckily Lavinia knew how to better run the boat.

From above he could hear her shouts to start warming the lower decks and to grab anyone who knew cpr or how to treat injuries. He turned back to his task at hand, swimming to a girl about his age with blue hair who had seemed to be struggling in the water. Once he got closer he helped her to hold on to him as he dragged her to a nearby lifeboat. He saw Angelo doing the same with a much younger boy who was crying as they left him in the care of the first lifeboat before both of them kicked off the lifeboat going for more people.


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AUGUST



TAZMANIAN DEVIL
"TAZZ"​












No one waved back.

Not that he really expected them to.

In a brief moment of comic relief–not for anyone else, but for himself–August shrugged his shoulders and wiggled his head, “Oh, hey, Tazz~ How ya been? I see ya did good. Is ya back alroight? Little birdie told me ya got slammed pretty hard out theh.”

He leaned against the frame where the door once stood, crossing his arms with a smirk. “Oh, well, y’know~ ‘At’s just how I em. No need t’ worry ‘bout me.”

Did he actually care that no one took the time out of their fight to congratulate him on his?

No. Absolutely not.

To be honest… the majority of happenings regarding the gangs was all a joke to him. Since the day he came to New Oasis, his father told him to steer clear of them, and he did. Or he tried. But as you can see, he didn’t try hard enough.

His head throbbed. Everything was black.

“RUN, GET OUT OF HER-” Lucy’s voice snapped him awake, and his eyes shot open from the slumber he’d unknowingly slipped into. Instinctively, just seconds before the ceiling collapsed, he moved as if to save his friend, but then what? Both of them get buried? Too troublesome.

Instead, he jumped back. Away from the door; away from the bowling alley. He retreated.

When the debris settled, he watched as a gorilla-masked individual slid from a large slab of roofing and almost tripped before stopping to scan the wreckage. He snorted at their taste in facial-wear.

Had it been solely up to him, with no accountability for consequences, he’d have turned and walked home right then and there. He would kick back in bed, turn on an audio book, and allow the reader’s voice to take him away.

That is, until he was reminded of Lucy when she rose from beneath the rubble. Up until then, he’d also been deaf to the sobs and desperate screams of trapped civilian NPs, which earned from him only indifferent disregard. Tis the price they pay for choosing to live in this shithole of a city run by ruthless gangsters.

Did he mean that? Not entirely, but the thought was there.

Perhaps he was projecting. Had he never come to this city, he’d have never wound up indentured.

Who knows?

One thing that’s for certain is that August lacked compassion for nameless faces. Always had. Given the turnout of his life, it was likely for the best.

Slowly, August moved forward in response to Lucy calling his alias, approaching her whilst keeping an eye on his surroundings. Off to the side, the Ace of the Sable Serpents was seen disinterring his comrade.

As his eyes trailed back to Lucy, they stopped, instead, on Raphael–the Serpent he’d just fought. He was nearing the Tiger Queen with a wicked air about him before turning up a vial and downing its contents.

August’s pace quickened.












































♡coded by uxie♡
 
SCENE:
Phoenixes Arc 1: Scene 2 [A Gathering Storm]
LOCATION:
Docks, South District
PARTICIPANTS:
A GATHERING STORM

Hector had plenty of time to mull the situation over. It didn't take him long to jump to the conclusion that the entire evening was a failure. It was a failure from the moment they lost sight of Quetzal after departing the restaurant. His lean against the car turned into him pacing the lot. He'd walk to the end of the car park, look at the cars whizz by, then turn his back on them and walk back to his car. He'd compulsively check his phone, swiping through his messages, and then swearing at the air when there was nothing to see.

"You know, we could've sorted this out by ourselves." He was speaking to Akane now, though by the way he was speaking you'd think he was addressing a crowd. "I'll ask them. I'll ask, what were you guys doing during our time at the docks? Nothing! Nothing is what they-" His phone buzzed once more in his pocket, "-were doing...." His voice finally trailed off as he snatched the phone, and started furiously tapping his phone to check the notification. After freezing for a few long, painful seconds, perhaps to warn Hector to calm down, his phone displayed a text from Lyric.

'Quetzal’s killer is a woman, business suit. She was ambushed so Auvera couldn’t obtain much information. In addition Blitz and Temperer have looked further into the butterflies, according to their search there’s no way they were natural. It’s a potential created swarm.'

Another lead. Thank God there were other groups looking into this. There was more to the message, however.

'Succubus, Vamp, and Draken are currently engaged with the Dragon King and some other Dragons on the bridge. Keep on your toes, stay to a group, and send any phoenixes you pass into groups. Don’t allow anyone to be alone, we’re fighting on multiple fronts.'

Hector read the text not once, not twice, but five times. Tracing each word to make sure he was understanding what he was reading. Unfortunately, the conclusion he jumped to was perhaps the worst possible scenario. It was them, they're backstabbing us now?

"OH FUCK THIS!"

Without any warning, Hector's phone was thrown into the air. More specifically, it was thrown into oncoming traffic. It bounced off the roof of one car, flipping in the air, and bouncing off the road. It bounced again before landing flat on the tarmac. It glowed for a few seconds, indicating that it had survived this ordeal before it was ripped apart under the tyres of an SUV. Hector watched it all, teeth gritted, eyes unblinking.

"We need them here. Now. I don't even give a fuck." Hector, who very much did give a fuck, contemplated sending a reply to Lyric. The thought came far too late. As he walked back to his car once again, he finally seemed to get something he wanted, as Alex, Hide, and Helva made their way into the car park.

"Took your time, didn't you?" He addressed the three of them as they gathered, but he wasn't as angry as he was a few seconds before. Now he was still livid, don't feel safe yet, but he felt some of the tension fall as he saw everyone alive and well. "None of y'all are going anywhere till we sort a few things out first."

“Anyways, Hector, you’ve been the most successful thus far. What do you want to attempt?”
Damn fucking right I've been the most successful.

With that being said though, Hector hadn't thought this far ahead yet. His mind was preoccupied with Quetzal and the Dragons he blamed for all their misfortune today. Helva's addition to the conversation only stoked the flames of his fury.

"Spirit (Libla) just rescued Vulken, he was hurt in the fight against the Dragons, the Dragons goal was to apparently destroy our side of the bridge, they succeeded, and Reika and Vamp seem to be in the water below the bridge."

What he wanted to do at this moment was march up to the frontlines, and skewer the first dragon he sees, but he had some sense left in him.

"First thing we're doing is setting straight all the information we've gotten, and unless y'all have actually discovered something, I advise you pay attention." He glared at everyone but Akane as he said this, "Keep your phones on for any news from the others. I want to fight, right now, but we can't. Unless Lyrics calls us into action, we should stay away from the bridge. We can not get complacent though. We. Can. Not. Get. Complacent." Hector looked into the eyes of each of his comrades. He was furious, but in some ways, this is where he thrived. His thoughts were running a mile a minute and it took all his effort not to let his words run at the same pace. He took a moment to focus on his next few sentences.
"We have a lead! Yeah, we have two leads. A guy that frequents the docks, he's our target. We can send a group to hide out there and capture the fucker. Then we'll make him lead us to the rest of them. Then we'll make them all pay." Any issues with this plan were drowned out by Hector's confidence in himself. He saw no option but 100% success from here on out.
"We got a lead from Auvura on a killer, but we can't do shit with that yet. But trust me, it'll all come together. For now though... We just stick together."

Hector had barely taken a breath during his speech (that sounded more like a rant), and stood there panting. He was waiting for the last thing he wanted, to see his fellow Phoenixes support his plan.
 


1645836778887.png

Kanna Katsura - Azure Dragons - Jack [CS LINK]
Scene - Dragons Arc 1 | Scene 4: Reckoning
Location - Inter-District Bridge
Mentions/Interactions - Vulken Beckman ( Nobody Special Nobody Special ), Ruriko Ikeda ( Beann Beann ), Shen Yue ( Elenion Aura Elenion Aura ), Libla ( Peckinou Peckinou )


Kanna returned Vulken's grin with a weak smile of her own. Followed by a slight eyeroll to his comment about her face.

As she watched her friend begin to depart, Kanna reflected on the events that occurred that night. Her mind was stuck on the trio that cause all of the chaos. The question that was now bugging Kanna was who, or what, were the Cobalt Wolves. The name was revealed when they first leaked her identity to the public, along with two other gang members. With any luck, Kasumi would have answers. Seeing her was next on Kanna's to-do list.

Kanna began moving towards where Ruri and Shen were, but as her head turned, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Whatever it was, it was moving fast and low. Quickly, she jumped up, reducing her gravity to avoid whatever was charging her. As Kanna floated back down to the ground, her ears caught the words of whoever it was.

Capturing?

Her feet returned to the ground in time to see the unknown figure grab Vulken and whisk him away, with no time for her to clarify that Vulken was a friend. Kanna watched as the two departed. Hopefully, Vulken would be able to explain.

Her attention returned back to Ruri and Shen as she walked over to them. As she moved, Kanna looked down, noticing a gleam of metal. Her staff had rolled over to the other side of the bridge due to the wave. Reaching down, she picked it up, twirling it once before collapsing and clipping it to her side. She approached Ruri, standing beside her as Kanna watched Shen rise back up to the sky, doing what he could salvage the near-destroyed East-side bridge.

"There are still more people in the water we need to get out. Some might be trapped in their vehicles as well. Can you help me?”

...

Kanna raised her eyebrow slightly, turning to properly face Ruriko as she replied. Her arms moved up, crossing them across her chest.

"Shen is stabilizing the bridge. Unless they’re critically injured, they can get away on their own. If anything, they could use a portal to get back to the mainland quicker. The ones in the river are more in danger.”

...

Her eye twitched slightly.

A lost cause....A lost, FUCKING, cause?!

Kanna had snapped.
She threw her arms downward in anger, gesturing to the side of the bridge as her voice grew louder.

"We should at least try, Ruri! Those people are just as important as the ones on the bridge! They shouldn’t die for being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Dammit Ruriko, I’m the Jack! Just listen!”

...

Kanna couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was seething, doing her best not to lose what little control she had over her emotions.

"We, needed, him alive, so we could figure out what the fuck was going on! You saw how he acted when the data leak happened! But now he, and the other two are gone! Now, are you going to help me or not?!”

...

Kanna was stressed, and now angry.

Her hands clenched into fists, but they remained at her side, Behind closed lips, Kanna was gritting her teeth, hard. She couldn't understand why it was so easy for Ruriko to just dismiss the lives of the people stuck in the river so easily. But it was clear that the two didn't see eye to eye. She watched as Ruriko ran off to help those on the bridge. Taking a breath to collect herself, Kanna looked towards where the tipped over semi truck was. The trailer had separated from the truck itself when it tipped over, which was convenient.

Approaching it, she gripped one of the edges of the trailer, and lifted upwards. The trailer groaned for a moment from the sudden movement, but soon Kanna was carrying it over her head. She went over to the edge of the bridge, taking another breath, before stepping off and floating down

As Kanna got closer, she could see some people in the river, doing their best to keep their heads above the water, but it was obvious they were struggling. The river wasn't moving as fast as she thought, having calmed down since the bridge initially collapsed, but it was still pushing people around a fair amount. She positioned herself so that the current was coming towards her, and thus the civilians too. When Kanna got close enough, she repositioned her grip on the trailer and lowered it into the water, low enough so that served as a platform for those to climb up onto.

Kanna shouted so that the nearby civilians could hear.

"Climb on! You'll be lifted back up to the bridge!"

While waiting, Kanna looked around, trying to look for any cars under the water. But it was too dark for her to see. Plus, who knows how long they had been under.

Kanna bit her lip slightly. A mix of emotions swelled in her mind.

Ruriko had a point.




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RURIKO IKEDA
SCENE:
Dragons Arc 1: Scene 4 [Reckoning]
LOCATION:
East District
PARTICIPANTS:
Jesper, Kanna, Shen
RECKONING

The bridge continued to rock violently as Ruriko tightened her grasp on Shen’s shoulders, looking to him to do something. She followed his gaze though as it was directed to the side of the bridge, where Kanna and one of the Phoenixes were present. What was Kanna doing with him? That was the same fucker that attacked Shen, she should be beating the ever-living shit out of him! Whatever, it didn’t matter right now. Saving the bridge was the top priority now! “Shen, come on - focus! The bridge, please!” She pleaded but it would seem Shen was lost again in his own thoughts.

Only when he turned to look back at her did a wave of relief wash over her as she let go of his shoulders. Ruriko watched him lift himself up to the sky for a split second before her phone pulled her attention away. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read Jesper’s message to them. What the fuck? Why the fuck? They weren’t done here yet and he was going to ‘AFK’? Fueled with anger, her fingers were a flurry trying to type a response back but the bridge trembling underneath her didn’t help her focus.

am gonna RIP ur fucKIng teeth out if u dnt come BAck rn

Shit. Shit! She had accidentally texted Isaiah ( Lucem Lucem ) instead.

srry
that was 4 Jesper


Ruriko sent a cute cat gif as her last message before switching over to the correct gang member and furiously typed out her response:

get ur scrawny ass back here rn
we still have civies here
gonna kick ur ass if u dnt


Slipping her phone back in her pocket, she turned her attention over to Kanna who had approached her. She raised her eyebrow and looked towards the side of the bridge, and then to the pile-up that occurred because of the three suspects they were chasing earlier.

“What? There are people here on the bridge that still need help - those are the ones we can save with full certainty.”

Ruriko tilted her head up to look at Shen. She could trust Shen to stabilize the bridge but…it doesn’t take that long for someone to drown. Thirty seconds, maybe a minute at max - and that would be just one person. Having to search and rescue several wasn’t worth the effort if several minutes had already elapsed. Another tremor caused her to almost lose balance as she bent her knees to stay upright.

“The ones in the river are a lost cause, Kanna! Do you really think we can get to all of them in time? It’s not worth the effort when we can ensure the ones on the bridge get away safely.”

Ruriko’s eyebrows furrowed at Kanna’s words.

“Yeah?? Well, maybe that’s the fucking problem! Maybe if you weren’t so hellbent on capturing that fucker alive, things wouldn’t have escalated to this!”

Her hands balled into fists as she clenched her jaw. Kanna didn’t know what she was talking about, they should have just killed him when they had the chance. Instead, they were led on a stupid chase that led to where they’re at now; because she refrained from killing him, Shen had to get involved and, and -

“And this is where we got by keeping him alive! Great plan, Jack. Go waste your time splashing in the water. I’m going to save those who can actually be saved.”

With that, she took off in a sprint towards the pile-up of cars, concentrating on keeping her balance while also searching for any civilians who weren’t able to escape yet.




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SCENE:
Serpents Arc 1: Scene 2 [Pumping Out The Volume]
LOCATION:
Docks, North District
PARTICIPANTS:
Caio, Yuto
Pumping Out The Volume

"GET DOWN HERE, YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!" Sang-Cheol yelled as he finally managed to grab Yuto's ankle. However, not without any resistance as Yuto landed a square kick right into the bridge of Sang-Cheol's nose. His sunglasses clattered down to the ground after being knocked, but Sang-Cheol gripped onto Yuto's ankle with renewed strength. Though it didn't matter since the idiot's poor sense of balance, Sang-Cheol completely ignored his contribution to said imbalance and toppled over the car. It didn't help that Yuto decided to land on top of him in a purposeful maneuver to take Sang-Cheol down with him. Sang-Cheol grunted as he fell onto his back.

Then he just laid there for a few moments. Turning his head around, he tried to find his sunglasses only to see they were nowhere to be found. There was a strange pain in his back, so he laid back up to see what he landed on.

It was sunglasses. Shattered, broken, and very much destroyed. Sang-Cheol took a deep breath. 1. 2. 3. He then decided that his therapist was scamming him and the only way to resolve his anger problems was with more anger problems. "Yuto..." Sang-Cheol in a low rumble. He was going fucking murder that oversized spider. But before he could enact his revenge, he stopped himself after hearing Snake's order. Burning Yuto alive would have to wait.

"Got it," Sang-Cheol said before walking off to find somewhere to hide. That was until he found a package of alcoholic bottles. The sailors that worked here probably left them behind, though that didn't matter. He had something relatively close to flammable to burn Yuto with. While it wasn't potent as gasoline, Sang-Cheol's potentiality could probably make up the lost difference in power. Looking for any leftover materials, he quickly tried to make a few molotovs for both the incoming fight and Yuto. "You are going to burn brightly, today, Yuto," Sang-Cheol whispered in a fit of anger.


<<< Remember

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CHARMY DEVLIN
SCENE:
Tigers Arc 1: Scene 2 [Money Talks]
LOCATION:
The White Tiger Casino, West District
PARTICIPANTS:
Cassidy, Carmine
MONEY TALKS
A stand off, apprehension, and then a shift in the situation.

Charmy had, of course, flashed her eyes open long enough to get a new read on the changing circumstances. The masks were gone, replaced with plentiful individuals clad in black. Not their own, that was for certain. Nor could she fathom them all possibly being HPs, but even so it would be an uphill battle. Was it a gamble worth taking? If she were to proceed with eyes wide open, could she properly back Cassidy up? She doubted it. More people may mean more factors, but that worked against her in the same way it did with. Too unpredictable. Too dangerous.

Her eyes crept towards the windows.

Could she make it? Unlikely. Even if she did, would it be worth it? Not from this height. And that would be escaping on her own. Hardly a possibility considering her shameful behavior throughout this entire venture. If these goons were freelance they would just have to hope they accepted surrender. She couldn’t see much other choice given the pieces they had to work with.

The heel in her hand hit the floor, as each arm tenderly ascended with exposed palms.

“We lack reason to extend this charade.”

Her eyes held closed.
 
Isobel_Circle.png
ISOBEL PHAM

Tigers: Arc 1, Scene 2/3
Location: Albino Tigers' HQ, West District
Participants: Elenion Aura Elenion Aura (Markus), Lucem Lucem (Ezra)

Isobel did not think she would need to hide Alex's identity from Markus but when the Tiger King shifted his glare onto her, resolve swelled within. Maybe it was stubborn rebelliousness, the thought that she held cards in her hands that Markus didn't know of. Or maybe it was the desire for self-preservation, not wanting to tangle herself further in this already very messy web. Or maybe you've just gotten soft. As much of a thorn in her side the jack of the phoenixes had been, she had to admit she wasn't keen on the idea of Markus sending the entire gang after him. You have definitely gotten soft.

As the helicopter descended onto the roof of the Tiger's HQ, Isobel felt relief awash her. That was at least one problem off her plate. Watching Markus storm across the helipad, Isobel gave Ezra a nod as if to say that it would probably be best if they both followed. Walking down the pristine hallways of the Tigers' HQ, she started to work out an answer - or excuse - that she could give Markus in her head. Titus had been taken away to recover but the scent of his cheap cologne and alcohol-laced sweat seemed to have rubbed off on her and Ezra's jacket and it lingered in the air around them like a bad memory.

Once the doors to the boardroom shut behind them, the tension only seemed to escalate. “You wanna tell me what you know?" The demand was clear in Markus' tone and Isobel knew she needed to tread carefully.

Out of habit, Isobel began to sign then remembered it was Markus she was talking to and instead fished her phone out of her pocket and quickly typed something in. The corners of her phone showed obvious signs of wear and the screen was so cracked the words appeared slightly distorted but it worked well enough for the young women. When she was done, she hit enter and the monotonous voice of her phone's virtual assistant rang out.

"I heard it might belong to someone from the phoenixes. I've been looking into it."

Learning from her mistake before, Isobel remembered to keep her expression impassive this time. Hopefully, Markus would be satisfied with that brief explanation and buy herself some time to come up with a solution to retrieve whatever it was Markus wanted without her having to confront Alex.
 
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Yo "Kiyohime" Saiwa
Location: Road to Paradise Forever
In Scene: Kasumi ( FabulousTrash FabulousTrash ) | Kazue ( azenva azenva ) || On the way: Meirin ( QuirkyAngel QuirkyAngel )
Eye of Providence​

1645975216761.pngYo glanced over her shoulder back at Kasumi as she requested to stop at Paradise Forever, but still wanting to join her in grabbing the laptop. If anyone had the best idea about where the laptop would be, it would be her. Yo would prefer having Kasumi join along so if that meant a little detour herself to the brothel, then…
Okay- since it’s in the same direction anyhow.

Kazue was also deciding to join. It would be good to have them around, thanks to their healing field. Just in case.

Let’s get moving.

The Queen adjusted the hem of her outfit along her shoulder as she started walking quickly along the sidewalk, in the direction of Paradise Forever.. She had no need to be slow, but she wasn’t about to run either. At this point, running would just take energy they should conserve.

Her phone buzzed for another notification, seeing Isaiah had messaged her back. Yo didn’t message back; there was no need but she made a mental note.

The walk to Paradise Forever was eerily more quiet than usual for a Friday night. Normally, people would be bustling to and from, pleasure drunk or alcoholic drunk. The streetlights cast deep shadows along alleyways, only adding to the strange atmosphere. The flowers of the smaller ever-blooming trees that lined the sidewalk as a barrier between walking citizens and cars on the street shuddered lightly in the breeze, petals littering the pathway.

Not everyone heeded Jesper’s earlier mass-message as there were groups definitely not needing the warning. Gazes were cast at them but the citizen’s eyes quickly dropped to the ground and avoided contact. Some even switched the side of the street they were walking along, to avoid the Dragon group.

Could it be that they recognized the Dragon Queen or part of the entourage, or was it they sensed a tenseness that emanated from Yo like a blistering fire.

Speaking of fire, the Queen kept the fire in her belly, so the cold of the night didn’t affect her, considering the outfit she wore didn’t stave off the cold. She’d be ready to burn anyone that got in their way. Her golden eyes looked tersely among any strangers they passed, looking for anyone that fit the description that her Ace sent.

If Kasumi or Kazue didn’t speak or ask questions, it would be a quiet trip to Paradise Forever.
 
FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES X IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE

Darius couldn't tell if the noises he could hear were of someone helping, or of more people struggling, but it didn't change the fact he was stuck. Thankfully, it was the former, as Bash grappled with the debris, uncovering the Serpent underneath. Darius felt relief the instant he was rescued. His arm, now free, flopped off his face, onto the dusty floor. A streak of blood smeared across his face, and Darius reached to it with his other hand, to feel for any injuries. All seemed ok until he tilted his head to look at his other arm, which was bright red. Yikes. He'd have to take a look at that.

He looked back to Bash and waved away his attempts to help him up. "I'm fine. I'm fine. What the fuck was that?..." He started to clamber to his feet as he spoke, but his voice trailed off something caught his eye. Bash's head was bleeding. Bash, the great and terrifying ace, was bleeding. Despite knowing Bash was as human as the rest of them, there was something unnerving about seeing weakness in him. It made Darius all the more aware of his own mortality, of everyone's mortality. You didn't have to be an expert in body language to tell that Darius was shaken by the whole ordeal, and he just looked at Bash in silence as he got up. He considered asking if he was ok but dared not.

"All good." He affirmed with a nod. Given that Darius tends to always look on edge, he did a reasonably good job at masking his shock.

When he got to his feet, the first thing Darius did was give himself a quick checkup, starting with his arm, which dripped blood. There was a jagged tear across the limb. It didn't concern him too much. After all, he was used to his arms getting torn to pieces. The bleeding, though not ideal, didn't seem to be strong enough to cause any issues immediately. He stretched his legs and arms out. His entire body still ached, but he was conscious and on his feet, which was about as good as he expected.

He looked around the building and noticed Anna and Raph. He didn't care too much about the latter but smiled at Anna beneath his dusty mask. Inside he wanted to shake her and ask what the hell she was thinking, but the most important thing was that her plan worked. It worked quite well, actually, assuming you don't look at all the innocent lives affected, which Darius was trying his hardest to ignore.

He was at a loss on what to do next. He had no opponents to resume fighting, as he'd never managed to join in in the first place. He turned to Bash. He'd need his approval regardless of what he chose to do next. He could feel his heart beating through his chest, adrenaline still coursing through his body.

"So... what are we doing now?"

He noticed Raph again, though this time he wasn't with Anna. He felt a sense of dread as he watched him approach a woman in the wreckage, the same woman he'd tried to distract earlier. I guess we aren't finished yet.

Bash seemed to notice as well, and his instructions soon followed, telling Darius he could either fight or continue their original mission. The latter seemed like the obvious choice, and if it had been earlier in the night, Darius would've jumped at the chance to slink away. With tension at an all-time high though, Darius couldn't risk any failure at this point and honestly liked his odds better staying put. It took Bash's intervention just to ward off three teenagers earlier, and Darius didn't want to risk the wrath that would follow if he needed his help recruiting a few more.

Darius didn't answer and swallowed a lump in his throat as he focused all his attention on the scene in front of him. It didn't take him long to spot a problem, in the form of the white-haired, masked man approaching Raph and Lucy. He had only caught a glimpse of him before but felt confident guessing he was one of the Tigers. Guess I've got someone to fight now.

"I got him," Darius murmured to Bash, before breaking into a run past Raph, who had just downed the contents of something that Darius didn't want to guess the origin of. He had his sights set on August, who seemed to be distracted by his comrade. This gave Darius the perfect opportunity to strike. Weaving through the rubble, he formed a fist with his left hand (the one not coated in the blood).

Blocking out all the voices in his head telling him to turn back, he skidded to a halt in front of August, intercepting his path to Lucy. Not a second after, he connected a punch directly to his jaw. His form was terrible, and anyone could tell he wasn't a seasoned fighter like the others. Even so, August was knocked back, only seeming to notice right before the impact.

Despite the pain that flashed across his knuckles, Darius felt better than he did before. He could ignore his aching body for now. Before he could follow up his punch, though, he was interrupted by a wooshing noise. A stinging pain soon followed as August enveloped his body in wind. A wave of dust lifted by the wind caught him in the face, and his vision blurred. Taking a step back, Darius covered his eyes with both hands, to shield them as he rapidly blinked the dust away. Of course, he's defending himself, what was I thinking, he's gonna-. Darius's panic over this assault was cut short as the wind died down, and the dust settled in the air, slowly descending.

Darius dropped his hands, and through his distorted vision, noticed that his opponent had stopped.

Does he not want to fight, or did I genuinely catch him off-guard?

If he felt he had the time to ask, he would've. Unfortunately, he felt like he was wasting enough time as is. With no time to think, he approached again as soon as he locked his watery eyes with August. His stronger arm went to push August's chest, while the bloody one planted itself directly on his neck, digging in with his stubby nails.

The pair fell over into the wreckage, Darius kneeling on August's body, trying to set himself up to keep the Tiger pinned down. He kept his hands where they were, and began to feel an all too familiar pain in his right hand as his potential did its thing on August's neck. It was at this point that Darius realised he had no real plan for this. Despite the havoc caused this evening, he already regretted furthering it. He stared down at August in pure silence, bordering on pure terror. Despite the firm grip he had, his hands were trembling.

I'm sorry for starting this.
 
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CALLAHAN BORDEAU
SCENE:
Tigers Arc 1: Scene 3 [The High Life]
LOCATION:
Albino Tiger Penthouse Suite, West District
PARTICIPANTS:
Elias, Yulia
The High Life
Dodge the swipe. Callahan could hear the back of his mind warning him, shouting at him through a haze of swirling colors, and sounds. He was very certain he was staring at someone he was angry with, and he was even more certain that someone was lunging at his face with… a thing. A knife, he could recognize better through subtle instinct than clarity. But his body didn’t seem so keen on responding, at first.

At first, of course, accounting right up until the knife was close enough to his face that his body could also recognize that it was, indeed, a knife. At which point his mind screamed Oh, shit! and his face, in response, managed to contort further into a disappointed frown. There was little time to respond, so Callahan did what his body felt so prepared to do… He collapsed.

Callahan’s legs went loose, his waist and shoulders lurched aside with gravity’s and some reflex’s assistance, and he could feel the knife’s edge whistle past his head during the descent... “Sorry-“ He started, planting one foot forward. Callahan could feel it now, and he already had the momentum to follow through. “-PAL!” With one, sudden, burst of energy, he became aware that his right fist had managed to find, and cave itself a home in the HP’s ribs. The crack that ensued, Cal was certain, was said ribs, so after a moment he opened his eyes to look at his opponent when he said some other, clearly witty one liner…


Only to find the crack had, in fact, come from Yulia slamming the butt of her shotgun into the back of the head of that poor HP with even less mercy than an inhibited Callahan had managed. He watched as the figure was made, staggered, to consume the floor at a less than favorable velocity.

“Ah-ehm… Yep!” Cal stammered out, still halfway between his retort, and collecting himself enough to catch up with the scene before himself. He let out a relieved sigh, planted his fists onto his hips, gave a nod to the less than conscious HP, and then another to Yulia, “Thanks for the backup!.. I had him, of course, but that makes this much easier.” Before he could receive whatever reply was incoming, however, Callahan glanced back at his ladder, then up to where it led, above… Markus, was it? He ought to know what to do about this party crasher.

So he leaned down, to hoist up the HP under one arm, pinned akin to the NPs from before, and he strode back over to his ladder. “Just gonna take this guy to the Boss. I owe ya one!” He said with a grin, before he attempted once, or twice… or three times, and failed to grab at a rung. A loss of adrenaline didn’t help the remaining Aetherwave fumes coursing through his body, and not looking where he was grabbing only made things worse, as he fell back. Cal was confident he had gotten it the third time, and opted, when he found he was lying on his back, to simply wait there with the HP trapped underneath him. Murmuring something about how comfortable the floor felt in the meantime.

 
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Ezra Knight
CS Link
SCENE:
Tigers Arc 1: Scene 2/3 [The High Life]
LOCATION:
Albino Tiger HQ, West District
PARTICIPANTS:
THE HIGH LIFE
Ezra remained quiet as Markus interrogated Titus. He expected the boss to open up by asking about the group who made a mess of his casino, but it seemed like the little bird on his cell phone was of greater importance. It appeared to be a calling card of some sort, displaying a colorful hummingbird marked with the word 'Greed'. He had never seen it in person, but Ezra did recognize the design. More than a handful of his family's wealthy associates had complained about being robbed by a nuisance with sticky fingers. Because he overheard plenty of these talks in the past, he assumed that whatever Markus wanted from Titus had been stolen.

Unfortunately, Ezra didn't know enough to provide any useful information. Isobel, however, seemed to be more familiar with the mysterious thief, if the look on her face was any indication. The boss didn't fail to pick up on the change in expression, immediately giving up on Titus and redirecting his ice-cold gaze toward the quiet woman. Ezra considered moving out of the way in case the King decided to turn his seatmate into an ice pop, but the pilot's sudden message put a pause on the discussion.

Finally reaching the King's castle, Ezra removed his headset and watched Markus storm ahead. Servants were already standing by to serve their lord, whisking Titus away at the snap of a finger. Not wanting to share the fat man's fate, he agreed with what Isobel seemed to say with her nod. As he stepped onto the platform and followed after her, he noted that he hadn't heard her speak yet. Not much for conversation, is she?

Just like his fellow Tiger, he didn't say a word on the way to the meeting room. The moment the glass door closed behind him, he settled into one of the comfortable chairs and watched as another squad assembled outside to stand guard. Having a bit of extra security around was nice, but Ezra couldn't help but wonder if they were meant to do more than keep unwanted visitors from interrupting the discussion. Markus was intent on getting answers, so it seemed smart to have some extra hands around in case someone tried to make a break for it.

After a few moments of pacing back and forth, Markus finally pounced and confronted Isobel. Just like King Cold, Ezra looked toward her, waiting to hear what she had to say. When he saw her try to sign before pulling out her phone, he raised his head a bit. Ah, now I see. He finally understood why she'd been so quiet. He'd been forced to learn sign language at a young age, so he would've been able to understand her without the virtual assistant. However, Markus didn't seem to have that skill.

A Phoenix, huh? Fitting. Isobel said it was only a possibility, but it was still a lead. Although, that may not have been enough to satisfy Markus. It seemed like he was suspicious of her, so Ezra didn't think the questioning would stop there. Where did she hear that the thief might be a Phoenix? How long had she been looking into this? Why did she start? Why hadn't she told him until now? Ezra could think of a few more follow-up questions, but they weren't for him to ask.

Ezra really didn't have much to say. The most he could do was offer to ask a few of the thief's previous victims if they had any security cam footage or eyewitness accounts, but he decided to hold off on that for now. He didn't want to interrupt, so he'd wait until the King was finished.
 
SCENE:
Phoenixes Arc 1: Scene 1 [From the Ashes]
LOCATION:
Phoenix HQ, South District
PARTICIPANTS:
Boltius ( Doctor Llamabean Doctor Llamabean ).
From the Ashes



The pair had begun their relatively quick-paced tread into the rendezvous point, lead by the energetic, backwards-walking Boltius.

“So, where was it you said you was from? North? East?- No, it was West, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was West. I remember~ So… what? You some rich broad? What’d you want with the Phoenixes?”

Broad? Charlie was pretty sure he's heard that term before in movies and shows, but that term was supposed to refer to women... Could it be that Boltius was thinking Charlie was a girl? that sure would not have been the first time. He mentally shrugged as he decided it was probably just a misunderstanding, I mean, he had presented himself as a man already, right?

"R-Rich!? Well, I guess I did come from a good family, but I left that place for good so that doesn't matter, as for the phoenixes? I guess I was just lucky to meet my sponsor, it was very sudden!" Charlie was twirling his baton around as he finally managed to get into a more casual conversation for a change.

"Oh, cool-cool. Who's your sponsor?"

"You probably know her, it's Helva Linxal. Black suit, fancy car, has shadows that help her, sounds familiar?"

Bolt paused in his step, but quickly carried on, "Yeah, yeah I know'er. You had me at Helva. I don't chill with her much, though... What's the story? Unless you're not comfortable- don't let me pry."

"Oh i don't mind at all! It was less than a year and a half ago, you see, I was at the time working at..."

And so their friendly chatter continued for a few minutes as they walked along the streets of the Nightlife District. Boltius, now that he was relatively calm, at least compared to just moments ago, turned out to be pretty enjoyable company to talk to, he was funny and a surprisingly good listener. Charlie was ultimately glad to have his presence.

Eventually, the complementary duo had arrived to the club Lyric had specified, unfortunately, neither their king nor their fellow phoenix comrades had arrived to the point yet.


"Well, I guess we now wait" Said Charlie as he laid his back against the front walls of the club.



 
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AUGUST



TAZMANIAN DEVIL
"TAZZ"​












Self-preservation. Not to be confused with egotism or narcissism.

It’s his first motivation—the second being to expand his collections—and sort of what dictates a lot of his decisions.

You could say… he’s a cautious risk-taker, all headache-induced clumsiness aside, but the majority of those risks are taken with a motive, be it short-term or long-term. If August has no specific reason to do something, he’s usually not going to do it.

But that’s where it gets confusing.

Starting slow, then working up to a jog as he maneuvered through the collapsed remains of Mach Sling, his focus was hooked on his comrade, Lucy. There was no direct telling whether or not she would need his help but he figured it best to close the distance between them just in case.

He couldn’t help before, lest he be buried like everyone else—even if it meant Lucy had to die—but he could help now, as inconvenient as it may be. Only, he couldn’t pin a reason why he would even want to help, apart from their mutual friendship. What was there to gain?

With that being said, he didn’t understand why friendship seemed to obligate you to put your life at risk for one another, as he would much rather let everyone take care of themselves. That begged another question; could friendship still exist within the bounds of every man for himself?

If you asked him, he’d say yes. Though, he couldn’t speak for others…

On that matter, did August even care about friendship?

As he struggled with that thought in his mind, the sobs of civilians and overall panic were to him like ants in the dirt underfoot; irrelevant. Like the faceless, nameless background characters in the comics—the ones without detail or color; just mannequins with no essential contribution to the story—he overlooked them as easily as one might overlook a nickel in a jar of quarters. As for Lucy, she meant… something. He didn’t know what, but she did.

Friendship… It sounded childish the more he repeated it.

If she vanished tomorrow, he wouldn’t search for her. If she was fated to die right here, right now, he wouldn’t dwell on it. Yet, he moved to aid her.

Perhaps it was easier to lend a hand, or even just to make it look that way, lest he face a scolding in the case that she survived. August was conflicted.

He cared. But, also, he didn’t.

How bothersome.

Next thing you know, in the midst of his deep rumination, as quickly as it took him to blink, an unfamiliar character slid into view, wearing a mask. A pause for dramatic effect. Before August could react, he felt the stranger clock him across the jaw, eyes shutting in pain; though, he’d felt worse.

Wind expelled from his body, wholly enveloping him as he stumbled back from the hit, cupping the point of contact. It was an involuntary, instinctive reaction, stirring up any loose debris in his immediate surroundings. Chips of wood and chunks of drywall, whizzing around him per the wind’s tornado-like properties, before dropping altogether as the wind quickly dissipated.

Just as he didn’t mean to activate the cyclone, he didn’t mean to cancel it.

The element of surprise was a damper on his reflexes.

But that’s okay. He just needed to recover.

August looked at the stranger and found the man mid-leap toward him with an outstretched hand. August leaned away with his torso, raising his arms defensively as if to block himself, but the reaction was late, and so he hugged the Serpent instead as he toppled backwards.

An unexpected pain began to radiate throughout the skin of his neck where the Serpent had managed to grab him, choking him.

Three seconds.

The pain intensified, and August reached with both hands to grab the man’s wrist, digging in with his nails. Five seconds. His feet kicked and pushed at the ground as he tried to roll over—to toss the attacker aside—and a grunt of pain swelled in his throat, which quickly bursted into a deep, suffering cry that was abruptly drowned out by a loud, whooshing blast. Another eruption of wind, only this time it was different; unlike its familiar formation. Six total seconds was the count.

Usually, the wind conformed to his shape. Now, it was spherical and much larger, surrounding him like the glass of a snowglobe does a humble countryside town.

Fixated on the pain, August didn’t notice the difference. He wrapped his hands around his neck where blisters had formed and the skin was now discolored, cracked, and bleeding to some degree, and he rolled onto his side, curling into a ball. His face was pinched with torture.

It burned. No, it stung. Or maybe it was both—either way, it was infuriating.

From his side, he scrambled to his knees and elbows, pressing his forehead into the ground as he tangled his fingers in his hair. Had the pain been expected, he might have handled it better, but it wasn’t, and so he writhed for a few more seconds before adjusting and relaxing.

As for the Serpent, he'd been thrown up and tossed aside by August's expulsion of rotating wind.












































♡coded by uxie♡
 
ANNA GARDENER
CS Link
SCENE:
Serpents Arc 1: Scene 1 [Friends In Low Places]
LOCATION:
Western-Central District Sewers > West Side, Central District
PARTICIPANTS:
Bash ( Nobody Special Nobody Special ), Darius ( WhiskeyMarten WhiskeyMarten ), Raphael ( Elenion Aura Elenion Aura ) Dante ( The Regal Rper The Regal Rper ), August ( Doctor Llamabean Doctor Llamabean ), Lucy ( BriiAngelic BriiAngelic )
FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
<<< Remember
Two. Only two of the Tigers remained on the offensive in the wake of Anna's stunt. Whether the rest of them were dead, or just buried under more rubble than their potential could deal with wasn't clear, but either way, the Serpents now held the strength in numbers.

Anna's plan had worked wonders.

Anna swallowed as her senses readjusted, and the rubble started to whimper. The piles of wood, steel and insulation that now littered the bowling alley were crying, screaming, wailing, whatever word that you wanted to use to describe primal howls of pain. Immediately, whatever sense of relief Anna might have felt at her success turned to revulsion. The Tigers and Serpents had already started to move against each other again, rushing towards one another to expand the fatality count for the night.

Stupid.

This was what she got for acting on her own.

Stupid.

This was why she only ever did work for others.

Stupid

This wasn't Anna's first foray with collateral damage. She'd had to kill more than just the targets for hits before. People who were just doing their jobs, people in the wrong place at the wrong time, she'd bloodied her hands with both before, but it was never this bad, and it was never this absolutely her fault.

More than she had been at any point today, Anna was glad that she was wearing the mask.

She'd been standing frozen for full seconds now. Her breathing had quickly turned ragged, and her head jerked about the area in a daze. She wasn't sure whether she should be paying attention to the survivors, or the gang members trying to kill one another. Her vision swum for a few moments more, until an explosion of air and dust seized her attention. Her body jolted towards it, and she caught sight of Darius being flung through the air like a ragdoll.

Her body moved without instruction, dashing across the field of debris with all the agility of a monkey to catch and break Darius's fall. His clothes were stained red already, which for all she knew was her fault. She might have fucked up badly, really badly tonight, but that didn't give her the right to give up. At the very least, she didn't want to see anybody she knew die tonight.

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FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES X IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE

Darius focused only on August's mask as his potential gradually intensified. Seconds felt like minutes, and the chaos around him felt miles away. He wasn't aware of his body pushing forward, his hand leaning further into August's neck. His eyes still watered from the flurry of debris, and a few droplets splashed onto August. He was lost for a moment, August's mask being the only thing tethering his mind to the situation.

August's grip on his wrist brought Darius back to Mach Sling, where he realised he was starting to fight back. Blood trickled down his arm, his wound exasperated by the nails digging in, causing his potential to retaliate deep into the laceration. Darius let out a gasp at this sudden wave of pain, and his mouth formed silent words, invisible through his mask.

"Stop it. Stop it."

His arms were shaking now, not just trembling, as August began to struggle harder. Normally Darius would be counting the seconds in his head. Not only was it important to know what stage his potential was at, but it gave his thoughts something to do. He had no idea how much time had passed, and his undistracted mind was flooded with incomprehensible thoughts. Even if he wanted to get up, he knew it wasn't possible anymore. As if he were still under the wreckage, he felt crushed, incapable of lifting himself up.

His arms were about to buckle, under the pressure of Darius's assault and the expectations placed upon them. His fingers tightened. Every nerve that was still intact in his hand was now screaming. One with a stronger mind would be fine, as his potential harmed him at a lesser rate than it did August, but Darius wasn't that person. His arms buckling wouldn't have even been a bad thing. With August's neck underneath, it would've only harmed the Tiger more. And that's what he's trying to do, right? That question may have been floating around somewhere, but Darius wasn't prepared to answer it.

The blood of both their injuries created a slick surface. Darius shifted his hand to accommodate for August's struggling, and that was where it all started going wrong. His arm had enough of this and soon lost its grip. Before the Serpent could fall, or even realise he was going to, he was stopped. All he heard was a loud whoosh as if a hurricane had descended upon the bowling alley. His eyes shut instinctively as he was blasted away by the eruption.

His body flew limply, helplessly through the air for a few seconds, as if resigned to its fate. His arm hurt too much to shield himself from anything this time, and his other arm seemed to be joining it in solidarity. His legs were still stuck in a bent position, though they went limp too when the force of the throw coursed through his whole body. Darius knew the rubble was going to be unkind once again, but thankfully he didn't have to experience it. His flight was abruptly stopped by two arms below him.

You'd be forgiven for assuming the Serpent was dead, or at the very least unconscious. His eyes were scrunched closed, his face paler than usual, his body unmoving. The only signs of life were loud, rapid breaths coming from the man. Darius was fully with it though, and after a few seconds of realization, his eyes reopened. His gorilla-masked peer was there. She had saved him, and he knew that more than anything else that was going on in the moment. He blinked a few times, though there was nothing to blink out of his eyes anymore. His body tingled, like pins and needles, and the dull pain started to grow in intensity. He couldn't let that take him out of the fight though.

"Anna..." His voice broke. He sounded breathless, despite the rate he was breathing at. Luckily being caught in a way that avoided any skin-on-skin contact, he let himself relax for a few moments. He kept looking up at Anna, wanting to speak but not finding words that could convey anything meaningful. "I..."

After regaining his bearings, he shakily got back onto his feet. From there, he saw August once more. It seemed his attack had been effective, though seeing what he had done to his neck only made Darius feel nauseous. He took one step forward, but almost failed in even doing that, as his legs threatened to collapse. He remained standing, but he didn't take any more steps. His breathing was still fast, and only now did Darius realise he was probably breathing too fast. It would explain why his legs felt like jelly, and he felt like he could vomit at any time. He was panicking hard. What did I do? What did I do? What do I do now?

Darius was perhaps the worst person to try and calm himself down and remained planted in the middle of the action, standing next to Anna. He kept his eyes focused on August as the Tiger dealt with his injuries. He wished he could keep the noises around him drowned out, but they only seemed louder than usual now.

Why can't I do anything right?
 

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