Fantasy &nbsp; New Oasis: Four Heavenly Kings

SCENE:

Serpent Arc 2: Scene 3 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dante, Meirin, Peyton, Tri, Anna, Bash, Kisara, Yuto, Shen

Tailing the Dragon's Heart

Things really just went from zero to one hundred. One moment Peyton was talking to Dante, the next moment everything fell into chaos.

Through a hole in the wall, he could see Meirin confronting the animal mask girl-- Velvet Meadow, or however her name was. Paris's 'sister.' Dante also stood to his feet, transforming and moving to assist. Peyton painfully raised his rifle and aimed it at Velvet before deciding to lower it again. It was impressive just how potent Yuto's venom was. Even the simple action of lifting his rifle left a strain on him. Shooting the gun was ultimately out of the question. Typically he could withstand the recoil of his anti-HP rifle, but in his weakened state, he would probably end up hurting himself.

Thankfully Shen arrived in a majestic fashion, his clothes rustling in the wind. Yes, the King of the Dragon would help fix the situation! Except he didn't. With barely as much as a glance in Peyton's direction the King immediately began to attack Dante. Peyton's smirked as he watched this all unfold, and he couldn't help a little giggle of amusement escape. He was so glad that this was the type of King that he followed. Peyton hoped that Dante was still alright. It was a shame, he still wanted to talk to the dark-skinned angel.

"Shen Ge, the serpent is over here!" Peyton shouted, forcing himself to his feet and pointing to Anna's fleeing figure. He hoped that Shen could hear him, or else Tri's companion would escape. Not that was a bad thing. Now that he considered it, why was only Tri's companion here? Where did Tri himself run off to?

Goodness, he wished he had the strength to fight. Hearing that Reveler was underneath the rubble did give him a second wind though, allowing him to once again stumble to his feet and walk near the concrete. He couldn't just well let Reveler suffocate down in there. Who else would he gush about books with? Without thinking, Peyton aimed his gun down at the floor-- completely forgetting why he wasn't using the gun-- and fired a shot.

Thankfully, his aim was completely off, or else the anti-HP bullet would have likely torn through Reveler. Instead, it just made a large dent in the ground. It also caused his arm to dislocate. Peyton yelpedin pain, swaying and tumbling to the ground once again. Tears flowed down his face as he clutched at his shoulder. God, it hurt.

"Hey, could someone bring me to the hospital?" Peyton asked nobody in particular, finally recognizing the fact that his body was in no good shape.

QuirkyAngel

The One Eyed Bandit

The One Eyed Bandit · Aug 18, 2022

TAILING THE DRAGON'S HEART, TRI SIDE

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 3 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit Entrance, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Yuto, Kisara, Bash, Celestine, Meirin, Reveler, Dante, Peyton

Tailing The Dragon's Heart

"Mmm." Steve, Paul, Steve-Paul, partook deeply of the Lovermaker's pink smoke, allowing it to flow freely through their lungs, and permeate their bloodstream. A single, dazzling glint ran across their sunglasses, and they smiled. "That's love, baby. Good stuff."

They broke into a chase, dashing after the car with long, powerful bounds, but even the hulking mass of their combined body was not enough to keep up with a speeding getaway vehicle. They skidded to a stop, peeling up a long strip of the street's pavement as they went. It crumbled to pieces inside of their grip, transformed into a payload of concrete pellets. Their guns rippled, and the joined pair took a careful aim in the direction of the getaway car.

"Batter up, baby." They quipped, and then shot the payload of concrete into the car's direction with a smooth, underarm swing. The mist of concrete whistled through the air noisily, an impromptu spray of birdshot propelled by strength and strength alone. The car's metal chassis went unharmed, turning the concrete into dust as it crashed into it, but the rest of the vehicle was a different story. The back window exploded under the force of the clash, and the car shook under the impact, but kept trundling on regardless.

Steve-Paul swore under their breath, and then scooped up another handful of ammunition, this time of rocks rather than pebbles.

"Let's give this another go!" Their voice was confident, and then they took aim again. This would be the one. They could feel it in their bones. All four-hundred and twelve of them.

Interacted with:

Damafaud
Relevant to:

/border]

Damafaud · Aug 18, 2022

TRI

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 2 [Matter the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Entrance to Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Yuto, Kisara, Bash, Meirin, Reveler, Peyton, Dante

WEAPON:

Lovemaker 3000, Stick

Matter of the Dragon's Heart

<<< Previous Post

"HOLY FUCK!" The driver screamed as concrete rained down. Tri barely managed to cover his eyes before the back window exploded and glass rained on his. As injury went, he received none, but that was dangerous. He narrowed his eyes through the remains shaped hole.

"Hm." That looked bad. Also felt like the car would be destroyed if he didn't do anything. A pity he left the sleeping weapons with Anna.

Oh, right. Anna. "How is Anna?" Tri asked the driver who wasn't listening because his life was kind of being threatened by concrete bullets. Tri hummed as he flopped back on the chair. Looks like they didn't get Anna. Maybe Paris forgot. It couldn't be helped. He would give her extras after this and let her keep the guns since she didn't like killing people.

"AGGGGH!"

Right, life and death situation. The driver screamed as he swiveled around a car. There was now a barrier between them and the Twin, but the driver didn't slow down. Rather, he sped up. Tri kicked the left door open, hand holding onto the roof.

If the car actually exploded, he decided to just jump off.

Interact:

The One Eyed Bandit
Mention:

QuirkyAngel

>> Next Post

Roda the Red · Aug 18, 2022

CHARLIE HUGHES & HITOSHI YAMAKAWA

SCENE:

Phoenixes/Tigers Arc 2 : Scene Transition [Shopping Spree! -> Happily Ever After ]

LOCATION:

Shopping Mall, Upper Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Charlie, Hitoshi, Elias, Alice, Jack, Charmy

SHOPPING SPREE!! -> HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Collaboration with

joshuadim

Neither of the two phoenixes could rest for long, as what appeared to be one of the main perpetrators of the violence at the mall appeared before them. And unlike the other goons they had faced, this one definitely had abilities and was not afraid of collateral damage with its use. With a stomp of his foot, a storm was heading their way that tore up and flung everything in its path with full intent on hitting both Charlie and Hitoshi. The latter of whom, quick on his feet and aided by his high, simply grabbed Charlie and tackled him into a nearby shop window. Though one might have expected the glass to break from such force, they simple slipped through somewhere else entirely.

For Charlie, this was a rather unpleasant first trip as he felt his body grow queasy as he took in his surroundings: an exact replica of the outside world at large and yet completely devoid of their material presence. He could see the effects of the potentiality's impact from the White Rabbit tear apart the outside and the mirror they had just come through, but they themselves did not feel any harm or effects. The shards of glass and other debris that flew at them simply phased through them. Hitoshi slowly got up and cracked his back with a bit of effort. "Sorry about that... first time is always unpleasant." he commented, "Tch, damn. That must've shattered every damn piece of glass nearby. That makes coming out harder."

“Ugh…” Charlie made his discomfort of the new experience audible. “Thanks though, it caught me off guard, and that looked like a nasty attack…” He stared in light shock at the now lifeless bodies of the grunts as result of the collateral damage. “How can he be so cold as to just carelessly kill his allies like that…”

Then, the Rabbit spoke once again, his words this time causing Charlie to react.

There was no way they were talking about some other Alice.

His mind quickly connected the dots, from the encounter from earlier to now, just who was she exactly? The daughter of the richest person in the city or something?

“Aniki! We need to go back and take out that guy as soon as possible!” said as he observed the now destroyed glass windows.

“Huh?” Hitoshi muttered aloud as he scratched his head, looking around the area. “Well, unless you wanna be squeezed through one of these smaller shards down here,” he then spoke, pointing to the fragments of glass scattered about the area, “then I’m not sure how. It would be pretty painful to go through something that small… not to mention, it would be difficult to attack from there.”

He took a look around again, ruffling his frazzled hair and sighed. “In any case, we should think about how to do this-” he started to say before finally noticing how anxious Charlie was, “...unless you’re in a hurry? What's up?”

“Well…I uh…” He scratched the back of his head, thinking how to respond to that.

“Think I know who they’re looking for, she’s that someone I mentioned earlier, I know it’s hard to believe but I’m almost sure of it”

He looked at the glass shards once more, and struggled to imagine how they could possibly fit through that.

“Well, perhaps we can follow them for now? We should find a new opening soon”

“Better make it quick then, because we only got about 20 meters or so until things start to get hairy in here.”

With a nod the pair headed towards Knave’s group, following them closely, almost as if they were a couple of haunting ghosts, their time to strike would come shortly.

AriAriAbabwa QuirkyAngel BluEndings Chaos Gallant

AriAriAbabwa · Aug 18, 2022

Alicia Morel

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 3 [Happily Ever After]

LOCATION:

Upper Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Alice, Elias, Jack, Charmy, Charlie, Hitoshi

Happily Ever After

"Splendid!" Janay softened his stance at the agreement. As he took a few steps ahead, chuckling lightly to Ronald, he made his first decree. "We'll take the southeast exit. We're going to form a link of touch, and we mustn't separate unless I say so."

While he went on about the simple plan of sneaking right past them, Alice focused on the repeated popping noise, lost in a trance. Then, she uttered, "Those are all gunshots..." She'd never heard those until now... but at the same time that wasn't the case...? She did hear those, hence the recognition, but where? She thought it strange, but right now they had bigger things to worry about.

"Alice?"

"I'm coming."

As everybody present linked hands, Janay was the first to begin disappearing. The invisibility spread from across other people, through their hands and onto everything touching them. At last, they were off to hopefully a swift escape.

Of course, though, they soon me trouble. They came across a group of White Rabbits and one certain Knave. They were walking leisurely down the hall, spread across the width. "Tut-tut... If we get too close to them, they'll find us out with a group this big... I'll move you into that cosmetics store to hide while I convince them to move on." He led everyone into said store, closed but thankfully with an unlocked entrance. Elias would recognize it as where he spoke with Genevieve in secret. The store itself was not too wide, but it had few windows, and the darkness inside made it hard to look in from outside.

The invisibility went away, and Janay remained crouched at the door. He put a finger to his lips, signaling for quiet. Alice, though, needed his affirmation on something. "Janay, be careful..." she whispered.

He smiled softly, ruffling the top of Alice's head. "Don't fret. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Janay revealed himself in the middle of the hallway, making Knave and his force stop in their tracks. Confusion, then amused recognition flashed across his countenance. "If it ain't Hat-guy!"

"Knave..." He sighed. "You weren't supposed to make such a mess."

He burst into laughter. "Zara was right! You do talk like Lady Cheshire!"

"I can assure you that's the only thing she and I can agree on."

"Well, just relax, man! We'll be done before you know—!"

Knave stopped in his words, gaze following something behind Janay. As he turned, he quickly realized who was coming. From the other end of the hallway, two people accompanied by a host of other White Rabbit members emerged. One, a ghostly white figure marred with blood; "The March Hare." Zac. The other, a feathery-dressed woman that looks as if she came out of a Renaissance era painting; "Lady Cheshire." Ophelia.

They were surrounded, now. But Janay welcomed them with open arms. "Honestly, you guys, the collateral damage was completely unnecessary..."

Ophelia, puffs of smoke billowing from her mouth, was first to speak after moments of silence. "I tell them the same thing, J! But who am I stop my people from doing what they love?" One finger gently pointed at Zac.

He, on the other hand, was entirely distracted by a knife he carried. That and the hands gripping it were splattered with blood. "Red, red, red...!" he spoke, stroking the blade ever so gently. Finally, he looked up to meet Mr Hat's concerned glare. "Janay! I prepared a present for you!" In two blurred bursts, he dashed over, getting in his face in an instant. The abruptness saw Janay stumble backward in shock as Zac presented a severed hand from out of his pocket, grinning cheerfully. "I gave the other hand to Acacia! That was the one with the ring!"

"Hare, please..." Ophelia stepped forward, hand on his shoulder and ushering him away. "We're not here to discuss pleasantries, J. I know what you're up to."

From behind the cover, Alice curled up even more. How could they have known what Janay was onto? He... He wasn't in danger, was he? Mr Hat always knew what to do... Except, he only gave silence.

"You barge into our lives decades after you abandoned us, demand our help against one of the most powerful gangs in Amestria, and now you're taking advantage of what generosity I have dared to show you. ..."

Alice looked between everyone that was hiding with her. She didn't know what to do; she couldn't think properly. But Janay, her longest friend and closest thing to a parent, was out there... She couldn't let anything bad happen. Her eyes took on an apologetic expression... and she broke free of them. She ran across the store and out the door—into the White Rabbits. "No!" Alice's voice escaped from the store as she fled. Janay, back turned to the store, remained still as Ophelia kept a customized gun trained to his head. Yet, Alice stood composed, no matter how scared she felt inside. "Don't hurt him..."

Cheshire smirked. She lowered her gun, and the caretaker smiled in relief. Janay looked at his accomplices. "I told you that would work." Only then did Alice's expression change to one of churning anxiousness. He pointed to the store. "The Tigers are in there. You know what to do."

Ophelia smirked, motioning for Zac and some of the other White Rabbits to follow.

"Janay—?"

He went over to her, gently putting his hands on her shoulders. He was his usual self: charming, kind, soft-spoken... but it felt wrong. "When you meet Acacia again, she'll put you in her car, and you'll be finally leaving the mall."

She glanced aside. "What about my friends?!"

"They'll be fine... right now we—"

Alice felt something flare up inside her. It clenched her hands, boiling her blood and twisting her beautiful smile into one of malice. "You're lying!"

He winced. Those words he wanted her to hear—to realize—directed at him... "I'll explain everything to you soon, dear Alice, I promise..." He hurriedly reached for the radio. "Dormouse, do it now."

But in the corner of his eye, Alice's blonde hair flew away, following the girl herself just as the floor beneath her opened up with another "rabbit hole." Knave acted first, lunging out to try and grab the girl—a futile effort, as his foot slipped into the hole. The large gangster fell, only saving himself by his fingers scraping on the ledge.

"Alice!" Janay followed suit with chase.

"Nice fucking job, Zara!" he yelled, struggling to scramble up.

"It's Dormouse!" The shrill, enraged voiced came from below in the parking garage. "And you're the one who stepped into the hole!"

"You missed with the damn thing!"

Alice, on the other hand, ran straight towards the small store. She didn't understand her caretaker or what he was doing... maybe it was the wrong choice, calling him a liar, running away... but this entire situation was wrong. There had to be something she could have done. "Leave them alone!" she screeched.

Ophelia and Zac turned whipped around in a heartbeat. As they locked eyes, Alice's stomach dropped. She should have listened to him.

Giggly and giddy, Zac acted first. He brought his knife down on her. A streak of blood flew into the air, followed by her dropping and curling to the floor, hands going to the side of her face.

Janay froze in place, pale as a sheet. His confident demeanor vanished.

Ophelia brought her hand against Zac's face with an echoing slap. "You damn fool! That's the only person we're not supposed to touch!"

He raised his blood-soaked hands, still chuckling gleefully. "Red!" But as his head bobbed down, his gaze grew sharp. "I don't like it when people sneak up on me."

Letting a groan past her bit lip, Ophelia went over to Alice, briefly knelt down to her, and inspected the wound. She pried the girl's weak hands from her face, squinting at the wound. It ran from the forehead, across an eye, down to the chin. Ophelia stared blankly at the shivering girl in tears for a moment, then turning back to Zac and the store. "She'll live if we work fast enough... We'll talk after we're done..."

As for Alice, curling up on the floor in a growing pool of warm red, face going numb as her trembling fingers felt the wounds through the trails of blood, her mind raced. She had an epiphany.

This feeling of fear and shock... it was not new. This was not the first time something like this happened... So why were those memories so fuzzy...? As everything raced around her, time seemed to slow for Alice. She saw a casino. There was Charmy, Ezra... a big man she knew as Titus... a throat severed, spewing blood. There were guns; the noise being the exact same she heard here. But... there was more. Before the casino, even.

This was not the first time something like this happened.

- 12 White Rabbit NPs
- Knave trying to climb out hole from mall to underground parking lot
- Dormouse below the hole
- Zac and Ophelia advancing on store with NPs backing them up
- Janay frozen from shock
- Alice injured; slashed vertically across the side of face
* In the duration of the post, your character could free have moved/set up anywhere if it wouldn't get them spotted.

The One Eyed Bandit · Aug 18, 2022

TAILING THE DRAGON'S HEART, TRI SIDE

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 3 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit Entrance, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Yuto, Kisara, Bash, Celestine, Meirin, Reveler, Dante, Peyton

Tailing The Dragon's Heart

The Twin's second shot crashed into the barrier with a dense, heavy crunch. Spray of debris flew wide over the vehicle, and then the car turned and sped out of the Twin's view. They only grinned at the sight. With the Lovemaker's juices pumping through their veins, their passions was running pure and hot.

Weighty, thunderous footsteps rung throughout the streets as they resumed their pursuit, this time not following along the car's trail, but making a beeline for the adjecent buildings. With a single, powerful flex of their muscles, they bounded up and off of the street, soaring through the air and landing neatly atop a nearby rooftop. Below them, the car continued to speed along, now outpacing their maximum miles-per-hour by even more. At this rate, they figured they only had one more shot.

"Heh." They laughed to themselves. This was just like in a movie, and in the movies, the good guys always won. "Sniper mode, then." The Twins surveyed the surroundings, browsing the rooftop's assortment of metal piping and ventilation for the best ammunition that the proverbial market had to offer, and then snatched up a heavy iron pipe, ripped straight from what looked like somebody's plumbing.

They took a carefuller aim this time, their eyes narrowing behind their sunglasses, and their muscles growing tense as they stabilized, tracking the car's movement. They took a deep breath, and then just before they loosed their shot, their vision swum.

Bravado.

Their body flushed hot as the Lovermaker finally properly kicked into gear. It'd then it a while to properly circulate through their hulking body, and the Twin's dual-hearts and tried their best to filter out the adult toxin, but they had simply inhaled too much. They only wavered for a moment, but it was precisely the moment the Tri and his getaway driver needed, and the iron pipe whistled just barely past the car's flank.

The Twin sighed. This was definitely getting their pay docked.

At least they still had that bribe.

Interacted with:

Damafaud
Relevant to:

/border]

QuirkyAngel · Aug 18, 2022

Meirin Azuza

SCENE:

Serpent/Tiger Arc 2: Scene 2 [Matter of the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dante, Reveler, Peyton, Meirin, Tri, Anna, Kisara, Yuto, Bash

Matter of The Dragon's Heart

In the span of time since Meirin jumped down into the lobby to confront the injured Velvet Meadow, many things happened. Cal took on a new form and immediately started to attack the Goat-masked woman, only to be pushed through several walls and out the building when Shen dove down from out of nowhere. She’d been so focused on trying to uncover the whereabouts of Reveler–who she’d left with Velvet Meadow–that she hadn’t even noticed the king had arrived until he rocketed at Cal’s armored form.

Meirin pinched the bridge of her nose. From the corner of her eye, she could see Peyton had his gun leveled through the wall hole. Even if Cal hadn’t moved to restrain Velvet Meadow, they basically had the Serpent captured. It was 3 vs 1. The woman had an injured leg–likely from one of Reveler’s knives. The smart thing to do would be to surrender…and perhaps she would’ve…if Shen hadn’t cut her free.

Eyes locked on Velvet Meadow, Meirin took another step forward, prepped to sprint after the woman Reveler had clearly fought if they decided to run. She was the one that left Reveler to keep an eye on the goat-masked Serpent while she checked what was going on upstairs. It was her fault that Reveler ended up battling alone. Two people fought. One missing. Meirin knew Reveler wasn’t the sort to abandon her charge…which left only so many options.

Fortunately, Velvet Meadow answered Meirin’s question before bolting out the door like the cowardly snake she was. Meirin shook her head, but let them do so. If the choice was between saving a friend or chasing down a criminal, Meirin chose the former. For a moment, just a moment, she’d thought the goat-masked Serpent had been willing to undo the damage she’d caused; Winner or loser, death wasn’t necessary. She seemed tense…such that it was little wonder Shen mistakened the woman for a civilian…instead the actual civilian who seemed more battle-hardened in his armored form. But then her voice hardened, and Velvet Meadow proved herself to be just another lowly Snake, unwilling to take responsibility for the trouble they caused.

“If Revie dies, I’ll be sure to hunt you down so you can follow after her.” Meirn promised before walking towards the patch of cement Velvet Meadow indicated, taking a deep breath, and raising her fist.

An eye for an eye.

If Reveler was dead, Meirin would extract Dragon vengeance. Perhaps she wouldn’t if she got to know ‘Velvet Meadow’ better, or if someone had explained the full situation to her, but alas, all she saw was a thief and a coward of a Serpent who had apparently trapped Reveler underground with her potential. Meirin clenched her fist.

Before she could bring it down, however, a gunshot sounded and the resulting bullet was strong enough to leave a large dent in the ground, partially freeing the unconscious Reveler…which would’ve been good…if not for the yelp of pain from Peyton and the pop of dislocated shoulder. Meirin sighed. “There’s no need to push yourself, Pei. I don't want my favorite waiter out of commission.”

There really wasn’t. Unlike the other two, Meirin had yet to fight anyone and was in full health. Every competitive martial artist knew that pushing one’s body beyond what it was capable of could sometimes do more damage than good. Sure it took tearing muscle for it to grow back stronger, but push too hard and one could end up breaking more than they are able to heal…never to fight again. Meirin had seen it happen often enough to newbies.

Still, thanks to the rookie’s luck, Meirin now knew where to hit; She knew where to focus her energies so as to keep the damage to the building’s foundation as localized as possible. Meirin’s fist grew giant. However, instead of punching like she’d intended, she brought her large hand down beside the immobilized Reveler, and flicked a finger at the surrounding cement, causing it to instantly shatter and crumble around the woman until she was loose enough for Meirin to pull her out of the damaged foundation.

Did Reveler need CPR? Honestly, Meirin couldn’t tell.

Glancing at Peyton, who called for someone to take him to the hospital, Meirin’s other hand grew bigger and she picked him up with ease as well. They were headed towards the same location anyway.

Still, the sounds of a rumbling battle ensued below them, and Meirin snarled, enlarging the muscles in her left leg as she slammed her foot down on the exposed foundation, resulting in more cracks and a shockwave that caused the entirety of the Platinum Rabbit to tremble slightly. “Quiet down, You Fuckers!!!”

Meirin didn’t know which Dragon was fighting which Serpent in the basement level area over the rock, but it hardly mattered at this point. She’d told Jun she would stop all the fighting…the hard way if necessary. However, Reveler and Peyton also needed medical attention. Meirin sighed. She knew where her priorities lay. Even though her potential had great offensive capabilities, Meirin was generally a defensive fighter in gang fights, prioritizing the protection and safety of her comrades over chasing 'criminals'.

She took hits where others couldn’t.

By the time she made it out of the Platinum Rabbit’s wreckage of a lobby, Meirin towered over most of the buildings around her. The people below her looked like ants. One misstep and she could end up crushing them. Protectively cradling Reveler and Peyton in her large hands, the Sleeping Giant’s voice boomed with her new 60-meter height: “KING! STOP CHASING CAL! HE ISN’T THE ENEMY!”

It wasn’t hard to guess–based on the damaged rooftop–which building Shen and Cal landed themselves in. Normally she addressed him as Shen, but based on how the situation was escalating, ‘King’ seemed more appropriate. Nor was she in the mood for friendly exchanges. Did a couple of thieves warrant the Dragon King’s attention? Or, was more going on? Where was Yo, who normally paid more attention to the on-goings of the Pleasure District than their normally uninvolved King? Was Shen always so impulsive? Battle-hungry? Recalling what Ruri mentioned about the bridge, Meirin couldn’t help but worry.

What the hell was going on?

She glanced back at the Platinum Rabbit, relieved to see Long escorting Jun, Roxie, and the owner of the Plat Rabbit out through a window, the barrier of golden light surrounding them. Others, who were smart, were finding their way out of the building as well.

“IF YA’LL AREN’T DONE FIGHTING BY THE TIME I GET BACK, THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!”

Huffing, Meirin marched with large strides towards the closest hospital to deposit her charges. There were few in the East’s Pleasure Section that did not recognize the Sleeping Giant of the Azure Dragon Gang. Civilians in her path (mostly Nps) scurried to get out of her way. Her “titan form” inspired fear that kept rapists and molesters from growing rowdy in the Pleasure District. It kept the Eternal Night Palace safe. Since Albrecht’s implementation of the Guardian system, peace-keeping drones, and cameras, Meirin didn’t have much cause to use it often.

Something, or perhaps someone, was rocking the peaceful boat...probably a Sable Serpent.

Where chaos and anarchy were involved 9/10 times it was the Sable Serpent Gang.

The Regal Rper

(mentioned:

Nobody )

Elenion Aura · Aug 19, 2022

MARKUS & VULKEN

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Markus, Vulken

A DANGEROUS GAME

Markus blinked. For a moment, all was quiet, save for the low rumble and creak of the South’s newly-minted glacier as it settled into place. He exhaled, and the breath fogged the chilled air in front of him as snowflakes fell gently. The Tiger King tilted his head back to peer up at the mountain of jagged ice sprawling out before him, eyes wide with disbelief.

In a brief moment of clarity, Markus felt a sudden and pointed regret, like someone driving a shard of metal into his chest. He hoped he’d missed. He hoped—

A sudden explosion of heat rocked the frigid ground beneath his feet, shaking Markus free of his stupor. He turned toward the source of the blast just in time to spy Vulken—of course, you might as well be here too—unleashing another blast of heat and rage in his direction.

Squaring his shoulders to face this new challenge, Markus crossed his forearms in front of his face, taking a defensive stance. In the very same moment, a cone of ice surged forth, rising up from beneath Markus’ feet before rushing forward to intercept the charging Phoenix.

Y’aint gonna stop me with that!

Although his malice was clouding his thoughts, Draken managed to keep a firm grasp on a single memory. To him, Markus was nothing but a member of the small group of idiots who truly believed that ice could beat fire. As usual, he’d have to drill the obvious facts into his adversary’s head through violence– he was naturally superior, and there was nothing his stupid icicles would ever be able to do about it.

As the freezing attack came flying towards him, Draken launched his fist– and the wave of heat he’d been saving for the Tiger King’s face– straight forward. It wasn’t enough to bring the crackling strobilus to a complete halt, but he had something else prepared for that. With a loud, echoing ‘boom’, a fiery heat wave spread out in all directions around him in the form of a blazing red hemisphere, and clashed with his opponent’s counterattack.

Fuck you!

Markus snarled as the heat from Vulken’s Potential licked at his fingertips. Ice evaporated before his eyes as Vulken’s twin-tailed attack compounded against itself and blasted Markus’ frozen defenses away, leaving the Tiger King exposed… As if. Markus crouched as a platform of ice solidified beneath his feet before it exploded upward, leaving a massive column of ice in its wake, with Markus himself perched on top. He stomped his foot and the tower fell forward with a sound like an avalanche rumbling down a sheer mountain-side.

Meanwhile, Markus himself rode the wave of frust down himself, surfing on a sheet of permafrost at the head of the column. He’d take this fucker head-on.

Draken watched as the pillar of ice fell with his arms crossed, his immediate vicinity now glowing a bright, scorching scarlet. As its descent grew faster and faster, ready to crush him and anything else that got in its way in just a few seconds. He stood, waiting for the perfect moment, and when it finally came, he made his move.

Draken stepped forward. With a single stomp, an eruption of heat boomed upwards, ferociously ripping through the cryo-tower and sending large chunks of ice flying across the battlefield. As he scanned the flying debris for his attacker, he could feel his control over himself slowly slipping away– being chipped at by bloodlust and rage. Depending on how much longer this lasted, Draken would have to make a very serious decision.

Then, Markus emerged from the hazy mist that was slowly developing within their makeshift arena. In an instant, Draken’s arms uncrossed, and he aimed a kick directly at the King.

Markus caught the kick square in the chest. Ice sloughed off of him in sheets, evaporating in the face of this heat. Wincing from the blow, the Tiger King looped his forearm—encased in ice—around Draken’s leg above the knee before he drove his legs forward to knock the one-legged Phoenix off-balance and throw him to the ground.

The slam proved successful, as Draken’s attempt to burn Markus’ arm off failed, only melting the ice that surrounded it by the time he had begun falling. The impact of the concrete beneath them caused the breath in his already-damaged lungs to be snatched away from him, and he coughed from beneath his adversary.

You mother…

He wouldn’t let something as trivial as air distract him from his main goal. This settled it– he was going to tear the Tiger’s head off and proudly display it to his kittens. With a snap of his fingers, a burst of heat slammed Markus in his back like a gavel striking a sounding block. Fire blazed in his eyes as he prepared to snap again.

Markus lurched forward, towards his quarry—though he stopped himself short of a full-blown collision—as the concentrated eruption of heat and force singed his fur-lined jacket and expelled all of the air from his own lungs. His eyes, by comparison composed, locked with Vulken’s. He didn’t see the kid from his past anymore. Just another fucking reminder from another man’s life.

I’m gonna do what I shoulda done years ago.

Markus sloppily wrestled for purchase on Vulken’s collar with one hand, and tightened his grip around his adversary’s leg with the other. Ice—that had already begun to melt before it had even the chance to fully form—encased the Tiger King’s body and back in an effort to provide some modicum of defense against the second blast that had yet to come. With a grunt of effort, Markus attempted to take his feet again and hoist his enemy high off the ground, before slamming him back down again amidst a flurry of frozen spears.

Once he was raised into the air, Draken was quick to realize what was about to happen. His eyes narrowed as soon as his eyes landed on the bayonets of ice that were protruding from the ground. No matter how beat up he was, did that frosty bastard really think he’d be able to pull something like this off? Right before he made contact with the sharp blades, a blast of heat swiped them out of the way, and he was slammed onto that same hard concrete again.

It hurt like hell, of course, but Draken braced himself for the impact and managed to regulate his breathing much faster this time. Scalding hot red heat erupted from the ground again, this time at a much smaller scale to keep Markus at bay while Draken got back on his feet. Once he regained his balance, he charged in, throwing a series of red-hot jabs at his face.

And just like that, Markus was on the back foot. The only thing that had saved him from a scalding so far was his ice, soaking up Vulken’s heat. But now it was getting hotter, and his ice was melting faster than he could manifest it. Even with his guard raised, Markus could feel the heat from Vulken’s fists licking at his face as they pummeled his forearms, hoping to leave a permanent mark, a token of an old friend’s esteem.

In a last-ditch effort to retake his lost momentum, Markus called as much of the cold as he could muster into his hand and snatched at the air where Vulken’s fist would be, en route to bury its knuckles in Markus’ jaw. His fingers clasped like a vice around that flaming fist in one breath. In the next, Markus threw a counter-punch of his own at Vulken’s fuckhead chin.

The impact forced Draken to stagger backwards, the world around him spinning for a moment. He’d nearly forgotten, he wasn’t the only one who knew how to fight. The two of them had trained together when they were younger, after all, and Markus had always been the one to frequently get the best of him with counters just like that one. His face stung, but he would have to hold on if he wanted to come out victorious.

He bit down on his tongue, before dashing back into the fight, now using a combination of punches and spontaneous blows of heat in random areas. Every now and then, a spark could be seen when a punch landed against his guard.

The sight of him stagger made Markus smirk. That hurt? Good. He didn’t have much time to gloat, though, because already Vulken was on him again. And by now the little pains in Markus’ breast that he’d been trying to ignore were becoming less ignorable. His chest was on fire. It felt like someone was driving a stake into his side. And what’s more, this fucking nuisance wouldn’t get out of his face.

After a particularly brutal assault, Vulken’s fist found its way through Markus’ guard and caught him square in the cheek. Even with the biting cold that swirled around him like a cocoon, Markus could feel the skin of his face begin to sear. He wanted to scream but he was too proud. So instead he unleashed his fury and hurt in a nova of frost and ice that erupted out of him like a winter maelstrom.

Draken returned fire with an ignition of his own– an explosive cyclone of heat and flames, which signified his ascendance into the fourth and final stage of his potential. Within seconds, the battlefield became a steamy pandemonium of fire and ice. Draken could feel his temperature hitting its cap– but it seemed he’d be able to stand his ground against his old friend without having to surpass any limits.

When it seemed like neither fighter had any plans on backing down, Draken exited the standoff between elements, now slamming his fist down into the ground to shake the earth beneath them with a fiery explosion.

The blast devastated the pavement and sent Markus into the air, riding a column of ice that had raced up to meet him. He shielded his eyes from the blast of the inferno below as the column of ice. So you finally woke up, huh? Cheapskate bastard. He knew Draken was holding out on him. The thought had been needling him in the back of his mind since the beginning. But now things were real. No holds barred. They could finish this.

Riding his column of ice in a semi-circular arc like he were surfing the crest of an ocean wave, Markus swerved to avoid blasts of flame as he searched for an opening. This all felt a little surreal. Early that same week, his sources had told him that Draken of the Scarlet Phoenixes had been hospitalized, his condition uncertain. And yet now, here he was. Screwing up his plans. This time would be the last, he thought as he leapt from the ice ramparts before they fell crashing toward his one-time brother.

Blinded by a burning desire for bloodshed, Draken aimlessly leapt upwards in an attempt to catch his prey while he was in the air– only to be forcefully slammed back onto the concrete under the multiple falling towers of ice. Temporarily crushed, he felt an immense pain screech throughout his entire body. If he weren’t the bearer of such a powerful potential, this amatuer mistake would have cost him his life– he’d have finally been sent downstairs to dance with the Devil.

Part of him wanted to lay there– to give up. To close his eyes and be set free once and for all. But, images of his friends– his ‘family’, began to flash within his head like some sort of morale-boosting camera roll.

Now, he remembered. He wasn’t allowed to die. He had people to live for. He wouldn’t rest until he knew they would be able to live on without him.

’Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up. I ain’t goin’ nowhere just yet. Not against this fuck.’

With a light thud of his fist against the hard ground beneath him, the already-melting frozen pillars were blown into pieces by a deafening eruption of flames. As large chunks of cryo-rubble flew upwards and slammed into the concrete, Draken lifted himself to his feet.

Enough hesitating. Finish this. Cremate ‘im.

The Phoenix raised his head to stare at the sky, now painted carmine by the scarlet filter that had been surrounding him, and took a moment to get a deep breath in. He needed it, because he’d be following through on that aforementioned decision shortly. He felt his damaged lung punish him for taking things so far with sharp pains following every breath, but he ignored it– just like how he ignored every other pain that was shooting through him even as he stood idly.

Another long, dragged-out breath, and the radius around Draken seemed to fold in– slowly closing until there was nothing but a compressed red aura surrounding only his body. Then, he crouched down, before exploding forward at a blinding speed. The ground beneath him burned as he flew over it, and once he was close enough, he reached a scorching arm out to deal his finishing blow. He’d been hoping to save this special little move for that fucking Dragon King, but he figured the least he could do was send his old friend out with a bang.

“...Supernova.”

… Markus had heard it said that one’s life flashes before their eyes as they approach the end. He didn’t buy that crap for a second, but the flashes of memory, of Vulken—only younger—and him in a place not unlike this, came anyway. The Vulken of the present, overlaid with the Vulken of the past, was coming for him now. Maybe they’d never grown up. Just a couple of South-Side hooligans, til the bitter end.

Frost condensed over his body as the air temperature dropped. Markus felt his heartbeat slow within his chest as the cold flowed through him, permeating his body. Vulken approached at blinding speeds while Markus let him, holding his ground like his feet had grown roots down into the frozen asphalt. You’re not the only one with moves, asshole. He heard a ringing in his ears as his own breath fogged the air in front of him. This would be it. One last clash to finish it, once and for all. Fuck dying.

Not here.

Not now.

Not to you.

“...Absolute Zero.”

—And then something went wrong.

With wide eyes, Draken– No, Vulken gritted his teeth and slammed the soles of his boots into the ground, forcing his body to come to an extremely short-notice stop meters away from his target. Something, someone had gotten in the way of their inevitable clash.

With cautious breaths, he watched Markus interact with the woman. Yeah, he’s right. Fuck off. ‘Yer in the way.. Who the hell did this chick think she was? As the time passed, his tight and compact suit of heat armor began to slowly re-form into the radius it had originally been.

His eye twitched as he watched her coat-tug transform into a desperate attempt at a tight hug.

...Do you think you saved the fuckin’ day?

A growl. Then, a chuckle. He had no idea who this woman was, but many had learned this lesson the hard way in the past– you had to have a death wish to cross paths between King Cold and Draken while they fought.

And, in this woman’s case, Draken decided that he’d grant her death wish.

He took a step forward, looking Markus dead in the eyes with a cold-blooded, detached glare, and the radius began to spread towards them at a much faster pace– in the form of Draken’s final combustive burst of heat and flame.

Incinerate.

Markus' eyes widened. For a moment, he was surprised. Surprised not that Vulken was so willing to kill another person if it meant getting to him. That wasn't surprising. They'd done it before. They'd do it again. The lives their feud had claimed were many. Markus was surprised in that moment by the feeling of hesitation. He wondered what he should do. If Isobel hadn't come, if she weren't right there, then he'd have frozen Vulken solid and shattered him on the concrete. But she was. And he found that he couldn't decide fast enough.

Before Draken’s burst made contact with its intended targets, a new figure flashed onto the scene. The redhead’s neck snapped to face his flank, but he was too late. The sleeve of a suit had already been wrapped around his neck, quickly burning away to reveal an arm that was locking him into a air-tight chokehold.

“Gotcha~”

In the blink of an eye, Draken, along with the black figure who had whisked him out of his deadly attack, were gone. A few seconds passed, and only one had returned, now clad in a completely different, yet familiar outfit– consisting of black pants, shoes, and a signature fur-rimmed coat.

Akira reached up to remove his kitsune mask, revealing an easygoing smile, and waved to his King and Jack.

“That sure was close, wasn’t it?” He feinted a sigh of relief, approaching the two with a calm posture. The closer he got, the easier it was to see that his skin had clearly reddened from the heat. Had he stayed within that distance of Vulken for a second longer, he would have sustained irreversible burns.

“I’m glad Actualize called me. As much as I’d hate to admit it in front of Lucy, that Gala was getting kind of boring. But…”

He pointed a slightly singed finger at Markus– quickly pulling it back due to the stinging cold that quickly surrounded it– before speaking directly to him with a hint of joy in his voice.

“I’m really glad to see that you listened to me and kept my rice in your pocket, Boss-Man~!”

Markus blinked. His mind was struggling to catch up with what had just transpired. But when at last he opened his mouth to speak, he felt his body being pulled toward the river. He tensed instinctively, but that didn't stop him from flying with Isobel in tow through the air. As he watched the South District fade into the distance, Markus was struck with a sickening sense of déjà vu. He saw a specter that looked like Vulken—as the boy had on that day all those years ago, ruddy cheeks and wild, red hair—standing on the precipice, watching a younger Markus as he traversed this same bridge. History was repeating itself. At last, Markus found his voice.

“NO!”

But it was lost to the wind. Eventually King and Jack touched down on Western Soil. Mission accomplished.

Collab With

Nobody Special

Photo credit to

gxxberkit

Lucem

Saturn_moon

AriAriAbabwa
@Ambiloquous

gxxberkit
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Damafaud · Aug 19, 2022

TRI

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 2 [Matter the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Entrance to Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Yuto, Kisara, Bash, Meirin, Reveler, Peyton, Dante

WEAPON:

Lovemaker 3000, Stick

Matter of the Dragon's Heart

<<< Previous Post

Another shot of concrete sprayed their way with worrying clunks all over the metal body. The driver cursed inside as he avoided a traffic that turned busier and busier without slowing down. Simple mission my ass. This wasn't worth some measly bonus! Definitely not worth it! He wasn't going to do this again!

Hm. Good driving.

Tri admired the driver's driving. He decided he wanted the driver to be his personal driver after this mission.

"WE'RE ALMOST OUT!" The driver, not knowing that his fate was just sealed, cried in excitement as they neared the outskirt of the district. The bridge was just one turn away! Tri was not as ecstatic. He watched as the Twin jumped high to the roof and pulled something that looked sharp and long. He would probably die if that hit him, so he was more than more ready to jump out. Now? Well, maybe now-

"FUCKING SHIIIT!"

The car swiveled right and Tri fell back into the seat. The driver screamed profanities when he needed to turn sharp at a kid that crossed a green light. BAM! The concrete exploded to their left, where Tri would have jumped if the car did not swivel. Tri blinked, processing what just happened.

"You." Tri patted the driver's shoulder.

"STUPID BASTARD, THE FUCK ARE PARENTS- III Yes, Deacon?!" The driver stiffened. He forgot that Deacon was here in his anger.

"You're my chaffeur from now on."

The driver reeled in fear. He heard of the Serpent Jack's reputation. "No fucking way-"

Tri pointed Lovemaker 3000 to the front seat. "Yes fucking way?"

"Y-yes fucking way."

The driver wanted to cry.

---

"Grounded for one month."

"Aw, barnacles."

Tri pouted and kicked at the ground with his hands in pockets. Paris rolled his eyes. "You're 42, Dad, not eight. If you help in the clinic, I'll shorten the punishment to three weeks."

"Two."

"Only if you don't hurt, kill, or inconvenience anyone in that time."

"Two weeks and I get this guy for a driver."

Paris finally noticed the driver who had nervously been behind Tri this whole time. His eyes shifted around like a fox in a tiger enclave. He was just a Serpent in-name before, a low level gang member who paid protection fee to use the name.

"If you want." Paris wasn't too interested. Tri wasn't allowed vehicle for a good reason. The guy wouldn't last a week. "Same payment as the maid, $4,000 a week with house and food. More for hazard pay. Ask the maid to prepare another room. Congrats, you are now Dad's personal driver. Your name?"

"Y-yes?"

"You, guy that will probably die in a week. Your name?" Paris' eyes narrowed. He had no patience for corpses.

"Tree Hart, sir."

"...Tri Hart?" Paris leaned forward on his seat. Even Tri was interested. He never met someone with the same name.

"Yes, like the pine tree, sir."

""Oh."" Interest lost. Tri patted Tree on the shoulder. "My name is Tri. T-R-I."

Tree didn't dare to move. He didn't know where this was going.

"So from now on your name is Tristan."

"...yes, boss." Not like he can fucking say anything about it. can't he. Tristan put on a smile uglier than crying and nodded.

---

"Oh, right. Anna."

"She's fine. I left several people by the bridge to give her a ride back. I heard they got the jewel, too."

"...ah, nice."

"You probably forgot why you went there at the first place."

"Yup."

Interact:

The One Eyed Bandit
Mention:

QuirkyAngel

>> Next Post

Caffeine_Obsessed · Aug 19, 2022

HIDE ISHIDA

SCENE:

Phoenixes Arc 2: Scene 2 [The Bounty]

LOCATION:

Slums, North District

PARTICIPANTS:

R~~aphael, Kyoden~~, Sang-Cheol, Mimi

THE BOUNTY

With Hide outside, who in his hurry had trampled the tiny clay golem that had been snooping around—and Mimi already there—only Sang-Cheol remained within the burning confines of the quickly crumbling lab. If he was quick, he might be able to make it to a research bench along a far wall and see what there was to see… Though, there was no guarantee he’d be able to make it back out again.

Sang-Cheol didn’t exactly have anything to lose. Running over towards the research bench, he made an effort to uncover whatever was not on fire nor turned into ash. It didn’t help that the flames were his own which meant that this place was going to turn into cinders very soon.

Though, he could still work in these conditions. He’d probably lose an arm or a leg, but those could be replaced. What couldn’t replace were the bloody document. He a smidgen of hope that Mimi would clock that pale fucker, but he didn’t exactly have high hopes for his senior.

“Where the fuck is it…” He muttered.

Eventually, Sang-Cheol found a manila folder stuffed with documents. Research notes, most likely. Though, there would be no time to check, because the roof above his head had begun to collapse.

His body acted on his as he rolled away immediately from the falling debris. “Fuck, this place isn’t going to hold out much longer,” Sang-Cheol muttered.

With the reason of his stay now gone, all he needed to do was get the fuck out. Oddly enough, that would mean his experience in escaping burning buildings would be put into use.

Sang-Cheol began to made way to the exit. He’s have to be careful with the burning debris.

Elenion Aura @Beann @Misuteeku

BluEndings

Lucem · Aug 20, 2022

Ezra Knight

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

West District

PARTICIPANTS:

Ezra, Dagger, Isobel, Markus, Welsha

A DANGEROUS GAME

Ezra couldn't believe what he was hearing. Isobel wanted him to stop the car when they'd finally gotten this far? And for what reason? Just because of a little explosion? The King was more than capable of fending for himself, and anyone else's safety wasn't their concern right now. What could she even do? From what he'd seen, the Jack wasn't much of a fighter. It was in their best interest to keep going and complete the mission.

Before he could voice his disapproval, Ezra was cut off by the Jack's signed words as she tossed the ivory claw into his lap. Unable to retort, he watched as she opened the door and threw herself out of the vehicle. Rather than let her unceremoniously fall onto the pavement, he decided to show a bit of kindness and cushion her landing. Channeling his Potential into the strand of blonde hair wrapped around his finger, he slowed her descent for a brief moment, allowing her to safely touch the ground.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he watched as the Jack's figure grew smaller in his rearview mirror. He was tempted to either drag her back by force or give chase to make sure she didn't get herself killed, but she'd given him an order. While he questioned her approach and many of her decisions up until this point, he'd continue to follow the chain of command. If she got herself killed while performing whatever stunt she had in mind, it'd be her own fault. That being said, it wasn't as if he hoped she'd meet a terrible fate. If she died, he'd lose a very valuable connection in the Tigers.

Eight minutes passed in the blink of an eye as he continued the journey to HQ. During that time, he occasionally glanced at his phone, expecting the call he was told to wait for. A call. She hadn't forgotten she was mute during her moment of panic, right? If she couldn't talk, how was he supposed to know what she wanted from him? She hadn't gone into much depth before rushing off.

Without being given any information, he had to make a lot of assumptions. His best guess was that the Jack wanted him to use his Potential to bring her back when she called, and he'd chosen his route with that in mind. He made sure he still had a clear view of his impulsive leader's destination, trying to avoid as many obstructions as possible without impeding his progress. If this wasn't what Isobel had in mind, then he'd be sure to close his eyes so he didn't have to listen to any of her potential complaints. What else was he supposed to think? He was certain she didn't expect him to go back there himself and get involved in the very small fight that happened to be rocking the South District more than the nearby concert.

As he made another turn, he finally heard the long-awaited ringing. While he normally would have answered and indulged in a little playful teasing, his patience had already been worn thin by everything else that occurred today. He'd settle for giving the Jack a minor scare by ending the call, activating his Potential as he tapped the screen.

Making another turn to get the car into a decent position, he called out to the two passengers in his backseat. "One of you may want to open a door. Otherwise, our Jack might end up like a bug on the windshield." A joke, but it might give them a little incentive to hurry and do as he asked.

For a while, there was no activity. He wondered if something was holding Isobel back like last time, but the sight of a distant dot on the horizon put an end to those concerns. Slowing down, he focused on his target and extended his arm over his seat. Increasing the speed of the restoration, he pulled Isobel in closer, only slowing it down to allow her to climb inside without smacking into the car's armored exterior.

The brave little GPS had found her way home, but she wasn't alone. Raising a brow, Ezra observed the blue mass she was clinging to. "Well, this is a surprise." His gaze flitted from Markus to Isobel as the latter detached herself from the King and climbed into the front seat. "Is this what you were after?"

Without waiting for a response, he pressed harder on the gas pedal. He'd had enough of the unexpected developments, and it was his hope that arriving at the Tigers' headquarters would help him avoid any other ridiculous tasks. Speaking of which...

Grabbing the claw with his free hand, Ezra held up the troublesome paperweight for the King to see. "This is what you wanted, correct? Mission accomplished." This thing had almost gotten them killed and they still didn't know anything about it. It better have been worth all the hassle.

After passing the claw to the Jack, Ezra placed both hands back on the wheel. "If you'd like, I can take care of your wounds once we get back to HQ." He remained silent after extending the offer to the new arrivals, choosing to focus on getting everyone back safely without incident. It was time to bring this to an end.

Peckinou

Saturn_moon

The One Eyed Bandit · Aug 21, 2022

MINATO & OSAMU

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Backstage, Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Sabrina, Masked Concertgoer K, Minato, Osamu

ALL PROCEEDS

Collab With:

Elenion Aura & @Bateman

“Pah.” A spat. Another of the zombies, some smartass, and a ghost dog. That last one was new. “I see Park hasn’t lost her ability to attract useless men, huh?” She didn’t have any time to entertain this little dynamic duo, or their dumb dog. Whatever had been going on to delay the show seemed to finally be dying down, so she had places to be.

“I. T. Pulp ‘em” She spoke plainly, and the other two women sprung into action. T rushed Osamu, a thick, fat knife dancing between her fingertips, while another volley of steel balls flung from I’s, ricocheting about the room and towards the eighteenth, by her count, Minato-skull she was planning to cave in for the day.

Osamu’s eyes widened as he realized he might be stabbed by a not so appealing knife. He reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his gun, cursing as he realized he couldn’t set it off. If any of these rounds make it towards the crowd, I’m dead meat. The last thing he wanted was collateral damage and he couldn’t guarantee a good shot in his drunken state. The best option was to buy time for the wave of Minato’s to capture them or for those wolves to use their teeth.

“I’m sure we can talk this out-” Osamu stepped to the side and narrowly dodged the knife moving in his direction. While he wasn’t stabbed, the knife cut through his clothing, giving him a gash that felt numb due to his drunken state. If this situation continued like this, Osamu would probably be on the ground for good. “Instead of stabbing me, you can easily earn more money by simply telling us everything you know.” Osamu pushed T away to gain some distance momentarily, the further he was away from the blade, the better. “You already know you’re gonna lose, why not walk away with some cash in hand instead of being in a body bag.” Every Tiger knew that money was the only thing that mattered in this city, that was the harsh truth.

“Ain’t about the money, creep!” T spat in Osamu’s direction. She already didn’t like this guy. Nobody who talked this much and was this sure of themselves ever had anything worthwhile to say. Quick on her feet, she recovered from Osamu’s push within the moment, and lunged after him again.

I, on the other hand, slowed her movements, if only by a touch. Her spheres, which she’d previously been aiming at whoever they could hit, now narrowed in on the expendable one. She wouldn’t tip her hand yet.

Meanwhile, the many Minas made their move.

Popping out from behind set-pieces. Falling from the rafters. Emerging from side-rooms and tucked-away culverts. They were a tide of bodies, such that even though a few were felled by the ricocheting metal balls, more swarmed to fill their place. It likely wouldn’t be long before each of the attacking women, the knife-one and the ball-one in turn, had a pair of Minas latched onto both their arms and their legs, all in an effort to pin them in place, if not quite incapacitate them. Not yet, anyway.

That was why the dogs stayed at bay. For now. They were insurance, after all, in case Osamu’s ploy failed to achieve total victory. To that end, one of the Minas chirped up even as he struggled to keep his grip. “Y-y’ should listen to‘m!”

Both of the women strained against the Minatos’ grip. He was weaker than the average HP, with his strength dilute amongst his clones as it was, but a grapple was a grapple, and he had their arms on lock.

Had.

One of I’s stray balls crashed into the floor for the nth time, and then twisted at an impossible angle towards one of the Minatos that held her. Turning him to sludge. The woman herself was quick to move after that. Her hands moved in a blur, catching and redirecting the stray sphere yet again, into the last of her captor’s skulls.

Then, she stopped.

“Five-hundred thousand.” She spoke coldly, and the other two womens’ eyes shot wide. “No haggling. Or I kill the one that doesn’t have replacements next.”

Five-hundred thousand!? You’re negotiating with the Tigers and you only ask for that much? The price certainly wasn’t small, but Osamu expected more, especially because of the type of job they were doing. Whoever was behind it obviously didn’t pay them overly well. “You want five-hundred thousand? You drive a hard bargain, but you’re lucky the Tigers are known for their deep wallets. While I would love to give you that money on the spot, nobody is dumb enough to carry around that much cash.” If they wanted the money on the spot, that could prove a problem. The money would have to be exchanged another time, or the deal wouldn’t be possible.

Osamu fished inside his suit’s pockets to try and find a certain item. He finally found his business card, which had all of his information on it. “If you want your five-hundred thousand, you call me and name a time and place. You’ll get your money then. I’ll be there myself so you know I’m not messing around.” Osamu held out his card and waited. “This is the only way you are getting your five-hundred thousand.” He was adamant on it, he wasn’t going to allow some thugs to set the terms.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” A interjected into Osamu’s negotiations. “I already paid you! You can’t just skip out for a better offer!”

I cocked her head at the other woman, and then at Osamu. Whatever she was thinking, it was indecipherable.

“Normally, no. But the fee for gangs is higher than you paid. Match his offer.” A’s expression twisted as I brushed her off. She didn’t have that sort of money. That whole reason why she was doing this! To get some justice for what was taken from her.

“D-don’t worry, Ariel…” T stammered, trying to soothe A’s budding frustration. “They’ll n-”

“Are you an idiot!?” A, or rather, Ariel, cut her minion off. T recoiled, and for a moment looked hurt, before realizing what she’d just done.

“I’m sorr-!”

“Shut up before you fuck something else up!” At this point, A’s grimace had grown deep. She just had to be involved with the Tigers. She just had to be guarded by HPs. Not even the gun she’d bought with her would do any good against them.

Unless…

In one swift move, A reached into her jacket, produced a heavy-looking pistol, and then aimed it not at either of the Tigers, but in the direction of the arena, where the crowd was gathered.

“Let me go or I’m going to start pumping lead into the audience.” A wasn’t even sure if she was bluffing. She hadn’t even come here to kill Passeri, let alone her audience, and she didn’t have a clue as to whether the bullets would make it that far or not, but she was betting that was a risk the Tigers wouldn’t want to take. Hopefully.

The Tigers may have been risk-averse—or they may not have been, in all fairness—but that same courtesy didn’t extend to the spectral wolves that had accompanied them. While his quarry had been monologuing, Akela had moved to stalk her prey, and when the gun was pulled her chance was revealed. Moving like grey lightning, the wolf lunged and latched its jaws around the offending wrist. The momentum of its large body in motion carried the great wolf, and whatever came along with her jaws, forward.

The Minatos, stunned briefly by the wolf’s initiative, knew a chance when they saw it. They descended on A in droves, but left the other two be. For now.

Osamu was caught off guard by A’s reactions, but the quick movement of the wolves quelled any concerns that he may have had. Osamu joined in with the Minato’s, grabbing the gun. With the help of the Minatos and the wolves, it wasn’t a hard thing to do. He immediately turned the gun on A, aiming it at her head. “While I wouldn’t mind ending you here, murder isn’t exactly my forte.” He said, dropping the weapon on the floor and sliding it away with his foot.

He turned to A’s crew, brushing off his suit as he spoke, “Since she couldn’t match my offer, I’m assuming we are in agreement then? You’ll have no obligation to work for this lunatic anymore.” Osamu said, turning back to A. “As for you, I hope you enjoy what’s coming to you. If you mess with a Tiger, you better be prepared to get mauled.” He reached inside his coat pocket to retrieve his cigarettes and lighter, putting one between his lips. He lit it, blowing the smoke into A’s face. “You’re pathetic.”
Sprawled wide, A lay with gritted teeth and a seething heart. Why did things always go this way? With some idiot lording over her and her pride ground into the dust. She’d tried to be quiet about things- she was an NP, after all- but her plans her been upended regardless.

“Fuck you.” She, literally, spat, sending a fat glob of phlegm in Osamu’s direction. “Your buddy and the damn dogs did everything. Get off your horse.”

T cringed deeper and deeper with each of A’s increasingly desperate plays at resistance. She was infatuated with the other woman, that much was obvious, but it was becoming harder and harder for her to remain blind to her nature. Her eyes gleamed sadly, and then she gave a whimper of defeat.

“Okay…” T stopped struggling against the Minatos who were keeping her bound. “Okay! We give. Just don’t hurt her anymore, okay? She’s…” She swallowed hard, bracing for something. “She’s just an NP. She can’t do anything on her own, so, go easy on her, okay?”

A’s eyes burned with an inscrutable, deeper sort of rage, and then shot a particularly venomous stare at her sycophantic lackey. There was a conversation there, but not one of words. The two women exchanged glances, and then the resistance in A’s body went slack. She knew T was right. If both of them had given up, then there wasn’t anything else she could do.

“That’s that, then.” I said, entirely disaffected by the other two masked womens’ exchange. “You’ll pay me.” She pointed a finger at Osamu. “By the end of the month. Or else. I’ll be in touch.” Her words were as curt as ever, riddled with a threatening tension. Of all of the intruders today, it was likely that she was the only one who actually had a clue what she was doing.

“I’ll be on my way.” She brushed past Osamu and the horde of Minatos. “Do whatever you want with them. It would be better for me if they didn’t stay alive to talk.”

Minato, one with a free set of hands, did a little victory dance over to the women before he took a closer look at one, the presumed ringleader, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Whaddaya think we should do with‘m? Give‘m to Iroi? Wrap‘m up like a present?”

“To Iroi?” A scowled from beneath the wolf’s hold. “Fuckin- She not even let you use her name or something? Her head’s gotten even more swollen since I knew her.” She sighed. “Whatever. I don’t care anymore. Show us to your little Queen Bee or throw us to the cops. My life is over either way.”

General:

QuirkyAngel

simj26 @azenmannumber2 @Slav

joshuadim · Aug 21, 2022

RYUTARO HASHIMOTO

CS Link

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 1 [Charity from the Upper City]

LOCATION:

Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Akira, Dimitri, Helva, Jesper, Lucy, Yasuo

Charity from the Upper City

<<< Remember
**Collab with

Elenion Aura **
“A friend.” The woman replied with a sly smile adorning her face, “I knew I recognized you. I’ll have my eye on you, and…” she then spoke before leaning into his ear. “I’ll be watching with great interest.” Ryutaro froze in place at the comment, which was just enough for the lady to quickly disappear into the gala before he could either give chase or respond in any meaningful manner. His face did not betray any emotion, but in his mind he was racing through several streams of thought. Perhaps the biggest question on his mind was the most dangerous: Does she know what I intend to do?

He quickly snapped out of it as another one of his clients also attending the gala approached him to shake hands and Ryutaro immediately moved back to conducting business. Yet he kept this experience in the back of his mind as he talked champagne and real estate plans with said client. Their conversation focused on a series of foreclosed warehouses in the western district, having been shut down in a recession years ago, and thus were prime for the grabbing for development.

“A few warehouses? I’m not entirely sure what we can do with those if I’ll be frank Mr. Hashimoto.” The rather rotund client, Mr. Gatson, replied. “There are certainly better pieces of land both west and elsewhere in the city-“

“On the surface value, indeed. But hear me out.” Ryutaro replied, motioning his hands in front of him as if he was framing the conversation between the two. “Those warehouses might not serve value immediately, but the land they sit on does. We could sit on the land as property values continue to go up, ensuring a return on value within a few quarters as prices continue to rise. Or, we could tear down the current buildings and start development.”

“Developing what, exactly? Nothing comes to my mind on what can be built there in a meaningful capacity.” Mr. Gatson replied, cocking an eyebrow with doubt.

“That’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t have to be meaningful. Just so long as it presents some form of value, investors will eat the living shit out of it. And not only do we multiply the value of the land, we also get another revenue stream from tenants.”

“And what would you propose to be built there?”

“A youth center-shopping mall hybrid. Bang for your buck, modern design brings in that *wow* factor, and guaranteed to get interest around it.” Ryutaro then said, pitching the idea as he draped his arm around the man’s shoulder and waved his hand in front of them slowly as if painting a portrait. As he saw from his peripheral vision, he knew his words had a honey like effect as Gatson’s eyes glimmered at such a prospect.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You are a magician Mr. Hashimoto! I’d like to follow up this conversation more. When are you next available?”

Ryutaro chuckled and shook Mr. Gatson’s hand with his own business-casual smile adorning his face. “My schedule will be a bit busy in the coming days, but my secretary Sylvia should be able to set you up with a meeting at our earliest convenience.”

—-

As the evening dragged on, partygoers mingled and the alcohol flowed. Though, as the evening began to wind down, the real party began.

Ryutaro, however, retreated to the upper floors of the gala to observe from above, more content on watching than participating in the greater festivities below. He watched as people danced and socialized, while he was left alone to his own thoughts with a glass of champagne in his hand. There was a lot on his mind, both regarding the situation outside for his work as well as what had transpired earlier. The women from before, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She knew about him and yet he knew nothing about her. It was an uncomfortable feeling for someone to have an upper hand on him, and he certainly did not like an unknown in the whole equation of things. He took a sip from his glass as he continued to ruminate his thoughts in the meantime.

“The time for quiet, internal contemplation is over, I’m afraid,” came a voice from beside Ryutaro on the upper floors. Lucy—the Tiger Queen—draped her elbows over the banister and leveled an inscrutable gaze at her fellow Tiger. She had an excellent poker face, she’d been told as much by everyone, but what she’d learned this evening, and the ramifications of it all, weighed plainly on her face. “Hey, you got a minute? I’m just gonna make your night,” she cooed in a voice laced with false-whimsy.

Ryu quickly spun about to face the new voice, his guard raised only for a moment until he realized it was just someone he knew. His own locks swayed as he stared over Lucy for the moment before shrugging: “I do.” he replied coolly, “I was just taking a break from the commotion down below. You know how those business types can be sometimes.” He returned his gaze back down below to observe in silence for a moment before taking a sip from his champagne. “I’m not usually on the receiving end of that sales pitch.”

“First time for everything,” Lucy countered. She didn’t have much time. “‘Sides, I know a man with ambition when I see one…” She paused, then added in a low voice. “And I see you.” With that, she pushed herself off of the banister and retreated further down an ornate hall, high ceilings lined with expensive, crystal chandeliers. Walking backwards into the gloomy solitude of the empty wings of the hall, the alluring Tiger Queen beckoned Ryutaro to follow her into that darkness with a finger. And Ryutaro answered the call with steady steps, into what would change both their lives.

The Regal Rper · Aug 21, 2022

Dairus, Orion, & Ten

Collab: Arcane Informant
The End

Orion’s question had yet to be answered- and with how the fight was going around them, the remaining Dragons would be picked off quickly. Delynn now had support in finishing off the Dragons she was facing, and with the ones now facing Darius left, he decided to simply stop waiting for a chance to open where they could retaliate and simply decided to strike back while he could.

His blade swung outward and a wave of electricity went shooting from his swing.

The girls split to the sides, ducking over the static wave- their skin prickling from the electrical fire.

“BASTARD!” One of them shouted, charging.

The shout snapped Ten out of their thoughts. They were standing over the recently-taken-down, big-mouthed Dragon, their arm holding the bitten one.

Ten turned towards the group of people— two fellow serpents and two civvies. At least, they were pretty sure those were civilians, as Ten didn’t remember marking them. But that didn’t matter. Leaning down, they picked up the pair of sunglasses they dropped and put them back on.

As they stood up, their form lowered and pressed into the earth. Ten slid across the ground without a sound until they reached the other girl. Once they were safely behind her, they shot out of their shadowy form and straight into the air, driving the side of their foot into the woman’s temple.

Darius had no objections to Orion taking the girls' focus away from him, taking a few steps back as he began his assault. The outcome of that altercation meant nothing to him now, he'd be fine and now nobody stood in his path to find Ten... But as he was about to turn away and leave Orion to it, a figure caught his eye.

"Fuck- TEN!"

“Huh—?”

Barely, the brunette managed to hold up on arm in the nick of time, but all she really managed to do was get her wrist in the path of the strike with barely enough force to meet Ten’s speed movement and drive. All she managed to do was just shift the trajectory of his strike that made it barely catch the skin of her cheek as she pulled back.

With speed she retaliated with a directed punch, only for an electric blue hand to come streaking out of a blindspot, Orion’s claw-like strike missing by inches as the girl maneuvered back and away from the two.

With Darius attention glued to Ten the blonde charged into the fray, using the taser she had manifested to try and land a strike on Ten as her partner in this little shraway moved back from Orion’s punch, what she didn’t anticipated was Orion blitzing her with his sword, forcing her to a stand still as electric heat radiated off his glowing form.

With a shove forward she was forced back and Orion deftly slashed with his sword, forcing her to retreat, while the other girl Ten had aimed their strike at now shifted her eyes between the one Orion was fighting and Ten themself. Debating on what to do clearly.

Darius watched, frozen, as the battle continued, this time with their partner involved. Up until this point, his favoured strategy had always been to leave as much of the fighting to the other members.This was different though, much different. He was sure that Orion could handle a 2v1 while defending someone else, but not when that someone is his partner. Emotions ran through his mind, ones he had felt before but not to this intensity. An urge to protect, even if it meant going against his survival instincts.

After letting out an exasperated sigh he ran toward the back of the brunette, launching a surprise attack with his bat. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around only to receive a bat to the face, sending her stumbling back a couple steps.

"TEN! PLEASE GET BACK!" Darius yelled as politely as he could as he swung the bat again. His heart skipped a beat when he glanced up at his partner however, noticing the torn jacket sleeve, signs that Ten had already gotten into a fight. He looked back at the presently stunned woman. He had no way to prove who was responsible right now, but there was someone in front of him who had already tried attacking them, and that would do. "-NOW, PLEASE."

The woman quickly regained her composure, ready to fight back against the formerly timid Serpent, but as she went to strike him, Darius lunged at her, and they both crashed to the floor.

"FUCK YOU!" The woman screamed as she blocked a sloppy punch from Darius, and tried to push him away. She was met with sudden burning pain as she pressed her hand against the Serpent's neck, though he too felt it.

As Orion and Darius attacked the two girls on either side of them, Ten stood in stunned confusion at Darius’ shout. Where was Ten supposed to go? And without Darius? No thanks. They glanced at the less familiar Serpent for a moment, admiring their skill, before turning their attention back to Darius, zoning into the hands around his neck.

Their eyes narrowed at the sight through their shades.

They popped up at the heads of Darius and the girl, digging their boot into the girl’s face. “L-let- let go! LET GO,” they yelled at the raven-haired woman.

Raven hair went sprawling at the sensation of boot on skin. The aching burning sensation that had come from touching Darius’ neck, now spread up to her forearm and she hissed in pain as she favored that arm, falling to her knees.

Orion meanwhile kept slashing at the other woman in an attempt to force her to retreat. She was good, her reflexes were sharp and her agility was on point but without a Weapon or without a sensible power, she wasn’t going to be winning this fight any time soon.

That was until, her skin hardened like diamond, fragmenting like gemstone and with a clink Orion felt his blade bounce off her arm. With a growl, she charged forward and with a duck as she swung her rock hard arm at him, he wrapped he punted her on the ass to a stumbling fall right onto her front next to her friend.

Darius used the distraction of Ten, and the pain he was inadvertently causing to his advantage. He pried the woman's hand away from him, trying to keep her on the ground as he brought his other hand up to his mouth. He bit the end of his glove, pulling his hand free from it.

"You try and touch them again and I'll-" He mumbled, teeth still shut around the glove. The second woman landed next to him with a loud thud as he spoke, and he realised the trouble he was about to land himself into by using his potential in broad daylight. Seeing sense, he scrambled away from both women, making a mental note of their appearances. He grabbed the glove from his mouth, clutching it in his hand.

"TEN. ORI- ALGOL. Should run now." Darius got to his feet, putting his glove back on as quickly as he took it off. He took hold of Ten's hand and quickly looked around to see where the others were.

Oh! The women were down. Ten stepped back a little at the thud of the dark-haired woman, reaching over to Darius. “Okay!” they said with a kick to the girl’s head. Hand now in hand with Darius, Ten’s attention went to Orion. They didn’t particularly care for any of the other Serpents around, and Darius had called for him, so they assumed he was important. Ten tugged on Darius’ hand and pulled him in Orion’s direction, their free hand waving for his attention.

As soon as they got close enough to Orion, following Darius’ direction, they started for the North. The other serpents only slightly ahead of them as the trio made their retreat out of Central.

Mentions:

Elenion Aura

Interaction: Two Unknown HPs, Serpents & Caio

Participants:

gxxberkit

WhiskeyMarten

The One Eyed Bandit · Aug 22, 2022

Passeri Park

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Sabrina, Dagger's Dogs, Masker Concertgoer K, Minato

The Show Must Go On

She was alone now.

Passeri's constructs still littered the sky above the arena, restless and unused, an ocean of magenta stars. The rainfall which had mired the event was gone, substituted with a gentle, white snowfall, gleaming beautifully as it danced amongst her constructs in undulating tides of pink and white. It was troublesome. She wasn't a fool, after all, weather like this had to be the work of somebody's Potential. Nature was being played with like a ball of yarn, and someone, somewhere, was responsible for it.

But...

She caught a snowflake on her fingertip, and watched as it melted away at her touch.

She'd always liked the snow.

She could feel the cool chill of faux winter air creeping into her bones, chewing straight through her stage outfit and throughout her body. It couldn't be helped. The think layers of the outfit had been prepared for her to sing and dance in, so to say, to do precisely the opposite of keeping her warm. Faced with the icy cold touch of this would-be winter, the outfit was simply outmatched.

The last of the stadium's electronics had sparked back to life, now. Light poured up through the hole in the rooftop, and she could hear the crowd chattering below. She sighed, sending a plume of fog out into the cool air.

What a mess.

"You guys there?" She tapped her earpiece and spoke into the open air. A muffled, staticky voice replied to her, just barely within the device's range. "Change of plans. Open up the roof and switch to track eighty-seven. We're starting back up in five."

A surprise winter show. It was beautiful up here, like something out of a movie. Where ever this snowfall had come from, it was a blessing in disguise. An unexpected, perfect excuse for all of the nonsense that the day had presented, descended down from the heavens like a gift from God. If she played it right, that is. Beneath her feet, the roof creaked open, the complex web of mechanics and electronics that allowed it to open and close complaining the whole way, still half-stunned from Sabrina's tantrum. The lights from below, her constructs, and the glum sky above all mingled as one, twisting together into a gentle flurry of white, pink and grey.

Perched atop another of her constructs, she waited. The speakers returned to life, the thumping EDM that she'd originally prepared for the night replaced by a slow melody. The snow poured in through the open rooftop, gently guided by Passeri's constructs to pour down in lazy, mystical swirls. She raised her microphone to her lips, and the crowd turned quiet, and the stadium was possessed by a rhythm, a meticulous harmony of countless moving parts, as if they were always meant to fit together. The snow, the constructs, the music, and Iroi.

It was proof. Proof to herself, and to anybody else that was watching.

The stage was her domain.

General:

QuirkyAngel

simj26 @azenmannumber2 @Slav

Nobody Special · Aug 22, 2022

BASH HIRABAYASHI, KISARA MCDOWELL, YO SAIWA

SCENE:

Arc 2: Scene 2 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Bash, Kisara, Yo

DRAGON HEART DUNGEON

As the pair of Serpents traversed the darkened halls of the underground, they began to pick up the sound of muffled voices. Light from an open doorway illuminated the path ahead of them, and with each step they took toward that open door, the voices only grew louder.

“... We’ll come back and try again later. Keep her conscious, not comfortable,” said the Dragon Queen to an unseen party within the torture chamber as she emerged into the hall, her figure silhouetted by the dappled candlelight behind her. She stopped short, as if sensing the unexpected presence and turned, her golden eyes narrowing at the sight of the Serpents in her path. “More trespassers, hm?” A glimmer of light glinted off of the pendant that hung around her neck, the teardrop-shaped gem a brilliant scarlet.

“Trespass this!” Kisara’s body and mouth tended to move faster than her brain ever could, and this time, it did so again. She snatched her hand away from the orb of light that lit their way, and punched it straight through, sending the ball of coalesced energy straight at Yo. She didn’t know who this lady was, and probably didn’t even register in her head that she might be a Dragon, much less their Queen.

Just like that, barely even five minutes into their adventure, they had been caught. Bash was quick to drop the precious stone they’d come there for in the first place and raise his fists defensively. Through the gap in his guard, he got a glimpse of the woman who’d spotted them, and his brass eyes widened when he realized who she was. In an instant, all reason was thrown out of the window, and Bash wasn’t too far behind Kisara’s energy attack. With a quick step-in, he launched a powerful potential-erasing hook towards the woman’s chin.

With a scoff, more annoyed than threatened, Yo swatted at the beam of light that came for her, knocking it off course with the back of her scaly hand. It crashed into the stone wall of the crypt, causing a worrying shift in the foundation of the building overhead. The scales that lined her arm glowing a dull red from the heat of the orb, Yo wheeled on the second of her two assailants, as a similar red bloomed up the length of her slender neck. As Bash’s fist flew toward her face, Yo’s jaw dropped open and she belched forth a torrent of white-hot flames, swiftly flooding the narrow corridor with fire.

A smile, not unlike that of a child's on Christmas morning, carved its way into Kisara's face. The rings around her arm and legs lit up, and a low hum, previously unheard of, now audible, amplified by the echoing walls around them, emanated from her. She opened her mouth, shooting a stream of lavender energy straight at Yo, the hum replaced by a shrill, high pitched, ringing shriek of not a humans but something completely unnatural. The stream met the flames with equal power, pushing back against it, the flames and the sparks spilling across the corridor.

“Gah– FUCK!!” an enraged snarl left Bash’s mouth as he barely managed to sway back from the fury of the unpigmented flames. Once he had realized what he had nearly been hit with, his legs trembled.

Fire. His relationship with the element had been rocky since he was a child, for reasons he’d hate to have to explain. While he had managed to quell his fear enough to be able to be around controlled flames without showing signs of weakness, it was the reality of it all– the sound of it tearing through the oxygen in its path, the smell of burning, the pain that always came with the scorching heat… It always reminded the young Ace of him.

You motherfucker…

Flashbacks to his old home clouded his mind. The screams of his mother, the slams and bangs coming from the other room, all while he could do nothing but cower away in the closet, consoling his twin and promising him that everything would be over soon. Then, suddenly, the Bash of now entered the body of the Bash of the past, and just like all those years ago, he shot out of the closet in a flash.

“I’LL FUCKIN’ KILL YOU!!”

While Kisara battled the Queen’s flames with a fiery attack of her own, Bash darted back into the battle, this time crouching low and leaping towards the legs of the dragon woman for a takedown.

Yo’s eyes widened imperceptibly. She had not expected to meet someone like her in these depths. But despite her promise, this girl was still but a child. Yo would not suffer children in this life, or the next. In the span of a single beat of her heart, the stream of flames that erupted from Yo’s maw froze over, replaced with an icy deluge of frozen force, with a thought to cut through the lavender beam like a knife. But that wasn’t all. The other one was still here. Catching a glimmer of movement from the corner of her eye, Yo moved just in time. Extinguishing her breath attack, the Dragon Queen sent a sweeping, bare-legged kick toward the low-running Serpent Ace’s face as he charged, intent on knocking him into the far wall…

"Hwargh!" Kisara gave a garbled cry of panic, and dropped onto her back. In said panic to avoid the blast, she had forgotten to close her mouth completely, sending the laser beam of destruction slicing upwards, gutting into the ceiling above them and carving a jagged line into the foundation. She rolled to one side, slamming herself into the wall, and flipped backwards into a running start position. A surge of energy coursed through her system, and she pushed forwards, sprinting down the corridor, flanking Yo from the opposite side of Bash's assault.

The impact that came with Bash’s back slamming into the wall behind him so hard that it caved in caused droplets of blood to fly out of his mouth as he coughed– struggling to regain the lost air that had just been blown out of him. He fell to the ground, groaning to himself, before slowly raising his head to look at his assailant with now-bloodshot eyes.

While Bash was briefly incapacitated, the Queen of Dragons was able to put all of her focus on her pink target. She quickly whipped around, her jaw gaping open once again to deliver another fiery counterattack– but it was all for naught. Something was wrong, and it was made clear by Yo’s exasperated change in demeanor.

A wide, bloodthirsty grin quickly shot onto Bash’s face when he caught a glimpse of the look on the woman’s face. He got her.

“You… stupid… bitch…!”

It was finally time– He’d finally be putting his old man– or, at least, who he thought was his old man in that moment– into the fucking ground. He wouldn’t be able to haunt him anymore after this was all over.

With a beastly growl, he lifted himself off the ground, forcing himself towards Yo once again. His first two advances didn’t work, that was obvious enough by the damage he’d taken– so he’d try something else this time. Mirroring Kisara’s movements, he opted to attack her front, forming a scissor-like dual attack against the horned beast.

“DIE!!”

The pair of them rushed the Dragon Queen, now absent her Potential, and the result was obvious. Blow after blow rained down, and while she fought back ferociously, with the air of her scales and claws—heirlooms that Bash’s Embargo could not rid her of—Yo was overwhelmed. Her face and body bore the tokens of the Serpents’ esteem, and as blood trickled from a split lip, she faced what may have been her end with dignity… And fury. If this was to be her end, she would not face the beyond alone. As the pink demon came forward for another assault, Yo’s arm snatched at her exposed neck and squeezed. Kisara’s already manic smile twisted even further, her sharp jagged teeth bared fully as she attempted to return the favour, clawing at Yo’s own neck. Another low hum emanated from her, and she unhinged her jaw once more, and the hum’s pitch began to rise.

From above came a sound like a groan as the earthen ceiling overhead began to buckle. It shifted once, as tremors racked the floor beneath their feet. Then it all came down.

The falling sky drove Kisara and Yo free of each other, but Kisara’s hands closed around something before they parted, separated by a wall of fallen ceiling that was expanding by the moment. A crack overhead raced down an adjacent darkened hall, where at the end the promise of light lingered, the Serpents’ only exit. Kisara clambered to her feet, ready to return to the fray. She could probably take a whole building falling on her, and so could the other lady she was just fighting.

But what about Bash?

Silently, the enraged Taipan stood before the unexpected barricade that protected his prey from him. His hands trembled violently– filled with rage, and his silence would only be occasionally broken by a strained, livid exhale. He’d decided that he would wait. Wait for the Queen of the Dragons, who he had subconsciously been imagining to be his own deceased father since the moment she spewed those hellish flames in his direction, to emerge from the debris and meet her ultimate demise.

Strained, reddened eyes stalked the wreckage. Watching. Waiting. He’d tear her limb from limb. Beat her down until there was nothing left but a mangled pile of flesh, skin and bone. He would make her suffer hundreds of thousands of times until the very last ounce of life within her disappeared.

And then, in between flashes of uncanny violence that served only to fuel his rage, he came to the sudden realization that he had finally unlocked one of the things he’d needed to achieve the balance he’d been seeking all this time.

For what was probably the first time, he was genuinely ready to take the life of another.

The stray thought, the ever intrusive process of thinking shook Kisara from her reverie. She looked towards him, standing above the growing pile of rubble as more and more debris dislodged themselves from their foundations above them. She glanced between the light at the end of the passage and the rubble where that lady had been earlier. She bit down on her lip. They’d have to settle this dance some other time. She grabbed Bash’s hand, ducked down under him, then pushed and lifted him over her shoulder, and sprinted towards the exit.

(Collab simj26 Elenion Aura )

Doctor Llamabean · Aug 22, 2022

NAKAZAJO CHIKAGE Ft. Yuudai

CS Link

SCENE:

Insufficient Details

LOCATION:

Backseat of a moving charger...

PARTICIPANTS:

Yuudai, Beautiful Stranger...

INSUFFICIENT DETAILS

Hunt. Hunt. Kill. Kill.

The Beast bellowed as it charged, impossibly large mouth widening impossibly. Its maw was a black hole, and when it snapped shut, nothing escaped. It stomped across a parked sedan, crumpling the vehicle as its anti-theft alarm blared meekly in protest. Unimportant. The creature’s single-mindedness drove it to doggedly pursue its prey. Hunt. Its eyes, full of murder, tracked Chikage wherever he was, wherever he’d go, until he was dinner. Kill.

Chikake left a trail of blood in his wake. Holding his side where the beast’s tail had earlier plunged, he crouched behind a parked sedan.

Several minutes had passed since Yuudai’s transformation and, since then, the Police Captain had yet to turn the tides of battle. By this point there wasn’t a car he hadn't thrown on that deserted street.

Tucked in hiding, slick with sweat and blood and dirt, Chikage ripped his shirt open to get a look at the gouge. Hardly the worst thing he’d ever experienced. Just then, a shadowy overcast urged him to look up, and a rush of lightning instinct willed his body to move. Lunging forward, Chikage rolled out from beneath the massive descending foot and whirled on the beast.

Fucking monster.

If there was a fence, Chikage was on it.

Movement. The beast’s thick neck turned sharply in the direction of the movement. Amber eyes, filled to the brim with rage and bloodfury, landed on Chikage. His meal. His prey. The great creature bellowed a challenge, then lunged, maw spread wide as it descended on Chikage before snapping shut. Snap ‘em up. Snap his bones. Feast.

But Chikage was not swallowed—the Beast, instead, took a nosedive straight into the blacktop where he previously stood; though, it did not stop him.

Yuudai pushed forward, bulldozing through the pavement and forcing the braced Chikage back. Rubber soles slid across asphalt like skates on ice. Then, hugging the monster’s upper jaw, Chikage gripped and pulled. He hit the brakes and, using both his strength and the built-up momentum, hoisted the monster over his center of gravity.

Yuudai’s tail drew an arc through the air.

Then came the earthquaking slam and the shattering of pavement.

He’d never suplexed a lizard before.

And this lizard had never been suplexed before, either.

If it could, the creature would’ve scrunched up its face in an expression of profound shock as its massive, clawed feet left the world behind. The sky tumbled. Everything was moving, until—

The grounded greeted the beast once again, buckling beneath its weight, and the force of its descent. Yuudai roared feebly, but the world did not stand still. It felt that it had been beaten, and the taste was bitter upon his tongue.

Desperate to see the day end, Chikage faced the beast with heavy breaths, and he looked upon his victory with cold red eyes filled with a mixture of scorn and melancholy. He was… one step closer to the goal, yet… Something felt…

Off.

Nonetheless, weary did his legs grow as he allowed his adrenaline to ease. However, now was not the time to rest. Not yet.

For a while, he’d not seen or heard from Oliver Lawless since he, Oliver, chased after Dreamer and her tracksuited accomplice, and Chikage wondered how things had fared for him.

I should find them.

The Captain gripped his side, applying pressure to the wound, and with exhaustion seeped into his bones he turned away, away from the defeated Serpent King. Alas, he had not lost control. For that, he was grateful. He had not succumbed to the will of his own rage, a man that wore his face and acted without regard—a stranger that laid dormant inside him, that so dubbed him a monster, himself.

Walking away, Chikage found his hand-radio on the ground and stopped… It was broken. He felt around for his phone to make a call, for someone to come and seize the fallen Beast. Until then, he would stand by and wait before finding Oliver. Supervise the Beast until his capture could not be undone. Pressing the call button with a shaky finger, Chikage placed the phone to his ear.

Slowly, sinisterly, the great lizard shifted. Became once more a man. And this man, with a mind to take life, stole his way toward the retreating Captain’s back. His hand a sharpened claw, Yuudai reared to strike at Chikage from behind, drooling at the thought of his own triumph, when a sudden metallic clamp! rang in his ears. His eyes drifted down to the mechanized collar that had snapped around his neck. Before he had a chance to wrench it off of his body, the device whirred to life. With a strangled sound of shock and pain, Yuudai fell to the concrete, unconscious.

Chikage’s teeth grit and, quickly, he jerked around. How naive. He’d been so ready to call it, that it was almost… Never mind that. Ready to spring back into action, another wave of adrenaline rushed him, but then he stopped when sight of a prone Yuudai caught him.

“Captain Nakazajo,” came a woman’s voice from behind him. She was tall, blonde, and wearing a large overcoat draped across her shoulders. A cigar was pinched between her lips. She was flanked on either side by officers Chikage had never seen before, including a man with silver hair whose eyes kept flitting nervously to the prone Serpent King beyond. “Do your injuries require medical attention? Or do you have time to talk?” She asked in a voice that brooked no refusal. As she stepped closer, her face came quickly into focus. Commanding. Beautiful. In spite of, or in part due to, the large burn-scar that stretched along one side of her face.

To see it, Chikage almost averted his gaze but refrained. He, too, wore the mark of flame; though, unseen by the care he took to keep it covered.

Clicking the ‘End Call’ button on his phone before said call was even answered, Chikage adjusted his demeanor to look more dignified than enervated from his fight. Spine straightening, he gave the woman a nod, withstanding the pain in his side.

“I can talk.”

His ribs were broken—that much, he could tell—but he was sure the surface had more to hide.

More prevailing, he was curious. A stranger, yet she knew his name. That was, if anything, worth enduring a few injuries if it meant gaining an understanding of who she was.

With a wave of her hand, officers stormed forward. Passing Chikage on either side, they collected the unconscious Serpent King and carted him away.

Chikage was bewildered by this. “What are you-” He grew defensive. “I wish to see your… credentials,” he said to the officers who heeded him not, recognizing their dismissal of his authority. Who were they to come in and take charge of his work? He was not just some detective who could easily have his case stripped from him without good reason. So… why?

“Zat was quite ze show,” said the woman as she stepped closed, arms uncrossing as she picked the cigar from out of her pursed lips and let the smoke escape from the corners of her mouth. “We have not yet met. But I have been vatching you. I vould not be here now if I did not like what I see.” As if to punctuate that sentiment, the blonde gave Chikage a slow once-over, imperious eyes scanning him from the top of his head to the tips of his boots. “Da. Ve will talk. But not here.” She turned sharply and strode toward a charger parked nearby. An officer standing at attention jumped to get the door as she approached. Sidling into the backseat, she turned and waited.

Blinking, Chikage stood still. The gears of his mind went round, trying to process what was happening, but eventually his feet carried him forward with a limp—one last glance spared in the direction of his crumpled cruiser—and he stopped at the door. “Do you mind the blood?”

A dismissive wave of a gloved hand was all the answer he’d receive.

“Then… Pardon the intrusion.” With that, following a polite bow, Chikage slid into the back beside the woman and adjusted himself for comfort. The weight off his legs was a sweet liberation that partly eased the residing tension in his nerves. However, vigilance was essential, so he took care not to relax.

The charger pulled away from the scene of the crime. Before long it was descending down from one layer of Central into a stranger, darker world that lurked beneath. Chikage would have recognized by now that these people were officers of New Oasis. He’d simply never seen any of them before.

For a time, Yelena—that was how she’d introduced herself, simply ’Yelena’—was silent, staring wistfully at the grey gloom outside her window as her cigar burnt down to nothing. Until at last she asked, “Do you believe in gods, Captain?” Then in a low voice she added, “Do you believe in ze Devil?” (Collab with:

Elenion Aura )

CHIKAGE NOTES: — —The majority of the front, right half of Chikage's body is badly scarred from burns, stopping halfway up his neck. The skin is distorted and unpleasant to look at. For this reason, he wears a black, leather glove always covering his right hand, and usually wears long-sleeved, concealing clothes. Reference (X)

— —In this specific scene, Chikage is wearing his officer's uniform.

— —POST RECAP: Chikage has slain the beast... But who is this beautiful stranger?

Lucem · Aug 23, 2022

Isaiah Spade & Kanna Katsura

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 3 [Error 404]

LOCATION:

Undercity, Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Isaiah, Kanna

ERROR 404

Pocketing his multitool, Isaiah closely examined the area around the unlocked door. Once every last detail was memorized, he placed an illusory layer over the area. He recreated the scenery exactly as it was, allowing him to open the door without having to worry about alerting the Vinters. With the exception of him and Kanna, nobody on either side of the door would be able to tell that it had been opened. Not a single creak was audible as he turned the knob and slipped inside.

After making sure the office was free of occupants and his partner was inside, he shut the door and locked it, leaving it just as it was before. He then removed the effects of his illusions on the other side, but the layer itself remained. By doing this, he could still alter the outside environment while he and Kanna were inside the room. In the event that they needed to escape while the homeowners were barring their path, they'd be able to do so without alerting anyone to their presence.

As a final precaution, Isaiah created another illusion, one that affected the entirety of the office. With that illusion, he robbed the area of its sound. No matter what they did here, nobody else in the home would be able to hear it. With all these safety measures, they'd be able to investigate without worry. However, that didn't mean they had all the time in the world. It was best to find the information they were looking for as soon as possible, before things took a turn for the worse. While distant, the voices he heard proved that they weren't alone.

"I'll search this side of the room. I'll let you know right away if I find something." Using his Potential to whisper his intentions into Kanna's ear, he approached the nearby desk.

Kanna nodded, moving towards a nearby filing cabinet and began rummaging through the drawers.

In the desk, after a bit of searching around the regular fare of personal documents and other desk-related items, Isaiah found a handwritten letter tucked away between folders full of documentations detailing the Vinters’ personal and business dealings. The missive itself was written in code, but at the very bottom the writer had signed it in a flowing, elegant hand:

We are the stewards,
The Fulcrum

There was little time to dwell, however, as the sound of voices grew nearer to the doorway. A hand was on the doorknob now, and beginning to turn.

Kanna looked up from the cabinet she was searching, listening for a moment before looking towards the general direction Isaiah was, giving him a hand signal to reveal himself to her. She put down what she was holding, sliding the cabinet shut as quietly as she could. The Jack maneuvered over to Isaiah. Without explanation, she took hold of his hand and the pair began floating upwards until they gently came in contact with the ceiling. With her free hand, Kanna pulled out her phone, making sure she had a solid grip on it before turning the camera on. She would wait until whoever was coming would enter the room, then press record.

The door opened, and in walked a man with snowy white hair and a familiar face to the Dragons on the ceiling. His sharp eyes scanned the room, though he stayed close to the doorway. His nose led him on, having taken on a somewhat canine quality since last the Dragon Jack had seen him, but a voice from beyond stayed his advance. Grumbling to himself, the man retreated from the empty room and shut the door forcefully behind him. Better to be gone by the time he returns.

Pointing to the door, Isaiah waited for Kanna to deactivate her potential and return them to the ground. Because of his illusions, being detected through smell wasn't a concern. However, if the dog-faced man returned with more people, it'd be difficult to avoid coming into contact with anyone. They hadn't covered everything yet, but leaving now with what they had was the safer option. Getting more evidence was meaningless if they didn't make it back to the East.

After looking underneath the door to check for any activity, Isaiah focused on the first illusion he'd created. Adjusting the layer to hide any sign of their exit, he slipped out of the office with Kanna in tow. Once they were back in the hallway, he erased every bit of camouflage he'd set up before, excluding the one used to keep him and his partner imperceptible.

Not wanting to let the chance of an uninterrupted escape pass them by, he quickly descended the stairs and returned to the entry point. Once both Dragons were at the chimney, Isaiah waited for Kanna to activate her Potential once again, allowing them to ascend with ease. As soon as they made it out of the brick chute, he removed the veil he'd placed there earlier.

Thanks to Kanna, they were able to quickly return to where they'd left the car, floating effortlessly beyond the estate's walls. As soon as they touched down, Isaiah made the car visible once again and climbed inside. He made sure to do the same for the Jack and himself once both of them were settled, bringing both of their altered appearances back into the light.

Reaching into his jacket, Isaiah withdrew the photos he brought along to the meeting with Xavier. This time, instead of showing the faces of potential suspects, they displayed recreations of everything he was able to find in the office, including the cryptic note. "I found this in the desk. Does it ring any bells? If not, maybe we could have Cipher look into it."

If Kasumi and the others were able to successfully extract information from Red, they could put everything together and settle on a course of action. At the very least, they were able to establish a clearer link between House Vinter and the Cobalt Wolves, confirming previous suspicions. Although, Isaiah had a feeling that there was still a lot more they didn't know. The investigation wasn't over just yet.

Elenion Aura ,

FabulousTrash

Elenion Aura · Aug 23, 2022

MARKUS WEISS

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

The Tiger Oasis, West District

PARTICIPANTS:

Ezra, Isobel, Dagger

GAME OVER

Once their bodies had slipped safely into the backseat of Ezra’s car, Isobel could not detach herself from the Tigers’ bruised and bloodied king fast enough before awkwardly clambering into the passenger seat.

Her helmet now repaired, the gun-for-hire seemed to look disapprovingly and witheringly at the king as he was shoved unceremoniously into the car from behind her opaque visor. Perhaps sensing that this was not the time to chide any of them, she pushed her motorcycle off its kickstand, and revved up her engine, one hand still gripping onto her handgun, as the tiny motorcade began its journey back home.

The remainder of the ride back to HQ passed in tense silence. In this packed confined space, the smell of frost and char that clung to Markus was all the more pronounced, a reminder of the fight he was forcefully extracted from.

Pulling up in front of the familiar structure of concrete, metal, and glass, everyone seemed to share the same thought and silently glanced at Markus, waiting with bated breath to see what he would do.

Markus was glaring ahead, silently grinding his teeth as he tried to rein in his rage. In his mind, the battle was not yet concluded. It was a mind made for war.

The Tiger King spoke at last when the car puttered to a halt outside of Tiger HQ. “I tell you ta’ stop here, Rook? Keep goin’. Take the next left.”

The car drove on in silence, punctuated only by Markus’ occasional direction.

Right.

Left.

Stop here.

They’d arrived at a small, tucked-away park in the West with an iron-wrought fence, a finely manicured lawn, and a winding stone path that led to a Tiger Statue in its center. It almost looked out of place amidst the towering skyscrapers and high-rises that surrounded it, yet it defied them all. There was a peculiar radiance about the place. An energy. A thrum of potential. It had been waiting for them.

Markus got out of the car, circling around until he stood beside the driver’s side door, and knocked on the window.

“Get out.”

He wasn’t going to ask again.

With a seemingly unhappy King at his door, Ezra turned to face Isobel. "I'm still not sure what you did back there, but if I'm turned into an ice sculpture in a few moments, my ghost will be wanting an explanation." He joked, but there was no playfulness in his expression. He didn't hold a single ounce of fear, but the thought of potentially ending up on the receiving end of the boss's wrath didn't sound particularly pleasant. However, there was no point in dragging it out. Orders were orders.

After he unfastened his seatbelt, Ezra stepped out of the car and did as Markus said. Initially, he questioned why they'd stop at a park instead of HQ, but now that his feet were on the ground, he understood that they weren't just here to admire the grass. He couldn't put it into words, but there was something off about this place. They were here for a specific purpose. Admittedly, the fact that there was a tiger statue standing at the center of everything made it easy to come to that conclusion.

Markus didn’t wait for the Rookie to get settled. He snatched Ezra roughly with both hands, fingers frosting over as his breath fogged the space of air that separated them, as he shoved him back roughly into the door of the car he’d just exited. This kid—Knight—was taller than Markus remembered him being. But that might’ve been because in that moment, Markus didn’t see Ezra as anyone other than a stand-in for that fucker with red hair. He tightened his grip.

The Tiger King glared murderously at Vulken until Vulken was gone and only Ezra Knight remained. This isn’t worth the headache. he thought to himself. It’s not him you want dead.

Gingerly Markus uncurled his fingers from around Ezra’s shitty coveralls and released. He wiped the dust off of the boy’s shoulders for good measure, then added in a low voice that was barely a whisper, “You ever get in my way like that again—or you,” Markus added and jabbed an accusatory finger at his Jack still in the car. He turned from Isobel back to Ezra and held his gaze, but he didn’t finish his thought. His head hurt. Taking a step back, Markus gestured to the burn on his face.

“Fix it.”

Ezra stared back unflinchingly at Markus, his skin still cool from King Cold's touch. Despite usually being a bag of nerves, he was eerily calm in the face of his boss's misplaced wrath. Not once during the tense moment did he think he'd actually be frozen in place, but if it really came down to it, he wouldn't have hesitated to strike back against the West's ruler, no matter how low his odds of success were. However, there was no point in dwelling on useless hypotheticals.

"Understood." Heeding the warning, he followed the King's gaze, glancing at Isobel from the corner of his eye. He wouldn’t waste time by throwing out excuses nobody cared to hear. Besides, the look on his face should've been enough to tell that none of this had ever been his idea.

Without uttering another word, he raised a hand to Markus's burnt face. Within moments, his skin's complexion had returned to normal, leaving no trace of the injury. After tending to the rest of the battered leader, he pulled away. He couldn't do anything about fatigue, but he doubted something like that would be a major issue. Surely the King would be able to make it back on his own.

“Now get the fuck outta here, all a’ ya,” Markus spat at last, but not before he snatched the claw for himself. Finally…

—

Ezra didn't need to be told twice. Having no desire to linger and give fate another opportunity to deal him a bad hand, he turned away, leaving Markus with a single wave before climbing into the car. All things considered, that had gone better than expected.

As soon as he settled into his seat, Ezra put both hands on the wheel and turned to Isobel. "Well, I'm no ghost, but I think I'd still like an explanation." The ends of his lips curled slightly upward as he put the car in reverse, leaving the King alone with his prize. "Let's chat, shall we?"

Driving away from the garden, Isobel needed a moment to compose herself. She was exhausted, frustrated, and hurt. There were so many things she had wanted to say to Markus - to yell at him - but no way to do so. There were few times that Isobel had felt her disability as profoundly as she did now.

With Mbaye’s help they got Callahan back to the headquarters, leaving Isobel alone in the car with Ezra. His presence was a strange comfort even if he had been acting strangely since they escaped from the Phoenix King’s home. “Thank you,” She signed. “And I’m sorry. I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

—

A gloved hand took hold of the claw, pulling it away from him. The helmeted rider was staring straight at him, unspeaking. In her other hand, she held a grim knife. She turned her head towards the car where the two other Tigers were, as if to tell them to just get going, then back to Markus. "What was that?" She finally hissed, her voice muffled behind the helmet.

“Kid thinks he’s hot shit,” Markus said defensively, though he had eyes only for the claw in Dagger’s hand. He had reached for it instinctively as she’d pulled it away and attempted to snatch it back, only to end up in some half-assed game of tug-o-war. Despite his rejuvenated body, Markus had begun to feel a certain kind of strain seep into him. His headache was getting worse. After a beat he added, “Let go.”

The King didn’t have to explain himself. Not to anyone.

"I wasn't talking about the kid." Dagger reached up, and removed her helmet, discarding it onto the ground with a hollow clatter. "This plan was full of holes. I thought you were better than this, Weiss."

“Nobody was s’posed ta’ be there,” her snarled his response, teeth bared as if he could truly refute the truth of her words. He’d been… Distracted, on edge. He’d been hearing the song again. It was so loud, now. Sung in a language he did not recognize. Weakly, he thought to himself, I had to bring it home.

And he had. All that was left was to finish it. He was so close.

Markus secured his grip on the claw and yanked.

Dagger lurched forwards with the pull, and, instead of resisting, she leaned forwards into it, slamming her elbow into her boss. She snarled like a beast, and pushed the tip of her knife onto his side. "'Supposed to' isn't good enough." She could feel his breath, and she was sure he could feel hers too. "I need to know you're not gonna make another mistake like this. I don't care what your business with this claw is, I just need to know my client ain't making stupid decisions behind the wheel." She could kill him now, but he could just as easily do the same before she did. It was a risk she was willing to take. "What will it be, Weiss? You gonna get distracted by the prize again?"

He stood firm as he felt her body press against his, his mind forgetting momentarily the threat of her. It only recalled her shape. He could kill her right now, but she could probably kill him, too. “You ain’t gotta worry ‘bout me,” he said, and meant it. In his mind, Markus was pleased with himself. Finally, a worthy investment.

Her hand remained on the claw, still pulling it towards herself. The quiet seconds between them clicked forwards, inching slowly, with each breath between the both of them.

She let go of the claw, and stepped back. She rummaged in the pocket of her Passeri Park hoodie, and extracted a half-way ruined pack of cigarettes. "You look like shit," she remarked, pulling out a stick with her lips, then fumbling around her pockets for a lighter. No dice. Must have dropped it somewhere in the crash. She sighed, spitting the cigarette onto the ground. "You sure you don't need someone to escort you back home, Your Majesty?"

“If later I decide that I do, I know how ta’ reach ya.” He sneered, feeling colder suddenly. He went on, “S’like I said, I’m fine.”

"Hrm." She grunted once, as if to voice her doubt, then fell silent. Rather than leave like the other two had, she remained. Even with the Knights, the Jacks, and the Aces, no chessboard was complete without the pawn, after all. So she remained.

Markus almost protested, but for the look on her face, and the tiredness in his heart. The claw weighed him down as he shouldered past his pawn and entered the small, unassuming park.

As his footsteps carried him over the threshold, the song grew quieter and quieter. He found himself transfixed by the stone tiger before him, such that he could not turn away… Such that he did not even notice it when the Ivory Claw turned to golden dust and slipped between his fingers and was carried away by a late afternoon breeze. He was close, now. Close enough that if he reached out his hand he could touch the stone tiger’s massive paw. It was laid out like a sphinx, sightless eyes staring ahead at some unseen supplicant come to answer its riddles.

“Z’about time you’s showed up.”

Markus whirled around dizzyingly fast, searching for the source of that voice. His eyes found only Dagger, standing where he’d left her. Bewildered, he asked her, “You say somethin’?”

“You betcha.”

Markus turned and swung at empty air. The voice had been so close, as if whoever had said it were whispering in his ear. But when again he turned, the Tiger King found no one there. Just the Tiger Statue. And a small, white, fat cat with blue stripes perched on the stone dais, licking itself clean. As Markus watched, the cat took notice of him, stopped cleaning itself, sat up, and spoke.

“Oi! Quit gawkin’. Actin' like y'ain't never seen no Heavenly Beast before. 'Sides... We got’s work t’do.”

Collab with:

Lucem

Saturn_moon

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Elenion Aura · Aug 23, 2022

The Child

Scene Post

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 1 [The Child]

LOCATION:

白春花茶莊, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Omar, Kairong, Shen, Hadrien

THE CHILD

The strike to the side of the head was all it took to drop the muscle-bound HP to his knees. To his credit, he didn’t fall unconscious immediately, but he was powerless to stop Hou from prying open the cage that he’d trapped his quarry in… Or, so he had thought. The thought of the steel lockbox lying open, and empty, shocked the heavily-concussed man to his core. “S’not… Possible…” He slurred as his mind began to swim. The rest of his crew were either already routed or about to be. This job had quickly become more trouble than it was worth.

“Oh my, I don’t even need to step in.”

While others rushed into action, Dyne had circled around with several bursts of force to prevent any escapees. A precaution unneeded, with everyone incapacitated without a chance to escape.

“Quiet you, it’s naptime.” Hou replied to the prone thug, using the end of his staff to press the man’s head back to the ground. He shrugged at Dyne, as if he hadn’t just threatened the lot of them up on the rooftops. “What now?”

The ground beneath them groaned and rumbled, the earth beneath their feet shifting and changing, and before the youths could react, pillars of stone rose, grinding against the cement, uprooting themselves from their graves beneath the cold pavements, barring the exits, yet another unnecessary barrier after Dyne’s own. Their creator would remark as much when he arrived not a second after, his aged voice, like gravel itself upon the earth, somehow still clear in the aftermath of the small earthquake.

“I would have thought my arrival to be indispensable, but it would seem you have already dispensed with the frivolities.” A man in his Eastern garb leapt down from one of the pillars that he had created, and landed softly behind the collective. With a simple motion of his hands, the earth began to shift once more, and the pillars sank, retreating back to their homes. He returned his hands behind him, as he studied the thug trapped underneath Hou’s staff. “What a shame. What a shame.” He clicked his tongue. “I would have hoped to regale the youth for once in a long time. Alas.” He straightened up, a wry smile etched upon his face. “It is heartening to know, however, that the generation of today can handle themselves in a street brawl. It would not do to be so easily felled. Especially not you, Master Huang and Ruriko!” He aimed his comment straight at the two youths. “Hah hah hah!”

Ruriko looked between Kairong and the man addressed as Master Huang, a dumbfounded look on her face as she was taking her time piecing things together. “Huh - eh? You know this creep, ojiisan?” She pointed directly at Hou, her expression shifting to that of concern knowing that such a well-respected member of the gang would be associated with some hooligan chasing after a kid. Speaking of which, she whipped her head around to look at the metal cage that Hou had opened moments ago. “Shit - fuck - where did he go?” She was certain she saw the child get snatched up in that contraption and now he was just gone. “Ojiisan - have you seen a child -? Err - small, feline ears and tail - wings -?”

“Master Kairong!” Hou’s eyes lit up when the old martial artist appeared, and, though it was hard for most to imagine, he bowed formally, as a student would to a teacher. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head at the praise.

“Well, I had pretty good teachers.” Though he was smiling, the lines of his body seemed stiffer, as if it was remembering past times where he had been knocked senseless by this man in the dojo. Meanwhile, Dyne retreated to the background; Kairong's seniority did not bode well with her, considering how she got into Dragons. Even Kanna didn't cause her as much worry as Kairong.

“I was actually looking for you, when I saw these guys chasin’ a kid I met earlier.” He gestured to the dragons, “And then those guys joined in.” He gestured then to the men on the ground. Hou nodded along to Ruriko’s description.

“I don’t think the kid’s got much family to look out for him.”

"Ah." The old man waved his hand dismissively at Hou's display of respect, and as he did, the rusted, but oiled gears clicked in his head. His assumption had not been too off the target. The child was in possession of a Potential not unlike that of Ruriko's, it seemed, or she would not have lost track of him. "You need not worry. The boy is safe. He is currently at the tea shop, where he is no doubt being fawned over by my assistant and her friends."

And as if speaking the devil’s name, the telltale Child emerged, popping his head out from behind Kairong’s robed leg. He tilted his head inquisitively at the scene before him. The old man had not felt his presence up until just now, and glanced down towards the arrival.

“Hrm.” He knelt down again, and patted the child softly on his head. His Potential was a curious one indeed.

Hou relaxed visibly when Kairong said the child was safe. “Well, that’s all right then…” He trailed off when he saw the little figure.

“Geez there’s another one!”

“Oh that’s good — Ojiisan,” Ruriko’s eyes trailed to the child that peered out from behind Kairong. No doubt it was the same child but the fact that he was supposedly at the tea shop was a little alarming. Squatting down to meet his height, Ruriko offered a small wave to the boy. “You’re a fast one ain’t ya? Or did ya portal like me?” She chuckled at the last part, knowing it was unlikely for such a young child to be able to control their potential that well. “Now that we’re not at each other’s throats — what’s your name? Your parents are looking for you.”

The Child, wide-eyed, peered up from one face to another. He opened his mouth as if, finally, he would speak, when his eyes caught sight of a new arrival.

Shen came down from the sky, having lost sight of the armored man from before. He had spotted Mister Kairong, Ru Ri, and others from the air, and had decided to see what had been happening down here. “Hello Ru Ri! Mister Kairong! Everything okay here?” He asked in a whimsical tone, all the while oblivious to the Child’s murderous glare, or the fact that his tiny feet had begun to carry him backwards, slowly, away from the clutch of Dragons.

Hou squinted at the sky, when Shen was about to land his eyes lit up.

“Hey! It’s Koi Boy! What’s going on bro? You know these guys?” He thumbed in the direction of the others.

It was only then that he saw the reaction of the young boy.

Hou frowned. “I don’t think he likes you very much.”

He crouched down, his eyes level with the child’s. “Hey, you’re ok. Big brother Hou’s not gonna let anything happen to you, ‘aight?” He jabbed a thumb at his chest.

The Child, with some effort, tore his eyes away from Shen to look at Hou. For a minute, he was relieved. For a minute, he believed Hou when he said that nothing bad would happen to him. But minutes pass by so quickly. And no one could protect him.

Dyne sighed inwardly. Really, she didn't see how the child was any special. It had to happen on her patrol, too.

"Seniors, the rain has stopped," she said carefully. The rain stopped and the sun peeked from its hiding spot. And with the sun, people started coming out more, too. They weren't exactly in private.

Shen smiled at Hou and laughed at his chosen nickname, though the connection of the face, and voice, to the mysterious man he’d met at the koi pond was not immediately made in his mind. He greeted Hou in kind all the same, however, and his eyes settled on the grimacing Child for but a moment. “Oh? You’re right, Miss! Should we go?” Shen asked in Ru Ri’s direction. Usually he asked Ru Ri if it was time to go, and if the answer was yes, she would portal them away.

And in the distraction, the Child found his chance. Side-stepping Hou with a deftness that defied his age, the Child’s wings burst from his back and he soared toward the Dragon King, whose back was turned. In the Child’s hand swirled a peculiar metallic substance which sharpened and elongated into a makeshift shiv. He couldn’t hesitate… Now now!

If Hou had looked away, if he had turned his back for a second, he would have missed the move. The child was fast, Hou missed him on the initial lunge. The wind from the child’s wings whipped back his hair and then he was moving too, trying to get ahead and around the kid, not to grab him, but to put himself in between the knife and Shen. He braced his forearm for the cut of the blade because this time, he didn’t use his power to toughen his skin…and it was on purpose.

Shen turned, too. He was less concerned with the Child, or the man who’d placed himself between him and his diminutive assassin, and more concerned with the implement in his tiny hand. Impassive eyes widened, then narrowed as he leveled his gaze on the Child, finally seeing him at last.

The Child, seeing as he had not only failed, but harmed one of his only true friends, felt the weight of defeat-like tears welling in his eyes. This was the end.

“Step aside,” Shen said to Hou. If this Child wished to challenge him, then so be it.

Hou winced at the blade bit into his flesh. He grit his teeth and looked down, his expression cool and serious.

“First of all. You’re holding it wrong. You gotta turn it, like this, so your weight’s behind it. Goes deeper that way.” Hou demonstrated with his good hand, grasping the air.

“And second, this world’s gonna mess you up one day, but spilling blood can at least wait till you’re higher than my waist, ‘kay?”

Once he had said his piece to the young boy Hou looked back over his shoulder at Shen. His expression was still cool, still calm, and calmly he said:

“No.”

“...”

“Then I will move through you.”

“Allllright…” Ruriko awkwardly clapped her hands together twice, trying to pull their attention away from whatever was about to transpire. She wasn’t sure what the child’s deal was with Shen but she knew how her best friend could be and she wasn’t about to let him beat a child down. Besides, Dyne had a point: the rain did stop and soon the streets would gain more foot traffic. It wouldn’t be a good image to the Dragons to be standing around a couple of dead bodies, let alone witnessing them fight a child. “Shiri, grab the ogre. Make sure he doesn’t try anything.”

She then turned to Shen, placing a hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him. “Shen, guess what? I restocked the apples at HQ.” With her other hand, she whirled a portal to the side of Shen, and a blurry yet familiar view of the inside of the heart of the gang was displayed. Shen inclined his head toward the opening gate, his attention briefly diverted from the Child assassin and the stranger.

Ruriko turned her gaze to Hou and the child for a moment, contemplating if she should allow them to even follow. Ojiisan did seem friendly towards the former so she would trust his judgment for now. However, she was still concerned about the child. His tears indicated regret for hurting his friend, maybe even fear? Who knows. She wasn’t the best at reading someone’s emotions that in-depth. “Oi, kid. We got bandaids at HQ — think you can help me patch up our friend?”

What lit in Hou’s eyes wasn’t alarm, or fear, when Shen made the threat, it was excitement. He turned, took his stance and then..

“Wait, your name is Shen?” All the aggression evaporated in an instant. “Whaaaaaat. No way! I’ve totally been looking for Shen the dragon king, that’s you?”

Shen nodded. His clouds in his eyes had begun to clear.

Hou was grinning again. “I’ve got something to say to you.”

The portal opened and Hou’s attention was taken again. He saw the inside of somewhere. “HQ, you guys are gonna trust me? Just like that?” He was surprised, “I mean, that’s something I’d probably do but…Marnie always said I wasn’t the brightest heheh.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

At being called “friend” he smiled genuinely. “Thanks uh, Ruri was it? I guess I can’t keep callin’ you “Ponytail”. I’m Huang. Hou Huang, leader of the Stone Monkey clan.”

"Ruriko," she corrected. For now she would trust Ojiisan's judgment about Huang but that certainly didn't mean they were friends — not yet at least. The "friend" thing was only an attempt to build a little more trust with the child, seeing how he only trusted monkey boy here.

It was as if the sun had rose for a second time and all the clouds were chased away. Hou Huang, Shen thought. For once, he remembered. And his memories came like a flood.

He looked back down at the kid’s miserable expression.

“Aw hey, don’t worry. Look, I meant what I said all right? And don’t worry about the cut, I’ve done worse to myself believe it.” He offered the kid one of his brightest grins. “We’ll figure this out.”

“My mother used to tell me stories about you,” Shen said, interrupting the tender moment between Hou and the Boy. In truth, Shen had forgotten about the Child again, and what he had done, or tried to do. Water under the bridge. Clouds in the sky. His mother telling him stories about the Brave Monkey King who’d come down in a golden cloud when he needed him most. His hero.

Dyne eyed Hou with interest. An acquaintance of the Dragon King? Lost friend? The edge of her lips curled up. Certainly interesting. And the Stone Monkey boy didn't look half bad, too. A pity they fought earlier.

"I will leave first, Seniors. I will greet you again later." Dyne performed a slight bow at Shen and Kairong, though her smiling eyes rested briefly on Hou as she uttered the last sentence. Any impression now would be difficult to be good since they fought, so she should go first and return later. Dyne hopped through the portal and went to change her clothes.

Eh? It's rude to go before the Seniors? She's pretty, so it's fine~

“Stories huh?” Hou turned his smile back on Shen. “They’re probably all true.” Hou hefted his staff over one shoulder.

“Bye lady!” He watched Dyne go, giving her a quick wave, his near-tussle with the dragons completely forgotten.

“So boss, aparez vooz!” He bowed and gestured from Shen to the portal.

Shen nodded agreeably to Hou as he stepped through the portal after Dyne, responding without a hint of irony, “Apple review to you, too Mister Monkey!”

But for the Child, the choice to take the portal into an unknown future was an uncertain one. He’d already failed to kill the King of Dragons, and he’d long ago learned the price of failure. And yet, despite this, the executing sword had not yet been swung. Perhaps… Maybe…

The Child, exhausted and hungry, fell gently to sleep at the foot of Ruriko’s portal.

Before Ruriko could follow Shen through her portal, she was stopped by the sight of the child falling asleep on the ground in front of it. Her eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance, wondering why he could not simply wait to pass through the portal first before passing out. He had led several Dragons on a wild chase where they had to deal with annoying adversaries. On top of all that, the child had the audacity to attack the King — she let out a deep sigh. Ruriko knelt down, carefully scooping the child into her arms to cradle. ’Fuck, I’m growing soft,’ was all she could think as she stepped through the portal.

Elsewhere in the East, a man approached the ruined remains of a containment device, far too small for any adult to fit in comfortably. He ran a hand along the jagged metal that his subject had torn free of.

Turning he faced a figure in the doorway. "My King, I'm sorry. He... Escaped."

The King in question waved the man off with an agreeable smile. White hair trailed down the small of his back and mixed with the voluminous white robes that concealed much of his form. "It's no big deal! We still have the Scale, so we can always try again."

The sleeping Child nestled closer to whatever figure he could find, seeking comfort in his dreams. As he adjusted, the sight of a blue-green shard of some unknown make and material flashed briefly into view.

... A big deal, after all.

@SilverFlight
@Beann

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 4 [Hostile Agenda]

Damafaud

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Doctor Llamabean · Aug 24, 2022

TAZZ Ft. Camila, Matsuda, Sylvie, and Chou

CS Link

SCENE:

LOCATION:

West-Side, Central...

PARTICIPANTS:

August, Matsuda, Camila, Chou, Sylvie

HOSTILE AGENDA

The sound of the can tipping over tore his eyes away from his cards. “Woah, wha- Come on, man!”

“Sorry, my dude.”

Christen stood up and stepped away from the spreading puddle of beer, “Well, get it up! Don’t just let it ff- soak fucking everything. Jeez.”

“Yuuuup,” the other man left to find a towel, and Christen sat himself back on the locker bench, seemingly exhausted, and he hung his head.

The other lackeys in the room chattered amongst themselves as they worked to move the game from one section of the floor to another less… wet. They gathered the cards and the chips, the drinks and the snacks, and they found a spot closer to the showers.

Meanwhile, Christen cursed under his breath. Fucking dump. This fucking place… God, this fucking place. He hated it. So cooped up—just waiting. Waiting, waiting, and waiting… Nothing was within his control. He couldn’t stand it… Infuriating.

“Get up.”

“Huh?” Kinslee lifted his head and looked to the source of the voice.

“We’re moving you.” Belinda donned a red mask. “Benjamin. No contact.” Her voice was nasally, breath minty behind the cloth around her face.

“What- Wai- Wai- What do you mean? Where are you taking me?”

“Unimportant.”

“Wha- O-Okay. What about the game-”

“We go.”

Sylvie watched the scene unfold with his hand over his mouth as he pondered what was said, he was considering learning more about his assignments in future. All these names and companies flew past him, as did Benji during his momentary freedom. He offered no help during Camila's swift takedown of the young man but walked closer to them with a pitying look.

"Just listen to her and cooperate with us, please." He did feel bad for him, but at the end of the day, it was his choice to defy the Tigers. He gave him a consoling pat on the back, before bringing his hand up to Benji's hair, tugging a few out.

"And in case you don't, I have my ways as well. I don't want to hurt you, friend, but you must cooperate!" He inspected the hairs carefully, before smiling, seemingly satisfied with them. After that, he drew his almost-complete doll back out, mixing the hairs in with the fibre filling within.

"I'll finish this quickly, let's get going!"

Out of his pocket emerged a travel-sized sewing kit, and soon Sylvie's hand flashed back and forth across the doll, showing years of practice as he created the final stitches to get his potential up and running.

Benji was on his feet again with August’s help, staring fearfully at the makeshift doll, legs stiff and unable to run. This time, truly, he was trapped.

“O’roight… Guess we best get goin’, yeh?”

Matsuda lifted a brow at Sylvie’s arts and crafts, a smirk playing on his lips. Shrugging his shoulders, his tone was as careless- almost like he was bored, “ Right, well lets move our asses.” He swayed his way out the door.

Soon the group had filed into Camila’s convertible or other—August in back with Benjamin, Chou in the passenger’s seat; Matsuda and Sylvie in Sylvie’s car, and were well on their way to finally have a word with this Christen Kinslee. Benjamin told them everything he could as they drove. August kept his phone on speaker, locked in a call with Matsuda, so that no one was left out.

“Silas Knight is his goal—to destroy KnightCorp, but I really don’t know much. Honest. I’m- I- I’m new to their ranks. Just… Just a beat-boy…”

August hummed in thought.

“They come in and out of the Slaughterday Stadium… From morning to night, non-stop… Quintus is a scary dude. He’ll… He’ll probably have me killed, you know.”

August nodded off, the vibration of the moving car lulling him to sleep.

El’Liberator Trivia: Benjamin’s potential, Invisibility, allows him to do just that… Turn invisible! Weaknesses include not being able to activate his ability when touching another biological being, or when under the influence of certain toxins, drugs, or alcohol!

Benjamin shifted uncomfortably, August’s head on his shoulder, but tried to ignore his current predicament. No use dwelling… Though, he wondered how Synchrony and Belinda would look once they found out he’d ratted.

“. . .I always fuck up.”

Muffled music made its way through the phonecall, coming from Sylvie's favourite radio station as he cruised behind Camila and the others.

"Well, you chose the wrong people to mess with, didn't you? No one's gonna have you killed, though." He replied too carefreely in contrast to Benji's pessimism. He wanted to be right, even if Benji went against them, he didn't want to see anyone die.
"Ain't that right, Smog?"

Matsu scoffed, rolling his eyes. “ Oh i wouldn’t be too sure ‘bout that dude. One wrong move and-” He made a whooshing noise with his mouth, his hand miming a gun. “ I wouldn’t doubt someone would have ‘em killed just for snitch-” Matsuda cut himself off. He… probably shouldn’t scare pink haired guy all too much. The duo eyed boy laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “ I mean uh.. Yeah. no harm no foul. Heh…” He made an over dramatic grimace towards Sylvie, shrugging his shoulders guilty.

"Matsuda," Sylvie took a hand off the wheel to give Matsu a light slap. He tapped the "mute" button on the phone for a moment.

"You want him to freak out and make a run for it again?" Tapping the button again to unmute themselves, he spoke again without missing a beat, "It'll all be fine once we sort things out."

” Fufufu...Relax, dear. I already told you, don’t try anything funny and I promise we won’t do anything to you, I promise “

“But then again, you should probably never trust a gangster’s word” She giggled to herself, clearly enjoying the power dynamic a bit too much

Benjamin on the other end swallowed a hard lump. Even if he wanted to run, he could not.

It was at that moment that a white van, not totally suspicious in nature, turned onto the road behind Sylvie and Matsuda from a perpendicular street and followed at a reasonable distance.

Sylvie piped down when the van began driving behind them, gripping both hands on the wheel with a subconscious awareness of the potential danger. There was nothing he could do but keep driving, constantly glancing up at the mirror.

They drove for some time and, still, the vehicle was on their tail.

Then came another—a blue sports car that sped onto the road in front of Camila, tail-end whipping as it regained control, wheels screeching across the pavement. In no time, the sports car's brake lights shone bright red and it came to an abrupt halt.

Startled by the commotion, August’s eyes popped open and he quickly braced himself.

"Are you all good in your ca-" The beginning of a question from Sylvie made its way out, before being interrupted.

“MOTHERFUCK-” Camila slammed the breaks and turned her wheel to the left as quickly as she could. Unfortunately the front-right end of her car crashed against the bottom-left end of the one in front. Camila lost full control of the car as it spun from the impact, however she was able to keep it mostly under control as her car stopped just before hitting the sidewalk.

“You piece of shit, did you rat us out?!” Growled Camila, her voice fueled by a mixture of rage and slight panic.

In turn, Sylvie slammed on the brakes as well, and his vehicle skidded to the side, narrowly avoiding a collision with both cars in front, but ending up sprawled across the other lane of the road. Thankfully there was no traffic approaching, not that it mattered as Sylvie was quick to grab his bag and jump out of the car, over to Camila's.

He frantically banged on the passenger side window, his muffled voice making its way through

"What the heck? Are you ok?"

From the white van behind them, an attractive man of gray hair stuck his upper body out of the passenger-side window and snapped a picture with a camera, then another, and another, each one issuing a signature shutter.

Opposite of him, from the driver’s side, a large fellow wearing a black mask and bucket hat emerged—in his hands, an anti-HP rifle which he immediately took aim with at the rear windshield of Camila’s car and fired. The back doors of the van were divided and six more gun-wielding associates filed out, forming three-man wings on either side of said van.

Meanwhile, exiting from the sports car that initiated this whole shebang, a tall blonde woman wearing a red mask—her boots hit the asphalt and carried her straight for the convertible and fast. Her aim, Benjamin.

Prior to reaching the convertible, all of the sudden, its four doors swung open on their own—Chou’s slamming into Sylvie—before falling off, exposing those inside, August of whom curled his leg up and blinked behind his goggles, confused and also stunned by the bullet that had barely missed his head.

Benjamin, hyperventilating, coiled into a ball and began mumbling about life regrets.

Thinking to exit the car and maybe make a break for it or, who knows, actually muster some motivation to fight these guys, August’s foot neared the ground. However, a crack abruptly formed beneath it, and it grew, stretching… spreading… widening, drawing a full circle around Camila’s car. “Uhhhh….” August drew his leg back in. “Mates.”

“I didn’t snitch, I swear! They must’ve tracked me by phone!”

Just then, the earth felt to shake and rumble, and by now the fearless woman was on them and yanking Benjamin from the vehicle with enough force to send him flying out of the bounds of the fracture-drawn ring that then shifted, and everything tilted.

Finally, all at once, the road crumbled, and it sank, pulling Camila’s convertible and everyone else but Matsuda with it. Slabs of sidewalk, a lamppost, and chunky debris of asphalt descended on them, crashing down as water pooled up to their chests.

“What- THE FUCK?!” Matsuda watched in abject horror as he watched all his friends sink down. Sink down to where? Hell if he knew. He quickly fell out of the car, taking a quick cautionary glance at the van surrounded by men. He mumbled under his breath, “What the hell….” He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t exactly cross the street to check on them- lest he find a bullet in his chest.

Matsuda gulped, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. What to do, what to do… Trying his best to be aware of his surroundings, he made a slow move to go across the street to the new crater on the road.

With a loud bang echoing off into the rainy sky, a bullet whizzed past Matsuda’s face, then another struck and left a crater in the pavement right in front of where his hand would next have been. A warning not to move any further.

One of the men broke off from the rest and moved to retrieve Benjamin.

Down in the sinkhole, August climbed out and atop of the convertible to find the blonde woman doing the same, a vicious look in her eyes as she straightened to her full height and took a defensive stance. However, August only raised his hands and bared his palms, “No, no. Not interested. . .” And the woman tilted her head.

“Very well,” she said, and turned to scale the wall of the pit, disappearing at once.

Sylvie was left waiting for a reply, but it was clear that things were not ok, and he was glued to the spot in fear of their impending demise. Regaining his bearings from the collapse of the ground beneath him, he took Chou's hand , the other was raised up, propping his bag on his shoulder to keep his precious dolls from being submerged. He watched Benjamin disappear from view without uttering a single word, after all, he wasn't being paid to play the hero today.

With Benjamin secured, each of the goons were back in the van and speeding off, but the woman took her time returning to her sports car. She spared one last look at Matsuda, then left the scene without another word.

Matsuda felt frozen to the spot.. He was.. ALIVE. Matsu was in the clear. His chest heaved a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, then immediately ran over to the pit. “HEY! You guys all right?!” He kneeled down and stuck his palms out, intending to help them up. “Jesus fucking christ.. They took Benjamin.” It’s not like he cared all that much for him- but he was a valuable piece of information for them...

Camila’s outlook was far more pessimistic, however. Their hostage was taken, their target most likely relocated, and worst of all, her cart kept sinking further and further into the muddy water. She took Matsuda’s hand and climbed back to the road.

“Tch…Guess there’s not much else we can try now…Best thing we can do is inform Cross about what we learned and hope we can get SOME reward out of it…” She took out her phone and took a photo of her sinking car, evidence for the insurance.

“Benjamin…we have that motherfucker’s name, I swear next time I’ll rip off one of his eyes…If I’m in a good mood”

She pondered back on what had just transpired. There was no doubt those were members of Element Liberation, and she swore to herself that she would find them again, and finally catch that slippery rat.

Clambering out with Matsuda's assistance, not after letting the others go first, Sylvie threw his bag on the ground, tunnelling through the contents until he retrieved the newest one.
"Well there is something we can try, but we mustn't waste it." He held a doll up to the others, wiggling it back and forth to emphasize his control over it. His gaze fell upon where the enemies were last seen, "We can find out if he is more talkative around them."

But that would come later. (Collab with:

WhiskeyMarten

Roda the Red

Caffeine_Obsessed )

AUGUST NOTES: — —What he's wearing (X) + Mask and Goggles

— —Personal Note: August is still wearing the earplugs that Chou gave him.

— —Personal Note: August's bag is in Camila's car.

— —SCENE RECAP: Well, that escalated fast...

AriAriAbabwa · Aug 24, 2022

HAPPILY EVER AFTER FINALE 1

SCENE:

Tiger Arc 2: Scene 3 [Happily Ever After]

LOCATION:

Central District, Mall, Southeast Exit

PARTICIPANTS:

Elias, Charlie, Hitoshi, Alice

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

COLLAB WITH QuirkyAngel joshuadim Roda the Red

Elias blinked as Alice wretched herself free from his grasp to run towards Janay and the White Rabbits. He had his suspicions the moment Janay laid out his plans to ‘convince Knave onward’; Remaining invisible made much more sense despite the large group… which honestly wasn’t that large: him, Alice, Janay, and Ronald. It was also utterly idealistic to think the White Rabbits would listen to what Mr. Hat told them when said man couldn’t even keep his ‘friends’ from causing a rampage inside the mall. There were much better ways of sneaking them all out.

Still, Elias wanted to see what would happen… without taking too much risk, of course. He intended to sneak off with Alice should the plan fail. Or, at the very least, not let her near the Central-based gangsters that wanted her.

He sighed.

“What now?” Ronald questioned.

“Now that we’ve seen Mr. Hat’s true colors…and Alice has as well…let’s start our own plan.” Elias slipped on the rabbit mask he picked up from one of the fallen mall attackers they had passed.

***

“Hup, hup!” In a burst of strength, Knave pulled himself up the ledge and back into the mall grounds. And what a mess everything devolved into. If he had to guess, the pretty girl got too close to the Hare’s back… Oh, well. At least she wouldn’t be running off again.

“Get your head back in the game, Hat-guy! When we get back, I gotta buy everyone drinks!” he merrily spoke, slapping Janay’s back. Knave reached for his phone, skipping to the next song as he plugged his earbuds back in. “Hell yeah! I love this song!” Bobbing his head again, he knelt down to grab Alice. “'Cause you're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no…”

From the window of a nearby cosmetic store, a bullet sped through the air, cutting between Knave’s hand and Alice. The person who fired the bullet ducked before they could be seen.

Meanwhile, one of the ‘White Rabbits’ moved to assist the frozen Mr. Hat. Slinging an arm over Janay’s shoulder, the man wearing a white rabbit mask whispered coldly into Janay’s ear—a voice Janay ought to recognize to be Elias’. “Is this what you wanted?”

His other hand reached for Janay’s ungloved one.

Is this what you wanted? The voice shook Janay free of his frozen trance. Elias’s words wormed their way into his head, encroaching on every doubt and regret surfacing. What he wanted… he had his answer. “To show Alice the real world...” In a cruel, twisted sense, he’d accomplished just that. “I can fix this…” he uttered through gritted teeth. Janay could not realize Elias reaching for his hand.

“Jesus! Fucking! Shit!” Knave recoiled from Alice as the bullet whizzed by. Anger took over his expression, glancing everywhere for the shooter—and not finding them. “Nobody shoots at me and gets away with it…” That was the vow he made to himself ever since someone got a lucky shot on his eye; and he’ll be damned if someone got away with it now. Knave planted his feet firm on the ground. “BOO—!”

A slap echoed across his face. “Fucking Christ! Are you trying to get us all killed? Remember what happened when we held up that movie theater?!” Dormouse, the girl from the parking garage, had crawled out of the rabbit hole just to stop him in his tracks, and she looked just as pissed as he.

Though the two began yet another shouting match, at the very least Alice was left untouched.

Fabricating memories was easy for someone with Elias' potential, but it was easier to do it with existing memories. Taking a hold of Janay’s ungloved hand, Elias brought Janay’s current memories of Alice being sliced in the face by one of the White Rabbits, of their cruel actions—which Mr. Hat already knew—to the forefront of Janay’s mind, maximizing them to the extreme. In contrast, he also showed Janay the positive memories that Alice shared with the White Tigers—tea with Lucy, tea with Elias, her friendship with Charmy, etc—highlighting them. “Well, then. I hope you do.”

Letting go of Mr. Hat’s hand, Elias—wearing the Rabbit mask—quietly stepped over to the fallen Alice and carefully–so as to not further shock her—lifted her bridal style in his arms while Knave and Dormouse argued. He whispered to Alice so that she would recognize his voice. “Let’s get out of here, Miss Alice.”

She bobbed her head up in recognition, nodding silently.

***

The phoenixes had come to a stop once the White Rabbit with the eyepatch met up with another individual wearing a top hat, seemingly on friendly terms. Then, two more individuals showed up from the other end, followed by more of those rabbit-masked criminals. He listened to them speak as best as he could from the several meters away they found themselves at, he could at the very least confirm his suspicions: One of the great gangs of New Oasis were involved into this, things were only getting worse by the second.

Most surprising of all for Charlie, though, was seeing Alice come out of a store and running right up to the man with the hat. The sight of the girl gave him mixed feelings. On one hand there was the relief in knowing that she was still unharmed. But on the other hand, she was surrounded by the people that appeared to be looking to capture her. They had to act quickly.

"Aniki...That's the person they're looking for, and she's a friend of mine."

Hitoshi had been following Charlie’s lead for the time, as he himself was trying to get a sense of what exactly was going on. And when it was revealed who this person was to Charlie, the older Phoenix spared a glance towards the girl in question before turning his attention back: “Alright, can you see anything nearby we can use?”

Charlie looked around for a reflective opening, not giving too much attention to what they were saying, with only a few words such as Janay, Acacia or Tigers vaguely reaching his ears. That man with the eyepatch had shattered almost all the windows in the vicinity.

His quick search was cut off suddenly, however, by having his attention caught by the black-haired lady's shout, which led to him noticing an Alice curling on the floor, blood coating the tiled floor.

"Aniki! please we have to do something!" Charlie begged his partner, the boy being in clear panic and seconds away from attempting to squeeze through whatever shard was closest.

“Yareyare, don’t worry…” Hitoshi then remarked in confidence to Charlie as he himself looked about and noticed what they needed, giving off a smirk. “Charlie-kun, I got what we need.” He pointed towards one of the nearby shop windows, which had been destroyed in the vicinity. Though at first it wasn’t obvious until Hitoshi directed Charlie’s view to the bottom left corner: a sizeable chunk of the window had stayed intact and was large enough for Charlie to crawl through. Better yet, it was behind the enemy.

“So, I’ll help you crawl through that… then you wait for my signal. You’ll know when you see it, got it?” Hitoshi then spoke, patting Charlie on the back.

“Y-Yeah, got it!" Even though he was still panicking, the reassuring words of Hitoshi gave him some composure.

“Alright, let’s boogie then.” Hitoshi then replied, leading Charlie towards his exit point. Just a few feet out, the two felt a sinking feeling in their stomachs collectively as well as a sudden vertigo wash over them briefly before leaving their minds entirely. “Hoo… just on the edge of my limits here.” the veteran then commented, before touching the glass and putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, “In you go!”

With a hard push, and some nimble finagling by Charlie, the rookie found himself back in the material world with a soft thud. Not too loud as to draw any attention.

Charlie quickly ran behind one pillar placed throughout the length of the Mall’s hallways. He wanted to lunge at the enemies, to take his injured friend from the arms of that one masked man who currently held her… but he knew better. He trusted his senior, and awaited his signal.

***

A few tense moments passed, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the real world. Things were going according to plan for the White Rabbits, until one of them noticed an enormous chunk of glass to his feet scratching away at the ground bit by bit. He tilted his head in confusion from this strange phenomena and picked it up quickly to see if there was something up with it. From the onset, he only saw his reflection and was confused why the glass was even moving. It was just that, a piece of glass.

But then he angled the glass a bit and then saw a man on the wrong side of 30 and somehow on the other side of the glass giving off a grin and waving at him. “Well, hello there!” a voice gave off a rippled echo. He could only let out a shocked gasp as a fist then came out of the shard and collided with his face at full force, breaking his nose and shattering a few teeth in the process. The commotion immediately drew the attention of those around, who were then treated to the sight of a man contorting his way out of a shard of glass too small for his body to fit through comfortably. Hitoshi landed on his feet in a crouched position nearby, much to the combined shock and surprise of the goons nearby, as he stood up and cracked his back.

“Hoo! Let me tell you that… wasn’t pleasant for me in the slightest.” Hitoshi then said aloud, rubbing his back. “So… who wants some of this?”

He then pulled out a small pocket mirror, ostensibly harmless by looks alone, that is until Hitoshi opened it just a crack before quickly shoving his entire arm inside as if looking for something. One of the White Rabbits took the initiative to take a swing at him with a wild haymaker. “Oh c’mon now, wait your damn turn! I’m still getting ready!” Hitoshi yelled aloud in a jesting manner as he sidestepped the attack, before his eyes widened with glee. “Aha! Here we go…”

With a quick jerk, he pulled out a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and twirled it about with his hand before letting it rest on his shoulder. He pocketed his mirror back in his pocket and got crouched, ready. “Alright, batter up bozos!” He charged quickly towards the closest with a swing from below and connected with their jaw, sending them flying up with an audible crack before turning his attention to the others. Now that he had their attention, it would pave the way for Charlie to do his thing.

Behind the White Rabbit Mask, Elias watched one of the Phoenixes appear out of a broken shard of glass and start swinging a barbed baseball bat at the White Rabbits. His grip tightened around Alice and took a step back, glancing towards Dormouse and Knave. “I’ll take the girl out to the car while you two fight… that…”

The pair stopped arguing, not only because of the Phoenix pair emerging ahead, but as they realized that Janay was missing and that one of their own had scooped Alice up to retrieve her.

“That one obviously is not one of ours! Knave, stop him!” Ophelia yelled from further back, pointing at Elias.

Cursing, Elias dropped the White Rabbit mask and made a bolt towards the mall’s Southeast exit with Alice in tow. While “integrating” himself into the group of White Rabbits, he’d injected memories of himself among them, so some (of the remaining NPs) remembered him in the group while others did not. The ones that did just looked towards Ophelia confusedly. The ones that didn’t, and tried to stop Elias, received an HP fist to the nose.

Elias shook the blood from his hand. He hated using physical violence.

“Aye, ma’am!” Knave saluted briefly, then glaring between the runner and the returning Phoenixes. He stretched an arm as if winding up a punch. Then he took a stance. He’d take out both the runner and the Phoenixes in one wave—totally forgetting the important part of taking Alice in unharmed.

While he prepped another clap, Dormouse sighed and opened a hole beneath her, dropping out of sight. Three of the NPs hopped in with her.

Charlie took notice of Hitoshi’s clear sign. He decided it was his chance to close up on Knave. The guy looked like he was very dependent on his destructive ability, so he came to the assumption that reaching him in close quarters was the best approach.

Truly, the ranged ones were always the worst.

He heard the girl with a bob cut. Apparently the one holding Alice wasn’t one of them? Was he a friend or foe? The boy prepared himself to intercept him, but realized Knave’s intent beforehand.

He sprinted out of his hiding spot, reaching for the closest White Rabbit grunt in his reach, grabbing her by the side of her thick jacket. She jumped a little in surprise and quickly hit him on the head with the butt of her assault rifle. The hit connected with his head as if it had struck a hunk of steel, unflinched and unaffected, Charlie raised the grunt over his shoulder with his right arm and flung her towards Knave with moderate force, probably just enough as to not kill her.

“Boom—Ow!” He toppled over onto his back at the tossed person threw off the balance, landing with a loud crash. As he landed, a shockwave billowed backwards—into the direction of Ophelia, Zac, and the others. “Fucking, piece of fucking shit!” Knave grabbed the head of the unconscious White Rabbit, tossing her aside, grumbling.

Again, Ophelia’s voice reached across. “Watch where you’re striking, Knave!”

As for Elias, he could not get too far; for the floor gave way. At first a small circle in the ground, it crumbled and spread across the entire hallway, revealing the parking garage below and a van with Dormouse and the three NPs standing on the roof of the vehicle. She offered the man a small wave. “Yo.” As she lit a cigarette, she motioned for them to jump over and confront Elias.

But while Elias was stopped, someone delivered a winded punch to the back of his head. Alice did not fall out of his hands—she floated out, as an invisible presence brought her to her trembling feet. “I will fix this,” he began, gently letting Alice sit and whispering to her to hold a cloth over her bleeding face. “Not with you, and not with them.” One of the confused White Rabbits felt his shotgun take on a mind of its own; it wrestled out of his grip, ramming his head with its own butt and cracking the mask itself—he toppled over into the gaping hole. Janay emerged from his invisibility with a glare sharper than he’s ever held.

Alice felt clarity return to mind—along with the pain. She glanced over, watching her beloved caretaker so ferocious in combat with these dangerous criminals. The same ones he apparently teamed up with… Nothing made sense. Her grip tightened against the cloth, and she buried her head into her knees. None of this made sense.

This was her vacation beyond the West District into Central; it was supposed to be a special period for her. “What… what happened…” Her thoughts escaped her mouth. Dormouse yelled something; Janay shouted back, punching one of the other NPs away. Things were supposed to be perfect. It was her moment of joy; to finally experience what the world beyond her cage was like… Everything felt like it was crashing down in her mind, and she screamed a maddened scream. This was supposed to be her Wonderland…

The sound of fighting stopped, followed by the mutterings of bewilderment. Something warmed her up; Alice peeked over her shoulder and realized it was… sunlight…? Her hand dropped; grass…?

The White Rabbits, Janay; all froze as the world around them changed.

.

P9icY0Mpf-MDa36UCy0osCy5kMNuqIoxuiJwXb1db8BJHNITg3WPDpr2gmcuUNvQLnLaIqYonzzFEuGpyCsjQMhLwMpPA52r9zYpeY0r7Dt6cqWS1ug4jhgK_LklUdTKJh_wQFGQe-IleOQ98N3vqIk

The first to scream was the remaining three White Rabbit NPs. Behind their masks, they glanced between everyone in fear, as in their perspectives, the others grew and malformed. Blobs of abomination vaguely resembling the nature of insects and man-like flowers; the world around them waved and bubbled like lands of grass-blanketed boiling tar. But they evidently saw much, much more.

The NPs collapsed to the ground in hysteria, curling up much like Alice had earlier.

When Janay looked at Alice, he blanched. For she sat once again in the pool of blood from the first attack. In the reflection of her eyes—in the blood—he only saw himself with the knife. He did not see the hurt in Alice’s face as he fell to his back, blankly crawling away from her. He did not have the power to fix anything.

“WHICH ONE OF YOU BASTARDS IS DOING THIS?!” the yell came from Knave, still on his back, having not moved an inch since the world warped before their very eyes.

Dormouse, on the other hand, hopped from what now became an inky black abyss, clambering onto the ledge and before Elias. Though noticeably unnerved, she had a mission to do. From her belt, she brought out a butterfly knife, expertly flipping it out in hand. She lunged at Elias, attempting to swipe across his neck.

Ducking the swiping blade, Elias lunged forward and rammed his left shoulder into Dormouse without missing a beat. Whether it was the blow to the head, Alice’s developing potential, or Janay crawling away from the person he was supposed to care for, Elias decided he would process it all later. Right now, his priority was his life, Alice’s life… and the job he was assigned, of course. He drew a handgun from the inner pocket of his suit jacket, took a step back, and aimed it at Dormouse. Regular bullets didn’t do nearly as much damage to HPs as they did NPs, but they could still pack a bit of a punch, especially at close range… probably. Dormouse hadn’t displayed any physical enhancements in Janay’s memories, but Elias couldn’t be certain.

“Why don’t we stop this for today?” Elias suggested casually. He knocked his head in Janay’s direction, though his eyes were locked on Dormouse. “The person who hired you to take Alice no longer seems interested in her.”

Her gaze flickered to Janay as he spoke. Though she kept her poker face worn, the dripping beads of cold sweat said otherwise about her nerves. He had a point; this might’ve been the worst heist they’ve pulled off, yet. Dormouse glanced around the dead bodies, looking ahead to where the other HPs battled. In her head, she debated the worth of it all; what could happen if they kept up the fight for people who appeared less than able as of now. With a sigh, she slid her blade into her pocket, then turned foot and leaped into the gaping hole she’d created.

“If only her friends could be so reasonable,” Elias slipped his gun back into the inner pocket of suit jacket. Sparing a brief glance at Janay, the rookie tiger sighed before he moved to assist Alice. There were no more enemies blocking their path and only a large hole—which they could easily go around—guarded their exit. Still… he glanced back at the other Tigers and two Phoenixes that were still fighting. “Do you want to leave now?”

Between the warped world, Janay’s distress, the wound numbed by the adrenaline on her face, Charlie’s fighting behind (who Alice only just realized was there), and Elias’ calm, Alice took a while to even notably react. But an answer did eventually come through her distorted breaths: a light shake of her head, pointing a trembling finger at Charlie.

Charlie looked around in disbelief as his surroundings had suddenly morphed into a surreal shape, far different to the room they had found themselves in just a moment ago. This had to be the work of an ability, most likely from one of the rabbits, but then again, they also seemed distressed about it?... He noticed Alice wasn’t being carried around anymore, he wanted to run up to her and make sure she was okay, but that would be a luxury he didn’t have. His priority was to cut the heads of this snake. With heavy steps, he sprinted towards the most dangerous person around: the so-called Knave, aiming to strike him down with a single, powerful blow if he managed to reach.

The man in question had his ferocity melt into a chuckle as he spotted Charlie. “Everywhere I go, the little ladies want a piece of me!” He clambered to his feet just as the Phoenix reached him—he swung a haymaker, not expecting much from the smaller boy.

Charlie's tunnel vision was severe enough that he cared little for avoidance, so Knave's fist connected successfully with Charlie's face, causing him to visibly wince and flinch. It was hardly a real stopper, though, as Charlie countered back with a straight punch. Knave was able to see it coming just at the right time, slightly moving his head to the side to dodge it. A second punch followed behind right away, however, connecting right with Knave's stomach. The man gasped for air as a wave of pain rushed through his body, yet managed to endure just enough to retaliate with a front kick, not quite as effective as Charlie managed to block it with his forearm just fine. Knave used this small opening to backstep and make some distance between the two. The Rabbit had understood at this point that if this were to remain a fist fight, he would surely lose, instead it was time to blow the little girl to smithereens. Charlie lunged once again, but Knave was able to clap his hands together just before any hit could connect, a sadistic grin forming on his face as a powerful shockwave hit Charlie at point blank, causing considerable damage and propulsing him against a nearby "Tree", landing on his back as he screamed in pain, and finally, unceremoniously falling on the ground shortly after.

Knave's cocky smile banished as the Phoenix slowly got back up, visibly weakened and with blood trailing down the side of his head, his clothes also hiding many bruises, and even his right shoulder was definitely sprained.

"You're supposed to be fucking dead!"

No response, Charlie simply charged forward once again.

Knave put his hands close together "I'll make sure you don—" His words were cut short as he felt a powerful sting on his left hand, causing him to yelp. Charlie had thrown a small tempered pebble (which in reality was a piece of debris) that he grabbed back when he fell on the ground. This bought him just enough time to get close to Knave once again, this time grabbing a hold of both of his wrists.

"HEY, GET OFF M-" The Rabbit was unable to finish his sentence once again as he swung against an even larger nearby tree, coming into contact with it with a powerful slam. He groaned in pain, and as he was about to attempt to recover, he was swung once again, the Phoenix slamming him against the tree for a second time as if he was a ragdoll. Charlie did this repeatedly, each time making a loud crashing sound echo throughout the vicinity. Through a stroke of good luck, Knave was able to control his body well enough as to touch his feet together, causing a new, albeit weaker shockwave, which threw Charlie several feet away, as well as releasing his grip on Knave's wrists.

Hitoshi had been busy focusing on the others, keeping their attention away from Charlie and more towards himself as he swung his bat wildly around and kept them surrounding him but at a distance. And when their surroundings transformed, Hitoshi merely shrugged it off: “Damn, the speed really is kicking in now.” he muttered to himself as he lunged towards another White Rabbit who was now distracted by the sudden change in environment and cracked his bat over his head with a solid thunk.

He twirled his bat around his shoulder and arms as if it were a nunchuck with ease, both to prepare for his next move but also to intimidate the others as he let out whoops and howls as he did so. “C'mon! Anyone else want some!?” he then taunted aloud, with a wide grin adorning his face. However, his fun was cut short as he then took notice of the other fight taking place between Charlie and Knave. His eyes widened from shock as he saw his friend being thrown with such force away by another one of those damnable shock waves. And worse still, Charlie was looking worse for wear.

A fiery rage brewed inside Hitoshi as he felt his own heat rise to where it was as thought he was burning inside his clothing. He gritted his teeth and charged towards where Knave was, giving off a swing to knock away a goon in between them. It seemed as though it was going to be a head on attack, for which Knave was entirely prepared for such foolishness as he was about to let off yet another shock wave at point blank range against Hitoshi. But suddenly, the man jumped, contorted, and then disappeared entirely from view into a shard of glass that had remained on the floor nearby.

In those short moments he then leaped outside of another shard, contorting with sickening cracks, to just next to Knave’s peripheral vision swung wildly straight at his head with a swing that Hitoshi put all his might into and backed with a strong yell as a battle cry.

The swing connected with a solid thud.

Knave’s hands never reached each other as the large man toppled backward, eyes literally spinning from the impact. One hand went to the ground, cushioning his fall and preventing another accidental shock wave. A soft groan escaped his lips; his expression tensed and dulled repeatedly between breaths. “F-Fucking… frizzy-haired piece of…” Knave fell on his back, wincing as the disorientation in his head worsened.

Bang!

Elias shot another yet another White Rabbit that was about to get up and assist their commander in the knee, his face apathetic as he watched the man clutch his leg in pain. Lining a good shot at Knave was nearly impossible with the fighters being so close to each other. Not to mention the shock waves that had been shattering glass left and right with every impact. It was a wonder Alice’s illusion still maintained despite all the chaos; A credence to her newly developed potential, he supposed. Or, perhaps, she never really needed the tea to start with. Glancing briefly at Alice, to make sure she was handling all the violence alright, he leveled his gun at Knave, who was now open thanks to the shard traveling Phoenix.

“This is the life your friends, the Albino Tigers, live in.”

The words took a moment to process. Alice stuck near Elias, the only person closer to her she could take comfort in being around. Though her panic did not stop, she at least felt a little at ease. With what her mind could gather, she posed a couple of questions. “How long have they lived like this… Why am I remembering things that never happened… I don’t think…?”

“That’s my fault, I’m afraid. Mr. Hat’s, and all those sheltering you, as well, I suppose, but mostly mine. I’ll give them all back to you once this is over.” His eyes were still locked on Mr. Boomclap, holding the gun steady lest the mall attacking HP managed to get himself up. “As for the Albino Tiger gang, that’s the way it’s always been beneath the surface. You’ve just never seen it.”

Alice grimaced. She didn’t know what to think anymore; her world was falling apart with every word she heard. Mustering what strength she could, she pushed Elias away (though it was more like pushing herself away from him). She made it a short distance towards the Phoenixes before falling to a seated position flat on the sides of her legs.

Elias sighed, but in a way, he understood, so he didn’t try to stop her. He hadn’t even been in the gang for that long, though he’d peered through enough of Alice’s memories that he felt like he could understand the girl… sort of. At the very least, he knew her story. Acacia’s words came to mind. “You’re 18, Miss Alice. Take your time to process all you’ve seen and make your own decisions about what you want in life.”

Hitoshi in the meantime, threw his bat over his back and approached Knave with a snarl on his face. Wordlessly, he kicked Knave to knock him back down flat on his own back before quickly getting on top of him to pin him down. All sound drowned out from the world and a harsh ringing filled his ears as he tunnel visioned onto Knave, before delivering a strong punch across his face. Then followed another, and another, and everyone outside seemed to drown out entirely as blood splattered across the ground as well as onto Hitoshi’s face from each blow. He didn’t hold back on any punch as a primal rage filled him, fueled by his high, for what had happened. Another blow sent a sickening crack through the air, knocking out two teeth from Knave’s mouth and even began to break Hitoshi’s knuckles from the sheer force. But he didn’t care, not even for what this looked like to Charlie.

As Hitoshi raised his fist for one more blow, this one was stopped by a sudden hand grabbing a hold of his wrist. Turning back, he noticed Charlie standing behind him.

“Aniki… That’s fine, he’s not a threat anymore…” The Rookie Phoenix stared at the barely conscious rabbit, his face was covered in blood and his body was completely battered, probably having multiple broken bones as well. Going further with this wasn’t self defense or protecting civilians anymore, but just pure, unbridled bloodlust. Charlie gave Hitoshi his warmest triumphant smile while holding a thumbs up.

Hitoshi looked bewildered the moment Charlie intervened and stared blankly at him for several tense moments. His breathing was erratic and heavy, and his teeth were gritted, but soon his face loosened and his expression softened as he returned to his senses. He returned his attention back to Knave, his other hand having grabbed onto his shoulder, and saw what he had done in those few moments. The man was defeated, and yet he had been ready to finish him without a second thought. His grip loosened until he let go entirely, allowing Knave’s limp body to drop back to the ground completely. He gently tugged his hand away from Charlie before looking at his own as he slowly stood up, seemingly in disbelief at the level of violence he had exuded.

The ground beneath Knave then opened up, dropping the unconscious man into the parking lot where Dormouse in her car waited to nab him. He fell into the backseat of her SUV—roof torn off—then she sped forward.

“...I’m… I’m sorry.” Hitoshi said quietly, his hands trembling as pain swelled from them. The speed he had been on was now beginning to wear off slowly, and so the inhibitors that had been in place on his senses were now starting to return. He shook his head as he wiped his face, trying to remove the blood splatters that had adorned it only to smear it worse. “Damnit… fuck…” he then muttered, throwing his hands in disbelief before grabbing his bat and using it as a walking support. The contortions he had done really did a number on his back. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

“Well, I guess we need to find a way to get out of here.” He looked at his surroundings. They still found themselves in this strange dreamland. Charlie had come to the conclusion that this had to be some sort of illusion, so perhaps they could get away by simply walking far enough… He looked past Hitoshi. A few others were fighting nearby, but it appears that fight had also come to a conclusion. The White Rabbits had officially been defeated… Then again, there was still some unattended business.

“Sure! But first give me a few minutes, I promise I won’t take long.” Charlie then turned around and walked towards Elias’ and Alice’s direction, swiping away the dust off his jacket to the best of his ability. He stopped a few feet away, staring at Elias with a serious look…He proceeded to place his hands inside of the jacket, placing his knuckle dusters back into their hidden pockets, then he gave a few more steps forward, kneeling down towards Alice.

“Hi again, Alice, it’s good to see you.” He smiled at her, toughing up seeing her wounded face now up close.

The wondrous world dissipated slowly. Grass turned to tile, trees into columns, open skies into ceiling, dense hedges into stores. Alice lifted her gaze to meet Charlie’s as overwhelming silence enveloped the once chaotic scene. Janay, Elias, the Albino Tigers; her trust was shaken, and she could not even comprehend if any of them were truly her friends… But here Charlie was, her first friend outside of the West, smiling dearly...

Alice sniffled; a sniffle that broke into a downpour of tears through her uninjured eye, followed by tattered breaths and loud sobs. She tried to speak, at the very least getting his name out of her mouth through choked cries, but she couldn’t control anything.

Gently, he pulled her in for a hug, patting her back with his left, uninjured arm. Charlie may have been quite confused about the ordeal as a whole, but one thing was clear to him, that the poor girl had suddenly gone through a hell she never experienced before.

“It’s alright, let it all out, we’re safe now.”

Arms folded, Elias watched the interaction between Alice and her friend, not wanting to interrupt, but at the same time knowing that the time to leave was approaching; Jack was finishing up with his opponent. The White Rabbits might’ve left for now, but he wasn’t sure this would be the last time their respective gangs cross paths either. He approached the couple, quietly offering Alice a Yumin Entertainment handkerchief before smiling at Charlie. “You’re Alice’s friend, right? That was very impressive.”

Still holding onto Alice, Charlie looked at Elias, his expression was neither that of hatred nor sympathy, but rather of cautious neutrality.

“Let me guess…Albino Tigers?” Looking at the complete picture, it wasn’t hard for him to reach that conclusion.

Elias blinked, but then went back to smiling benignly. “Got it in one. And you must be a Scarlet Phoenix.”

Charlie was taken aback by his words, as to how he could’ve come to that conclusion, he had absolutely no idea… Perhaps he was spotted with Reika previously?

“Hm, yeah, I hope you don’t mind if we refrain from lunging at each other's throats for a bit? I just want her to be safe.”

“I never did understand why our respective gangs still do that…” Elias mused. “But, yes, that is a good idea. Alice is one of us, so I want her safe as well…” His eyes flickered to Janay, who had been an Albino Tiger, before betraying the gang, then shrugged. The King would probably want him captured and brought back, though Elias didn’t quite have the energy to give a chase if Mr. Hat vanished again. Maybe tomorrow. He waved at Jack, who was arriving upon flying spurs, before turning to the sobbing Alice. “Are you ready to go home?”

Alice held onto Charlie tightly, though she twitched briefly at him being called a Scarlet Phoenix. Was that not one of the three gangs that were ruthless killers? It was not something her mind dwelled on for long; she did not want to think ill of the person comforting her. Even so, she could not think of a word to say to Charlie. She glanced aside where Janay leaned against a wall, not too injured yet looking worse for wear. Normally, Alice would have run over to her lifelong caretaker, but she could not bring herself to.

She barely turned her head to acknowledge her Tiger friends—if they even were that. But no matter what she thought now… the familiar sights of her soft bed and the scents of the casino became memories she longed for. She wanted to go home. To Elias’ question, she nodded meekly. Not without one more request. “I want to see my mother… no matter how busy she is…”

Elias heaved a sigh. Many Tigers that were around at the time knew, or at least heard, of what happened to Darcy Morel. Not many were willing to break the news to Alice—destabilize a working source of income utilized by a certain sector of the gang. Elias himself had only learned through the memories of others and, since he’d only wanted to observe how the gang operated, didn’t intend to interfere with the status quo. “...Sure. But I can’t promise you’ll like what you see.”

Maybe some things were meant to be destabilized. He could always erase her memories if she ended up breaking down from the truth. Hopefully, the doll he commissioned from Dolly would come in before then.

So, Charlie’s final, yet hardest to swallow suspicion turned out to be true: Alice was a member of the Tigers as well. The confirmation filled his mind with doubt and worries, she was, by technicality… the enemy. But he refused to accept it, that the sweet and selfless girl that he met the other day was cut from the same cloth as those violent and greedy criminals he’s had to battle multiple times to this point, he was willing to overlook judging her over things like labels or affiliations.

“Um, I have to say, there are so many things I don’t understand right now, and part of me wants to ask as many things as possible…But.” Charlie extended his right arm upwards, trying his best to ignore the piercing pain from his sprained shoulder. “You seem to legitimately care for Alice’s sake, so if you promise me she’ll be safe, I won’t ask anything.”

“You sound like a father giving away their daughter to marriage,” Elias smirked, but took the injured phoenix’s hand despite his teasing. “This is a dangerous line of work and I can’t promise she’ll be safe, but I can promise that I, at least, have no intention of hurting her.”

Far from the answer Charlie had hoped for, but it’s not like he had much of a choice… And in the end, this was Alice’s choice, not his. “I’m Charlie, that’s all I'd like to give away if you don’t mind… Also, do you happen to have a pen, please?”

“Elijah Anamnesis.” Elias introduced before pulling out a fountain pen he always kept in his front pocket to sign deals with.

“Thanks.” He grabbed the pen, and spared no time in ripping off a piece of his white shirt, proceeding to awkwardly write a series of numbers on it before returning the pen. “Sorry that I can’t hand it over in a better way right now, but please, Alice, contact me when you can… I’ll be there if you need me, okay?”

Alice slowly took the piece of cloth, finally standing on her own. She gave up on organizing her thoughts at this point as the waterworks had stopped. But she could recognize Charlie’s sincere intentions, and right now, that was all she needed.

For the first time since disaster struck Alice mustered her usual—though fragile—bright smile for him. “Thank you, Charlie…”

AriAriAbabwa · Aug 24, 2022

HAPPILY EVER AFTER 2

SCENE:

Tiger Arc 2: Scene 3 [Happily Ever After]

LOCATION:

Central District, Mall, Southeast Exit

PARTICIPANTS:

Jack, Charmy

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

COLLAB WITH Chaos Gallant BluEndings

No witnesses. A simple measure Ophelia established in the White Rabbits from the very beginning. Of course, an attack on a public mall in broad daylight was a special case for a special friend. And, concerning Albino Tigers being part of this tirade, the measure was all the more crucial.

Silent, Ophelia motioned for the inattentive Zac and a number of their NPs to hurry over. They gathered at the sides of the store entrance. Some of the masked NPs came from the back and to the door itself.

Jack whistled, flying through the air towards the booming commotion. ‘Figures everyone’d get to start the fun without me, never leavin’ the house without my hat again…’ He grimaced before refocusing on the stores ahead of him. It quickly became apparent something was happening just up ahead. “Well, what do we have here…” He muttered under his breath, keeping his distance as the scene unraveled before him.

Hearing what he assumed was the leader of the group's voice, his eyes followed the group as they breached the store. “Well, I’m sure Miss Alice can wait a bit while I rough house with these folks…” He closed in, trying not to draw the attention of the others still hanging around by Alice.

Before they could breach into the store, Zac twitched his head; the Hare’s ears picked up something. A grin formed across cheeks as he spun around. “New toy! New toy!” He flipped a knife into the air, catching it by its handle just as he took off in the other direction.

Ophelia and the other White Rabbits turned head as well, giving chase to Zac—leaving whoever was in the store alone.

The March Hare bounced once, dashing at blurred speeds to the middle of the hallway and around Jack. He crouched down like a frog, giddily swaying back and forth while staring the cowboy down. “You have a very cool hat!” he called out, smiling like a child.

“Well thank ya’ kin—” Jack started.

But for Ophelia, that’s all it was; a silly little cowboy at the wrong place at the wrong time. She knew Zac had a penchant for finding people and it usually paid off, which is why she followed. She patted his head. “It is a nice hat. Hare, I bet it would look wonderful on your collection, hm?” He nodded eagerly. “So why don’t you take it? Everything belongs to us if we pry enough.”

“Now hold o—” Jack tried to get a word out again.

At that, Zac bounced again, bursting towards Jack with one of his knives pointed straight at him.

Confident in her long-time friend, Ophelia turned back around—to see disaster happening. More importantly, one of their own was making off with Alice in the completely wrong direction while everyone stared cluelessly. Her fists tightened, and she looked towards Knave, who was arguing with Dormouse again. “That one obviously is not one of ours! Knave, stop him!” she yelled, pointing at Elias.

“I guess we’re past pleasantries then ain’t we, ya’ little jack rabbit,” Jack turned around, catching sight of the man barreling towards him. Taking control of the dagger in Hare’s hand, Jack diverted his course, sending him up over him. Hare dangled in the air as his grip on the dagger held. Jack let out a laugh, “Oh I love it when y’all do this, say ya’ ever been on ona’ them spinnin’ rides at the fair?” The dagger began spinning until Hare became a blur from the speed.

“Wowie! I can’t say that I ha—!” Zac’s voice garbled out at the same time the speed kicked up. Despite how fast it went, they could hear a faint “Weeee!” sound coming from the Hare.

Jack smiled, turning to the other Rabbits in the store, “Until your friend’s done having fun up there how be we have a little throw down huh?” He directed the question to Ophelia, summoning a sword into his hand, then in front of each of the other Rabbits in the store, and three around Ophelia. He let them hover briefly before shooting them all towards their targets.

Ophelia tightened her scowl. As the swords flew forth, two of the NPs were caught by surprise and fell to the ground; the other two barely deflected it with their guns. Cheshire, however, did not flinch. While the dagger flew at her, her torso disappeared, starting from the point it would have it. The blade passed straight through, clattering on the ground and dissipating as the rest of her torso vanished and left only her limbs and heck. “A dance it is, then. Though I’d prefer my silverware on a plate.”

Without a torso, her limbs hovered and floated around her head in a bizarre manner—the arms aimed the hand cannons straight at Jack and prepared to fire…

Not before a shock wave from behind flew across the whole group. It sent the remaining two NPs into buildings, Zac from his spinning blade, Ophelia out of her acquired shape, as well as striking Jack. Her torso returned, reformed and lying on the ground. But she still had enough strength to yell back, “Watch where you’re striking, Knave!”

One look left, and she realized that she landed way closer to Jack. Zac landed a bit further away on the other side of the cowboy. Once they dealt with him, they’d need to assist with whatever was happening over yonder… Ophelia lurched forward to grab one of her hand cannons, scrambling to her feet and taking aim directly at Jack’s head. Of course, it wouldn’t outright kill him, but gunshots from her customized guns were very disorienting to take to the face.

“I’m so dizzy!” Meanwhile from behind, Zac rose with garish laughter, albeit clearly dazed. “Selfish! Selfish! Let the other kids play with the sharpies, too!” Instead of a knife, he literally spun over to the two wielding a crowbar in the free hand like a spinning jack.

“Ope!” Taking control of his spurs Jack pulled himself out of the way by his boots, lifting himself up into the air upside down. Before he had the chance to right himself Jack sent a sword towards Zac the length of it aimed at his waist, accelerating the crowbar he held in his hand in the direction of the blade. At the same time he conjured another directly at the end of the barrel of Ophelia’s gun, whilst sending two more in opposite directions towards her neck. Summoning a spear in his right hand he pulled himself back up right, putting the rest of his effort into materializing twelve claymores that he sent in motion. The blades revolved around him hypnotizingly.

Zac’s face flushed pink. He let go of the crowbar, and as the momentum carried him forward, he grabbed the conjured sword by its blade, barely pushing it down between his legs. Even as blood—his own for once—spurted from his palms, he laughed. As the dozen more claymores appeared, he bounced away from their orbit, stopping a safer distance away.

Ophelia shot as the sword materialized at her barrel, splitting the bullet and sending sparks around her. Clicking her tongue, she scowled as the blades crossed her neck. Cheshire’s head flew clean off… save for her eyes and mouth, eerily remaining in place; a face without a head. “You might’ve trimmed a little too much off the top,” she jested. Just like Zac, she backed off as the twelve claymores spun out. She picked up her bloodless head on the way, fastening it back on her neck like a screw.

In that moment, the world changed around them. Stemming from the battle ensuing across the hall, the mall that encased everything warped into a sunny world of lush vegetation, peppered with colorful and bizarre sights moving around them—like something out of a child’s imagination. For a moment, the two White Rabbits let their minds wander.

It took Jack a moment to recover from the bizarre change of events, he couldn't help but feel as if a good joke about heads was being missed. Though he quickly snapped back to reality, or wherever they currently were if you could call it reality.

This was the work of someone’s Potential—an illusion, likely… As for who’s, they’d find out soon enough. Right now, the cowboy was kicking more trouble than he seemed.

At least to Ophelia. Much to her annoyance, she spotted the Hare—having bounced away—now wandering further from the fight as if it never happened, reaching for giant, colorful white-dotted mushrooms with a knife from his belt. He shouted something about their “prettiness.”

She scoffed. And once again, holstering her guns, Cheshire’s torso faded into nothing. Her limbs and head began hovering around each other and spread towards Jack like a flock of birds. They weaved around his revolving blades, each closing in on the cowboy. Her arms went for his feet, attempting to drag him off balance. Her legs aimed for his neck, going for a leglock if they reached.

"I'd tell ya' to make sure yer' friend stay away from those, but it might be more interesin' if 'e didn't." Addressing the flying body parts trying to reach him. He swatted at her legs with the spear. "Now I love legs as much as the next fella', butcha' could at least buy me dinner first." Dissipating the spear, he released his control over the spurs letting himself drop to the floor, barely slipping through Chesire's attempt to grab him.

Jack hit the floor with a roll, quickly jumping back up to his feet. He patted the top of his hat making sure it was still there, then let out a relieved sigh and began to whistle. The swords previously surrounding him picked up speed, closing in on Chesire's disembodied limbs. "Well if slicin' 'n' dicin' don't work that great, we'll just have ta' try the ol' fashioned way won't we?" He looked towards Chesire's head, er face? Whatever it was, Jack was ready to dish it out a knuckle sandwich, conjuring spiked knuckle dusters onto his hands. He lifted himself back into the air with the help of the spurs and the weapons on his fists, flying back towards Ophelia.

The strike landed square against her nose, sending the lone head bouncing away like a volleyball, with the rest of her limbs following suit. Although the torso was gone, they weren’t fully detached. Speaking of which, Ophelia’s body reformed once again, although she held her face with a hand that notably dripped blood. A scowl beheld through her all-black eyes. But her gaze did not linger on the cowboy. At the last second, worry overtook the countenance.

“Third time’s the charm!” The shout came from behind—the March Hare descended from the permeating sunlight, using all his bounces in one successive dash. In spite of the mismatch between the Tiger’s Potential and Zac’s preferred weapons, he appeared directly in front of Jack, coming from the top with a knife thrusting downward in a stabbing motion aimed at the side of his neck.

Jack let the spinning swords dissolve along with the dusters on his hands. “Dad always said, ‘Best way to catch a jack rabbit is a trap.’” He summoned a field of railroad spikes in front and behind Zac, holding the ones in between them steady while he pulled Zac’s knife and the spikes behind Zac towards himself. Jack made sure he had no time to escape this time, accelerating them all as fast as possible until they were all buried within the Rabbit’s body. Zac’s knife grazed down the side of Jack's neck as his arm went limp, leaving a shallow cut. “Shame it had to be like this,” Jack let the spikes dematerialize, letting his body fall limply onto the floor. “I did try to leave his face in one piece, not sure I can do the same for ya’,” Jack said, turning his attention back to Ophelia, gesturing to her body with the wave of a hand.

There was a deafening silence. Ophelia, still as ice, did not twitch nor speak. And, like ice, she melted as a rage-fueled tear welled up in her eyes. “I’m going to string you up and feed you your own heart.”

And she rushed forth, spinning her hand cannons out with the conviction of a mad dog... but she did not make it to Jack. The floor opened up beneath her next step, and the lady fell to the parking lot below. She crashed into the interior of an SUV with its roof torn off with Dormouse at the wheel and a severely injured Knave in the back. Not letting any downtime for an explanation, the younger girl stepped on the gas as the tires’ screeches echoed out. Another hole opened at Zac’s fileted body, dropping him in with them. Again, they sped off.

Jack let out a whistle of surprise as he watched the pair fall into the holes, “‘Spose that wraps things up here.” He turned on his heel and lifted himself up by his spurs, floating over to where he assumed Alice was, judging by the crowd.

—

The fleeing Rabbits sped past the rows and rows of parked vehicles that remained from those who failed to flee their enacted chaos. It was a tight route, and remarkably dangerous at their speed, but it had been long since freed of moving impediments. So with the path forward clear, it was only a matter of ensuring their safety from behind, lest any foes dare to give chase.

The lights above blipped into view again, and again, and again until the SUV took a wild swerve into the narrow safety of their escape. It was then that Dormouse took to popping holes into the side of the tunnel so that enough debris would close them off from any possible pursuers. It didn’t matter what HP tried their luck, the rubble would buy them more than enough time.

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The tiniest of glints from the rearview mirror had extinguished any hope of reprieve.

In the back, by the unconscious Knave and the dead Hare, was a woman. Casually dressed in modest attire, but heavily contrasted by the cracked glimmering orbs that made up her eyes. A Tiger—no doubt an afterthought before, yet now so evidently absent from the fray just moments ago.

Dormouse slammed the brakes, steering the car to the side of the road. Ophelia aimed her hand cannon at the intruder, pulling the trigger—Click, click, click. What luck. She growled with pent-up ferocity, slamming the butt of her pistol into the car to no avail.

The other woman, though she had a butterfly knife at the ready, appeared more receptive to Charmy. This stranger did not attack them at first notice. Of course, this did not make up for the whole ‘sneaking into the car backseat’ trick. So while Ophelia vented today’s particularly bad frustration, Dormouse motioned for her not to attack Charmy. Taking a monotone voice, she said, “You have half a minute to explain yourself before I gut you.”

"That would be most disagreeable.” Charmy sighed, before abruptly rending her own earring from place.

Blood dribbled. Glass cracked. The engine hissed.

"Though it could make for a fun gamble." Her eyes narrowed. “The Albino Tigers are not the forgiving sort”—she looked down at Hare’s body—“luckily it seems you’ve paid your pound of flesh already. …At least in my opinion.”

Her eyes closed, and she gently tossed a phone towards the front.

“You’re on the playing board now. Whether you want to be an asset or a liability is up to you.”

Dormouse bit her lip. She glanced over to their boss, Ophelia; even after all they’ve been through, there was no wiggling out of this one. She seemed to understand that, too. Though she perked up at the end of Charmy’s offer.

“An asset, you say?” Ophelia leaned forward, holstering her gun casually to the side. “Tell me more…”

Dormouse backed herself up into her little corner of the driver’s seat. Even past the death of her lifelong partner, she still saw the look in Ophelia’s eyes, if not a little sharper: ambition. The two women exchanged a momentary glance; lackey affirming to her leader. No matter what she chose, Dormouse and the rest would follow her.

A soft smile spread across the Tiger’s face.

Elenion Aura · Aug 24, 2022

BIRDS ON A WIRE