Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

April 1, 2067
Location: Death City, Fool’s Festival, Apparel Booths
Interactions: Arkayis, Gauss
Mentions: Sara
Peckinou Sir Les Paul

Now that Gauss’s clothes were chosen for him and Arkayis agreed to be the trio of Guy Fawkes-wearing weirdos, Gauss pulled out some random accessories. Noah had to hold in a snicker. Gauss wanted him to wear some of these? Hilarious.

Though, when Gauss mentioned he was stuck on one particular girl, he wasn’t so sure if he was seeing or hearing him correctly. He blinked a few times and gave him a proud smile when he did come back from grabbing all those accessories. “Just one? Damn, I’m impressed. Ya’ve definitely come a long way since… Well, whenever ya stopped doin’ that goin’ around thing. I’ll keep an eye out for ya if I see her.” Of course, when Sara was brought up, his cheeks turned pink and he deadpanned and stared at Gauss. “Really? We only dated for a week, if that…” He grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away, now not interested in what Gauss had to say about him and Sara.

He looked back at the items he presented and snickered at the idea of Gauss wearing some zebra print and pink. “Sure, ya can have those. Ark, pick which one ya want me to wear first. Hell, I can probably use these hula hoops as a sort of… Well, ya know those dresses with the odd rings in their gowns? Yeah, hula hoops as gown supports. Ah, whatevs, I can use the tailor guys, why not?” He sighed, giving into using the Tailor in Twenty. It was fast, so he wasn’t going to complain.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Dane Markovic
Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Dane watched onward as his foes decided their plan of attack. The one who stepped forward first was none other than Starwulf. His face twisted into a sneer at the sight of him. It was a mixed bag of emotions for Deathcoil. On the one hand, here was a top-ranked pair with backup no less. There were only three others short of Death himself that placed higher than Starwulf. In a way, the meister being sent after Dani was a source of pride for the renegade, and a sign that the DWMA recognized his ability, and his threat.

However, on the other hand, here was someone who had everything he didn't. Starwulf was a meister, and so naturally held an advantage in straight combat. He was ranked 4th, several places higher when even Dane was in the top 10. Despite his stature, he had a full family as well. Powerful, popular, and interconnected with his fellow men.

"Noisy, noisy..." He grumbled in displeasure, not at Az's wavelength, but at Starwulf's personality.

Everything about him was straightforward and blunt. Dane could see him flaring his wavelength, signifying an attack was imminent. From their past bouts, he knew the meister wasn't the type for tricks or gimmicks. He had a creed and stuck to it. However, Deathcoil ascribed to no such sentiments.

As Starwulf blitzed him, Dane erected a wall of electricity in his path. He was sure the bull-headed man would try to charge forward regardless of any resistance, or perhaps he simply wanted to draw Markovic's focus so that his ally could come for a flank. However, that was exactly why he kept the one leg free and untransformed. The one was enough for a wall if not a cage, and the free foot allowed him to react if Starwulf broke through or Az flanked. If he could draw them in and trap them together, or even stun them, perhaps that would be enough to get away reach his destination.

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Arachnid Royalty Arrives​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith

March 28th, 2067​

Chaos...

Chaos surrounded them.

While their skirmish was small and controlled, the hordes of spiders on both sides only continued to grow. Endless, mindless slaughter only ever ceased briefly when these creatures consumed the carcasses of their fallen cousins. The theory that this would be some self-resolving problem began to lose ground in the minutes that followed that initial proposal. That flicker of hope did not die solely due to the increasing numbers, but that those increases heavily favored the army they five would have next to no chance of defeating alone. The abyssal black arachnids they had fought earlier still stampeded past them in droves, and fighting them in their numbers would likely leave them depleted, but alive. The umber army opposite to them would have them drained and helpless within minutes.

Discussions of plans became scant and pointless for a short time. Communication quickly fell apart due to the thunderous cacophony of exoskeletons being torn asunder as the frontline edge near them, and with that came disruptions to their devices and magic. And, attacks from the still-easily-killed black spiders became more frequent as the lack of finesse began creating more openings. In a slight twist of fate, this scenario left Rand more reliant on the others than any might have noticed. His style of spellcasting relied heavily on control, creativity, and wit--all of which were diluted here even at his skill due to the interference.

On the other hand, Chanterelle and Ark excelled. Chanterelle due to the innate nature of her magic, Ark as his was controlled in part by Magic Items that could not falter. Maria would find herself both with advantages and disadvantages; the interference lessened how many dolls could be controlled at once, but the dolls she could control had no penalties of their own and swiftly dealt with any foes in a method more efficient than any of her allies. Raphael, unfortunately, was in a similar situation as Rand, at least for the time being.

The sun was hanging lower and lower in the sky; as Rand had warned, the daylight hours were waning. Now it was becoming more obvious as the sky burned in that faint, ever-so orange hue.

Fate would have it that this would not be their dusk.

A change to the status quo of this ongoing conflict had arrived. The trees shook violently from the Northwest, heralding not only a massive influx of the black arachnids, but the first and only black spider with any form of mana. A behemoth of a spider surrounded by what could only be described as a royal guard. While its size did not quite rival that of the crabs from the shoreline, it still dwarfed all those around it. Those before it as large as bears with massive front legs that were swiping down trees while smaller spiders pulled the largest on a bed of silk over the pathway made for it. With its arrival, the black spiders had halted their attacks, allowing the mages their first moment to find their breath.

It was far from a hastened arrival. The carriage of silk was durable, but often turn on terrain and repaired by smaller nearby spiders that rode along the back of the largest, and there were at times stops as the entire silk carpet snagged on the stumps left behind by the frontline removers. This type of social hierarchy was not common in any spider and resembled, at first glance, the behavior of creatures like bees or ants. It was yet another anomaly of the wildlife that existed on Dall Island.

While this queen arrived, the reinforcements she brought with her reigned down from the north side to flank the brown spiders that were encroaching, bringing that march to an abrupt halt. Even still, their numbers were not so vast that it showed any sign of true victory. This perhaps only delayed the inevitable.

Then a true halt. The silk drawn carriage stopped, and the massive legs of this spider queen stretched out to lift up her massive body. This took some time, demonstrating that her weight was a burden. While none of the mages could quite read the mind of this queen, she was intelligent--to a degree. She saw the carcasses of her children strewn about around the encampment of the mages, and she could sense the mana within them. She knew all to well that they were a threat. Even to her, however, they were not her main concern. The brown spiders to the East were. Normally their prey, these mages had unwittingly caused a chain reaction of awakening that slowly but surely turned the prey into the predators, if only due to sheer number.

The chittering from earlier resembled, although much louder and much deeper, and following it came the guard that accompanied her. She turned around, spraying each of them with an oily silk that coated them as they walked under her main spinneret. Then, more chittering. The black spiders that had surrounded the group of mages distance themselves from her even further, and soon a black wave of what almost looked like fur shed off her mid section and abdomen. As they hit the earth near the riverbed, each came alive, demonstrating they were a large assortment of spiderlings not unlike the brown ones. Unlike their cousins, however, they did not rush to consume the flesh of their brethren. Instead, they scurried down to the battlefield in where they had gained some ground and the queen mother soon followed, moving considerably faster without the weight of her children.

It might have been interesting to observe what occurred next with the queen. How she consumed her own spiderlings after they consumed the mana-infused flesh of the brown spiders that had fallen, and how she laid massive eggsacs as she walked. Or, how her presence made the entire army of black spiders become more coherent, as if there was a general issuing orders. With her chittering alone, the black spiders shifted from an army of grunts rushing in solely with their size and brawn to a group of strategical units, utilizing their webbing and even fallen brothers as diversions from the spiderlings. And, as it turned out, spiderling warfare became important; the brown spiderlings may be able to outnumber and consume the larger black ones, but the black spiderlings in sufficient number were capable of killing them all the same as their older counterparts.

It might have been interesting... had there been time.

There was not.

The twelve spiders that created the elite guard now made a dash at the mages. The largest two, the tree clearers, were the first to arrive and the first to launch an attack. Their massive front legs--now close enough to see--were not just enlarged, but razor sharp and serrated at their base near the joint. Apparently evolved for that wood cutting purpose. These two targeted Maria and here dolls. The first of which brought its massive legs down in an attempt to crush or smash the nearest ones it could find while the other made a quick dash at her specifically, using a different tactic of diving in with the massive fangs it used earlier to toss trees aside effortlessly.

Meanwhile, the two spiders that were originally repairing the webbing, were now darting around the canopy at break-neck speeds, spinning a spherical web around the encampment. It was a simple, but obvious tactic. To prevent escape and to reduce the area they had to fight in. The mages may not know it now, but the webbing made by these two would prove incredibly strong. While not impossible to break, regular knives or fire would not make eliminate it quickly.

The other eight spiders paired up in teams much like the others. While they lacked the raw size and massive limbs of the ones on Maria, they made up for it in raw speed. Without their queen to pull, they were as nimble as the Meisters in the tournament most of them had fought in if not more so. Not to mention, with the inhuman agility of an arachnid. Unlike the original sets of spiders they were fighting, they were not blind, irrational creatures. Of the sets, only one of each dived in for an immediate attack--the same biting move that the larger one attempted on Maria. The other four tried to find a center point between the mages they could congregate at and began spinning a ball of web there, creating a zone they could control.

One last note differentiated them between them and their brothers. Rand, ever so quick to react, attempted yet another Sonic Slash on these creatures. While the impact slowed them down by force, it presented no damage to their bodies. The wind magic that might have otherwise cut through them as easily as Chanterelle had ate away at them having little to no effect. It was unlike the brown spiders, however. Any one of the mages would have the acuity to tell those brown spiders were genuinely consuming or absorbing the mana of spells. What occurred here was more similar to a direct resistance to it, making this encounter only that much more dangerous.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Francis Flynn​

"Starwulf"​

Species Human
Partner Fia
Rank Three-Star

Location Nevada Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
Mission Coils of Despair
Status Focused and excited

​

Tags: Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

'Time to circumvent expectations, Fia,' Starwulf thought from inside their soul space.

It was true. Starwulf had hit the wall of electricity, and it did not feel good. He had prepared for that much and was quick to back away from it, halting his mad dash for the mad weapon in its tracks. He was aware of what electricity could do. Force you to keep your muscles flexed, prevent you from moving as more of it poured into you. That was the mechanic of these types of traps, he surmised. It was not just to prevent one from moving in a set area, but an effective method of locking on in place for a slow, excruciating death by electrocution if they were not prepared. Cruel as it may be, he was sure Dane had used it plenty of times on foes to great effect.

He wasn't that much different than any other lightning wielder.

"You know," he said aloud with a small strain in his voice following the electricity he had just felt within him. His muscles were in fact quite tight at the moment. Some tried to behave on their own, it felt. Even with the reinforcement of his own wavelength in his body, the raw power and voltage that Dane could output was not something they could ignore. Unless he could land a kill shot or incapacitate him somehow, this experience had ruled out attempting to simply power through the electricity as an option. He doubted he could do it for long, and it he failed, he would surely be at the mercy of a mad opponent.

"Predicting the predictable... makes you pretty damn predictable yourself," he said before lifting Fia back up and changing his targeting all together. Now that Dane had created the wall, Starwulf was sure their had to be some set origin point for the wall. Whether it was protruding from the ground or deep within it, either way, he intended to get to it. Lo and behold, he was correct. By erecting that wall of electricity, Dane made where his transformed limb was underground quite obvious. And, as his rules go... strike hard, and don't stop.

Starwulf dashed over to the location he perceived the coil creating the wall and slammed Fia in her enhanced form down into it. This is where his partner complimented his style so well. There was no delay here. The window to withdraw was much shorter than it would have been with any other partner. Her capacitance helped with that. What followed was a thunderous boom and a small shockwave from the impact, creating a small surface crater. It was only roughly the size of a basket ball, much smaller than one might have expected from someone of his stature, but it was quite deceiving in nature. The sand beneath him did not create craters like solid stone, instead it condensed on itself, creating a type of sandstone for meters around the impact site from the impact of their hit alone. And, more importantly, sending that impact and his wavelength right down to Dane and his extended appendage with hopes to give the weapon quite the shock himself. Weapons may be indestructible, but that doesn't mean you can't hurt them...

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Evangeline
Merciless Medic
​

It was definitely a morning, Eva had spent the majority of the days leading up to today trying to get whatever she could together. She had went home and tore through the many dresses she had. In the end she couldn’t decide on one and ended up getting something made in the style designed by an old friend of hers.

Rolling out of her bed Eva hit the floor with a thud, her white hair exploding about like an avalanche of fluff. “ANGHHH!” Eva grunted in displeasure. Pushing herself up she ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out as best she could and shuffled out of her room. Immediately the smell of food hit her nose and she felt her stomach rumble. “That smells good.” She called out into the apartment.

Moving through the apartment Eva seemed to glide, the graceful movements of her steps carrying her almost silently through the room until she stopped in front of the fridge. Opening it up she took out a carton of iced coffee and poured herself a glass. Downing it in a single breath she perked up abit and stretched, her arms going up and her back arching. She groaned before letting out a huff. Spinning around she heard a flurry of movement and was immediately greeted by Sara.

Looking over Sara she pursed her lips “Yeah, it looks utterly wild. Fitting, I uhh… I got something. Not sure if I am going to make it all weird as I don’t know if I could pull it off.” Eva commented as Sara spun around. Looking at all the pictures on the werewolf she was slightly amazed, there were tons of them and no part of the outfit seemed to fit together and make sense. “That really is something.” Eva said, her tone part awestruck and slightly disturbed. “Alright my turn, I am going to get dressed. Can't beat what you’ve put together but it'll be different. ” she continued on before going into her room.

After a little longer than she had expected Eva emerged, taking a far more ornate yet industrial approach. Carrying in her hand a tiara of sorts she held it up “Not colorful, but its ornate. Kinda looks goofy, like a helmet.” She said with a smile. “Its different, my dress hugs my body more than I would like but this is all about getting out and being different… right?” Eva said mostly to reassure herself. “Now that I probably made us late, let's get going. Shall we?” she finished, grabbing the food that Sara had made for her.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | DWMA | Dall Island | Rings: 1/3

Another armband came off instantly. He didn't even need Seismic Sense to detect what was happening around him. The number of spiders in the area were rapidly increasing. And when the black spiders began moving, Ark considered shifting the land around him and his peers into magma itself- but the thought was banished right before he could even consider putting the magic into the move.

They rushed around them like cars around a median. With those that dare strike, countered in return with Maria's skillful work and his supportive follow up. Yet even with the risk so high, he could not help but find himself drawn to what it was that these different groups of spiders were doing as they engaged with their brown cousins. He could not help but observe in a sense of fascination at the way predator-prey dynamics between these different evolved species of arachnia, were playing out before his very eyes right in the moment. It was as if the black chitin spiders had known that keeping magically capable beings in this area would give them the feast they craved- and he had to wonder, if this too was just another factor of the Island's unique evolution playing its part in granting these creatures such unique levels of intelligence.

It turns out he'd get that answer. The shift in the army of spiders was noticeable, but the appearance of what appeared to be a marching band that led what only made him think of nobility, surprised him.

The whole scene didn't just surprise him- it troubled him. Oh yes it was all good and well to observe these creatures and the way the queen had not only made an entry that was hard to ignore but interacted with her underlings and asserted control; how she set order back into place and how that changed the approach of all the spiders under her command into more strategic forms of combat; how she not only gave commands but seemed to be coordinating with them-- all of it was fascinating to witness, but at the same time it meant that the fight ahead was only bound to get serious.

No sooner had he had that thought did her royal escorts launch their strikes nigh simultaneously.

Witnessing Rand's attack lay no harm, Ark followed up immediately.

He slammed his foot down and Seismic Sense gave him a glimpse at everything around them- but he narrowed it- focused it only on him, his peers, and the twelve attacking them specifically.

Snapshots, images of movement in different locations flickered through his mind.

Maria was the first person he focused on- despite her armored puppets, and her own capability so far being far more efficient and eliminating the spiders, experience from being in a warzone, dealing with imposing creatures that had more agility than they appeared at a glance made him pick her has his priority. He whipped his left foot out, sliding it across the ground and in that same instant the giant spider that had been aiming to crush one of her dolls slid backwards as the ground underneath them rapidly slid backwards like a car to a skidding halt, sending them sliding several feet backwards and going still even as it came to a halt.

Immediately after that, on reflex, he switched targets, to the other one where it was aiming to bring its fangs down on Maria herself. Arm shot out- a diagonal pillar from Maria's left, shot out of the ground and met the fanged spider head on in her place- trying to buy her some form of time as it made contact.

He turned his attention to the spiders creating the trap that would limit their movement, and then immediately turned his attention away from them to the spiders that had paired up to start launching their own assault against them with the same biting move-- only for him to counter by unleashing three rows of angled spikes between them and spiders, each spike longer than the last and pointed towards their opponent as they made their dashing bite charge.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[Sir Les Paul]

QUICK REACTION: Ark

The activation of Seismic Sense from the Sorcerer demonstrated that even it was not immune to interference. While it made perfect sense that it would be just as scrambled as the magitech communicators near the brown spiders, it was also dampened heavily by the webs that began surrounding the group. Even in their current thin layers, they dramatically reduced the distance of his field of view; for the moment, Ark would find himself only able to perceive a few feet beyond the sphere instead of the extensive range he normally had. At the very least, the acuity of his vision within that range wasn't hampered save two two specific locations: the central point of webbing the four spiders between the group was creating, and in the trees where they were constructing the sphere. This resulted in the two weaver spiders being virtually invisible to his Seismic Sense and the four in the center being almost fuzzy, only notable as larger moving targets. The four on the attack to the other mages and two specifically on Maria were still clear as day.

More importantly, Ark had vastly underestimated the raw speed of these new spiders. His attempt at battlefield control was admirable, and his efforts to assist Maria demonstrated willful teamwork, but such spells woven together could simply not be done fast enough to protect her and himself. By the time he had the first diagonal pillar blocking one of the two larger spiders, the one targeting him was already upon him. Had he continued his efforts to protect her instead of himself, the fangs of the spider would already be dug deep into his left shoulder. His goal of targeting the weaver spiders--especially with his now more limited seismic vision--would prove to be inadequate to the degree of potentially lethal if he continued that course of action.

This left Ark with a simple choice. Take a bite from the incoming spider and protect Maria, or adjust his approach to this battle entirely.

The Regal Rper

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

Watching as the battle seemed to shift, a new force had arrived, or rather an old one, or rather the field commander of the horde, with a circus load of specialized spiders to join the battle, which seemed intent on dragging them into the fight, likely to be rid of them. Still, that was of little surprise, animals being animals. Or in this case Monsters may be a better label. With startling speed the beasts were upon them, clicking and snapping, or whatever it was that they did.

Though a complication had arisen, her battle performance had been disrupted. In mock horror that soon turned to rage she watched as two of her creations faltered and failed, collapsing into a heap as the large spider with forearms rushed and crashed, slamming and bashing into her formation. One of her creations became mangled and smashed, unlike the previous incident, where she pulled her hair and gave somewhat into her pull, this became another example of that pull at work, something much more dark and enraged, all smiles gone from her face, her eyes pulsing, seemingly glowing with mana as her demon tools wire spread out and morphed into a wavy pattern that went rigid and taunt, her Grimoire shifted, becoming the long blade that connected to her forearm, as one of her fallen creations was picked up and assumed control.

"I'll Kill You. Every. Last. ONE OF YOU! My precious creations! They are worth more than you, genetic dead ends! Unchanging for Millinia! An Island of Evolution! Ha! A pest problem that should be bombarded!" With that she took small notice of what Ark was doing as she directed the now connected doll and slammed it right into the biter, at its snapping maw.

"CHEW ON THIS!" With a sudden blue glow, the doll exploded right between the fangs and head, the same force and power that she used to take Gauss out of the sky only days before. If this was or wasn't enough to kill the creature, she was not sure, she didn't have the time nor inclination to tell Ark anything, he would hopefully watch out for himself here and now, as Maria turned her attention to the big armed spider, aiming forward, with two smaller dolls at the side, she rushed in with her mana blade at the ready.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[The Regal Rper]

Az | Death City - Vegas | Desert

The small smile that had briefly existed vanished shortly after watching Francis' charge.

Showmanship truly was its own way of attracting attention. Though he kept his eyes honed on Francis' engagement, he did not fail to respond to Reiko in return as he maintained a greater distance.

Do it. Let's link, and then follow up with long distance attacks using the War God until he decides to switch targets-- the second he does we'll switch to one of the Anti-Demon techniques he stated simply. And that was precisely when he sensed the shift- heard the signal of Francis' next move- a strike with Fia on a point towards where the ground hid Danes Weapon part aiding in the formation of the trap. He sensed it the sign from the shift in Francis tempo, and immediately Az signaled to Reiko through their link to get ready, that he was going to send out another attack-- without Umbra present he couldn't nullify the sound to make the attack silent and deadly, but if Francis managed to land a hit accurately before Markovic could pull his coil out, then the least he could do was keep Danes on his toes so Francis and Electra could get something more accurate in.

So he flicked Reiko's blade, his wavelength channeled through her against the edge, flicked it, one, two, three-- the sound would have hit ears only seconds after the attacks had either hit or missed. A concussive blast- condensed, like an arrowhead- three of them whistled along, zooming faster than any bullet as Az focused his wavelength here to act more like a blade than act more in the condensed state he had fired it before where it made a much louder boom- this came at a low hissing whistle of sharp air.

Where Francis aimed for the coil, Az aimed in three different locations-- this was where his history as a previous Gun Meister, came in handy. The first shot went straight for where Markov would react following Francis' attack and movement- it was a rough estimation of his perceived next location, while the next two aimed for lethal points of contact. The head, right at the temple, and the abdomen, right around the liver area.

Mentions: EmperorsChosen

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

April 1, 2067
Location: Death City, Apartments
Interactions: Eva
Mentions: Adrian
Mook-LandStrider

Sara grinned wide, feeling absolutely good about her outfit now. Even got an Eva stamp of approval. She pumped her fist in the air, letting out a soft “yesss” of excitement, chuckling when she heard (and smelled) Eva’s disturbed tone (and scent). She perked up when Eva said it was her turn, and she soon vanished. Sara went back to grab something to eat, likely what she’d been whipping up the past couple of hours. She had already wolfed down her third helping when she looked back up to see Eva had come out.

“Whoaaa, you look pretty steampunk. A hodge-podge of steamy punk, with confusing industrialism. You dressing up as how confusingly intricate the industrialization era was?” She mused, tapping her finger to her chin before looking at the tiara. “Ooooh, that’s pretty. Well.” She looked at it some more and giggled. “It does look kind of goofy. But hey, you look fashionable oddly for this sort of thing. I think you look great.” Sara grinned at Eva, giggling as she bounced on the tips of her toes and then jumping Eva with a hug. “Nahhhh, it’s fiiiiine.” She turned around to grabbed the two plastic bags filled with bento boxes for her friends.

“So, you ready? I gotta go see Adrian before it gets any later.” Sara asked, her tail having wagged in a blur this entire time.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti​

April 1, 2067
Location: Nevada Desert
Interactions: Starwulf, Deathcoil, Az, Reiko
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen

Fia watched with concern and concentration. She watched as Dane created something with his leg, then a wall of electricity formed. Then, came Starwulf’s thought.

Circumvent expectations? She raised an eyebrow in her soul space and chuckled, grinning. Though, that grin was swiftly wiped when they hit the wall of electricity, making her groan. That just made her focus on her latent abilities more and focus on that resonance. She focused her soul into fixing up that wavelength of Starwulf’s so that he could use it next, which was what he needed as he used her amplified weapon form to slam into the spot where Dane thought Deathcoil’s transformed limb was at.

Honestly, having enough force to turn the sand meters around them into sandstone was hilarious and it honestly made Fia a bit giddy. This surge of power was always awe-inspiring, and it always made her feel wonderful being Starwulf’s weapon.

That’s when Fia noticed the sound changing from Az and Reiko, and then three sets of what looked like sound-based arrowhead-shaped wavelength attacks came. One went to where Deathcoil would likely jump to evade Starwulf’s attack, while two went for his torso and head. The sound was so loud being so close to the attacks despite their sharp, whistling noise that Fia had to withdraw into herself and focus on tuning her wavelength to Starwulf’s to prevent any sort of rejection from how concentration-shaking that sound was.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Reiko Tanaka
Near Outskirts of Vegas​

As the battle continued and Starwulf began his offensive, a wall of electricity met him in kind as he attempted some fancy ideas of his own. With how things were in the here and now she had little idea what Fia was doing or thinking from within the confines of her soul space. Using a bit of her own wavelength and feeding it into her Meister, Reiko was able to project a touch of her anti-demon wavelength, to establish a link between the teams. It may have not been as good as speaking but it allowed for the team to synchronize within the confines of objectives and tactics, or intentions as it were.

Got it. All on you now.

With that she also handled the task of projecting their own attacks, soon she would have to be ready to shift focus into a melee centric attack. Be mindful of wherever Starwulf is, the moment we are in one space we run a terrible risk.


Interactions/mentions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Corrupted Cherubim​

"Eros"​

Species Infernal Soul, formerly Human
Partner None
Rank None / Fugitive

Location ???
Mission A Twisted Joke
Status Jubilant

​

Tags: Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Peckinou Azurian Dream Meredith Mook-LandStrider Serei2477

"Lord Eros, all of the preparations have been made."

"Splendid," he responded with his typical flamboyant tone. "Our friends will be in for quite the show," he added, his high pitch twirling around his words with the same frivolity he carried despite the gravitas of the current situation.

"And, you're certain all of your devices will give us the cover we need?" asked a more feminine voice.

She still held reservations about just how effective anything from this man could be. While his name sparked fear in many, she was much more cynical. He was no true mage or sorcerer. Nor a savant with Magitech. He hardly had claim to even be an alchemist. Yet, he boasted creations that could do what no other could. He was a man--if you could call him that--whom stood purely on his reputation. And, even then, he was notorious for what he took credit for and what he allowed to remain a mystery; or, worse, who took the fall for him.

It was hard to trust a fiend hidden in the skin of a man that was obviously only capable of seeing those around him as mere playthings. Then again, it was also nigh-impossible to trust anyone given where they stood: against the DWMA.

"Fret naught, my dear. Wrinkles would only ruin that perfect complexion of yours," he responded with a bit of whimsy. "I am the master of desire, and I assure you that everyone here will get precisely that," he explained to those in audience. "Their defenses are stretched so thin as it is... the last handful of those that might have been a problem are now chasing some weapon I planted a seed in years ago," he said, bringing light his responsibility for at least one unfortunate happenstance of the day.

"You really should have a little more faith in Eros, Alora," responded a younger, white-haired man. Thin and lithe, but nasty looking at first glance. Though, when he spoke, his face softened considerably. "Not that you should trust him in the slightest, but he was considered the most dangerous man in the world 'til Antivu dethroned him," he explained, though by his tone obviously humble-bragging about his own boss.

There was more to it than that, though. No one really liked Eros. When working with him, one didn't just need eyes in the back of their head; they needed sight on every square inch of everything around him. Aegis had worked with him before in a limited capacity. In general, Eros was considered dangerous and wily enough that Antivu tried to deal with him directly, but this situation called for a more diverse roster. The last thing they wanted was an actual, direct confrontation. They could scatter agents to the wind and create smokescreens across the country, but Lord Kidd seldom left Death City. Neither did Black★Star for that matter. Even with all their combined might, Aegis was sure trying to fight them at face value was tantamount to suicide.

"Aw, Aegis, my boy, I didn't know you had warmed up to me so," Eros quickly retorted, teasing him slightly. "You know, if you ever want a place at my side, I'm sure we could do far more fun things than Antivu has in mind for you," he added, toying with the idea of what it might be like to have a specimen like Aegis. "Last I checked, he just had you teaching people how to dress up as pretty white dolls," he went on, though finally crossing a line.

"Watch your tone, Eros," Aegis spouted back. "We all know what you want and quite frankly, I don't give a damn about Witches or war," he announced, though it had more to do with how defensive he was of Antivu and his choices.

"The only reason any of us commit resources to this plan is that we all wanted something," Alora cut in, "I imagine neither of you two or anyone else for fact cares if part of this mission fails as long as theirs succeeds."

"On the contrary, miss, that couldn't be further from the truth," Eros responded, almost mocking her in how aloof he was about this entire scenario. "I believe I'm the crux of this little mission--our very beating heart, really. And, all I asked for was a few bombs placed at the Wiccan Embassy," he went on, unraveling the only real thing he was getting out of this.

"So... are you saying you don't really care whether this mission succeeds?" Aegis asked, becoming slightly worried by that response.

"You wound me, my boy. You really do. I would love to see every one of your objectives met," Eros explained, "but in truth, bombing the Embassy doesn't quite tickle my fancy--or further any of my goals."

"Then why even bother asking for it? We have real people out there risking their lives for something you don't care about," Alora responded, clearly slightly flustered by the way Eros was handling this.

"Why, because no one trusts the man with nothing to gain. And, you shouldn't blame me about the risks; it's not my fault you haven't figured out how to fabricate your own pawns yet," Eros answered, though plainly and again without any real concern as to the context of the situation.

"Our people are not pawns, Eros," Aegis barked back at him, now just as frustrated as Alora. "You pulled a lot of strings to make this happen, too; it's hard to believe you again nothing," he added, now more directly calling out Eros. When heated, he was quick to change the tune he was singing about the man just seconds ago.

Eros laughed. Or, more like a light chuckle. "You two misunderstand wholeheartedly," he explained to them, finally perking up with some passion in his voice. "I stand to gain the most. What I care about is the beautiful chaos that will ensue. You see, chaos and disarray make for great partners. I may not gain much in the moment, but in the time that follows, so many doors will be open for me to waltz right through... I couldn't pass up that type of invitation, now could I?" he asked, though by his half maniacal tone it was hard to tell if the question was rhetorical or not.

Both Aegis and Alora stood silent for a moment. Neither of them were particularly scared of Eros, but there was a type of fear that existed when encountering a man that just wanted to watch the world burn. It was common knowledge the man wanted a war above all else, but apparently he didn't care what he destroyed to get there. The Plague Doctors fundamentally just wanted Lord Kidd removed from power. Alora represented the Unseelie Court, and there was a specific prisoner within the DWMA they wanted released. Neither of their plans were as inherently malicious as Eros, and moments like this made anyone regret working with him.

That silence hung in the air.

"I believe, my friends, that is my cue to leave," Eros told them, acknowledging how his rant had made them briefly speechless. "If you do manage to free Mister Goodfellow, do send him my way. He's such a pleasant chap," Eros instructed, though already walking away from their little congregation as he did. The attendant that had informed him of the preparations transformed following him, taking the shape of a small purple pixie and conjuring a armful of dates that she flew by and plopped into Eros hand. He was quick to pop one in his mouth as he exited.

Alora was fuming at the form the attendant took. It was a mark of disrespect that left her silent to avoid any greater conflict. It was doubtful even Aegis would understand why. Regardless, Aegis was irritated for his own reasons. "Months of planning and you don't even see it out?" Aegis asked, scrutinizing the fact that Eros would even consider walking away like this.

"Oh yes, my dear friend. I make it a habit to never be around when the fireworks start," Eros explained, "Well, that and the thing about chaos, of course... I benefit regardless of how this plays out. It's not like any of you can stop it now anyway," he further explained, returning to his lackadaisical perspective on the massive endeavor these assorted groups had poured their efforts into.

---

Meanwhile, news and new arrivals spread throughout Death City. Virtually everyone well a cell phone or e-mail was informed of a parade being hosted. While not on the original itinerary, parades for the Festival weren't unheard of. They just didn't occur every year. More importantly, rumors alongside this news spread. Everything from their being a pole for the most attractive men and women in the DWMA top ten to a vote for the next Death Scythe were burning through circuitry like wildfire. Some suggested even more absurd potential, like a flash mob from the Black Star Dojo to a surprise visit from D-Stein himself. If that wasn't enough, the magitech community had similar rumors spreading that Magitech had finally recreated Hoverboards using Lord Kidd's as a model to more compact lightsaber style blades akin to that used by Professor Davis. And, this parade was the focal point of all of these rumors as it was supposed to conclude with a surprise event at the end. None were the wiser as all that was explained was that it was a play the old game Two Truths and a Lie.

The streets of the DWMA were now becoming flooded with women of all sorts in similar jester costumes--far more than normal--handing out all sorts of party favors. While they were hardly clones of each other, their outfits were all nearly identical and they only furthered the rumors by word of mouth. Whether one was still in Death City, closer to Nadia and Dani, or directly in the Festival like the others, they were everywhere. And, while beautiful, they were at least far less scantily dressed than many other jester-clowns of the day.

These women only furthered the very specific rumors, as if trying to add fuel to this new fire. Except they added one specific twist. The black and red themed items they handed out were part of the parade, and those adorned in them could be selected for prizes.

Whether it was magitech items, free subscriptions to Deathflix, coupons to local businesses, or even memberships to the Dojo, whatever they thought one might be interested in was on the list. Of all the items they handed out, the most common was a set of beads--not unlike the cheap plastic ones for mardi gras--that they assured everyone would be enough to get them in the running.

Soon enough, the majority of the city could be seen with these red and black knick-knacks. Regardless of costume or outfit, they worked with just about everything and the girls handing them out were fairly persistent with them. It was not uncommon, for instance, for a trio such as Noah, Arky, and Gauss to be abruptly interrupted in stalls for outfits and offered a huge assortment of them, which is in fact what happened. Cute and flirty, these girls with black wicker baskets were quick to hang on Noah and drape him in the beads after explaining their value, or slide beside Gauss and tell him just how much more handsome he might look with the right accessories.

But, this was not their only tactic. Those more bashful, like Arky, would simply be shown what they had, given the explanation, and told they were free. These girls were uncannily intuitive with how they approached each individual, man or woman. For the likes of Nadia, it might be a simple explanation of one little item being enough to be festive without the need for a gaudy outfit. Dani, it might be little different than Arky. Some like Eva might even have some effort poured into their friend, like Sara, trying to talk them into wearing them for the festival. It was just in the name of holiday spirits and fun, after all.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Eloise and Annika
Collaborative Post

Spoiler: Months Prior

It had been a long night, nearly January and while she had made great progress in getting her shit together there was one time of the year that she couldn’t sit aside and play the pretty well behaved woman. April fools, it was the only time of the year that she was wholly committed to being a gremlin. For the past several years she had gone through several patterns, from laying traps to filling places full of expanding foam. She had been reprimanded every time but she had always been a good sport about it. She had caused mass chaos and would in the end be the one to clean it up.

This year was no different, she had been working on control and many of her more chaotic tendencies were focused better. While it meant she wouldn’t cause mass chaos the way she would in years past, it meant her commitment to rigging the city was all that more intense. There were many weeks to go but she had always prided herself on preparation and an eye for detail. This year she was going to focus on glitter, whether that be semi concussive glitter implosions or mines scattered throughout the event and venue itself she was prepared for all hell to be unleashed.

Printing the mine structures she had crafted them to be reminiscent of the cobblestone roads that were common to death city. They were textured and printed from a resin material that mimicked the color. She of course had to sand and prepare the mines but in the end she had taken her time. Sixteen mines were placed, set and ready for their pins to be pulled, all she had to do was situate a few more.

Two in the morning, she had a training session in a few hours with Starwulf but she didn’t care. Careful preparation was all that separates herself from the run of the mill prankster and she wouldn’t let herself get shown up by some… amateur. Swaying back and forth in the middle of the side street Annika shoved a pry bar into the ground, shifting her weight and pushing a rock up and out of the cobblestone walkway she grabbed it and with surprising strength chucked it away and into the darkness.

A night-time stroll was all it was supposed to be. Even a busy-body like Elly could enjoy something like this. While less frequent while in Ireland, she also had much more on her plate. She juggled two sets of responsibilities, which left little time for idle actions such as a mundane walk. Here it was different, though, and it provided her a chance to clear her head and center her thinking.

The best part about these outings was that she was alone. No need to put on a face or spin some yarns. However, she was still a naturally curious sort, and so when she spotted a fluttering soul tucked away in a side-street, her eyes lingered. It pranced and weaved playfully, a mischievous sort, but not so in a way of maliciousness. Interesting for a thief, hobo, or someone otherwise who decided such a place was their hangout. Common vandals were also usually more careful not to toss things about.

Most notably, however, was the nature of the soul, in that it moved. She picked it up here, then there, then another spot, until it seemed to anchor in one location which Elly presumed the reason was as she just got close enough.

Peeking around the corner, Elly watched the figure dig with a face of vested interest. She smirked and stepped out into the corner, walking softly, then normally as she spoke up. “That’s quite interestin’~ Typically, where I’m from you fill in the potholes, not dig’em up.”

Wholly focused on her antics Annika had not picked up on the fact that someone was approaching. It wasn’t until she heard the voice that her blood ran cold for a moment. Thinking on her feet Annika took a step towards what looked like another rock. Watching the new arrival like a hawk Annika pushed the rock into place, never taking her eyes off Elly.

“Well to fill in a pothole correctly one must take into account the other junk around it.” Annika responded cautiously. “Otherwise itll just make a really bad mess.” She continued on before crouching down and nudging it into place with her hands. To the keen eye they would be a small hole in the ‘stone’ where something could be shoved. “We do it at night in order to avoid pedestrian……” She paused before smirking “Congestion.”

“What are you doing out here at this time?” Annika asked in response, a somewhat smart retort, trying to cover up the fact that she didn’t exactly belong. She shifted her backpack slightly “You uh… want to make a few dollars?” Annika asked, thinking that Elly may have been… in need of money considering the time of day.

Elly watched the other woman just as cautiously, albeit with a potentially unnerving, all too polite smile. More than her body, the brunette was watching her soul, how it seemed to freeze momentarily before buzzing ever so softly. It wasn’t panic, rather wariness.

Tilting her head a bit at the girl’s explanation, Elly seemed to mull it over, averting her gaze upwards with a hum as she took a step forward. “Right, right. How considerate… However, are there no noise laws here in the States?” She posed with her face and tone now shifting to one of naivete.

“Dollars? My oh my, what do you have in mind for me to do this time of night, Miss?” Elly questioned with a voice of mock aghast.

Annika realized how what she said could be taken, her mind going into the gutter for a split second. Pursing her lips she refocused herself back onto the task at hand. “Not sex or uhh.. other sultry things.” She made known immediately “I uhhh… don’t know about the noise but I don’t think I am making much.” She continued on.

“I may not be with whoever actually fixes the roads but I promise you that these repairs will truly be spectacular.” Annika said, elluding to the fact that they were actually… miniature explosive devices. Though they were closer to glitter bombs than anything dangerous. “So… what do you say? Want to help me ‘fix’ the roads? I promise you'll be able to see the results in a few weeks time.” she finished with a coy smile.

Elly smirked a bit at the woman’s response. “Pity,” She commented, though how serious she was was another story.

Glancing down at the potholes again, the woman’s eyes trailed back up Annika’s form. “Repairs, of course,” She mused as the other bargained. Listening to the rest of it with arms clasped behind her back, Elly gave a few nods as she contemplated. She stepped forward again, with exaggerated humming as if to build suspense in her decision.

“Mmm…. Disclosure first,” Elly said, stopping in front of her and looking her dead in her eyes. “No murder, no maiming, no jail time, yes?” Judging based on how the woman’s soul swayed, Elly was fairly confident the woman wasn’t trying to kill anyone or do anything deserving of detainment. However, detecting if a direct confirmation was a lie or not was the most reliable way to make sure.

Returning her gaze Annika contemplated her question for a moment. “Well, no one will get physically hurt. Uhhh… I can tell you in the end it will be worth it. I’ve been ‘fixing’ the road since last year.” Annika said technically telling the truth. “Each of these rocks have been…. erm.. procured from the finest… Ah screw it.” Annika said finally dropping the ruse. She pulled one out of her back pack. “This is a glitter bomb.” Annika said bluntly.

Taking the well designed ‘rock’ in one hand she took a small piece of metal from her pocket and inserted it into a small gap on the top of the rock. “Observe.” She said turning and chucking it like a frisbee to give it some extra distance. The rock burst with some noise but where there should have been an earth shattering kaboom… there was a massive cloud of glitter.

Opening her backpack up wide she shoved Elly the other “For the sake of secrecy I won't tell you which rocks are glitter bombs but I can tell you I am out here every now and then and well.” Annka trailed off “There are alot of them. They look just like rocks and you cant find them with a metal detector as they are all resin! Brilliant really. So, you want to create a glitter filled nightmare inducing minefield. Now that I told you I cant actually pay you, I hope you understand that.” Annika chirped.

Elly smiled as Annika tried to speak in euphemisms and expressions before ultimately giving up. So that’s what she had been doing. Preparation for the jester event or did the girl just enjoy causing this kind of trouble? Either way, they weren’t real bombs and the most trouble one would get in was fixing them.

“You’re quite the little engineer, hm?” Elly hummed, watching the example glitter bomb go off.

Taking the other backpack as the woman went on, she peered inside curiously. She shrugged a bit, slinging the backpack over one arm. “Well, I don’t see how that would stop you from paying me and I certainly wouldn’t decline… Either way, I wasn’t after money dear. I’ll help for free, if you’d like my services~” She chimed, wording the last sentence intentionally problematically. Even if pragmatic, the Irishwoman was also a mischievous sort—Also, any bombs she helped prep onward would be ones she could avoid.

“An extra hand would go a long way to making this go smoothly. Plus, I can spend more time making something else.” Annika said, putting a finger up to her lips, her head tilting in thought. “Hmmm, I like you.” she said with a smile. Turning around she walked every steps, counting each before taking the pry bar and shoving it into the cobblestone path again. “Yeah, I am abit of an engineer. Probably far more than you are expecting.” She said with a huff of effort at the end as she exerted pressure onto the pry bar. Throwing her weight onto it the rock popped up and free breaking from the old cementing material.

“Luckily, this stuff is pretty old. It makes getting these stones out pretty easy. Makes it so I can get more into the ground a night.” She reflected, crouching down to grab the rock. Carrying it a short distance she propped it against a wall before coming back. “I’ve been making things my entire life. I also attempted to blow my seriously abusive witch mother up.” She made known in a very nonchalant manner.

Handing the pry bar over she a ‘rock’ from the bag and places it down to gauge what needs to be done. Pulling out some of the other material she shoved the mine into the hole and nudged it a few times to get it to fit snuggly. “That is mine twenty-seven.” She quipped, obviously proud of herself. “Are you doing anything goofy for April fools?” she asked. “Oh by the way, my name is Annika.”

Matching her steps and position as the gremlin began work on a new mine, Elly took the crowbar as it was handed to her. “My pleasure~,” She replied. It seemed as though the woman tinkered on more than just these and had a bit of pride in it as well, though the ex mob wasn’t expecting her to open up about such personal matters all of a sudden.

“..Hm… Is that a recent development?” She questioned equally nonchalantly. Eloise certainly wasn’t going to feel odd about estranged family members considering where she came from.

“Mm… I was considering it, though I’m no good at tinkering. This is the first in a while I’ve had the opportunity to…” Elly answered before giving a mischievous smile. “So, I’m more than happy to ride your coattails, Annika. You can call me Elly.”

“Nah, this happened nearly a decade ago. It's old news, she's still out there though, I failed. No doubt a truly monstrous person by this point. She was before, I can only imagine now.” Annika replied, malice tainting her voice. Continuing to work on changing out cobblestone rocks with mines the duo managed to switch out four more before Annika’s backpack was empty.

“Well, itll take me a week or two to make a bunch more considering I have daytime things to deal with. I am hoping to lay down about twelve more before April.” Annika began before turning to Elly. “This was fun, ever since I was tossed into FATE I haven’t had a whole lot of human interaction outside of Starwulf.” Annika said with a smile.

“Do you go out at night often? There are some nights I cant sleep and I wouldn’t mind company every now and then. I live in the DWMA student dorms. If you aren’t against it maybe we can come up with some other things we could do for April fools. We have several weeks left and I am pretty sure I can cobble together some neat things.” Annika asked. “Either way, it was nice to meet you Elly. Also, don’t tell anyone about these. It needs to be a big surprise.” her voice taking a silly serious undertone towards the end.

It was obviously a bit of a soft spot. That made it stranger that she was so open with it. Was her mother a corrupt spirit, or just an otherwise terrible person? Elly couldn’t help but wonder, though at the same time she wasn’t going to dig at this moment.

“Ah, you’re being mentored by Starwulf? A lot of big names are directly involved with the program, it seems,” Elly mused aloud. “My group is kept a bit busy with training routines as well. Unfortunately, while civil enough, they’re not all that social. Like pulling teeth at times aside from my partner.”

Taking out her phone, Elly swiped her phone open and entered the contacts list. “Well, I’m more than happy to speak to you. In case the accent wasn’t a giveaway, I just immigrated here, so you can help fill up my contacts if ya’ like,” She offered, asking for a number.

“Definitely. I’m not always out this late, but sometimes a walk is nice. I’d like to see what else you could come up with as well,” Elly said with a light chuckle, holding an index finger to her lips. “Pleasure’s all mine, Annika. And don’t worry, love. Mum’s the word.”

“Yeah, its definitely something working with Starwulf but I am glad its happening. Don’t quite know what would have happened if it didn’t work out this way.” Annika said thoughtfully. “Still, its tough and nights like this where I just cant sleep end up taking a toll on me in the morning.” Letting out a small yawn she stretched “Kinda used to it now though.” she continued on before exchanging numbers with Elly.

“Its probably best I get home, I need to be at the dojo early. Feel free to text me whenever, I may not always respond as sometimes I am consumed by whatever I am working on but I try my best.” Annika said with a smile. “It was nice to meet you, again, feel free to reach out whenever.” Annika finished before standing awkwardly still for a moment “Ill talk to you soonish I am sure.” Annika called out as she began to head back home.

“I’m sure. Must run ye’ ragged at times,” Elly mused with a nod and a smirk. “You say that now, probably not so much when you have to get up in the morning.”

As she stowed the phone away and watched as the other girl began to leave after a few more words, Elly held out the pack she was given. “Uh, dear? I don’t think you meant to give me this as a present,” She said, dangling the bag by its straps to remind her to take it back. “Either way, same to you. I think I’m pretty prompt with responses… Well, g’night then~.”

With that, Elly clasped her hands behind her back and turned away to head back toward her own home for the night. She didn’t expect to take her mind off things in this way, but it was a pleasant surprise.

April First


It had been a magnificent several weeks, Annika had made strives in her training and while still reeling from the intensity of it all she was in a better place. Despite the overall control that she had learned she had an innate need to continue to perpetuate her own unique brand of chaos. She had, over the last few weeks, set nearly forty different butterfly glitter mines into the cobblestone roads and pathways of death city. They were purposefully placed, set to line the pathway to the unique event that graced the day of pranks… the jokers ball.

Annika had spent the night running about, sticking her skeleton key into the placed mines to activate them for the coming day. She was sure random individuals would likely set off a few of the mines before the main event began but the sheer number ensured that at least a few would find their intended targets walking into them unaware.

She wouldn’t have been able to set so many of the mines if it wasn’t for Elly, a friend she had met quite unexpectedly a few months back. She had taken a liking to her, finding a like minded soul in the equally chaotic and gremlineque woman. While Elly was lacking in the engineering field she made up for it in the worldly and grounded views. Annika was abit too scrambled to deal with people on the regular, a part of her she knew would never be a people person. But, that's where Elly was good, getting people to look the other way and ignore the actions of the fire haired saboteur.

Having spent the morning getting herself ready she had gone out of her way to really put together something… unexpected. To almost everyone that knew her, education and training wise included she was never someone who really looked over the top, exquisite or really… fashionable. She had never cared for it nor had she ever had the clothes to pull it off and as such, she decided that this april fools that she would actually try to make herself look half decent. After getting herself together she waited for Elly.

Her apartment was something special, both a messy and orderly space that seemed in parts chaotic and entirely organized. There were bits of machinery scattered about and parts of long forgotten projects scattered on different tables. She lived in a rather spacious apartment, a place that one would expect a large family to inhabit, yet Annika managed to stock it in a menagerie of mechanical contraptions. Amongst the chaotic machinery exists an orderly space of alchemy, a space apart from the rest that she had a special affinity for. Something she both hated a loved, a gift from her mother… the reason she hunted. She had tried to clean stuff up before elly came over again but there was too much she had out to really make a dent in it. In the end it didn’t matter, it wasn’t new to Elly but Annika was self conscious of it nonetheless.

Soon, a series of knocks came to the door, and standing behind it was another gremlin. Elly had dressed up herself in a nice-looking blue dress that came to an end just above her knees with matching heels, necklace, and to fit in with the theme of the event, a blue and porcelain harlequin mask with a cheshire grin. Holding it in front of her face, Elly waited for the door to open, only shifting it to the side after it had a moment to be viewed.

“Hello, love~ I keep you waiting?” Elly asked in a cheery tone.

Going to the door Annika adjusted her dress for a moment before swinging the door open and smiling widely. “Oh wow that's really pretty.” Annika said in surprise. “I really like the mask, I uhhhh.. didn’t think about a mask. Kinda hard to not notice me on account of the hair.” Annika said on account of her hair being a rather unique golden orange.

Letting Elly in Annika walked back into the room. “Of course you kept me waiting.” Annika said her face turning into a playful pout. “I got all pretty and dressed up for once.” she said with a giggle before spinning around in place. “I had this made a while ago but I normally can't bring myself to really… commit to it. Feels abit alien.” She admitted before turning her attention back to Elly. “But you look the part, comfortable and beautiful.” Annika complimented her. “Soooo.. Do you want to hang around her abit or set out? I am certain a few glitter traps have been set off.”

Elly gave a little twirl of her dress at the compliment. “Thank you, thank you~ And I just thought the mask fit the theme. If you wanted to hide your visage, you could’ve gone for a wig with a mask,” She suggested, stepping inside with a chuckle.

“Yes~ Look at you! You’ve been denying the world yourself all this time. For shame,” She teased the other. “Have more confidence, dear. You’re gorgeous… and evidently as much of a tailor as you are an engineer.” Adding that, Elly ran a hand along the skirt of Annika’s dress to feel the material.

“We can always come back after if ye like. It may be best to get there before the crowds set off the majority of the traps, no?” Elly proposed with a smirk. “Besides, we have to show you off as well.”

Blushing Annika turned her face away for a moment. “Thank you, it was a little more time consuming than I would like but I think it came out pretty… decent.” Feeling meek she managed to push it down and regain her composure. “Means quite abit.” She managed to finally say, gathering herself up. Grabbing her bag she moved to the door “Really good point, I uhhh… well I have something truly despicable in my bag. I don’t feel as much of a menace as I normally do. But the night is just beginning.”

Walking with Elly out of her room they made their way towards the event. As they approached Annika stopped dead in her tracks and held up a hand “Hold up, so begins the minefield.” She announced to Elly, her voice a mix of apprehension and pride. “I really hope I remember where these things are.”

Looking back to Elly she smirked “Joking, but am I…” She teased before taking a step forward in a dramatic manner. While she was mostly joking she wasn’t entirely sure where they all were, she had placed more than a few and while her memory was good, it wasn't perfect.

"We'll have to work on that confidence of yours," Elly teased with a little nudge.

Clasping her hands behind her back, she peered around Annika to try to peek at her bag with an exaggerated hum. "Going to keep me in suspense then?" With a bemused huff, Elly followed alongside her, then pausing as the prankster gave warning.

Elly looked on and couldn't well spot from a glance which stones held a surprise under them. Smirking, she remained whilst watching Annika's movements carefully. "Well, I suppose we'll see, won't we~?" She teased, waiting for the untimely detonation of a glitter bomb.

Nodding in response Annika swallowed. She had worked hard on visual presentation today and wasn't overly keen on getting covered in glitter this early. She was going to be a sparkly bitch today but that would likely come later. “Suspense… I have fondant treats. God they taste awful… ever accidentally eat Fondant?” Annika commented on them. I also have the nuclear box with me. I have never opened it because to do some would also cause me to regret it.” She spoke with steely tone in her voice, like someone who had seen some shit.

Reverting back to her bouncy tone of voice she played it off “But yeah, I always have that with me on April fools. Kinda like a ‘One more big one before I stop doing this.’ sort of thing. Because uhh… it will definitely make some people angry.” she explained. As she took another step she felt it, the sudden give that she recognized in horror.

Without explaining herself Annika very quietly reached into her bra and took out a small piece of metal. Slowly crouching down she kept her weight on her left foot. Looking down she eyed the rock she was standing on with intense focus before feeling around the side with her fingers. Taking the piece of metal she inserted it into a small slit and quickly stepped off. Tensing up she half expected it to still go off but to her surprise it didn’t.

Seconds later she heard a sudden ‘POOOOOF’ and visibly recoiled, but instead of it being her mine it was another. A decent distance in front of her she saw a large plum of glitter shoot up and consume the poor person who had stepped on it. Reaching back and grabbing Ellys hand she gave it a tug and lead her forward, being careful of the one she had disarmed. “That was my only key. I didn’t think this would be as big a problem as its turning out to be for me.” She admitted. Coming up on where the person had stepped on the mine Annika had a decent idea of where the others were, having laid them in a pattern.

“A nuclear option?” Elly questioned curiously. Whatever it was was obviously extreme, more so than the glitter bomb. Then again, the glitter she was sure would tick some people off despite the festivities going on. Still, the woman was quite the eccentric with this stuff, so it made her all the more interested in what she cooked up.

Following behind Annika, Elly was careful to mirror the other’s steps, pausing when she noticed the obvious change in demeanor. Though, Annika responded like a veteran and adapted to the misstep. However, the explosion of a different trap obviously gave her shock, eliciting a giggle from the Irish girl.

Glancing over toward the direction of the glitter, Elly further chuckled. The human reaction was quite amusing, but there was also entertainment factor in the way a soul hitched or flared when the body was surprised or startled, an extra benefit for her to view.

Elly let herself be pulled with Annika leading the way. It seemed that she wasn’t joking earlier about not knowing where they all were. “To be honest, I’d be significantly impressed if you knew where they all were from memory.” She told her as they came to a stop, with excess glitter littering the ground. “You look like you have a plan though, or you just wanted to see someone covered in glitter.”

Annika smiled as Elly talked about her having a plan. “I really look like someone who has a plan?” She responded with a small laugh. “I must be doing something right for you to think that.” Annika continued on. “I think we should be alright now, there are others around but I don’t remember putting any really close” She finished coming up on the festival.

Letting go of Elly’s hand she looked around, the lights and booths were as varied as those among them. “Maybe I should have gotten my outfit here.” Annika mused outwardly. “So uhhmm… what did you want to do first?” She asked as she heard another distant ‘Pooooooof!’. “Thats only going to get more common as the night goes on. Alot of them probably wont work, but thats why I tried to do a bunch of them.” Annika grinned devilishly. “I plan on drinking abit, to be honest I will probably set one off on my way back home.” Annika admitted, trying to pick out what she wanted to do first.

Elly smiled a bit at the girl’s pleasure with herself. As they reached the festival grounds, she watched Annika’s attention shift from here to there. The meister smirked a bit, nudging her playfully. “See, you do have a plan~”

Elly had grown somewhat of a disdain for drugs, including alcohol, due to the exposure she had to many of them at “work”. No need to be a buzzkill for Annika though.

“Weeeell, there are some games and rides here. Unless you wanted to add alcohol to the mix first. As curious as I am to see that, it may be better to avoid until later,” Elly suggested, despite how funny a drunk Annika trying the joust sounded. “Ever been on those pendulum rides?” She asked smugly, referring to one of the rides set up that would whip the carriage of passengers back and forth..

“To be honest I haven’t been to many fairs, they always seemed… ehm… ramshackled. I may be several degrees unhinged but I can see faulty and failing engineering the way normal people see color.” Annika added, her playful attitude being replaced with the analytical part of her brain. Glancing over at Elly she mentally whined before pushing aside her need to break apart machines.

"It looks fun.” She managed to say, sorta surprising herself and reigning in what was deeply ingrained. “As for the alcohol, yeah I agree. I don’t drink a whole lot, kinda a light weight.” she admitted with a small laugh. “Last time I was out drinking it was with my old team. My weapon was stacked, built like a tank and could handle liquor like one would go through fuel. Tacitus didn’t drink much, but could definitely handle it.” she added on.

Breaking from Elly like a child seeing something Annika burst towards a funnel cake vendor. “Definitely wouldn’t mind something to eat.” she quipped quickly buying a big funnel cake. Holding it out to Elly she broke off a piece for herself and quickly wolfed it down. “Warm, I really do love funnel cake.”​

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Fool's Festival - Apparel Booths
Mission Fool's Festival
Status Interested

​

Tags: Merciless Medic , Peckinou

Gauss was, quite frankly, pretty down for the beads. Sure, they clashed with the duck hoodie he was now sporting, but so fucking what? These cute little jesters were all about it, and judging by the literal hundreds of people around also wearing them, it wasn't like he was going to be making some massive faux pas. Gauss had himself decked out in the red and black beads around his neck, some neat little jester charms on his wrists, and black and red belt that he found a huge belt buckle for that looked like it was a rubber duck head ripped straight off the bath toy.

They hadn't quite gotten to giving him any ridiculous shoes or pants, but considering he was a duck-themed Guy Fawkes man and Noah was about to be a sexy yellow lamp in zebra print with hoops and beads of his own, he seemed to fit right in. He also noticed a trend. The color yellow. If they wanted to complete the ensemble, Arky would need something just as vibrant and sunshiny. That did narrow down the options a smidge, but Gauss was a creative soul. While his two partners were receiving their beads from the cute jester girls, he went off to find a few outfits.

By the time they were done, he had a few ideas. Draped over his arm was a giant banana costume, a yellow Power Ranger spandex suit, and behind him he drug two literal mascot outfits. They would be miserable in the Death City Heat, but he thought both were hilarious and worth pitching. Besides, he imagined Arky had some type of high heat tolerance due to his elemental affinity anyway. There was that scholar half of him popping out at the oddest time. One was a massively oversized yellow Flappy Bird that had admittedly seen some better days in terms of wear and tear and the other was a whole-ass Minion costume with a yellow jumpsuit that would cover the arms and legs. It even had a moving eyebrow, though the rest of the eye was just a window the wearer could see out.

"So, Noah, buddy, I got a few ideas for Arky," Gauss told him, the same mischievous tone in his voice that Noah had since the beginning. "Which do you think fits our new partner best? Y'know, if we wanna stay the Golden Fawkes Fools," he asked, knowing full-well how ludicrous the choices were.

Though, such was the point on a day like today. Besides, they really needed to wrap this up if they were gonna meet the others and get to the parade with any decent amount of time.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Fool's Festival - Civilian Booths
MissionFool's Festival
Status Impatient

​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Azurian Dream

Adrian had spent ample time already within his favorite stall, and bought a few more things alongside the game he was outrageously psyched over. Once he finally said his farewells to Markus, he realized a more than fair amount of time had passed since he arrived there. And still, it seemed not a single one of his new 'friends' were around. Or hell, even his partner. He was almost certain Ashi would come crashing in and manage to steal some spotlight. Fact was, Adrian realized it was actually... terribly lonely. Markus and these games were really only a band-aid over his real problems.

So, he did what anyone might. He pulled out his phone and shot a text to Dani, Sara, and Ashi asking what they were up to. He was admittedly worried that it might have seemed a touch pushy given he had sent one earlier, but such concern was outweighed by his presently somber soul. He also realized how these three girls he knew all had four letter names, which for some reason he found odd. A coincidence? Or, were short names just common? Technically, Dani was shorthand, but he didn't think Ashi's was, and Sara's definitely wasn't. So, what was with all these two-syllable women?

Wait, is that offensive? He should probably never say that out loud. His brain parsed "two-syllable woman" as some type of slur and filed it in the back of his brain to never discuss openly.

Fuck, Reiko was a two-syllable name, too. Prudence was, too, when she was around. Elly. Eva. Bella. Adra.

Why? Why was this a trend? Trying to repress it only made it worse.

Thankfully, of all people, Nadia came to mind. Her name had three syllables. He never realized how much of a minority he was in with three syllables in his name.

Trying to distract himself from these odd intrusive thoughts, Adrian wandered deeper into the stalls where more craftsman where located. This was where all sorts of figurines, jewelry, handmade leather items, and other assorted but rarer tradesmen peddled their goods. He tried to shift his brain from his focus on names and his lack of company to imagining what he could make in these stalls if he used his Iron Maiden form, like he did with the ball. It wasn't his... favorite thing. But, it wasn't about combat, and it was better than sulking. It was also a slight pick-me-up to realize there were actually plenty of things he could in fact make, and probably make quicker, due to the unique traits of his extending, indestructible spikes.

What really took his attention was a stone-carving table. It had all sorts of polished and carved stones. As he walked through the benches, he saw all sorts of colors. Some things that looked like iridescent pearls, some obsidian, regular rock in the shapes of tribal heads, jade figurines, necklaces of all sorts of colorful stone. These were not gemstones, but true rocks of various sizes and colors. Some were jewelry, some were simply ornamental, and some in the back were even unique obsidian spears. It was all gorgeous, and apparently most of it done by hand or with a water-carving lathe of types. Adrian even stepped over to watch as one of the carvers worked on a custom piece he was commissioned, and took in how he held the piece of marble he had in place and struck it at very specific angles causing what looked like flakes to come off. Stone-carving was oddly satisfying.

Curious, he asked if they allowed a customer to try their hand. It turns out, they actually sold entire kits precisely for that. Though, Adrian assured him he wouldn't need a kit, just the stone. Banter back and forth over how they would work revealed Adrian wanted to try using his spikes to carve something, and the man with his carving tools was intrigued as well. It wasn't uncommon for those with a weapon form to have a unique advantage here, but there was still skill involved. Stroking his beard, he wondered what to start Adrian out with, and decided to pop out a beautiful piece of mica rock. It was relatively soft, and was mostly a brown with bright green glittering pieces. If carved right, the glittering parts could be emphasized to make the piece as shiny as a gemstone, though it truly was not.

Then the man, introducing himself as Derreck, provided Adrian some basic instructions and characteristics of the rock. And, finally, placed a simple sundial-like figurine in front of him to replicate. Adrian offered Derreck his bags for safekeeping and there within the streets, transformed into his Iron Maiden form. It sounded like a bag of marbles rolling around in a washing dryer, but it took only a few minutes for Adrian to produce precisely what Derreck had asked for: a recreation of the simple stone dial in front of him, although carved from this softer mica stone.

Now see, Derreck was an industrial soul. With Adrian, he saw an opportunity. Asking if Adrian would like to stick around and carve some more stones, he offered to let Adrian keep a few of his rarer ones he carved himself if he did. Meanwhile, his wife started advertising discounted commissions for personalized carvings, promising short wait times and excellent results. Adrian, with nothing better to do, consented. And, soon enough, the stall became fairly popular--and pretty damn profitable for Derreck--even going as far as making a spectacle out of Adrian carving the stones in real time. Some took longer than others. Some rocks had different patterns to their mineral patterns. Volcanic rock behaved differently than sedimentary. Glasses, like obsidian, required a delicate touch that took Adrian a few tries to master. Expensive stones like marble or ones that more closely resembled gemstones also took longer, but overall, the process of carving away at these rocks with his indestructible spikes was going swimmingly.

In that time, he opted to airdrop his location to the three girls he texted earlier and said he was carving stones at a stall there. Perhaps this second follow-up might sound desperate, but he didn't consider that. He only had a brief respite before his next project, and he was having fun. Derreck also hadn't made this much money in one day in his entire life, so he was letting the Demon Weapon carve as much as he wanted. The increase in foot traffic alone were jumping his sales even if people only came to watch the giant torture device spit out a carved stone after being fed a deformed chunk. Truly, the only real risk here was running out of material to work with.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

April 1, 2067
Location: Apparel Booths, Fool’s Festival, Death City, Nevada
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Noah looked on at these weird beads and decided - why not? - and wore them. It seemed like everyone was wearing these beads, but he couldn’t honestly remember the last time anybody ever had anything mass produced to be given so freely for something like this - and with enough people to send all these to everybody. He was a bit hesitant at first, but considering these had random prizes, he decided why not.

Still, the idea that this was a Fool’s Festival was not lost on him. These beads could explode and cover everyone with glitter!

Or something to that extent…

Either way, he noticed Gauss went around and came back with something else yellow. Odd, but he looked back at Arkayis and smiled, pulling at one of the mascots. He remembered Arkayis being shy and maybe wearing one of these - despite the weather - can help him ease into the festivities. It was always better to have a mask or wear something as all-enveloping as this to feel like you’re someone else. The one he tugged on specifically was the flappy bird. “Eugh, minions. Let’s go with the Flappy Bird. The game itself isn’t too great, even if addictin’, but the bird’s cute. I can see ya pullin’ off this. Ya won’t sweat too badly in this heat, will ya?” He asked Arkayis as he grabbed the Flappy Bird mascot outfit and held it up for Arkayis to see better.

“We can put this Fawkes mask ‘round the head ‘n’ off to the side, too.” He added, looking back at Arkayis to see if he’ll agree.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 28, 2067
Location: Forest near Dead Zone, Dall Island
Interactions: Chant, Maria, Ark, Rand
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun Meredith

Raphael had successfully pulled Chant along as he watched over his shoulder as Rand pulled out a sword, the magic infusing within its metal and he could practically see it. Well, kinda. The blasts of thunder echoing from his movements were almost deafening and he wasn’t so sure if the spiders even had ears. Didn’t they sense sound with vibrations? Wouldn’t that hurt them more? What if these were mutated to have a sound resistance?

Why was he thinking about sound when he was a god damn chain sorcerer?

At least his sword was blasting through the first wave of spiders. He didn’t even know there was even a problem with Rand’s attack, he was much too focused on the spiders, running, and didn’t know the extent of Rand’s attacks. It was then that Raphael realized there were even more spiders from that one swipe alone.

So, they were attracted to magic, and they were eating it up.

Lovely.

The spiders still ensued their cannibalism as Raphael finally had himself and Chant with the other two, hunkering down with them as he watched the spiders eat each other.

Raphael numbly listened to Rand and Maria, his own survival instincts telling him to run now. He looked back at the cages they hauled over and wondered if he could hide in them. He’d be like a tortured animal in a cage, but he wasn’t wanting to just sit there and become spider chow.

Then… Then the arrival of something odd and it made him shiver. The spiders started acting in… an oddly uncanny, strategic way. It unnerved him to his core and his entire being bristled. The queen spider, then her ordering her underlings and laying eggs for even more spiders-

This place was her god damn breeding area?!?! That would explain the dead zone.

“That thing has a goddamn silk carriage? What is this hierarchy bullsh-” Then all color drained in his face as huge spiders made a mad dash towards them. He looked up and saw spiders randomly darting about above them, but they were so fast and hidden by foliage that it was difficult to make heads or tails of them. He was starting to see webbing get thick and he looked back at the group of spiders, his hand gripping tightly around his chain. If the webbing was being used to prevent them from fleeing, then it was likely going to be tough and hard to break through. He wasn’t even sure if his trusty burning spider spell would work. He unhooked Chant from the chain, wanting to use it as a weapon of defense.

He watched as Rand used one of his sonic slashes, but it didn’t even hurt them. Now that they were closer, he can just tell these were more resistant. They didn’t absorb mana, which was good, but also bad they were resistant.

Ark went to protect Maria and go for the front, so Raphael focused on the front. He had “webbing” of his own, but he didn’t really have time to set it up properly. He remembered the Chain Star Trap or whatever it was called that Black Star used, but he wasn’t skilled enough for that.

He wasn’t enough…

You are not enough…

Two went for Maria, trying to smash her dolls and trying to sink their fangs into her. Then the spiders in front of them were incredibly fast. They had to slow them down. Raphael had his chain trap spell, but it could really only feasibly work on two spiders at one time, and he didn’t have time to set up anchor runes just yet. A few from the rest of the eight went for a bite.

Growling, he looked up to see a weird shape of a ball being made. But he couldn’t do anything about that. Considering he had precious time. He decided it would be a really risky maneuver but given his several-year run of street parkour, he would much rather take this chance now. He swung his chains around like a lasso and threw it at one of the spiders intending to bite Chanterelle, the chains becoming red hot as he then increased the weight to hopefully see how strong these faster spiders were and if they could carry upwards of 400 lbs (181.4 kg) alone.

Another idea he had in mind was creating a magic circle with Chanterelle’s magic, but he didn’t know the magic runes for that. He shouted, hoping Ark could hear. “When yer not protectin’ Maria’s ass, get ready for a lava circle!”

He just hoped he had enough time to make it.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City - Festival Grounds
​

Having wandered off from Dani, Nadia would link back up with her easily enough, but this festival was for sure not her type of thing. Scoffing a bit as she walked, Nadia went out of her way a little bit to avoid the more active elements of the holiday, chiefly the pranksters, or threatened those who caught her by surprise with a quick draw of a knife with a matching purse that contained mostly her DWMA stuff. Something Dani would have no doubt disapproved of. Not that Nadia cared much in this regard. She hated being in something like this, it didn't have pockets to carry all of her things, to hide weapons, to keep her phone and drinking flask.

With a scoff she would look at her phone time to time for various alerts and updates, till finally muting a few channels used by agents and other venues around Death City. It seemed a lot of rumors were swirling about tonight, from a parade to various other predictions and so-called leaks. For Nadia who trusted very little these activities were little more than an annoyance. The girls however caught her attention as she wandered the grounds, the gifts they were giving were yet another annoyance, eventually after some persistence and escaping one girl to run into yet another, or even the same girl, she gave up and accepted one of the gaudy black and red beaded necklaces, though she did not put it on, short of carrying it in her hand like prayer beads.

"Tch." With that she decided to head to the stalls and vendors, to see what, if anything, would be of interest to her. At least some of the items here may be worthy of adorning her home. Bit by bit it seemed some excitement was brewing at a carving stall, stones at that. Did rocks carry much value or were crystals to be had? Though weren't those fragile? Unknowingly the thoughts of Adrian had summoned the demon, whose name was spoken.

Catching site of him and his work from within the stall, she would send off a quick geo-ping with her location and the simple word of; "Found him." He was the one that wanted Dani to dance with him, wasn't he? Or was that Noah as well? Ah such unimportant details. "My isn't it a small world."

Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka

Arkayis was a bit surprised when Gauss confirmed that he may of had interest in someone, their facial expression immediately going neutral in response to the admittance. Arkayis had no clue what type of person Gauss was talking about, though it would of been more surprising if he did considering the amount of time they been with one another. Though Arkayis did roll their eyes somewhat when Gauss said they should be more concerned about themselves, as fun as thinking about himself would be, it would usually only make him depressed or angry. Luckily though, their mind was more preoccupied with the whole dress up situation, it was a bit worrying just what type of outfit Gauss had in mind for them. But with any luck it wouldn't be too bad, though when Gauss came back and plopped all the outfits in front of them Arkayis took a deep breath in and let out a sigh, figuring that their hopes was a vain effort. "Well, could be worse." with a shrug Arkayis simply said " You sure know how to pick interesting outfits, i guess."

Though looking at Noah he seemed to be quite into it, Arkayis couldn't help but be a bit amused by it in response, though Arkayis was a bit surprised when Gauss mentioned some girl Noah was interested in. When Arkayis noticed the hint of pink on Noahs cheeks when she was brought up Arkayis couldn't help but be a bit curious, but decided against prying, when it seemed clear Noah didn't seem all that interesting in wanting to talk about it. Though Arkayis had grown a bit more relaxed around the pair, he still didn't entirely trust them and still wasn't fully comfortable around the two, though that wasn't something he would admit to.

Arkayis did note down the tense atmosphere for a moment, it didn't take long for Noah to get over it, and listening in to what Noah had to say, they nodded along, and when he asked for him to choose, Arkayis simply gave him hula hoops with a that he noted down "Here you are then." Though, aby that time, Noahs interest seemed to have turned towards the Twenty Tailor, and not long after did is seem as if the festival began to progress even further. As what seemed to be a decent sized group of jester girls, began to hand at beads, though Arkayis was reluctant at first, not really wanting the handout beads, they eventually accepted them after a bit of an explanation along with a bit of convincing, and them noticing that Noah had accepting them as well.

When Arkayis put the beads on, he began to notice that Gauss had ran off somewhere, to where he was left to his own imagination for that, but eventually he reappeared with a few outfits in hand. Arkayis was a bit confused at first, but found the outfits to be a bit amusing and gave a short lived chuckle, but soon paled when he realized that those outfits were for him. Arkayis couldn't help but shrink a bit as their fate was being discussed, but the question on if they were going to sweat in the outfit made them glance towards Noah questioningly. But it soon dawned on them that Death City was considered to be pretty hot, though that didn't stop him from wearing a jacket, he doubted that the outfit would make him break a sweat, and they would consider it impressive if he actually did break one. "I highly doubt that I'll break a sweat." When Noah added on the thought of wearing a mask Arkayis nodded their head, deciding to go along with whatever idea Noah had.

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic

 

[Sir Les Paul]

A Little Touch of Madness​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith

March 28th, 2067​

History spoke of the Pull...

...the inherent Madness all Witches had, even present in those that called themselves Sorcerers.

For countless generations in the Witch World, it was weaponized. Used due to the inherent power it granted. Feared for the same reasons. On this day, glimmers of it had already been seen. On this day, members of this merry little band had already demonstrated the wicked and vile tendencies that come from it. As with all storms, first comes the thunder... then the lightning.

Ark had already learned these spiders were not something he could just micromanage. His attempt to weave spells on this battlefield made him a sitting target. Rand realized direct magical attacks would do little to these creatures. Chanterelle, much like Rand, was in contemplation of what to even do. Raph was about to learn a lesson about the strength of these creatures; he could not stop them, but merely slow them down with his chains. Though, their red hot nature did burn their exoskeleton, creating a foul stench of singed hair within the air.

The lesson Maria was to learn was not about these spiders, but about magic itself. More aptly, what her magic could do with when fueled by a touch of the Pull. What precisely caused this wasn't clear. The stress of the day, her disdain of altering her creatures with organic material and weapons, or truly the destruction of one. What triggered it now was unclear; her time in the program had exposed her to many, many antagonistic events. Any one or all of them could do it.

That doll exploded, but it did not explode with the force from the tournament. A tiny spark of the pull was enough to amplify that explosion many fold over. It did not just kill the massive spider, it obliterated it. It, and the stone pillar made by Ark. These spiders were resistant to magic, but this explosion was not just pure magic. It was a magically-fueled alchemic reaction and it was given far more raw power to explode with. What followed was a blinding light even Maria did not expect and a pressure wave that neither the spiders or mages were prepared for.

The spiders in the trees were deftly knocked out of them, stunned and not even capable of catching themselves after they thumped onto the ground. Half the webs around were blasted away. The spiders in the center stood eerily still. Not just because of the explosion; they were a safe distance away. The pressure wave and sound combined stunned them. Their chittering sounds were their basic communication, but those sensory organs were presently overloaded.

Every spider around them, in fact, was stunned. While this could be advantageous, each mage around would feel the pressure like a strong punch to their face, gut, and chest all at once. Their ears deafened briefly and now ringing so loudly they might have wished Rand cast his mute spell. The blinding light alone enough to cause sunspots in the following seconds. Maria could not have expected this type of friendly fire, or in her case, backfire given she was also affected. It was not intended to be this powerful. The most nearby spider, another one of the large carriage pullers, even had its closest limbs broken in the explosion, and any dolls nearby would likely need some repairs, though not destroyed entirely.

This was not a scene Rand was a fan of. His ears were sensitive and now deafened, ringing just like the others. His mastery of sound did not mean he could make the impact to his eardrums just go away. He could even feel that spark of pull that caused all of this, but at the moment, it was the least of his concerns. What he knew now thanks to Maria was that much like the other spiders, the resistance these ones had to magical affects only applied to those caused directly. Indirect effects, like that explosion or Raph's hot chains, would work all the same. That meant the strategy for this fight would be similar that for the crabs, albeit much more difficult given how quick these spiders were.

There yet again was another flaw in his plan that he soon discovered. With four paralyzed spiders in the center, he thought of trying to create the magic circle or even just runes for Ark or Raph, but found that the spider silk on the ground prevented the creation of these. And, it left him a target, quickly requiring him to parry the fangs of an incoming spider with his magitech sword. The spiders themselves were shaking off the stun Maria had created, and Rand had already burned through a handful of ideas.

It was up to the others, at least for the moment, to figure out something to do. As it stood, he couldn't communicate to them with his Whisper spell while all of their ears were ringing, so he had to hope they could piece together what he had tried and failed to do as to not repeat it. Or, more importantly, move quick enough to deal some type of damage before the spiders could.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

New Team, New Room​

Tags: Peckinou Merciless Medic

March 29th, 2067​

Gauss knelt down to place one of the boxes his new partner had brought with him for the move into the large back elevator used by staff. These were much less fancy than the polished steel ones of the rest of the complex, but a lot larger and could more easily accommodate the extra luggage and items. It made pretty quick work of loading up whatever Arkayis brought along to make his new room feel more like home. It also helped that Noah was along, with a few of the staff from the Lush Coffin, to expedite the whole process further.

Granted, everything was moving pretty quick as it was. Gauss and Noah were being reassigned to a different team and their former mentors were leaving the program. Granted, they did so on good terms. There were a lot of issues on the international and internal level that apparently needed to be dealt with, and both of them agreed they could do more good there than in Fate. Gauss was pretty sure both Emmett and Zelda were infuriated with how the Western European Branch had treated them.

Irony being one of his new mentors was from that exact branch.

On top of being assigned to a new team and new mentors, the entire program was changing in structure and the two had been given some spotlight for the role they took in the Paris mission. Apparently that Witch had a little pull herself and the support role they played gained them some favor. That, or the hushed whispers and worry that appeared to surround Dani’s newfound power was such a stark contrast that it seemed like a spotlight.

Either way, Cyrus opted to try pairing them as a trio again. Arkayis, apparently a pretty damn powerful weapon with a low compatibility rate, and hand-selected by Cyrus who personally wanted to see him join the Scythe Squad. It wasn’t exactly clear if this was a pairing of convenience or if Gauss and Noah proved some capability in their last mission, but either way, it seemed like Cyrus wanted them to specifically succeed with their new teammate.

Gauss stood up after the box had settled into place, then hung out the elevator to see they had drug in the majority of what Arkayis brought along. With most of the lifting out of the way–for now–Gauss decided to finally spark up a dialogue. ”So, any idea why good ole Cyrus decided to pair you with me ‘n Noah? A Scythe and a Staff make for a bit of an odd pair,” Gauss asked, shooting his question directly at Ark.

In a quick shift, he looked over to Noah carrying a box. ”You sure you’re good with a new roommate? Prudence just moved out, and there’s plenty of other rooms,” he asked, making sure Noah was actually fine with this. It probably seemed odd, but it didn’t actually matter. The cost of these rooms were entirely offset by the fact his father owned the building and most people rented the lower rooms.

Noah shrugged. “I don’t mind, man. Gets kinda lonely when I’m not livin’ with someone.” Realizing what he just said, his eyes lidded in an unimpressed expression and stared at Gauss, then at Arkayis, then to the boxes. “Don’t repeat that to anyone else… If Sara heard it, I don’t think I’d hear th’ end of it…” Noah grumbled, making sure the boxes weren’t going to shift or move anywhere when they shouldn’t be. To be frank with himself, Emmett was growing on him. He had actually liked Emmett, and Zelda was odd, but she wasn’t too bad either. Now, they had new mentors, and he didn’t know what was in store. Were they going to be similar to their old mentors or was it going to be another mental hurdle for him to jump through to feign some amount of faith and trust in them until he can see some merit? He glanced over in Arkayis’s direction, his face relaxing into a tired expression. He hoped Arkayis wouldn’t hurt their group either. He wasn’t so sure about him as of yet, but he wasn’t guarded. Noah sighed from the exhaustion of the day.

Moving all these boxes was a good workout he’d rather not repeat.

Arkayis let out a sigh, relaxing as they let the bag they were carrying drop to the ground, and spoke to answer the question Gauss directed to them. ”I really don’t know why they paired me with you guys specifically, probably compatibility I guess, or you guys simply won a game of spin the wheel.” shrugging as they said the last part. It had been a while since Arkayis had shared a room with anyone, the last one being his sister, his eyes twitched for a moment at the thought. But he was able to quickly recuperate himself, and instead aimed a question at Noah in order to learn what to expect. ”You don’t snore or sleepwalk do you?” His voice was flat and monotonous as he asked that, expressing it as a genuine question. He wasn’t exactly sure what to think of his new partners, as he hadn’t been around them long enough to reach a proper conclusion.

Sighing a little, Noah shrugged, rubbing the back of his head at the first comment. He could hazard a guess as to why, which would also mean assuming how Arkayis got into Fate in the first place. But it was better not to ask such a heavy question right now. He just offered an answer back at them, finding the question amusing, but it also told him Arkayis didn’t like late-night surprises. “Well, no. I don’t. Th’ most ya’ll hear from me at night if we got nothin’ tomorrow is me playin’ my games quietly. Thass all. Still, I have a hard time sleepin’ sometimes, so if ya need somethin’, I’m available. Just don’t take my grumpiness too seriously if I did happen to be asleep, I’m just a dick sometimes.” He then decided to hazard a reason, broaching something that he hoped wouldn’t let the magical cat out of the bag. “You’re with us probably because he’s a utility meister so he can wield ya far easier than other meisters, ‘n’ because I have a healin’ wavelength to help calm us, protect us from all that bad shit that could plague our minds ‘n’ souls. I know we don’t know each other just yet, but you’re in good hands. I can tell they made the right call.” He gave Arkayis a heartwarming smile. Of course, Sara taught him a valuable lesson in being welcoming. Always make the person you’re having to live with you feel safe and secure while coming off as dependable for them. That’s what most would like to feel, especially with hazards like them.

”Hey now, let’s be fair,” Gauss interjected, aiming at the comment Noah made about him being a utility Meister. ”Not just a utility Meister. I was also an honors student and, if I say so myself, am pretty good at adapting my wavelength,” he commented, pointing out some of the skills he took a bit more pride in. ”The karate isn’t nearly as useful when I’m wielding two polearms,” he added. Noah rolled his eyes as Gauss embellished himself, but he knew better than to speak on it, even having a little smirk to show he didn’t think too harshly about him.

With that, the boxes were loaded and now it was up the elevator. It was, at the least, an incredibly smooth elevator. It didn’t have that slightly jarring take-off or stop some did. Gauss was never a fan of those; he found them mildly nauseating.

Once the doors closed on the elevator and all were in, he took a quick moment to check his phone, and smirked once he pushed through his notifications. ”Your profile has been updated, Arky…” Gauss noted, though he stopped mid-sentence. Or, at least it sounded like mid-sentence given the change in tempo. ”Yeah, I think I’ll call you Arky. Arky and Noah. I like that,” he said, apparently interrupting his own train of thought to confirm his selection of name. Noah snickered, shaking his head.

”Anyway, you’re now in the Thaltek security system. Every guard will know your face, you’re entitled to the Deluxe Package–so the pool, lounge, bar, it’s all included. Thumbprints for the doors, your ID for most other stuff. Aaaand, if there’s anything I can get for you, send me a text and I’ll see if I can have it delivered. Noah there is a real big fan of the VR headset I got him,” Gauss explained, reiterating all of the luxurious benefits of agreeing to live at the Lush Coffin.

The opulent lifestyle of Gauss almost made it debatable if the Fate Program was really that bad in comparison. This definitely wasn’t in the budget for most Two-Stars and below.

”I’m a piano guy myself; not sure if you can fit one in your room, but you can use mine any time I don’t have, uh, company. Granted, Noah is better than me at that, too, so maybe you two could share one,” Gauss told them, keeping the small talk going and recalling the preferences of his partner–in some contrast to the ego he demonstrated earlier. Of which, Noah appreciated wholeheartedly.

Arkayis remained poker-faced hearing all the information that Noah gave to them, though he shouldn’t have really been surprised that they would have them paired with a Utility Meister. It seemed like a tactical decision anyhow, though they have kept their madness somewhat in check, they were unsure if they could maintain it in the heat of battle. Though the reassurance from Noah made them hesitantly eye them for a moment before, grabbing the collar of their jacket pulling it up, a bit before muttering ”Thanks.”.

It really didn’t take long before Arkayis had formed a first impression on the two of them, Gauss seemingly being the more prideful of the bunch judging from their need to embellish their achievements, and Noah on the other hand seemed nice, at least. Though they didn’t ponder too long about their thoughts on the two, before Gauss announced their profile update and their new nickname, either because seven letters was too much to remember, they genuinely liked it or they just didn’t like names longer than their own. ”Ok, I guess.”.

Their interest though didn’t really peak until Gauss mentioned the VR system they got Noah, their eyes glanced towards Gauss as they spoke ”VR?”. They had always been a bit intrigued by the VR stuff, but never really got around actually getting their hands on one. They were too busy helping their sister achieve their goal to focus on any real personal interest, and too depressed for it once she was gone. They gave a glance to Noah as they nervously asked, ”Could I perhaps, try out the VR set one day?”

Seeing the guy light up from the prospect of VR had Noah chuckling. He patted Ark on the shoulder, a silly grin on his face. “Sure thing. We can do so today once we get yer things set up. A nice way to wind down ‘n’ relax.” The doors finally opened to the floor that led to Noah’s - and now Ark’s - suite. “In fact, got anythin’ that’s somethin’ ya wanna do, ‘n’ I’ll help get ya set up. Especially if it’s somethin’ like yer own computer ‘r console if ya don’t wanna share mine. ‘R if ya just wanna try out a game fer a bit.” Getting a platform trolley, Noah began stacking boxes on it before wheeling out to the suite, using his thumbprint to get into the suite and locking the door so it stayed open.

Gauss was a bit disappointed Arky didn’t gun for the piano bit, but VR was fun, too. Gaming wasn’t his biggest hobby, but Noah had convinced him to try a few games. The horror genre didn’t work out terribly well; a few jump scares and Gauss forgot to control his wavelength, frying a fairly expensive headset… or two… or three. Most other games, he could get into. He offered to get all sorts of peripherals. Call of Duty: Virtual Warfare IX had entire controllers in the form of very convincing guns.

Noah had yet to take him up on that. Maybe Arky would, eventually.

”VR, is it? Noah got me into that a bit more, too. I used to use it for training, but I can see the appeal,” Gauss commented, chiming in. The elevator dinged. There was absolutely no sudden stop with it. In fact, aside from an incredibly faint whirring sound, it was nearly impossible to tell it was even going. The doors opened, Gauss pressed a button on the console to lock them that way, and from there it was a brisk waltz to start carrying in items to the apartment.

”Just so you know, my thumbprint opens the door, too, but I typically still ring myself in,” Gauss told him, thinking that was a fair piece of info to drop. ”But yeah, if you like Noah’s, shoot me a message and I’ll have another delivered,” he offered, though in this case, he was thinking that a third player might make his KDA not look so bad compared to Noah’s.

Gauss might have been the Meister, but Noah kicked his ass in most games. Why the fuck a staff was so good at aiming and platforming when Gauss did all the actual work was beyond him, but more power to him. Gauss did the carrying in real life, Noah did it online.

Hearing the pair’s words and the information given to them, they couldn’t help but smile a bit, but quickly brought their collar up in order to hide it. They were unsure if they wanted to take up the offer as tempting as it was, and couldn’t help but question the reason for the offer. They knew that nothing was free and the free things that are given are usually out of personal interest to the individual offering. Though Arkayis figured that Gauss probably just wanted to keep his Weapons satisfied for the purpose of effectiveness, or perhaps it was something the DWMA was in on, either way they gave a nod of understanding. ”Okay then, thank you…”

As Noah started unloading the trolley of the boxes, he heard Gauss offering Arky a VR headset, and that reminded him of those uh… convincing gun peripherals. “Oh yeah, ‘bout that. Gauss, not sure if I feel comfy holdin’ a too-realistic-to-be-a-toy gun remote. I don’t want my VR experience to be that realistic. It’s crazy as is, ‘n’ I’d rather not add to my list of mental shit either. Oh.” He then looked at Arky with a small smile. “Want us to help throw yer room together, or ya got it?” He looked at the boxes and completely forgot how many they still had. “That all?”

Arkayis on one hand didn’t really care about organization, so it would probably be less messy if they allowed others to help. They didn’t really have much stuff that they cared about, besides their photo book, knife and the lock box which had a ring that was given to them by their sister a long time ago. The only things they were really defensive over, and they were all in their bag, that they carried with them, or at least they hoped they were. But considering Noah's offer they gave a nod, figuring they would have probably left their bag on the ground and neglected to even try to put their stuff away till they needed something. A lazy approach, but having someone help out would have probably motivated them somewhat to organize it. ”Sure I guess, just, don’t touch my personal bag.”. They gave their bag that was next to them on the floor a light nudge indicating which one it was. Before going on to ask a question ”So, uhm, how long have you two been together?”

”A month or so,” Gauss responded, chiming in to answer the question nonchalantly. Noah hummed in agreement. He reached forward to open the door with his thumbprint, then pushed it on through. While the inside of the apartment wasn’t as grandiose as his own, it was still lavish and modern. A small foyer area to walk in that was a little more than just a dirt mat to wipe their feet on. Just a few feet inward was a decent-sized closet with a full size coat compartment, a bottom-mounted shoe rack with a built-in drier, and a small countertop with a UV sanitizer for phones or keys–whatever they had on them.

Beyond that, it led to a long bar that separated the living room area, which was somewhat minimalistic per the preferences of Noah with the exception of a large TV, integrated gaming station, and some stands for various VR headsets and peripherals. The floor area was huge due to the minimalist approach of just a small sofa, recliner, and oversized bean bag chair, though that worked out incredibly well for the VR gaming. The kitchen, however, was considerably more complex. Behind the bar was a slightly lower countertop with a black, marble-like appearance contrasted by a large, off-white ceramic sink. The entire kitchen had a theme of darker colors with matte, dark stained wooden cabinets with a large open pore texture, appliances in a chic black-adonized finish that had long since replaced stainless steel. Dual ovens, massive refrigerator, vent hood over it all, and wall mounted compartments that covered set-in air fryer, mixers, food processors–essentially everything one needed for a full-sized kitchen. And, all up to spec with their wiring and exhausts professionally handled.

Gauss paid this little heed, walking in with the bags he had and carrying them to the living room area.

”It’s been a pretty eventful time, though. This program doesn’t really pull many punches,” he explained. He then looked around the room, realizing it was a bit dark. Noah kept the curtains in the living room closed, though the windows were a bit oversized. It might be a great view of the estate, but that laughing sun probably wasn’t great for the media center. More importantly, he had to rack his brain as to where to go.

”Prudence took the master bedroom, right?” Gauss asked, trying to remember which room was which. ”Arky could go in there and you’d have separate bathrooms,” Gauss suggested, assuming Noah never felt the need to change rooms once Prudence left. He didn’t seem the type to care enough.

Noah forgot all about those damned curtains.

Setting aside the trolley, Noah took off his shoes and set them in the rack, then went to the windows to open the curtains, letting at least natural light come through and not make the room so small. Looking back at Gauss as he asked, Noah nodded. “Yup, was thinkin’ the same. I’d rather not have such a big room anyway. Imma show ya yer new room, Ark. Pretty sure we got all of Prudence’s things out, too. ‘N’ we won’t touch yer bag unless ya say so.” He took a moment to check the bag and make sure he really didn’t touch it, then grabbed a box or two and walked into the master bedroom, turning on the light and setting the boxes aside.

The three of them working together proved to make the move-in progress a quick endeavor. Aside from the select few items Arky didn’t want touched, Noah and Gauss were more than sufficient help to get everything into the master bedroom. From there, swapping around the furniture was quick, and it became a situation of there was more space than Arky had things. With a large walk in closet and a dedicated bathroom with yet another closet and separate shower and bathe–and a double vanity–it was easily overkill. The ample space meant laying out what they could carry was easy, and the rest would be up to their new partner later.

After that endeavor was completed, Gauss was quick to plop himself in the oversized bean bag chair. Not that he particularly liked it, but that it annoyed Noah to some degree and thus it was always worth the extra few steps to reach it. ”I do believe that’s all,” Gauss said aloud. ”Though, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see what we can do training out back,” he added.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Hoshi Homeland​

Tags: The Regal Rper Sybil

March 29th, 2067​

The flight was long and the trek to the mountaintop was longer. Half of it was an ascent up what appeared to be pure wilderness on a mountainside. The famous DWMA Staircase would prove to be a walk in the park by comparison.

The fact that no one outside of the Hoshi really knew where their homeland was made perfect sense; if not for the assurances from Midori, it seemed like even he had no idea where it was.

Perseverance proved itself to be key, and the three would find themselves at what appeared to be a random set of stone stairs that led to an ascent to the peak of a mountain before nightfall had passed. This, Midori informed them, was the true entrance to his homeland; and, that they were already being watched. Even this staircase itself, though far less maintained, surpassed the massive one the academy was known for. Atop it was a small plateau and a massive bridge that spanned a gorge to another peak, one much steeper. So steep, in fact, that what was atop it could not be seen from their origin at the base.

Over this bridge was a massive gate and a handful of robed men standing at the entrance, bowing once Midori entered. Not of any special reverence to him, but primarily out of respect and for the sake of hospitality. Midori met with an elder woman here, and the discussion occurred in Japanese. If either of the others were acquainted with the language, the accent and dialect with this form of Japanese was quite old and considerably different than anything they might have heard in Tokyo or even the rural areas.

Afterwards, Midori escorted them through the courtyard and around the massive building at the front. The entire area was paved with a type of fine cobblestone road and once around the bigger building, the entire area opened up to reveal a fairly sprawling series of traditional style Japanese buildings adorned with green roofs. The ambience in the area genuinely felt like stepped back into the era of feudal Japan if not further. Though, upon closer inspection, this place was not without modern amenities. Electricity ran through the place. Televisions and lights were sporadically seen, and while they didn't see it yet, even the basics such as washers and dryers. It just wasn't as obvious.

As Midori explained, their training would begin in the morning. They would have their own, separate rooms. A good size and spacious, though their mattresses would be on the floor. Each given a chest to store their belongings, each ran a hot bath and a short guide from an attendant whom did speak to them in English. It was a simple, relaxing series of events compared to the hours they just drudged through the mountain. It was quite heavily suggested that now, they opt to take their hot baths and rest. Training there started early.

And, as assured, it most certainly did. Midori was there at 3:30 AM to awaken them, and by four, they were already meeting the man that would train them: Elder Souta. As Midori explained, the man in his youth was an assassin for the Hoshi that did not directly align himself with the DWMA, and thus had little love for it. Not that working for the DWMA would foster much love for it regardless, but more of a forewarning that their status in the Fate Program and being from the DWMA was washed away here. With him, and really with most of the Hoshi, they were just two people with some mediocre-at-best abilities.

"Hm..." he mused, eying over both Zosar and Adra once they had arrived to the fenced in courtyard that Midori escorted them to. This one was considerably different than those they had seen previously. It was comprised of pristine, white planks of wood that felt as hard as stone or concrete to walk on, but definitely the texture and grain of wood. Not dissimilar to the textured concrete used for decades to recreate a more durable solid wood floor. Around them were these same white fenceposts, all connecting to a fairly large house more traditionally built. It was still dark before the dawn, but the starlight atop this mountain made it fairly easy to see. Elder Souta was an aged, though intense looking man, with eyes even more piercing than Midori.

"This will be dull," he commented first. Though, soon after, he shook his head. "I shall train you as I was requested, but I see little potential to truly learn much," he told them. His voice was full of disappointment. Not just with them, but with the world that provided them. He seemed already like a cantankerous old man. "I was told that the only reason we would even train you at all was that in the time I have to teach, you would not progress so far that you could learn any important secret," he informed them, "and, that appears to be correct."

He then turned to Midori, those same scrutinizing eyes on him. "You left here having mastered a new Art, and these are you students? I expected better," he told him. He then sighed. "Neither have even introduced themselves. Do you not teach them manners?" he said, scolding Midori.

Midori was stone silent. It was different side of him, really. This entire time since entering the homeland, Midori have come more docile and silent. More submissive, really. Now it was plain as day. Not a word was spoken back to this Elder; not a word from the same man with the gall to attack Cyrus.

As Midori attempted to speak, the Elder cut him off. "No, no, don't waste time. Fight them and show me what they can do, unless they suddenly grow tongues that preferably have something important to share," he instructed, giving no real crevice to slip in for an answer.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Sniffing for a Fight​

Tags: Merciless Medic

April 1st, 2067​

The morning had turned out vastly different than he anticipated. It was true; he had plenty more on his mind than his initial obsession with the friends that had disappeared. The realization that his new partner had a literal limitless amount of stamina and an unnaturally high set of physical capabilities made his trips to the gym that much more intense. Her… unique physiology was the most unfair advantage one could feasibly have, in his opinion.

And, all you had to do to get it was die–and be reanimated.

Perhaps more than that was his fateful encounter with Dani. Processing that would take some time if only because of how new that was to him. For more reasons than he even cared to tally up at this point. Even during his run back, he reflected on some of the things they both said. Instead of being enraged, he was entirely flustered. He was retroactively flustered.

Even more so than running, the gym is where all of those thoughts–be them depressing, anxiety-inducing, or competitive in nature–could be washed away. Here, he could focus. Here, he could unleash everything he had and achieve new heights. Not only that, here is where labels disappeared. Meister, Weapon, Mage even; they didn’t matter. What did is how much you could lift, squat, curl, or throw. An even playing field. He couldn’t ask for more.

Today was the day for his favorite machine. A magitech multi-function trainer that used a magnetic circuit to achieve otherwise impossible resistance and be precisely set with user profiles for exact weight ranges. This made training with wavelength amplification significantly easier and vastly reduced the chances of injury. It was also voice controlled, and tuned specifically to the voice of the user profile engaged–so no nasty tricks here.

This is where Adrian was. Reclined in the slick, synthetic, black seat of the machine–designed specifically to be sanity and easy to clean. His back firmly against the support, pressing into the reinforced gray bars it used to hold the user. His hands were wrapped around large protrusions from an overhanging bar on a magnetic swivel housed inside a frame, showing only the silvery metal of a bearing inside the gray casing it was housed in. Fingers gripping firmly onto the rugged, black grips on the gray protrusions, reading to bear the weight that was going to increase incrementally until it hit his desired amount.

It was not uncommon for agents to train here. Wavelength spikes happened all of the time. What was less common was wavelength training used to train to failure. Most trained for endurance, some trained to become more efficient, but for Adrian, it was all about the raw strength and speed he could glean from these machines. That made his spikes, even at his rank, particularly intense. When he pushed against the weights bearing down on him, it was something that caused pause for a few infrequent users of the gym.

The fact Adrian remained resolute without flinching as the pressure on the machine continued to climb only remained more impressive. Passing a thousand pounds already, he was beyond nature limitations. And, it was on the rise to two thousand and he hadn’t yet shown signs of struggle with his wavelength coursing through him. These numbers weren’t out of line for an agent, especially given what the top tier brass could do, but given his youthful appearance and lack of bulky muscles, it always seemed to draw a few onlookers when he managed to maintain so much weight–and that was before he even started the actual lifting.

Sara had made a quick meal for herself and Eva before she left abruptly. She needed to workout, and she had to avoid everyone she was growing close with or were on the same team with if she wanted to choose anyone for this Joker’s Ball thing. Choose someone you wouldn’t normally go out with?

Well, that happened to be no one on her team, nor Zosar. That’s… If he was even here, which she knew he wasn’t. But that also included no one she met before and became friends with. She would take Ashi, but she was already friends with her, even if they were acquaintances at best. Eva was her partner, so she couldn’t take her. Noah was a close friend of hers, so that was a no. She heard Noah was taking Dani, and Dani was going to be dragging Nadia along, so she wasn’t going to impose herself in their business. She didn’t want to tempt Gauss, and-...

Oh, wait! That’s who she’ll bring along!

Her thoughts had gone to Lot C and the people there. The one she remembered and wanted to spar with was Adrian, but she never got a chance to. He was friends with Zari and Jarvis, wasn’t he? He wondered how he was faring, what with the mentor change she heard. She hoped the two were around, but word on the street went fast, and people in the guy dorms of DWMA were a lot more at ease now that Jarvis wasn’t there. Oh boy…

It was safe to say they were gone, and she hoped Adrian wasn’t taking it too hard. While Adrian didn’t seem as much of a socialite like Sara was, having any kind of connection and then having it ripped away was difficult. She heard that Zelda and Emmett were being replaced by other mentors and teams switched around. It didn’t bother her as badly, as she always went about it in an optimistic way, but it still bummed her out. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like for someone whose thoughts weren’t like that.

But she did like his spicy iron scent from the time at Lot C, so she was going to find him. She caught a whiff of this scent as she was going through Death City, and man was it strong. He must have ran through and sweated up a storm. Someone like him would be going to the gym. So, that’s where she went. She knew she went to the right one when she smelled the spiking of his soul and that spicy iron pervaded her nostrils.

And she found him. Some people were already staring as he was lifting this thing with his legs. She was never one to use machines in such a way, but the magitech was cool to watch. Still, she wondered how she was going to get this guy to spar with her. Well, what about asking?

Hmmm, too direct. He was busy focusing on his reps. Of course, wearing black shorts and a black shirt, her white jacket tied around her waist would get someone looking at her eventually. Someone who wasn’t as interested in Adrian’s feats of strength definitely seemed more interested in the partial werewolf coming in. Sara’s ears fell back when she saw someone approach, but she decided to use Adrian now as a way to get away from him.

Which gave her an excuse to bug him mid-rep. Sara practically skipped over to him, hands clasped behind her back as she peered over at him, standing beside the machine and making sure not even an ear or a tail would get caught, even as it wagged. “Heyyy, Adrian. Wassup?”

Adrian was mid-rep. Adrian was currently pressing on over a metric tonne of weight, keeping it stabilized above his chest. The weight was still increasing, but he was definitely at a point now where there was significant effort. Sure, there were safety devices in place to prevent it from crushing him should his arms fail, but that wasn’t the point. He was focused.

Some girl in some short shorts with a tail wasn’t going to come distract him. He didn’t really even remember her, and if he did, right this second was not the time he could focus his brain power to recall her.

He did not look at her. He didn’t change his grip or stop what he was doing. The poundage on the bar was still increasing and he had to remain focused as it did. He knew his set and he had to hold this weight for another fifteen seconds or so before it maxed out, then he could finally do his reps.

”If you can’t tell, this isn’t the time,” Adrian announced. His words weren’t quite strained, but they didn’t slip out of his mouth easily, either.

Sara looked up to see the weight racking up and her ears fell from worry. “Ah. I see. Well, how many you thinking of doing once you get going?” She asked, hoping to get some kind of time frame. Or she can just completely ruin the training for him, but that probably wasn’t going to garner any favors from him. She can be patient. Probably.

She kept going. Most people saw those numbers reach four digits and left him alone. Even other Agents. But, not her, apparently. ”Abort,” Adrian announced. There was a clear amount of frustration in his voice, even with that one word being all he said. With that, the device slowed in its increase until it stopped entirely, then the weight began to drop. Obviously, that meant Adrian couldn’t just stop pushing, but it was definitely an interruption.

He rationalized this was the much, much more safe option. When he first started on this equipment, safety was drilled into him. It may seem ironic, but the forces these machines put out were insane. What Adrian and other agents could lift was well beyond even the best human athletes. Having a distraction, especially this early in his workout, was a recipe for disaster.
Luckily, it was just that: early. At the very least, if he started again, it wouldn’t ruin his full rotation. As annoying as it may be, this was the most logical option. He was hardly happy with this regardless, but at least it wasn’t entirely ruined for him.

”The normal rotation is ten reps of thirty-eight, eight of forty, six of forty-two, then I do forty-four until I can’t lift it up, and the machine will stall out,” Adrian explained to her. He was still fairly focused on maintaining the weight above him, and while he didn’t clarify that he meant hundreds of pounds by those numbers, he wasn’t exactly considering how unclear that might have been.

”So, uh, what’s more important than lifting a small car over my head?” he asked, his tone a combination of sarcastic and annoyed with how sharp the end of each word happened to be. He had still yet to look over at her. Beyond verbally replying, he hadn’t acknowledged her in the slightest.

She can smell it. Irritation and anger. She pouted, knowing she was doing rather poorly. He hadn’t even so much as looked at her, but with his focus, she wasn’t going to knock him on that either. She figured, with the spikes of energy she was feeling before, that he didn’t mean three-hundred eighty pounds, much less thirty-eight pounds. She admired how much he was even able to lift before grinning at him. “It’s Sara, the werewolf from Lot C during that ball game. I remember you, and I wanted to hang out with you, but we were so busy, we never got time to. I was gonna ask you something, but I’d rather you not drop the weight on yourself if I figured the kind of reaction you’d-... Ah, oh well.” She saw the numbers fell to an acceptable weight and asked him. “Would you like to come with me to the Joker’s Ball? I thought it would be a good time as any to become friends, since that’s what I wanted to do in the first place.” She grinned, tail wagging excitedly.

Oh. Another Fate Agent. This was some type of day. Unless pre-arranged, he typically never ran into so many so quickly. This was what? Two in the last two hours? At this rate, he’d go through an entire team by the end of the day. Werewolf, didn’t matter. Made him question the tail, though; he didn’t think they could just transform their parts like that. Lot C, that whole endeavor. It wasn’t bad, until they kept returning there.

And then she said she wanted to ask him something, but waited. That might have came across as considerate, but for someone as high-strung as Adrian–or impatient, depending on your point of view–it only made him that much more anxious. He was part of Fate. He just got into a fight with his mentors. He nearly broke another agent’s ankle not that long ago. His friends just fled the DWMA. This could have been anything, and she just left it open. Her explanation didn’t matter considering the context.

But, her question did come. It was literally nothing he could have anticipated. And, unlike Dani, there was no build-up to it. This girl just asked him to the Ball. Basically asked him out. Everything about the Ball, like the fact who you asked was supposed to be a surprise, escaped his mind entirely and he was in shock. His brain blanked.

With that, the machine registered a sudden drop in force, and engaged its safety mode. The weight was easily within the safe ranges, but that didn’t matter. This kicked in under any load. So, suddenly, the ball bearing housing sucked the entire assembly straight up into itself, almost ripping Adrian up out of the seat with it. However, the black plastic handles were ejected, so he wasn’t actually launched into the air. The entire system was similar to the stop mechanism on a table saw. Once engaged, it was an aggressive end to the process. Except instead of the saw being immediately stopped by a steel block and dropped into a table, the weight was immediately relieved by pulling it up into a socket and the handles for grip were removed.

Adrian was already flushed. He was bearing an incredible amount of weight, even if it wasn’t at its maximum yet. Still, he turned just a shade redder before looking over at Sara. A lot had just happened. The weight was taken off him all at once, machine was stopped, he was just asked to the Ball; he was rightfully a bit flabbergasted.

”Uh… what?” he asked, a bit dumb-founded still at this point.

Sara giggled upon seeing him look so surprised. “Awww, you’re a cutie.” She grinned wide, resting against the now safe machine, her arms crossed. “You know, I was prepared that, in the event you said no, I’d challenge you to a friendly spar for it. No wavelength amplification. Nothing. But now I’m more than interested in dragging you around the fun festivities to have a grand ol’ time, even if we did spar and you won. So, how ‘bout it, cutie?”

She kept calling him ‘cutie’ and he had no idea how to feel about it. Adrian wasn’t accustomed to this. People did not talk to him this way. Girls didn’t talk to him at all. What the fuck was going on? At least Dani made some sense. It was just a chance happening, it seemed. They just got along. Sara came after him. Why did she want this?

For the second time today, Adrian was flushed entirely red. She talked about sparring, but how did that relate? Sparring and going to a ball? They seemed diametrically opposite. Nowhere in the same vein. Hell, not even in the same body. What was she even talking about.

Then it hit him that Dani had just essentially asked him to come. But, she was going with someone else. Or, was she? Was he going with her? Or, just to see her? Did that matter, though? Sara was outright asking him. But, he didn’t know Sara. Though, he didn’t know Dani, either; but, at least he knew her better.

Adrian was completely silent as the gears turning in his brain were going so quick that steam might as well have been pouring out his ear. Was it a bad thing if he went with Sara when Dani mentioned going? Was that, like, cheating? Hell, did he even want to go with Sara? Now and only now, thinking that thought, he realized that this dance was all about taking someone that you wouldn’t normally go with.

Was Sara insulting him? Was this like, kind’a a prank? He remembered what he told Dani. He might go to a normal ball with Dani, depending on things. But, Sara? Well, he didn’t know. Because he didn’t fucking know her. Adrian just didn’t fucking know. He was embarassed, previously he was frustrated, he was even more previously upset about is friends, and now he was just… he was brain-fucked.

”I-I don’t… know…” he said, realizing how long a response had taken him and just pushing out something while his brain melted.

She could smell all kinds of confusion from him and she pouted, her ears falling back and her tail stilled. Her tone was nothing but sincere and kind. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you shut down like that. Here, you want something? We can go to a cafe or something. Get you that protein stuff, yeah? Assuming you take that kinda stuff, but assuming you're a workout junkie, it’s kinda obvious.” She then shrugged. “Anyway, the name’s Sara. I thought maybe you’d remember me, but I guessed you’re not the kind of person to remember people all that well. Either way, I remembered how strong and playful you were. Even made those ball halves with your form, which I thought was really cool!” The excitement came back, practically making her yellow eyes sparkle. “I’m not much of a craftsperson, so the fact you made it with your form was amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen other weapons do that either.” Nothing but positivity. She may be smothering him by accident and, honestly, she didn’t mean to. She was just super excited to get to talk to him.

A bit smothering was an overstatement. Sara was like a reset timer on his anxiety. Every time he adjusted even slightly, she went up a gear and made it worse. He didn’t even know where to begin in terms of responses. She just talked. So much. This was nothing like what it was with Dani. That was a pleasant, rhythmic back and forth. This was chaos. And, he didn’t even mean to compare to the two; it was just the chronology of his interactions.

Adrian was so lost that Dora the Explorer couldn’t find him in a three-part special.

”I-I didn’t… finish my workout…” he replied, stammering. ”Protein shakes like.. Don’t matter if I didn’t finish,” he explained. Perhaps the most irrelevant possible reply he could have made, but it was also one of the first things she came up with. More importantly, it was the easiest of all things to respond to.

Realizing she was only making it worse, she took a deep breath and held it. Mentally counting in her head, she reached ten seconds before exhaling. The energy she had before was kept at a bare minimum, and she wasn't all over the place like before. “I’m so sorry, I suck at this.” She giggled, though with a bit more softness and strain towards herself. “I didn’t mean to be so all over the place. Would you like me to let you finish or would you like a spar that’s worthy enough to get you to have some protein shake?” There we go, she felt a bit better, even if she had like twenty other things to say. They’ll just have to wait.

”Let’s just… try one thing at a time,” Adrian suggested, trying to parse all of this as best he could. She had thrown a lot of ideas at him all at once. And, she did it while he was flustered. There was just a lot going on here that he hadn’t thought out or at this point even consented to. She was going a million miles an hour and he was stuck at the starting line stalled out by her one little compliment.

One thing at a time… Ah, that’s going to be difficult. She pressed her lips together in a thin line to keep herself from bowling over him again verbally, and instead tried to focus on one thing. And that thing only. “Okay. So, since we’re here. Want to finish your workout, or do you want to spar with me?” She tried to hold in her excitement and of her compliments of him, but knowing that doing that right now was going to cause more harm than good.

Or, she could just leave and find him again. That was an idea. But she wasn’t about to temporarily give up just yet. She had to learn how to deal with people like Adrian, and she was going to suffer through it as much as he was.

She was at least trying. He could decipher that from this mess. What she hadn’t considered was the prospect of sparring, while normally not a problem in the slightest, was secondary to the fact she asked him to the ball. Until that was resolved, he wasn’t even sure if he could probably focus on a fight. And, that subsequently applied to just about everything on the list.

Logic here dictated he needed to eliminate the source of these problems, then work down the crazy list of things Sara brought up one-by-one.

”How about we just talk about the things you brought up one by one as they came,” Adrian suggested, trying to bring some order to this chaos. He was still flustered, but after the initial shock, he wasn’t left entirely useless. ”You asked about the Ball, but I don’t know how simple that is,” he explained, albeit vaguely.

Oh, that’s what he meant. Cheeks turning pink from her own embarrassment, Sara giggled as she scratched the back of her head and looked away. Her words came out a bit measured, not as fast as they were earlier. “Ah, yeah, that’s what you meant. I’m more used to just dragging people along. So uh… Thank you for unintentionally teaching me how to do this properly.” She then refocused herself and looked back at him, grinning. “What do you mean though? Not that simple?” She practically nearly scoffed at it, her playful nature kicking. “I ask you, you either decide if you wanna come with, and we either go or we don’t. You’re the first one I remembered when I was trying to avoid going with my friends, so I want to be your friend. That’s why I asked. It would be something fun to do, and maybe we learn something along the way.”

Now that the raw embarrassment was dying down, and despite the pink cheeks on Sara, Adrian could feel the frustration creeping through. Not only was he not accustomed to any of this, but Sara was all over the place. Making assumptions, suggestions, being somewhat pushy. It was like a little kid hyped up on mountain dew, except she was a full grown wolf-person and it didn’t stop.

”Okay, okay, Sara,” he said, before ushering out a sigh. It took just a brief second for him to compose himself. ”First, the only two friends I’ve made–that weren’t literally assigned to deal with me–just left after knocking my ass out so I wouldn’t find them. I don’t even know why, or where to–nothin’. So let’s slow down on the whole friendship motif, yeah?” he told her. It came across as a suggestion, but with a bit of a stern tone laden behind it.

”Secondly, I don’t know what I’m doing yet. I just talked to Dani and she wanted me to go, but she’s actually going with someone else. But, apparently, you go with someone you wouldn’t expec…”[/b] he started to explain, but trailed off for a moment.

”Fuck it, that’s just too much to explain. Balls, dances, dates–it’s all real fuckin’ complicated and I don’t understand any of it on anormal day. This one isn’t normal at all,” he said, getting more directly to the point.

”And uh, here’s a thing. I don’t know you. You have never been on my team, but you were from Lot C, so logically speaking, you’d be on the team with Dani and the magnet guy. That’s all I actually know here,” he told her, pointing out the facts.

”I know a lot of fuckheads around here just treat a girl nice ‘cause she’s fit or pretty, but I don’t do that,” he told her. ”I don’t do any of that,” he added, being quite stern with his comment.

“Good.” She grinned, glad he wasn’t those kinds of people. It wasn’t lost on her that he attempted to get her to realize her looks wouldn’t work, but that’s why she was a bit more comfortable around him. “I talked to you now to get away from those people. If I had time, I would have waited for you to get done.” However, the news of Zari’s departure registered last and she froze. Her ears fell and she looked to the floor. Her tone was abnormally quiet. “Zari… Zari left… So the rumors were true…” Sighing, she kicked the floor, all the excitement she had completely disappeared. “Y-yeah, I’m sorry. But that’s why I wanted to go with you… So we can get to know each other. We may not be friends by the end of the day, but I… I just want to make you smile is all, and maybe get you to have fun. Especially with that news, I feel like it’s my duty now.” She said with a bit more resolve at the end, but the news that Zari left also had her completely stopped in her tracks.

Adrian chewed through everything she said. It was a lot. A lot to process, a big ask to consider. At the very least, it was just one thing in seclusion instead of a half-dozen being thrown at him all at once. He couldn’t fathom why she felt like cheering him up was her duty. On that note, he wasn’t even sure she could; up to this point, everything she had done was more frustrating than cheerful. Though, given the subject matter, he wasn’t sure if anyone could have presented that to him in a more amicable way.

Regardless of how annoying he found her to be, he couldn’t bring himself to just shut her down when all she was wanting to do was make friends. Not that he was exactly inclined to go out of his way and defend her, but shutting her down entirely seemed like kicking a puppy. And, despite literally being a device for torture, Adrian wasn’t exactly about the canine abuse.

What this conflict didn’t resolve was how it may be perceived, given he intended on seeing Dani there. He didn’t know the etiquette. He didn’t know if this was like a date, or more like an arrangement of practicality. He wasn’t sure if Dani would see it and think him some type of player, or if it would be amusing. In any case, what he didn’t want was to burn two bridges down in the same day.

He sighed again. ”The Ball is… about bringing someone no one would expect. Bringing me at all accomplishes that,” Adrian told her, his rationale being that no one would expect Adrian to go there in general. ”I don’t inherently object to the idea, I guess,” he told her, ”but I don’t want some sitcom movie situation going down where one person feels deceived.”

”Logic stands that if you saw me on Lot C, but I don’t know you, you’d be on the other team. Which means… the team with Dani. If you two are on teams, it’s also logical you have her contact number,” Adrian said, proving that despite his flustered moment earlier, he was capable of critical thinking.

”So text her, tell her I said I’d only go if she confirmed it wasn’t going to upset anyone, and my decision will be based on what she replies,” Adrian suggested, laying out for Sara how he intended to avoid the aforementioned sitcom movie situation. ”I always fuckin’ hated it when those movies plotlines could have been solved with a single text,” he explained.

Her ears perked up a bit when he said he wouldn’t object to the idea, her mind going back and remembering he had said something about Dani. Oh, that’s right. She smiled, wagging her tail as she pulled out her phone. “I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t mind. She’s going with my former weapon partner and her meister, Noah and Nadia. At least, that’s what I heard through the walls. I doubt it’s a date, and this won’t be one either if that makes you feel more comfortable.” She surfed through her phone until she found Dani’s contact information she stole acquired from Noah and began typing out a message.

04/01/67 0856
Unknown Number: Hey, you. It’s Sara, your friendly neighborhood cooking werewolf. I stole your contact information from Noah, lol. He didn’t even stand a chance! Anyway, Adrian’s worried he’s gonna hurt you or something if he goes with me to the ball. But since I heard you’re going with Noah and I think Nadia, if I heard that correctly (sorry, my ears are really stupidly sensitive), then I don’t think it’s all that bad. And hey, we can see each other, too! Is that gonna be okay?

She hit send, grinning stupidly wide. “There we go.” She sang out. “All done. So… The other thing that needs to be talked about.” She looked up at him expectantly, not unlike a dog waiting for their next command.

Adrian tilted his head to the side for a moment. She said the other thing as if there was just one. Were all werewolves like this? He hadn’t met many, but the ones he did meet also weren’t quite like Sara. She seemed like a walking wet dream for a furry otaku whereas most werewolves might have just been a little extra hairy, or had sharper ears, some fangs, some small stuff like that. In any case, none quite behaved like her.

Had she tried Adderall? No, no that was a rude thought.

”Do… you mean sparring or a meal?” he asked, for justified clarification.

Sara blinked. “Whatever you wanna go with. I don’t want to bowl you over with my energy again. Though, a spar would be nice. Been wanting that since, well, a month ago.” She suggested, not wanting to make him do anything he didn’t want to do.

”Just so you’re aware,” Adrian told her, ”sparring with me isn’t like… an actual representation of how I fight. I won’t use my spikes, wavelength, or self-resonance.”

“Good. I’m aware of your pain wavelength, too. I just wanna fight you is all. Your fighting techniques are cool.” She grinned, now feeling like she was getting somewhere, albeit slowly.

She interrupted his power lifting. He figured he might as well try the sparring match. He hadn’t really sparred with anyone since Zari, and he figured she couldn’t be any more skilled than he was. He let out a sigh, then slid off the seat and started walking through the gym.

”I’ll see if there’s a ring open,” he told her. This was a Death City gym, sure, but it was part of the Black★Star syndicate. These typically had rings with a proper ref in them for sparring matches just like this. Or, y’know, MMA, boxing, whatever else. They catered to all types.

”If we do open format for agents, it’s three rounds,” he explained to her. ”First round, no techniques. Winner is the first to score a full contact blow. You can decide if you want no-score zones like the head or crotch. Second round, we fight with any techniques we know. Same win condition. Third round, if it’s a tie, we decide how we want to fight and whether we want a point system or K.O.,” he told her, going into more detail. These weren’t necessarily his rules, but instead house rules. Not his system, but not a bad system.

By that time, he had already reached a dark-skinned man at the front desk in an outfit. Apparently, the only ring they had wasn’t a ring, but a caged octagon. Adrian didn’t care. Dirt floor, wooden planks, boxing ring, or MMA octagon. He would fight in anything.

”You alright with a cage match?” he asked her, looking over his shoulder to her.

Sara had followed Adrian along, listening attentively as he explained the house rules. She’s fought in a Black★Star ring before. At least, it’s been a while since her last visit, but she appreciated him going over the points she may have forgotten. She thought about having no-score zones, then she just shook her head. “We won’t need those no-score zones.” Then, she saw it was going to be a cage match.

She was practically bouncing up and down. “Oh, oh, oh, cage matches! We have something like that in our biome! I was pretty good in my Werewolf Cage Match days.” She reminisced for a moment, then shook her head to get out of it as she spoke to Adrian. “You ready? Cuz I am.”

”A zombie for a partner, now a werewolf… things sure do stay interesting,” Adrian commented. It wasn’t as if he had ignored that she was a werewolf the entire time, more so that the people around him immediately were fairly colorful. Signing up was simple. They both had their DWMA ID’s, so a quick scan and they were ready to go. Room 3 to the cages.

”I’m always ready,” Adrian told her as he led her to the room, then the cage. Adrian had a mouthguard ready for this type of situation which he grabbed from the gym bag he gathered on their way to the room. Before entering through the left door, he popped in his fitted mouthguard. After that, it was a quick climb up to the padded area surrounding the hexagonal caging material and to said door.

A referee, donning a traditional white and black striped shirt, was already there waiting.

As Sara popped in her mouthguard, she felt a buzz and looked at her phone.

04/01/67 xxx
Dani:Up 2 you and him. We can hang out or whatever.

Grinning, she put it back in her pocket and climbed inside the cage. She breathed in deeply, reveling in the feel of being in a cage ring as the familiar chill ran through her body. She opened her eyes and grinned at him, taking out her mouthguard for the moment. “Oh yeah, Dani says it’s okay, and we can hang out when we get there.” Popping the mouthguard back in, she stretched her arms behind her, then stretched out her legs sideways in those stretching side lunges. She waited for the referee to start the match, her gaze steady on Adrian with an almost predatory gaze that was a stark contrast to the playful, friendly look she had earlier.

The fact Dani had given her approval already eased the mind. There would still be more internal deliberation on this later, but the look Sara had in her eyes indicated to Adrian that now was not the time to be off task. He took a step back, lifted both of his arms in front of his chest, bent at the elbow with a loose stance and open palms. His feet spread apart with each knee slightly bent, his back foot up on its toes for forward motion with his front foot firmly on the ground. If she thought she was the predator here, she was in for a rude awakening.

The referee noted the two had already taken their stances, so he backed away and announced the only necessary words. ”I want a clean fight. Headshots are fair game, no out of bounds, and a double tap on and surface constitutes a forfeit by my call. First round goes to the first point of hard contact. With that said… go!” he announced.

Adrian was already on the move, observing Sara closely and absolutely certain she would be dashing forward to make the first move. Given he had never seen how she fought, he wanted to see what her movements were like. He was already moving forward, bouncing almost like a boxer, but carefully making sure his body always had at least one point of contact on the ground.

Sara, unlike what Adrian had thought, didn’t charge forward. No no, she knew this game way too well. She bent over, fingers barely touching the ground as her body swayed side by side with bent knees. It looked like she was going to sprint towards him, get in position for American football, or lunge to get a headstart in a race, but that’s not what she wanted to do yet. Fingers curled to look like claws as she stalked around him slowly, body poised as every fiber of her being seemed coiled and ready to pounce, watching his bouncing form very closely. She was going to need good reaction time.

She was a werewolf. Right. In any other circumstance–hell, arguably in this circumstance still–her stance would have been ridiculous. Hunched over, low to the ground, limiting most movements. It had one use and one use alone: grappling. Her anatomy, it seemed, was not so different from a regular human that her current stance did not impose the same restrictions onto her. His blue eyes watched her every moment, evaluating how she was moving in this unorthodox position.

They could dance around like this for a while. Sara looking for an opening. Adrian waiting to have the advantage of retaliation. Given this was a point system, being on the defense was almost universally advantageous. If she thought she was going to flank him, she was entirely wrong; his bouncing movements allowed him to rotate along with her. The octagon was plenty big enough to go in circles without being restricted in movement.

Adrian was hardly the most intelligent man in any room, but in combat, he had a sharp mind. She covered more ground than him. She was making more movements with her body. She was a spring ready to pounce. He was much more reserved, bouncing along in hopes to react to whatever she was doing. In this moment, he needed to anticipate what she thought was going to happen.

He wagered she didn’t think he would make the first move. Not with him adjusting to her movements. She may have been waiting for it, sure, but he rationalized she was waiting for any opening. Any flip up in his footwork. Any shift in his stance. Any body movement where his limbs were in a less reactionary position. This was his logic because that is what he would do in a stand-off like this. A predator looked for any weakness to strike.

Circumvent expectations. Victory was found in the moments one had planned for the least and an opponent with no plan either had outrageous strength or no chance at victory to begin with. Sara was neither–to his knowledge.

Adrian hastened himself and darted forward quickly, bridging the distance between them and shifting his body lower to throw a knee directly at her head. She was low to the ground, so his typical elbow strikes with their already limited range were not an immediate option. Regardless, the knee to her head was not his actual goal. That left knee of his was a feint in and of itself, only half-hearted with its lunge. Predicting a right angled dodge, he twisted his body at the waist to reach for her hair in the most logical path away from his knee.

No one expected hair-pulling in a DWMA fight, but Adrian gave zero shits. That’s how he intended to circumvent these expectations.

Sara watched, wondering if she should pounce at him mid-bounce, right when he barely had time to think when he was planning on setting a foot down. That was when he dove for her, and she laughed.

Crouching low, she then jumped overhead, inches above him as her hand came down to his face to slam or slap backwards. From her jump, she would have landed behind him - facing him - and she was ready to pounce. She knew however, he would be waiting for that.

She leapt. That’s all Adrian needed to know. Changing his movement entirely now realizing she intended to go up and over him, he opted to dive into a roll on the ground. She went high, so he went low, ultimately with neither one being in range to touch the other. In the ring, this was called a classic ‘reset’; essentially, putting them back at square one.

Difference being, Adrian was now closer to the edge of the cage and Sara would be closer to the center. This was not ideal. Remaining in the center provided the most mobility. Not that an octagon had traditional corners like a square ring, but any disadvantage could prove problematic.

Her slap had missed its mark, but that was okay. She got Adrian essentially cornered. He probably figured she’d go high again. Well, he was right. Chuckling, she lunged after him, only to jump and land against the cage wall hands first, where her legs came in for a kick towards whatever she could reach, her body then curling up on the wall as she looked over her shoulder to check where he was.

A rush of anger poured through Adrian in that second. Not directly at Sara, really, but for the situation she was putting him in. In that moment, with that kick, he had flashbacks to his previous fight with Sampson. She was stupidly clinging to the walls of a chain link cage and kicking at him–every modicum of combat strategy that he knew said to grab her feet, lock the ankles, pin her down or throw her down. But, the last time he did that–also a logical decision in his mind–it caused a problem.

Thing was, Adrian was getting a bit better. Anger did not blind him. At least, not yet.

As her feet came at him, Adrian anticipated their trajectory, stepping right in their path. With the kick at extension, he wrapped his arm around her most inward leg and clamped down on it around her ankle. Her other foot quite harshly rammed into his arm at full force, but that much he could handle.

Werewolf or not, joints were still fuckin’ joints. They could only bend so much. With her ankle in his clutches, Adrian allowed his body to deadweight to the ground, trying to rip her off the cage and slam her onto the floor below all while lifting his legs up to either kick at her if she tried to lunge at him from that position or to wrap his legs around the one he had captured, depending on how she handled the current situation.

It wasn’t the ankle-breaking leg lock he had Sampson in. He wasn’t going to repeat that here. But, he wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slide by.

Well, while past experiences told her this was a good idea, doing this to Adrian was a horrible idea. Adrian’s body becoming deadweight proved to slip her fingers off the cage wall, and she knew her leg was stuck now. But she also had a tail. Falling down now, she couldn’t get close to his body, but that was where the momentum took her. Arms out, she gripped his legs to prevent herself from falling directly into him, her other leg on the floor as she used her tail to tickle his face so she could get him to let go. Using that as a distraction, she made a feral growl as she readied her palm and slammed it down on his stomach, hoping to knock the air right out of him, so she can roll away.

This was the ground game. This was where Adrian had an advantage, or so he thought. He had two legs just as she did two arms. Supporting herself with one leg while he had the other meant they were in a deadlock. She couldn’t feasibly hold both of his legs with one arm and try to strike him with the other, so Adrian knew precisely what to do. Short, but powerful kicks–almost like stomps, aimed at Sara’s face and chest, and if her arms got in the way, those, too. If she didn’t protect her body with her arms, she was going to get far worse than he would with a hit to the gut.

But, there was the tail. Adrian had not fought someone with a tail. He wasn’t even sure what she was trying to do with it. But, Adrian was a man of action. Thanks to the power of anime, he had a pretty good idea of what to do if a tail was put in his face.

Adrian bit down on her tail, fur and all. He gave no fucks about furmouth.

Seeing the legs come up, she abandoned her strike on his stomach. One of her hands had already gripped the foot, but the other that was mid-strike missed, and the side of his foot grazed her face and shoulder, her body trying to twist out of the way. Scrambling to get a hold of his other foot, she felt a sudden surge of pain - and adrenaline - shoot through her body from her tail. She yelped and growled more like an animal than a person. She was going to make them roll. Using his legs to her advantage, she used her foot that was on the ground to lunge forwards, using the grip he had on her ankle and her tail, and her own grip on his legs, to roll them towards the wall, where she was hopefully close enough to slam him into.

Adrian wasn’t entirely sure what she was trying to do, but he needed to remain in control of this situation. In a ground fight, he who controlled the flow of actions won the fight. Adrian did not necessarily fight against the momentum she created. If anything, he played into it. He twisted his abdomen over to throw his whole body to the side, essentially rolling over onto the side he had in a lock. What might have turned into the roll Sara predicted would have shifted into another hit to the ground, this time on her side instead of back.

And, Adrian wasn’t done. Once on his side, he began pulling back on her ankle, making this more like a traditional ankle lock. However, given his legs were not wrapped around hers, this forced Sara into the decision of either releasing his legs or making the lock on her ankle–and the pain from it–that much worse.

Should she just take it? Her ankle was really starting to hurt, and they had a couple more rounds after this. She had one more thing to try before she tapped out. She twisted herself around, moving away from his legs by pushing and sliding herself away. Then, her body faced upwards and her hands on the floor. She then pushed into Adrian, pushing her foot more into body. After a couple of seconds of pushing into him, she’d test for its looseness by trying to retract her foot.

Releasing his legs allowed him to withdraw them to his body, and in doing that, he was better poised to wrap his legs around hers. More specifically, to clamp down on her leg right below her knee. Her initial plan to push into him and elevate herself might have worked had he not clamped down on her leg with his own. But now, he was in the worst possible position. This was a full ankle lock, and now he was putting tension on her leg between the knee and ankle.

”Might… as well… tap…” he grunted, putting effort into keeping her down and this lock.


“I’m not a quitter…” She growled.

”Fair warning,” he said between breaths, ”last guy I had like this,” he went on, ”nearly got his ankle broke.”

Sara paused. “Huh, okay.” Her entire body strained, and she stared at him, wondering if he was going to lose grip or stamina and let go. But considering that an AW’s strength would be their endurance and he likely knew that and trained in it… Yeah, it hurt too much. She tapped twice on the floor.

The ref called it before Adrian let go, though not by much. ”First round, Hackney. Victory by submission,” he announced. By that time, Adrian had let go and uncoiled from her leg. Given their positioning, she would need to be the one to basically get off of him before they could reset.

”We can allow a ten minute intermission if you would like to get your leg looked at, miss,” the Referee said. ”I am obligated to tell you egregious personal injury, such as intentionally damaging a joint or breaking a bone, will result in a loss and potentially a ban from Star Gyms,” he informed them, ”and, that should you be held in any one lock for longer than a thirty second count, it can be called by a referee or judge as either a loss or draw at the discretion of the Star Gym official.”

Sara nodded, already knowing those rules, but was glad it was brought up again. She had rolled back up on her feet, her ankle now a bit sore from the hold. She had to be faster. She shouldn’t be so cautious considering he wasn’t going to be using his weapon or wavelength form. She looked back at the ref when he offered to get her leg looked at and she laughed, waving a nonchalant hand at him. “Nah, nah, it’s fiiiiine.” She hopped on her now bruised ankle to show that she wasn’t going to be a wuss and get it checked out. “You ready, Adrian?” She grinned back at her opponent, her tail wagging now as she smirked challengingly at him.

”Oh, I will be. Fighting a Meister is always interesting,” he responded to her. Adrian returned to the half of the octagon that he started in, then resumed his original stance. This time, however, he allowed his wavelength to pour through him. He wasted absolutely no time in getting himself going; and, he didn’t expect Sara to, either. He didn’t imagine she would want this to end up a landslide victory for him, thus anticipated her going much harder this round.

The referee took a much further step back and eyed both of them. ”In this round, you may use any standard technique you would reasonably learn within the academy. Per protocol, I am informed to remind you this fight is purely for sparring purposes. It is not ranked, and it is suggested you keep in mind your opponent is another agent at all times,” he told them, knowing all too well these fights had the potential to get out of hand at this stage.

Sara nodded at the rules, pouring her wavelength immediately. The call of the beast within her stirred within the very earth of her soul, and she grinned more so to show off her teeth, while her eyes widened in gleeful anticipation. Her entire body became rigid, then became relaxed yet still tensed like a spring. “You know, I’ve never fought an Autonomous Weapon before until now. You’re setting a really high bar, Adrian~.” She cooed, the tone having changed drastically from being sweet and spunky to becoming a bit sinister, her voice a bit raspy.

She waited to see what he’d do, but decided to be impulsive and charged in a blur. With her fists clenched, she had them at her sides, then extended one towards him to punch him anywhere she could feasibly reach, preferably his torso. She had her other hand ready to grab onto any limb of his, her eyes watching out for what his body was going to be doing.

Adrian was much less focused on the small talk during this round. Though, his reasoning was quite connected to the comment Sara made. He wouldn’t be using any transformations, so the outcome of this round would be quite heavily affected by just how well each one of them used the fundamental techniques of a Meister. How fast could they amp themselves, how quickly could they react, how strong could they become in a short time. That’s what mattered here.

And, neither one of them knew anything about the other.

She made the first move this time. And, she was quick. Much, much faster than before. Her form still seemed just as sloppy. Had he the time to ponder it, he might have wondered if this was due to her being a werewolf. Were they naturally reliant on their physical talents more than martial arts or other training? A question for later, perhaps.

Adrian did not back away from her, in fact, he dived in. Her punch would in fact land on his torso and he quickly lifted his hand on the same side as her punch to wrap around her fist and hold it in place against him. Meanwhile, his opposite arm jutted out quickly, but not for a punch. Instead, his intention was to grab the back of her neck and pull her even closer to him now that he had her first, holding her in that awkward position. His real strike came a moment later with the force of a powerful knee to her gut from the leg opposite to her punch, spinning into it to add just that much more force.


Sara was caught in his grasp. She didn’t want to get stuck in this lock again. Grappling seemed to be his specialty and she really would rather not get into another lock. He might be good at getting out of them, too, which only made any other grapples nigh impossible at this point. But then… She’s now got a knee to her gut, and it knocked a bit of the wind out of her, but she wasn’t going to give up yet. If she could get him into a leg lock, it would show him she wasn’t talking shit. Hooking an arm around his knee, she held it to her stomach, grinning as she leaned forward and pushed her fist into his chest with a sudden surge of her wavelength, one of her legs trying to kick out his other in that same moment. She knew that he would be trying to curl his leg back, her fist trying to rip from his grip as soon as she pushed him by pulling his arm in the direction of where she’ll be twisting her body. If he were to fall, she can then wrap not only her arm, but both her legs and her other arm around his one leg and get him in a leg lock, her body twisting in their fall to hopefully have him be on his side or stomach. If he were to lengthen his leg, she’d definitely secure the ankle between both her arms.

She had took that knee far better than he had anticipated, though it wasn’t as if either of them were winded. Regardless, Adrian found himself in a position where Sara was the one more grounded than he was. This moment required a quick decision as a response. He only had a split-second to assess the situation, and the raw amount of detail occurring all at once created quite the challenge for finding the least risky solution. Somewhere tucked in his brain was a lesson he had learned about these grappling matches he had drilled into him: winning was about holding your position more than it was pinning your opponent.

She wanted his knee, fine. He didn’t need it. He poured his wavelength through him to lock up the muscles he could, his knee how becoming a stone imbed close to her abdomen, the hand he had pinning hers to his chest now a rusted lever refusing to move, and all of his weight now supported on that one leg of his, pushing forward into her body. The hand he first used to grab her neck now shifted down, taking advantage of something she had done to herself by wanting his knee held in place.

His hand wrapped around her throat as he shifted it down and wedged his elbow between his kneecap, putting pressure on her windpipe. It was an extremely sloppy chokehold, but combined with how his knee knocked the wind out of her and how he kept her other arm pinned to avoid being jerked away, this would make a precarious position for her. Werewolf or not, she had to breathe. And, if she intended on breaking this position, she’d have to give up the advantage of his elevated knee. Either way, a win-win for him. Even with her claws, he was confident she couldn’t hurt him enough to stop him from literally choking her without backing off.


So, this was awkward. Well, Sara.

She’s had opponents go for the throat before, as well. And she knew this wasn’t going to end well if she tried doubling down. But she also knew Adrian would likely be after her once she disengaged. She coughed. Nope, she couldn’t breathe either.

Well, just as long as he had her hand, she wondered if she could throw him. She knew he’d charge her as soon as she let go, so she was going to use that to her advantage. Orr… If he was low enough in his charge… She dropped his leg and batted away the hand that was at her throat, pulling away as far as her arm would go without overextending it, her eyes on his next movements.

Adrian had a singular trick up his sleeve. One that he could thank Zari for. One that came from getting his ass kicked time after time after time. A lesson that was taught in defeat; not one an individual could attain from victory. In terms of skill, Zari was a mountain that Adrian never really could overcome. Even if he did, his old friend would have changed it up the next round and anything that did work no longer would.

It meant that, at times, Adrian had to adapt. With adaptation came surprises. By this time, he was confident Sara was picking up on how he fought. Now it was time to throw her for a loop.

She broke his choke. She removed her grip on his leg. What she didn’t do is free herself. With his now free hand, Adrian cycled around to slam it down on her arm at her elbow. While he did this, he gripped his hand around her clenched fist that was against him and started to pull it outward, essentially putting her wrist in a joint lock with full intentions of using enough force to make the over-extended tension hurt.

That was primarily a feint. Where he really intended to cause damage was with a fully-amplified kick. If he could have used Soul Force, he would have. Between the act of hitting her elbow to pull her in and twisting her wrist as well as his knee already being lifted, this movement required little more than a quick shift in his hips at an angle to aim his leg at her abdomen, right below her ribcage. If it struck, that was a winning blow. If she caught it, she couldn’t follow up with just one hand.

Adrian was pretty confident he had the win with this. The pieces fell into place in his mind. She had the wind knocked out of her, just got out of a choke, and now was about to have it happen again. She couldn’t possibly have the endurance to perform some absurd feat of dexterity–even Meisters needed oxygen. With victory in mind, he gave it his all. Every ounce of wavelength he could pour into one strike at this distance. This pride might be his undoing, but at the moment, it fueled his conviction to follow-through.

Growling at having her arm be forced to bend, she watched his hips shift. Not wanting to get hit with his kick, she charged towards him, grinning in his face as they were now chest-to-chest, her arm grabbing at his arm that was smashed into her elbow crease around his wrist. The kick to her side wasn’t as bad, even if it stung a little with how fast and full of wavelength it was. Now that they were together, she was starting to get the hang of how Adrian fought. He now had to break away, but she was pooling her wavelength around her hand that held onto Adrian’s wrist.

Now, he was angry. He felt a rush of embarrassment feeling he had secured victory and now she was peeling it away. Not just freeing her hand, but the idea of victory slipping away. That anger poured through him. It created a foul stench in his soul, as if the scent of blood and iron now outweighed all else in his soul.

”Just… fucking… give… up,” he demanded, strained now as she was pooling her wavelength. If she wanted free, then she could have it. He shifted his leg back down to the ground and now with a wide stance, he changed his plans entirely. He released her elbow between them with what little room there was and grabbed the wrist of the hand she was using to grab his. And now? Now he just squeezed. He had both her wrists, though awkwardly, and in his rage, all he could do was blindly demonstrate all that strength he trained by gripping down on her smaller wrists. He did not hope she would surrender. He did not think this would assure victory. He just wanted to make it hurt.

“Then… Earn it!” She growled through gritted teeth, her wrist hurting from that massive grip strength. Because both of her wrists were held, but so was one of his wrists, she pressed into him more as she shifted her hip to throw her knee at his torso’s side, her wavelength flowing from her hip down to her leg to make it faster and be a clear hit.

Absolutely fucking not. Not his own move. Not that it would have been a very powerful hit. Not even sure if the judge would call that. But, it didn’t matter. In his rage and with the raw strength that came from his wavelength amplification and mental state, Adrian tried just one simple thing. A shove. He had both her wrists. Her chest was right there. He had control of that scenario. If this were a street fight, there were a dozen different things he could have done because that knee would have meant nothing. But, if it meant a point, that meant loss, and he wasn’t about to have that.

He didn’t let go of her wrists. He didn’t have to. He just needed to get her out of range for that knee, and he intended to do it with as much force as he could muster. At this point, his own temper made him ignorant to whether it yanked her very arms out there sockets.

Grunting from the shove, she slammed her foot down and squared her legs to make herself a wall that barely budged from his form, only to slam herself back into his chest again with a boost from her wavelength. “What, don’t want me using your own tricks?” She sneered, realizing she could use his temper to her advantage. Even if it meant she lost the next round or probably got a fractured wrist from this. She was going to win this one, no matter what.

“Use this trick,” Adrian told her. Blinded by rage and forfeiting the normal sportsmanship he adhered to, he finally lifted the last barrier he had to his full ability. Clenching her wrists with the same might as he held earlier, he now flooded them with his pain wavelength. And, believing that to be a sufficient distraction, he tried to pull her in, using her arms like ropes to ram his knee into her gut.

The pain sparked something deep within her soul. It nearly debilitated her, her hands feeling like they were being crushed by metal. A surge of adrenaline that only preceded something far more dangerous from her flowed throughout her entire body as she went for a forehead bash to his face, his knee having hit her side, but her knees buckled and she towards him.

”Enough,” the judge announced, ”The round is over.” He asserted. He was not merely informing them, but instructing them. And, his voice carried authority. Enough authority that Adrian, despite having just received a skull bash from Sara, that even he knew to release her. Sara would soon realize that a headbutt, too, was an avenue to receive his Pain Wavelength. In fact, so was his knee. Every square inch of him became a carrier of intense pain, resulting in both her side and forehead now exploding in pain.

He stepped forward to Sara, seeing that she was buckling over to the ground, and knelt beside her. ”Miss, are you okay?” he asked with a concerned tone.

Sara’s entire body felt both numb and on fire. She was kneeling, her body leaning towards the side that hurt while her hands went up to her hair, clutching at her ears as her eyes bugged out. Her collar flashed and beeped in quick intervals. She felt the being within her soul - her other side of her - trying to claw its way out of the soil of her soul space. Her fearful amber eyes shakily looked at Adrian from the side, pupils dilated to huge saucers and nearly snuffing out the amber. She could barely see him, as her vision tunneled.

But he’s a friend… I can’t…

Taking in a shaky breath, the collar started to slow down its beeping, and she closed her eyes as she focused on calming herself. Her head, side, and hands still felt like they just got slammed, and her skin started to feel like she was being jabbed with pins and needles, but thankfully it wasn’t the hypodermic-like needles of her fur trying to grow from under her skin but the after effects of Adrian’s wavelength.

Letting out a shaky sigh, she chuckled amidst the agony. “I’m fine… That was close…” She turned her attention to Adrian, a small smile on her face. “Heh, I probably should have thought about that first, huh? You okay?”

It took Adrian a moment to really soak in what happened. He let his emotions get the best of him. He may have avoided a joint lock or breaking anything, but he did break down and use that Wavelength of his. Something that only caused pain. Something that wasn’t about technique or skill. Honestly, something that was cruel.

Rage soon shifted to shame. Shame that the referee even had to ask if she was okay. Shame that at the end of it all, Sara was the one asking if he was okay. Shame that never once in that fight did he consider what he was doing to her.

”I-I’m fine…” he answered her. Shakily. Adrian was a bit of an open book. He was upset, though at himself, and his face said it all.

The smell, while she had noticed how caustic it was earlier when he was using his wavelength, had shifted to something she was far too used to smelling. Shakily getting up to her feet, she walked her numb legs to him, reaching with her hand out. “Despite the pain, it was a fun fight. It’s okay to make mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes fighting against you. I’ve never fought anyone with your style of fighting before.” Sara chuckled, trying to ease the blow Adrian seemed to be experiencing. Though, it died down quickly as she sighed sorrowfully. “Also, uh… I didn’t mean to get you that upset. Heat of the moment, you know? That’s no excuse though. Sorry about that. No hard feelings?” She asked hopefully, her tail swaying to show she actually did enjoy their time and not because of saving face.

She didn’t understand and he couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t personal. In fact, that was part of the problem. Fact was, Adrian just got like this. It was fine with someone like Zari. If Zari got serious, he could shut Adrian down pretty quick; even more so if Jarvis was around. Not everyone could do that. Even that didn’t matter, though. It was his own fault. Adrian shouldn’t be this way, and he knew it.

Sara and her kindness really couldn’t help that. In a way, it made him feel worse. At the very least, it was slightly relieving to know she wasn’t upset. Not that people hadn’t lied to him about that before.

”Yeah… no hard feelings,” he told her. He wished he could have meant it, but fact was, there were hard feelings here. Just not directed at her.

The referee was quick to chime in though, ruining or perhaps saving this situation. ”Good on you two now, but the end of that match was slightly out of hand,” he told them. He had a stern stare for both of them, though he was more worried about how aggressive Adrian had become. ”I’m not awarding a point for that match and I’m not allowing the third. Hackney will take this win by technicality. If you want a rematch, you will need a Class Three or higher member of the Dojo to officiate. Most of the time, those are Two-Star or higher Agents of the DWMA or Witches,” he explained to them. This was paramount. Their fight had become dangerously close to an actual fight instead of a spar. If he could have awarded Sara the win, he would have. At least she maintained her composure in his eyes.

This news realistically only made Adrian feel worse. It was a win he felt he didn’t deserve.

Sara can smell Adrian spiraling, even as they shook hands. Sara nodded at the ref, but pursed her lips in thought. She looked back at Adrian and smiled, putting her hands at her hips. “Hey, next time we spar, it will be when we’re both top notch, okay? And I’ll make sure I don’t lose my shit. Thank you so much for putting up with me.” She grinned wide, her tail now wagging faster.

Her positivity was hard to shake. It at least cleansed his mind of any concerns about her doubling back on her forgiveness. Regardless, the idea of sparring again didn’t necessarily sit well with him. Somehow, he took a lot of comfort going into a fight knowing he was going to lose. A fight he knew he could win wasn’t a lot of interest to him. Sara was a challenge, and beating her required more unorthodox techniques. If he wanted to do it without using his wavelength, that is.

”Sure,” he told her, though he sounded anything but. ”I don’t… normally use my wavelength in a fight like this…” he explained. He didn’t have a but. He didn’t have anything to just add on to make it better. Fact was, he let his temper get the best of him again. Sara just wouldn’t go down regardless of what he did. Perhaps it was that werewolf endurance of hers. Maybe it was something else.

In a brief moment of reflection, this fight wasn’t exactly like the one with Sampson. In that fight, he couldn’t think of another way to win. He had plenty of time to digest what happened since then. Chances were, Sampson was just a better fighter than he was, so he had to go down that route to win. But, Sara? He felt he out played her at every corner; she just wouldn’t give up. Sara had tenacity that outlasted his own self-control.

This was a bleak reality for him. He wasn’t exactly keen on fighting her again. He supposed he owed it to her after this. But, he doubted that tenacity of hers would fade between now and then. To win, he would have to get better. Stronger, faster, more skilled. Granted, he doubted she could win that third round. Self-Resonance would likely be something she couldn’t handle. But, the point is to win before then, he wouldn’t just have to get better. He would have to temper himself even further; to gain more control over himself. He had to fight two battles at once. Sara merely had to adapt to how he fought.

It felt like a mountain for him to climb, really. So much stacked against him. It only reinforced why he didn’t like these teams or working with others to begin with.

Sara listened to him, and she realized he likely wanted to see if he could win without having to resort to using his wavelength. As far as comparing them were concerned, Adrian was a better fighter, Sara just didn’t like to quit nor lose without a fight. Neither did Adrian, apparently. She could smell something was still bothering him, but there was no point in trying to comfort him at this juncture. He’d just have to get over it, as much as Sara disliked doing that. So, she changed subjects. “About that Fool’s Ball thing. Wanna meet up at the festival? I’m gonna be making bento, and I’ll make sure to get you a box.” She grinned, feeling absolutely giddy about all the food she’ll be bringing for her friends.

That was when she found the clock and looked at the time. Her eyes widened, and everything about her stuck straight up stiffly. “Oh, look at the time! I need to make those bento boxes now! I’ll see ya at the festival, okay? Byyyyyee!” And she booked it, not really caring if her legs wanted to give out then and there, she had to get home and get dressed and make food.

Within the chaos of his emotions, perhaps what defined Adrian at this time in his life, Sara’s question then immediate departure without even had received an answer left Adrian solely to mumble, ”What the absolute fuck is with that girl…”

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

April 1, 2067
Location: Apparel Booths, Fool’s Festival, Death City, Nevada
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis
Mentions: Dani
Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Arkayis’s slight optimism on the matter had Noah chuckling. Well, Gauss does know how to find them. Somehow. What a weirdo. He grabbed the hula hoops as Arkayis suggested, basically using them for this sort of weird dress outline thing or whatever it was. Something the women used a long time ago to make their dresses have volume. But also, Arkayis’s manner from the outfits almost had Noah feeling bad.

But, he seemed to agree, so Noah gave him those items to wear. “Alright, I-...” He looked at his phone and grimaced. “Oh shit, I needta get Dani. Uhhhhh, lemmee just see if these tailors can be a Tailor in Ten ‘n’ I’ll go. See ya two later.” He dashed off awkwardly to the tailors, who fixed him up in under twenty due to Noah’s diligence in making sure things had fit him before he ran off to the Death City apartments where Dani lived.