Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Atlanta | Rings: 0/1

When inspiration seized you, you became a mad man.

In a way, he was back in the trenches, not literally but the setting, the scene felt very much like it.

Honestly nothing about this sat quite right, but what did was the execution of the enemy, and that assurance alone was what he focused on.

Arm movements were dramatic and swift. In the moment, martial arts stances, such as the solid southern Chinese style he used to begin most forms of movement when he was channeling magic through his gloves had been abandoned. He didn’t bring his leg up in fluid taekwondo kicks with minimal hand gestures to enact a wave of sand, Ark merely threw his hand up and it happened at will at the cost of more magic than he normally would. The very style he had created for these gloves in line with martial arts that practiced precision and precise strong movements with motion to inscribe the concept of efficient Mana control had been abandoned, and it was showing.

Now, Ark moved in almost what a bystander watching would consider somewhat comical, if only the joke didn't end with holes punched into bodies and the collapse of now hard to discern forms.

They were shredded like how horror movies might display it in a cinema, but this was real, and it didn't phase him even a little at the viscera he was assisting the others create in defense of the remaining innocents.

In fact, the viscera was its own form of inspiration. He was Beethoven weaving art in the dark, Friedrich painting a landscape with every shadows, they were a band of the orchestra of death and their instruments made impacts upon their audience.

In his present state some part of his mind was keenly aware of Maria, Raphael, Gauss, Noah, Arkayis and Chanterelle. The upcoming assist was ignored. He registered them as allies, and so long as that part of his sense remained he would have no reason to turn on them and become their problem next.

He heard what Raph said for instance but his response was automatic, in a disorienting way really in how he replied to it without also totally taking the time to process it.

“We'll see after I rip the next group to pieces.” Was the chilling calm remark, and he did exactly that without ever following up on what his partner had said.

Mana spikes. Lady of the Wind and Puppet rained debris on the enemy.

Beautiful.

The carnage itself was its own beauty that not even JMW Turner could paint with the brightest colors or all of time.

Their actions were acknowledged but as he was now, talking to him as he was would be as effective as talking to someone through a windowless brick wall. Muffled, distant. He was half and half in the Pull at this point, not yet to Dani’s aggression or Adrian’s hostility or the desperation of a wild animal cornered, he didn't mind much of what they did as long as it didn't get in his way or pose a threat to him.

In its own way it was an improvement compared to the raging beast he truly could be without a care for how much magic he used.

Normally, he was careful, even with the large supply he had, he was always careful due to how his magic worked and the level of detail it took to not only sculpt and weaponize various states of stone and earth or sand or alter it. Managing his output right now wasn't all that mattered though. It was indeed partly due to the atmospheric Mana that pulsed around them all, the gem tingled on his forehead, made him feel like he wasn't really losing that much- the pull only helped to cement this idea and the sense he had gained of their larger threat stopping just short of a revelation was…aggravating. Goading.

They merely had to answer.

When the undead marched towards their death, who was he, but an Agent of Magic and Death, to ignore their pleas?

They yearned for an end, trapped in rotting, shambling ambling corpses, their souls locked to the will of their master– power Kidd himself has, power Kidd didn’t use, strength he one day hoped to achieve- and so they would free them, offer a reprieve.

Ifechi reached and the Pull welcomed Ark with the warm embrace of a lover. Made him feel strong, made him embrace the full might of his power.

A hundred arrows of burning fire rose into the air in time with his rising arms and like a pianist possessed, he brought his hands down. Fingers splayed like a pianist would on the downstrokes of multiple keys. Pus, blood, flesh and cries rose, and Ark felt a burning sensation manifest in his chest and surge through his body at their agony and their demise just as he would have had he escalated the battle that led him to FATE in the first place.

He couldn't recall exactly when he had felt this good in a while; this confident, this powerful, almost like his old self. Before the shame, the guilt, the involuntary tensing, the nightmares and what was better, he wasn't targeting his allies this time. It was all on the enemy.

In some morbid way as the Pull dragged him deeper, he saw that as a win. He was doing it, somehow fighting the worst of what he could be. He was focusing on the enemy, restricting himself to the original goal instead of going off script, he wasn't lashing out at everyone and everything that was in his immediate line of sight.

He was almost invincible- pragmatism kept him from truly believing it and falling into total self destruction. What part of him resisted the Pull enough, didn't have him believe he was ready to storm an army by himself– but one day, one day he would have that power.

A hand rose and Ark brought it down, shards upon shards of compact hardened sand from the beach rose and fell at his command, as long as twenty inches, sand shredded bodies and the viscera was mixed in to play it's part as the thorns he would assault with next. He aimed for the newest threats of armored apefish entities and found the more keen intelligence here to be more a genuine annoyance. He didn't even have the ability to totally note the shift in Chanterelle behind them regarding the Apefish of this larger stock and ability.

Even as a group worked to draw Raph and himself in, all Ark did was shift the sand beneath them, raise a wall up against the water as Raph’s chains did their job in deflecting the worst of the spears, he aimed directly for their attackers and with a gun motion, pulled his thumb down.

Spears of sand shot out as a powerful spike of Mana sent sailing forward for each ape. Spears that twisted and hardened and whether through the pull, at their tips, hissed hot with heat.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin
@Peckinou Sir Les Paul Meredith

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly internally sighed, the events which she was trying to avoid occurring transpiring anyway. She didn't even disagree with Kisei's concerns, but she also knew that when he went stern he tended to lose some tact, and when you insulted someone, they scarcely listened to the message around the insult. Especially for someone like Dante. She had to threaten him as well, though she kept it between the both of him to avoid a feeling of ostracization, warranted or not.

And then there was Sara who started to break down. Wren was ticked off. Zosar--Well, he seemed to feel most similarly to herself out of everyone else there. They were easy to read, even without Soul Perception.

Though, Elly had to admit. She was somewhat proud of Kisei's response--at first. She felt as if he started taking after her tactics somewhat. A bit of sternness, a bit of empathy mock or not. It was a good, effective strategy. Especially for someone like Dante who, despite anything he said, wanted connections and to not be alone. However, she could also feel her expression straining as he started throwing out insults again, akin to a nervous passenger in a car pressing down their foot as if it would make the vehicle brake faster.

Thankfully, they were interrupted and Elly could take some of the reins back. Though, the creepy child laughter coming from nowhere was not welcome. She searched for mana, tracing it to the mentioned stone. The girl spoke vaguely, likely as she wanted some kind of assurance that she would be spared in exchange for compliance. It could be a trap, but given what Elly saw of the girl's soul, she found that unlikely.

Elly gave a quick glance to the others, but gave little time for complaint as she tapped the stone. "Be quick about it, if you would. What do you have for us? And who is your benefactor that you are apparently betraying?"

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid The Regal Rper Haze-

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Derelict Mansion, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Interactions: Dante, Zosar, Wren, Elly, Kisei, Matilda
Mentions: N/A
Pumpkid The Regal Rper Haze- EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

Sara didn’t like how Kisei spoke to Dante. She would have preferred it if she took the blame instead. She also didn’t think it was necessary to get Zosar and Wren involved. Honestly, she felt like she failed them, especially Zosar. But, Kisei unfortunately had a point. Wren’s words cut like a knife, but it helped cement her into some kind of reality, and yet it was like a sweet cut. Those words helped her realize that Wren felt horrible for her and was upset at the treatment Dante had been having of her.

Honestly, Sara didn’t really see what the matter was, but considering she’s been with assholes for a good portion of her life, it all felt normal. Maybe this was a wake up call.

Zosar’s help was honestly unexpected, and yet the tears that now shed were from relief. The scratching and itching from the very base of her soul subsided slightly as Zosar helped in keeping her from transforming, keeping her from having the strange tickling of some kind of madness. She shakily went up and held his wrist, as if he were her lifeline. Her words were breathless, barely audible. “Thank you…”

She just hoped Dante didn’t hate her for what she had to do. But, when Dante spoke, she met it with mixed emotions. It was clear that he had been solo for a very long time, but it was also clear that his viewpoint was skewed whenever it came to a team. Hell, it affected his previous team members even when he was running as an Autonomous Weapon, if he was running with a team. At least he had some self-awareness to at least bring up what Kisei may say next. But she knew he was frustrated and she felt so bad for him.

Kisei, finally, sounded like he was actually being a bit more sympathetic in his response. However, it changed when Kisei began slinging insults. She groaned, a flare of anger bubbling up. No one would want to see the words beyond the insults. While harsh, he did have a point, but it was starting to annoy her that - while frustrated - he didn’t have the tact to say it better. He was starting to sound less like a mentor and more like a nagging parent.

Thankfully, he got interrupted by some creepy giggling, and the little Witchling speaking from some strange rock thing. So, it seemed that Sara and Elly were correct. But it seemed she wanted to get help as she was held there against her will. Taking this time, she finally took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, gave a grateful smile to Zosar and a pat on his arm, and shakily got up. She stood near Dante and a little in front of him, almost like guarding him. It was an instinctual response. The poor guy had been through enough.

The Witch revealed herself as Matilda Ginnever. Sara let Elly do the talking, her ears swiveling as she tried to pick up anything else around them. If she couldn’t smell through the oil and fuel, she would just have to make do with her intense hearing.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - North of JFK International Airport, New York
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Dani didn't respond well to Sibyl's ousting. While the Demon Weapon had grown considerably less shy about their relationship, the sudden comment still took her by surprise and caused her face to heat up. Internally, she felt everything rock, as if a prelude to an earthquake or cave in before everything calmed. However, apparently this wasn't just to give her shit and actually presented a boon.

Two hours was two hours, or some change, but still. The cave wasn't so bad, like she had said. It was similar to when Nadia's and her soul space merged, except it was Adrian's energy. Point being, she didn't hate it, and she didn't even think to wonder where the 'dog' had gone. It didn't seem to like the mushy stuff.

Dani sat up with a stretch, rotating her arms and pushing off the bed onto her feet. She was still a bit tired and sore, but it was a world of difference not having her soul screaming. "Holy shit, you're a fucking miracle worker," Dani gasped in amazement before her eyes settled on Adrian and she flinched. "F-Fuck me... You're paler than death..."

He head swiveled to Nadia as she suggested they get food while she spoke with Blue Steel. Dani felt that was probably important. "I mean... We probably should go talk to him, but..." Her eyes changed to Adrian. "I think you need food more than I do... Yeah, go talk to the ninja. I'll get him and us some food before we move... which is... where?" She suggested with determination that faded as she realized she didn't know where to get any said nourishment. Sure, Adrian ate not too long ago, but given his current appearance--She figured something was best.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Aki Kiyoko - North of JFK International Airport

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

'Hm...' Aki hummed in their link as she listened to all involved. The Bloodsuckers wanted to leave the problem be, which was an option now that she thought about it. Aki was less concerned with the men potentially attacking innocents or allied forces than she was about them attacking Feng and Wes.

The two mercenaries were in agreement, as was Wes. Feng thought them better dead at this point, which Aki also didn't disagree with considering they were a liability. Sure, perhaps the Paladins would roam over and deal with them. Perhaps not. It wasn't a guarantee. After all, one group sat down and had lunch with spiky boy and the other group wasted time just to be able to frame them in a poor light. Aki questioned how reliable or competent they were outside of raw power.

Regardless, that was neither here nor here, and Aki could feel Wes straining as he struggled to shut everything out. If he cracked, that was also not good for any of them. He wasn't like they were. She knew that, even if she lacked understanding about a lot of things.

'...Maybe we should call it,' Aki suggested through their link. 'They won't be likely to pursue us or seek us out for revenge. These guys are usually sleazier than sleazy mercs. They won't attack us with a difference in power like this. They'll probably grab what they can and bolt,' She reasoned before a slight gasp escaped her.

'Then again, the sniper wasn't smart enough to change positions...' Aki murmured, instantly derailing her previous point. 'Your call, though, sis.'

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Shotgunpenguin

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

Firefight West of DWMA Base...​

The situation did not, in fact, turn out to be a game of cat and mouse. Aki was more than right about the scavs. With the dismembering Red Fang performed on one of their squad mates and the large explosion caused by Feng firing Aki, the group had demonstrated enough power that it had successfully persuaded them not to pursue.

Granted, there in truth were more factors at play than an overt show of force. That particular group relied heavily on the element of surprise with its sniper. They were making use of the terrain and patrol patterns they had scouted of the Paladins to abuse these blind spots. Above all else, they didn't possess much of a backup plan when their ambush failed, unless they firmly believed their targets could be finished off by a flurry of bullets or a few grenades.

Needless to say, that the loss of one of their own was an acceptable loss.

This did somewhat slow down progress to the East as it meant the group had to go further North, surprisingly not far from their original drop area, and back down to what was effectively the DWMA encampment. In that time, Crimson revealed that he could not only heal himself, but extended the offer to Feng. Given she was only grazed, such a feat wouldn't require him drain blood from anyone or anything. In fact, what he drained from that thigh was more than enough to sustain him for quite some time. A back and forth exchange that occurred over this time explained quite a bit about how Bloodsuckers worked. Both Crimson and Red Fang seemed to feel obliged or at least more willing to open up to the trio after they agreed to circumvent the scavs.

Who would have guessed that being agreeable made conversation easier?

Nevertheless, blood was a subject of plenty of discussion. It was not just a form of sustenance, though it was exactly that. Bloodsuckers could not sustain themselves on any food (including meat, lest it was literally fresh, raw, and bloody) alone. Blood was necessary. The blood also needed to be relatively viable and not rancid. The thing was, though, that it didn't actually take a lot of blood for a Bloodsucker to coast through life. If a Bloodsucker did absolutely nothing through the day, they could sustain themselves on as little as a cc of blood per day. This did begin to grow the more they used their supernatural powers.

There were problems that the Bloodsuckers complained about. Blood was often separated into white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Bloodsuckers were mostly interest in the plasma and red blood cells, but every component of blood mattered. Once they were processed, they provided much less nourishment and apparently tasted diluted. Red Fang compared it to stale soda; Crimson said it was more like weak wine. In either case, their feelings were aligned. Whole blood was better, followed only by the fresh stuff. It didn't actually need to be fresh from the vein, but it was better when it wasn't treated or sealed in plastic.

Some problems were more logistic. Blood could be somewhat expensive. Most medical blood bags contained 400 - 500ml of blood. If a Bloodsucker wanted to ration that out, it would go bad before they finished. In recent times with underground blood markets being a thing, smaller bags of just 200ml were on the market, but they would still go rancid if they were nursed. For whatever reason, getting bags much smaller proved problematic. This all neglected the fact that hospital-acquired blood was often bad for a myriad of reasons, or at least stale. Most of the time, Bloodsuckers that wanted to abide by the rules had to get creative. Many, especially in families, would pitch in and split a bag. This avoided it going rancid and cost them less upfront. It hardly helped the solo Bloodsuckers.

Which became a problem because over indulgence was intoxicating. It turned out that powerful Meisters often donated their blood to be sold because it simply tasted better. Feng right this second could probably net anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple grand for donating just a single bag of her blood. It didn't end there, though. Witches did the same damn thing for an even higher price. The problem again was that it was intoxicating on the verge of addicting. Lastly, there was an odd overlap, with Demon Weapons. It turned out that their blood was a favorite, if they were powerful. Death Scythes in specific. They had the refined flavor of a powerful Meister, but also the kick of a Witch without the overbearing mind alteration that came with it.

If not for how Wes felt after seeing Crimson de-sanguinate a leg, Red Fang's joke about how he probably could have picked up Rosé might have landed better.

Point being, for the remainder of their trip, Red Fang and Crimson tried to be quite conversational and cordial. Crimson tried to give the group insight to Bloodsuckers and their day-to-day life. To paint them and their struggles in a light that wasn't just their monstrous nature. Red Fang wasn't quite as on the nose. He spent more time going over their history. Apparently, the core members of Fox Hunt were actually several centuries old, most from the British Isles. He didn't specify where, but Red Fang went over the history of the area as if he had been there.

Because he was.

Feng, Aki, and Wes would have been given plenty of opportunities to share anything they wanted to about themselves, if they elected to. Crimson was obviously more of the diplomat. Educated and refined, more capable in the realm of magic. Bloodsucker magic was a unique thing. He didn't quite explain how it worked, but apparently, Bloodsuckers drew mana from blood itself, not ambient mana in the environment. That meant there was a secondary benefit from a Bloodsucker drinking the Blood of a Witch if said Bloodsucker was low on mana. Red Fang didn't give much of a damn about that, being more gruff and grounded in reality. They made for quite the contrasted duo to a nearly comical extent.

The trip could have either been pleasant or madly uncomfortable. It would really have depended on how well the group hit it off. There was an undertone of just how much members of Fox Hunt wanted to shirk the poor image of their race, but Crimson and Red Fang managed to be fairly smooth in their conversational skills. For all Crimson tried to teach, he did prove to relay information a lot better than some professors at the DWMA. Red Fang seemed like he could easily be the life of the party if let loose. Then of course there was the chance to receive minor healing and the not-so-subtle jokes Red Fang made.

What the trio took from it was up to them.

The trip was at its end. Red Fang dipped off knowing his concealment couldn't pass by the next check point and Crimson escorted the trio right up to it. It was a parking lot reinforced with a few military vehicles. The JFK Airtrain Operations and Maintenance facility. It had been converted into an impromptu relay station for supplies and DWMA Check point. One where the group was greeted by familiar faces.

Rudeus and Noelle, two agents the group had met on Hawaii, stood further back on the concrete slabs that dotted the ends of parking rows in the lot. Rudeus being a shorter gentlemen with dirty blonde hair. Noelle was one of the most ludicrous Demon Weapons one had ever seen in the form of a vacuum cleaner until one learned she could literally absorb magic and mana. Those two weren't the stars of the show, though.

No, that award went to one man: Chimera.

His presence even now was not one that could be ignored. His soul burned bright. He took no efforts to restrain it, not like Samuel Smith with a true Strong Soul. Kenny liked others to feel the power. More so, it worked as a fairly effective shock and awe tactic to those unaware of it. In that regard, if anything, Kenny much resembled the Paladin that the trio just had a run with. The difference was that Kenny was just one man. That Paladin took a hundred men to match his illumination. Benefit here, though, was that he was a hard man and a hard soul to forget. He was a known ally.

"Well... if it isn't the oriental beauty with the azure eyes and her partner with a soul that matches mine..." Kenny spouted, approaching the four as they entered the parking lot. He, too, was approaching. His own demon weapon in hand, a bright, teal Scythe. Despite being armed and despite the intensity of his soul, he was also gifted with that Healing Wavelength and a natural charisma that prevented him from being terribly offensive. The man could damn-near walk up to you with the dagger for your back still get away with offering a hug.

"Mm, I don't know this other fellow, though; and, I don't recall your other weapon...." Kenny admitted, shifting from being somewhat flirtatious to serious rather quickly, though his lighthearted tone kept down any hostilities.

"Also, my dear, you're missing about half your team and, well, that certainly bode well, does it?" he continued, pointing out the obvious with his theatrical phrasing. "Care to explain?" he proposed, halting his approach and tilting his head over with a slight furrowing of the brow. Everything this man did was emphatic. He shared that same trait with most of the other dual-colored freaks in the program. It seemed all of them had a flair for histrionics.

---

The Coffee Shoppe Basement...​

"You may want to watch your wording," Adrian interjected, groggily pointing out the exclamation Dani had made, "since the doctor outed us, people might get the wrong idea."

Adrian was, in fact, a little loopy. His current status was not terribly unlike the time he was convinced to take a swig of vodka. For all of his physical capability, he was an absolute lightweight. That said, he wasn't entirely out of it. His mind was just a little fuzzy with some impaired inhibitions.

"Well," chimed in another voice. It radiated from the woman that had left once Blue Steel approached Sibyl earlier, "one of the buildings this basement connects to is an internet café I'm sure you could commandeer some of their furniture if you must," she continued, teasing the two. Or, more aptly, teasing Dani. Adrian was somewhat immune to these wicked ways at the moment, if only because they went right over his head.

"Otherwise... if you follow me, there is a makeshift kitchen back here for us mere mortals," she told them, waving them on back beyond the information station salon style chair Sibyl had just performed her surgery in. She, by the way, had quickly returned to the computer screens, cycling through CCTV feeds and reading messages from the other group. Red Fang and Crimson were already on their way back at this time after having successfully dropped off the other trio.

What they didn't tell Feng or the others is that they intended to stealth into the sniper's den to kill them on their way back. Not that they didn't believe the trio could be useful, but that with the help of Sibyl, her drones, and the CCTV, they could kill them faster alone via their own ambush. It just took some time to reset the situation for the element of surprise. Besides, where was the fun in sneaking up behind someone and slitting their throat? The fight would be over in an instant.

The kitchen area wasn't much, but it was there. The brown-red haired woman already had something simmering on the stove. Two things, actually. What looked like a giant pot of elbow noodles and from the smell, some type of melty cheese soup. She was making macaroni and cheese. She was genuinely just throwing together mac and cheese while fighting a Kaiju.

"Not all of us are Bloodsuckers, by the way. Some of them forget we need to eat, too," she said, almost sarcastically.

She then looked back to Dani, a quick side-eye. "I go by Erin," she stated. Then, a quick stir of the pot and it seemed she shifted over to a flat can of chicken. The type she had to peel the steel lid off of. Not the most appetizing, but she was able to drain it and throw it in a third burner to start cooking off some of the excess water. The room might have smelled of chicken, but the food looked like it had some improvement. Only made better by the fact she seemed to have some semblance of how to cook when she started peppering in random spices.

Meanwhile, Nadia was in for a slightly different atmosphere once she approached Blue Steel. He was on what looked like a sat phone given how bulky it was, but not for terribly long. With a long sigh, he shut it off, then slammed it down, only to exclaim, "These racist, cock-blocking bastards. Fucking useless DMWA good-for-noth--"

That ended the moment Nadia was in sight. His face relaxed and he dialed himself back in. He then shot her a guilty smile.

"What's up?" he asked, not sure how to salvage the situation.

RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Shoreline south of the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Trio Post into GM Post​

1235 | September 26th, 2067​

The battlefield had finally turned to actual chaos. The Pull was a weird thing. It was a form of Madness, but unique in that it only affected a select few species. Certain Magical Creatures were sensitive to it, but most of all, Witches and Sorcerers. Precisely whom Gauss was surrounded by. He had yet to perfect perceiving mana and magic as Elly had, but he knew well enough what the Madness-adjacent look of the Pull was like; and, it was becoming more clear.

Even still, the Pull was not the only concern on the battlefield. Nor was it the extremely wasteful expenditure of mana.

No, perhaps the most foreboding problem did not even come from their section of the battlefield. Instead, it occurred up and down the beach in some sections with agents of all sorts being engulfed by what appeared to be massive, green clouds. Their source unknown.

These enhanced apefish were quick to adapt, too. In some ways that Gauss himself didn’t notice. Chanterelle had begun a battle of fungi in the soils, not knowing just how severe of a disadvantage she was at. Any mold she would breed subsequently would have to compete with the high salinity, rays of the sun, bacteria infecting the rotting flesh–all in addition to the fungi she wished to kill. She might rot away the foot of one apefish or a fin of another, but maintaining that rot was unlike any of her other decaying spells. The factors that fought against decay in this case were overwhelming.

More so, there was another realization that Chanterelle might make, depending on her concentration. There were multiple species of fungi on those ape fish her molds had to compete with and while all seemed magically tethered, it was not a source found on any one ape fish. The puppeteer had still yet to arrive.

Of course, Gauss had no way to perceive or know any of that.

What he saw was Raphael string up corpses to create a wall and shield himself in a chain dome. A neat trick, but it was accomplishing little on the actual field. Worse was his odd ranting of chemistry.

Maria and Ark were just outright avatars of destruction. Maria was effectively carpet bombing the entire section of the coastline while Ark was using more precision strikes with his rain of spears. It was honestly an impressive set of feats. Maria from above and Ark from below offered quite the display of power, even if not well-coordinated.

In fact, they managed to eliminate several of the larger threats in terms of the silverback ape fish on the battlefield. What they didn’t know was that their wild increase in mana use was about to trigger a new stage to this fight.

Emerging from the water was what must have been one of the ugliest creatures ever seen along with a stench that could make most grown men vomit. It was, in life, a massive ocean sunfish. Now it was little more than a biological platform for this necrotic, fungal army. It didn’t even move on its own as much as it was thrown ashore by an assortment more of those larger silverback ape fish that stormed the beach afterwards.

This fish had been dead for a very, very long time. Upon hitting the shore, what appeared to be furry bubbles began to grow out of it. They fed on the mana in the air. Each spell that was cast worked converting personal mana back into ambient mana; that was the way magic worked. The mycelium of this creature fed off that increased ambient mana and in turn grew rapidly, shooting our white, wispy growths of what first looked like hair until they solidified, until taking the form of what looked like a massive weeping willow tree. The tendrils on it appeared alive, even, dancing in the turbulent winds caused by Maria. But, that same solidification caused them to paralyze in the shape of a large dome that faced the incoming debris flung by Maria. What it created was a solid sheet of organic material to block aerial attacks. It wasn’t perfect as Maria was still able to blast through concrete and rebar with sufficient force, but it provided more defense than nothing.

Meanwhile, Ark was learning a lesson in numbers. With considerably less worry about the aerial assault from Maria, the silverbacks and their spears of salt shifted to a new form of magic: scythes of water. Ark did kill several, but their adjustment to his spears drastically reduced how many even got near them. These watery scythes were not all firing directly at Ark or anyone else for that matter. Instead, they were cutting the scythes down horizontally, snapping them in half and killing their momentum.

True it was, though, that Ark and Chanterelle did have to dance between the new scythes heading their way, though. Another unseen method used to combat the party was the salt water itself seeping forward and onto the chains Raph made, causing them to corrode and rust at a rapid rate. This was a feat that even Chanterelle could not perform, though why would she? Metallic decay was not in her purview of magic. Either way, it would turn out that Raph would have next to no control over a chain if it was covered in rust. Like a dead limb, it was useless.

The battlefield was turning against them and the Pull would only increase the rate they expended mana which only seemed to feed into the creatures. It was a vicious cycle. It was a cycle that needed to be stopped.

Chanterelle requested Noah’s wavelength. To Gauss, that could only mean that a Healing Wavelength would combat the Pull. There came several issues with this. One notably being that each of the four mages were separated by a fairly large distance. Their lightning would jump, but not that far. Even if they could extend it that far, upping the voltage could be dangerous. The Healing Wavelength needed to work in tandem with the electricity, but that meant jack shit if they actually electrocuted everyone.

Arkayis might find that appealing, but it would otherwise be a big problem. Besides, Gauss wasn’t about to give Arky and leeway given the Demon Weapon was probably having a field day thinking he was right with each of these Mages struggling with the Pull.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity Fuck Fuck.

There was no simple, conservative solution here. The trio would also need to go above and beyond their normal chain lightning to make this work. If they could get the other four back on the rails, there was a good chance to turn this around without any fatalities. Or, at the least, convince them to concede the shoreline.

Higher and higher Gauss pushed himself into the air. His magnetism could only actually take him so far, but he needed to be physically higher than Maria for this to work and affect her, too. That fucking broom of hers was a bane as much as it was a boon.

Then and only then did he begin to pour ample amounts of his wavelength into Noah. In fact, he hadn’t been so generous with his wavelength since the tournament against the Witches. He had long since learned that reserving his stamina and measured strikes made for more reliable attacks, but that wasn’t the thing. This wasn’t an attack. This was using the full breadth of Noah’s soul–and that required more out of Gauss than shooting mere sparks.

’Noah, we’re going for broke. We’re gonna use your Healing Wavelength in a shower of electricity. It might hurt, but it won’t be lethal. It might also stun the enemy, too. More importantly, it should knock some sense into them,’ Gauss explained, outlining the plan.

’Arky, we’re probably gonna fall straight on our asses after this. Noah is gonna be spent for a minute. It’d be nice if you would use a jet flame to keep us from plummeting seventy some-odd feet. You’ll be the only one in fighting condition here soon,’ he went on, making sure Arkayis was aware that this wasn’t an entirely one-sided endeavor.

With that, Gauss lifted Noah straight up into the air, twirling him on the very tip of his finger, continuing to pour copious amounts of his wavelength into the Demon Weapon. Noah spun like the generator he was, but time and practice had proven that simply spinning faster did not make their blast any more effective. Noah had to spin at a frequency that matched the wavelength of his Meister. Noah and Gauss had to sync up to make their souls and thus power align best. This was once of the nuances of their unique marriage of electricity and magnetism.

Noah was concentrating his wavelength with Gauss, a little concerned that everyone was losing their shit, but he figured that he could get everyone on board. He would rather sacrifice himself rather than lose all those mages down there. He found the rhythm of Gauss’s wavelength, and matched it. He became a glowing rod on Gauss’s fingertip, like the incarnate of Zeus’s thunderbolt.

‘Whenever you’re ready, man.’ He uttered, sounding focused as he attempted to channel his own wavelength and cement that connection between himself and Gauss as best as possible.

Arkayis had been dead silent for the most part, if Arkayis was having an average or even slightly bad day then he would have been fine with something like this. But honestly he wasn’t, matter of fact this wasn’t just a bad day for him, this was probably one of his worst days. Yet now Gauss wanted to rely solely on him for a while since he planned to do something that even he would have consider a bit over the top reckless.There was a slight twitch in his eye in the soul space they were in but as much as he wanted to say how unideal this was, he opted to just mutter out a sarcastic comment. “Oh wonderful…”. He clearly wasn’t pleased with this idea but he wasn’t even going to try to argue it, he wasn’t in the right state to give out his strongest flames but now he had to somehow at the very least slow down Gauss's descent for a high air freefall.

The nonchalant reply Noah offered Gauss did not do justice to the roar and crackle of the lightning he conjured. It was rare that the two afforded so much of their raw power spiritual power into a single ability, more so using the full breadth of Noah's soul, so the actual output of their resonance being far beyond what either expected was not, actually, surprising.

For a brief moment, the souls of Gauss and Noah intermingled with natural flow that ran deeper than even primal beasts; it was chemistry. The invisible fields and pull of Gauss's soul created channels and waves for Noah to glide upon. The bridge built between them was one that uplifted Noah in ways that even Sara at her peak could not compare to. For all of his shortcomings, for his temper, for his unresolved issues, Gauss provided a structure that amplified every natural strength Noah had. Within this shared space of theirs, it was Gauss who was wind beneath Noah's wings. It was his currents, his waves, his pull, his field, but Noah could had freedom and fluidity here that few could compare to.

Even Arkayis lacked the connection these two had, if only because of the nature of their affinities.

With that said, Arkayis was also witness to the beauty of Resonance executed in such a clean, pure form. Two souls, two elements, two passions dancing together. It was not the same as his sister. It was not as easy or natural as the bond between siblings. Close though they were, even Gauss and Noah did not share feelings of brotherhood. What Arkayis witnessed was the fully-fledged, maturing Resonance that so many young agents strived for. It was powerful, assuredly, than the Bond Resonance he had been part of so long, but it was more than that. Noah and Gauss, Dani and Nadia—these partners that hadn't yet even spent a year together—could temporarily blend their souls together like paints on a palette, merging into something different. Something greater than the sum of its parts.

That was the true power of humanity. When two souls collided, the sparks it created were far grander than magical collaboration or the combined efforts of Witches.

Gauss provided, Noah Amplified, Gauss stabilities, Noah converted, Gauss whirled the generator, Noah transformed the power. It was a well oiled machine reaching its climatic breaking point. Soon power and electricity sparked out from Gauss atop his metallic perch. Soon it course through his veins and muscles. The healing wavelength hit him, so did the slight jolt. This hit Arkayis, too, via direct contact. Gauss didn't want to rely on the ability to calm Arky, but irony of irony, he was using it to calm the others.

The hypocrisy was not lost on him.

What came next could only be described as an explosion of sparks. A shower, like rain, of what seemed like thousands of tendrils comprised of thin wisps of electricity. The two did not yet possess the sheer control or power to create a handful of guided bolts. This was the only sure-fire option. Countless bolts that lit up the sky even in the broad daily, all striking the ground in haphazard continuity. Electricity always tried to follow the path of least resistance, but Gauss was using his half of the control to make sure they did not overlap. This was necessary for a few reasons; had the bolts combined, it would have covered less area. Additionally, had the combined, they would become frighteningly more powerful.

Without that extra effort in micromanaging the bolts, Maria would have been a prime target for electrocution. Alone in the sky with no form of grounding and a wind shell hardly capable of insulating from actual lightning, if she was struck, it would have been problematic. Instead now, it hit her with barely any more tingle than a 9V battery. It was a shock, sure, probably not the best for her hair or any metallic components on her, but it was safe. Such would prove true for Chanterelle and Ark as well. The three of them were immediately cleansed of their Pull, brought to their senses. This was not merely the fog being lifted, but their very bodies were calmed. Their nervous systems taken back slight, their adrenaline lowered, their fight response lessened.

All but Raphael. In his dome of chains, the electricity was dispersed. The cost of weakening it so was that it lacked the power to reach him. His chains simply provided too much resistance and fed to ground. His Pull remained intact.

Three of four wasn't bad. As expected, though, just as quick as the rain of lightning game, Gauss and Noah were exhausted and the ability to maintain flight was gone in the wind.

While the trio plummeted to the ground and Gauss began focusing on shifting his efforts into reducing their impact, the apefish army also had to respond to the lightning.

It did little to them. Even distributed through the salty water, it simply lacked the power to cause any significant damage. A Healing Wavelength generally could even heal the undead, but these weren't just the undead. They were fungal abominations with no real mind in the conventional sense and lacking the proper nervous system to respond. For all his efforts, Gauss only really acted as a support for the others. They still had to contend with the mushroom dome acting as a semi-shield against aerial attacks and the water scythes heading their way. What they now possessed were clearer heads. They might see, if they watched closely, how the mushrooms seemed to feed on their spent magic, but not their personal magic. Chanterelle might see just how sophisticated this multi-species fungal network was and how well it could combat her even her field of expertise. Maria, the strategist, might see the concern in how well it adapted to their fighting style. Ark, ever closer to the ground and with his seismic sense, would be aware of the most damning information of all. Sand might have muddied the clarity of his ability, but he knew when a heart stopped beating. Some of the most nearby DWMA Agents were falling victim to the apefish army.

RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic Meredith The Regal Rper @Peckinou

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long
New York City - Eastward of Coffee Shoppe - DWMA Field camp
September 26th​

Somewhat disappointed by the comradery, or lack thereof of the bandits, Feng knew her old family would have stopped at nothing to get even. The criminal underworld seemed to have more honor than these fancily armed looters did. They would meet a wall one day that proved to be too much, and those fragile bonds would break with every man for himself. What a weak enemy. Nonetheless there was work to do.

Once they had distanced themselves a bit, Feng would allow her partners to exit weapon form and join the conversation if they wished, or carrying them if they did not, the conversation then went on about blood, the history of the group and their race, though, the fact they were from the UK drew some banter and jabbing, given the history of her people with the British, it was hard to tell if it was in good fun or not, but things quickly went from there to the previous conversations. Feng remained cordial, but on a higher level of alertness in case any more surprises were to be found.

Noting that her own blood was worth so much was interesting, and maybe something to take advantage of one day. Still, she felt no compulsion to join the undead, as eventually Red Fang stopped and Crimson continues leading them, wondering if he would be alright on his own it was not too long till they were in the camp, for the bluster of the church it did seem some elements of the US Government was working with the DWMA at least. And just as suddenly, Kenny was upon them with a few questions an observations. Feng did at least smile at his remark on her being an oriental beauty, though she said nothing in response, given the seriousness of the situation, and how any such interplay was bound to curse the mission.

"This is Crimson, local mercenary, he and his people guided us here and I assume he'll be going back to his unit. Nadia, Dani and Adrian are at the Mercenary Camp, they'll be communicating through me later on to set up a joint operation, who's in charge of the agents here? You? As to why and who, this is Wes, his own partner, unfortunately is on medical leave;" There was little point in telling Kenny that it was permanent, "I have the Utility Meister quirk so I can handle two weapons. But ah, the why, we ran into some problem with the Church, nothing too serious, but Nadia and Dani both needed some treatment. But like I said on the way here we got them over the comms so not like we won't see or hear them again soon."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki/Dani) Sir Les Paul (NPC's) Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov
New York City - Coffee Shoppe Basement
September 26th​

As things between Dani and Adrian went as they typically did and the other woman joining them, Nadia did give Dani that some comforting grip and patting on the back as she had grown accustomed to doing, before letting her go. "Don't worry about all of this, I'll take care of it, for now you two rest up. When we get to moving again it'll be a long battle. Bet on it." With those foreboding words passed, Nadia was quick to peel off from the other two, finding her way to the Bloodsucker leader. Overhearing all he had to say perfectly, and with her partner being stabilized, Nadia had the smirking smile back on her face, it was funny him asking why she was here, he should know that, but a refresher couldn't hurt.

"My partner is stable now. As to what just happened now, even I have had a harsh thing or two to say about my seniors in the DWMA. Depending on the placement of the other here, I might could countermand their orders and make them work with you, or I as a DWMA agent and mostly human, may be able to talk them into helping with your plan. If they are as you said, then a fellow agent with the same demand may make them more mailable.

Either way, I'm here to hear your plan, then if I'm good with it, I can do some arm twisting to get you what support you need, or begging if I must... However, as with our previous conversation, credit will go where credit is due." Eyeing the SATCOM phone, she seemed earnest in her offer.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's)

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Katsushiro ☆ Hoshi | Daedelon Island
____________________________________________________________________________________________
​

"Yeah, he's probably right," The Hoshi simply replied after the Werewolf finished, still looking out at the swamp of snakes. Chain Resonance was a massive stamina drain, even if you were a powerhouse. They shouldn't burn through their energy unnecessarily like that, even if he didn't believe there was anything on the island that would pose such a significant threat. Even if there was, it would need to be fast enough.

"Mm?" He murmured, turning just slightly as Alek referred to him. Shiro's hand outstretched to grasp the hilt of the sword smoothly as it were a tennis ball lightly tossed his way. He gave it a cursory once over as he felt he wavelength pouring through. From what the wolf said--an anti-magic effect of some kind? It still probably wasn't effective enough to just wade through the water with nonchalance. However, it would make the things hesitate to get close. Add that to his speed and he could zip over and destroy the bodies without any issues.

"Huh, isn't that convenient," Shiro commented as he began to push his own wavelength through it. Simultaneously, he dug in the bag and took out a few of the grenades before fiddling with the timer, finishing shortly after Astor finished speaking. His statement earned a smirk that the others likely found unbearable. "Aww~ Don't get all moody. I appreciate you too~" He remarked with an all-too-smug tone.

However, he didn't linger for very long for a retort. The Hoshi turned his eyes outward towards the bodies, scanning the surface of the water and taking a step forward. His wavelength poured through him, enhancing his tendons and muscles to maximize his speed. As his first step effectuated, man was gone in a blur, a disturbance in the water marking a trail for his pathing. It was mostly straight, with only subtle deviations to avoid any serpents that still lay too close. As he reached the bodies, his trajectory arced around them. The grenades were dropped neatly as he hooked around and dashed back. The return trip was much the same, with the disturbed water marking his path back and his unobstructed body appearing back in the place he started.

"That's that. Nice blade," Shiro remarked matter-of-factly. He nodded the sword at Astor before tossing it back to him and looking back out at swamp to watch the grenades detonate. "...How much did they pay these guys again? I really am curious now if the bosses were being cheap or got ripped off."

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Atlantic City - New Jersey​

As the electricity coursed over her body, Maria unfortunately had a large number of metalic objects on her person, though the strength of a 9 volt battery was a small thing, she had more than build up a static charge, with no real means of grounding, she would simply have to deal with it as an unpleasantry as her senses were dialed back in, observing the destruction, observing the flow of Mana and all that had worked, had not, and pondering how she even got taken by the pull. The fact all four of them did was a bad omen and likely not a coincidence so much as another factor at play.

Then there was the final issue, they all had heavily expended their mana and the enemy showed no sign of decreasing. And though she could not feel it, her birds eye view allowed her to see it. The DWMA was doing badly, between what she was sure was poison gas and the hoard of undead and corruption, and of course the zombie fungal virus that had that undead sunfish monstrosity at the center of it all. Maria found it unlikely any of them here could deal with it via magic. It simply took their own energies from spells they casted. Far too much to ponder, but what she said next over comms were her true opinions on the matter.

"Gauss, we cannot kill that thing, not while it is still in the Sea, it is absorbing our mana from spells we cast and likely influenced our collective fall to the pull. Fire will work well on it likely, from up here, our fellow agents aren't doing so well, poison or spore clouds if I had to guess are engulfing them. We cannot hold here. And our mana pools are depleting fast and our allies are falling. If you or command does not have a plan, we should fall back and lure them ashore where we can burn or funnel them... Course that is just my suggestion. I cannot fly and fight but for so much longer, do you have any orders?"

Interactions: Merciless Medic (Raph-Noah) Meredith (Chanterelle) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) @Peckinou (Arkayis) The Regal Rper (Ark)

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
DWMA Field Camp, New York
September 26th

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul​

---

Fortunately, it seemed like their group wouldn’t have to worry about the scav’s chasing after them. Aki’s musings on the workings of the group were probably spot on, since he didn’t so much as hear a single shout to avenge their fallen mercenary as they fled. More to the point however, it meant Wes didn’t have to worry about whether he was going to watch as his partners killed another living person.

Wes walked along with the group, reverting out of his weapon form after the coast was clear, although he did try and keep a bit of distance from Crimson and Fang. As much as he could without falling behind anyway. The display of indulgence he was treated to was enough to send shivers through his skin, and even though they were technically allies, he still couldn’t help but feel a bit on edge whenever one of them glanced in his direction, or when their small talk turned to the topic of blood.

He was sure that somewhere in the crash course of blood they were being treated to, there were probably some interesting facts to be had. Whether it was the differences between human, meister, witch and demon weapon blood, the price-point of said blood, or that apparently witch blood was something of an addictive product. There were probably more than a few people at the academy who would have loved to study the effects of witch blood on bloodsucker, whether it acted as a slight buzz or as an overwhelming sensation.

Unfortunately, Wes was not one of those people. The memory of Fang holding onto a still bleeding stump of a leg while Crimson slurped the still hot blood straight into his chest was still very much in his mind. A memory that repeated itself whenever one of the duo talked of blood, or made some sort of comparison to a rosé, or a port, or some other type of wine that resembled the crimson liquid.

He always thought that he could handle seeing blood better than most. Those B-tier horror and zombie movies loved to throw the stuff everywhere anytime they could sneak it in. Sure, most of it was fake blood being sprayed out in quantities that no human being could ever contain, but he was never squeamish when it happened. As it turned out, the movies never prepared him for the smell or sounds of a leg being drained of its blood. Nor the sound of a person's entire respiratory system being reconstructed with very sickening pops and spurts of blood.

Eventually, their conversation was cut short as Red Fang bid the group farewell, mentioning that he wouldn’t be able to pass through the next checkpoint. Wes was grateful for that, as he honestly didn’t know how much more blood talk he could take.

As the group approached the checkpoint, an absolutely powerful sound quickly became apparent to Wes. It was easily as powerful as the paladin they encountered before, but unlike the paladin who was supplanting his energy with that of others, everything was coming from a single person. As was often the case, he recognized the owner of the soul signature before he even caught sight of the red headed chimera. Despite only being exposed to it once, during the Hawaii trip during the commencement dinner that they all had to attend, it was enough to make an immediate impression on him.

The other two looked vaguely familiar, not nearly enough that he could even attempt to remember their names, but enough that he knew that he’d seen them before. It would have been better if he could hear their soul signatures, he was a lot better with remembering those than he was at remembering faces. Kenny’s sheer, overwhelming signature however, was making picking the duo’s out from underneath all the more difficult.

He offered the trio a slight nod to the trio as Feng introduced him, but otherwise kept quiet, letting his partners or Crimson take the lead when interacting with Kenny.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Aki Kiyoko - North of JFK International Airport

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

'Ah, they are a bit smarter than I thought!' Aki remarked as it became clear their adversaries were quite eager to get the hell out of dodge once they realized they were out of their depth.

As they walked, Aki too zipped out of weapon form and, just like before, scurried up to Crimson and Red Fang to listen with vested interest and throw in whatever random questions came to mind. It was almost as if she forgot the firefight they just engaged or, it was as if it had never happened, another manifestation of how desensitized Aki was to these kinds of things. She could fight and kill and then immediately after talk about food, or in this case, blood quality.

Aki's interest and attention was sporadic and unpredictable, hooking onto one thing and then to another, so it was hard to tell just how much of the information that was being told to them she was actually absorbing. At least, through the entirety of their walk, she seemed to be a good little student and listening intently.

As they bade farewell to their Bloodsucker friends and continued onto the checkpoint, Aki's face lit up again at the familiar face. "Oh! Hey Kenny! You're here too?" She asked, excited to have another person they knew, and someone else with her soul type present. "Yeah, those priest guys delayed a lot. They're kinda jerks... Though the other one did try to give us food, I don't think we ever checked if it was poison like the pinky said."

Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - North of JFK International Airport, New York
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Dani paused and gave Adrian a look of self-restraint. It was exceedingly difficult not to tease him, but now she had to be the professional one. "Oh, shush, you." She told him, but then the peanut gallery spoke up and added to it. Dani's head swiveled over to Erin immediately to interject. "Not happening, lady!"

Maybe the whole reason admitting a relationship was taboo wasn't because of any professional or efficiency ramifications. Maybe it was just because the ousting led to a rabbit hole of teasing. Looking at Adrian, he didn't even understand, though she couldn't pin that on the fatigue.

"Yes, food. Let's go and not talk about any fuckin' furniture," Dani urged, tugging Adrian along. Entering the kitchen, she was pleasantly surprised by the smell of macaroni and cheese. She approached and tilted her head to be able to sneak a glance at the pot of food without invading the woman's space. "...Huh... I wasn't expecting that in a hideout in a destroyed city..." She admitted before turning her attention back to the woman herself.

Dani had a brief look of minor guilt at the woman's statement, but ultimately she just shrugged awkwardly. "I... usually can't tell until they do Bloodsucker things... My Soul Perception has always been pretty shit," She admitted simply. "Dani, but you knew that probably... So, the you're not one of the Bloodsuckers. Do you do something like Sybil?" She asked about her role in the group.

Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

Airtrain Operations Parking Lot...​

"Treatment?" Kenny replied, curiously. His left eyebrow arched, demonstrating his intrigue. This, however, turned out not to actually be a question.

He sighed, realizing the work that might come about pursuing the topic.

"Well, I suppose as long as they are alive and well, it doesn't matter in the long run," he went on, trying to suppress any further information regarding the topic. "You lot walk a fine line for people in this program," he said, airing out his own disapproval of the methods. Then again, he was never a mercenary like Feng, Aki, or Crimson. His standards came from a whole different world.

Then came another point of minor conflict. Feng had announced Crimson as a mercenary and quite plainly, Kenny didn't want to deal with that. Every agent would have to write a report on their experience and given the nature of Kaiju enthusiasts, they would all be written. Potentially even published. If possible, Kenny didn't want to mention that a mercenary came through this checkpoint if he didn't have to. It would raise more questions than he cared to answer.

"Either way, this checkpoint is closed to civilians," Kenny announced, his tone clear and bold right up until his inaccurate description of Crimson. He was making an implication. "So, unless you need something, you may want to head to the shelter to the North," Kenny continued, pushing his agenda of getting Crimson out of the picture to avoid any unnecessary complications.

Crimson was happy to oblige. He offered a two-finger salute to Kenny and a quick nod to the trio. Despite how wordy he was normally, he was quiet and complicit with this request. The less friction, the better.

With the outsider gone, Kenny allowed himself to relax, if only somewhat. He knew two of these three. Neither of them were team leaders, like himself. The pin on the lapel of his jacket communicated that much, assuming any of the trio knew what it was. And, logically, they should given the whole ceremony about it. More so, it meant that there shouldn't be any butting of heads. Or, more accurately, any additionally butting of heads. There had already been all assortments of arguments over the situation and who was in charge. Not only that, even larger questions about why they would bring in so many Fate Agents for emergency response.

None of that mattered now.

"If you mean the Paladins, they're far from the worst out here," Kenny said, transitioning to the points brought up by Aki. "The trick with them is to keep the conservation short and to the point. I've met four so far and of those four, two tried to pick a fight. They're also absurdly petty and pedantic for men of God... I wouldn't let them catch you blindly calling them "the Church" - I made the mistake. Apparently, they don't all exactly follow the same faith, strictly speaking, and they get more than a flustered if you mix them up. At the very least, they won't attack you randomly. There are reports of Rogue Witches, weird monsters, and some mercs ambushes out there," he explained, though his tone was a mish-mash of disappointment and frustration. It almost sounded like he defended the Paladins, but only because they seemed to be the least of many evils.

Kenny waved them on, gesturing them to follow him as he turned around to lead them beyond the blockade of cars and into the actual building. It was as one might expect, large and industrial with the reinforced steel push-bar style door. Kenny simply glided in through it. Rudeus stood aside, taking the gesture from Kenny as a signal to stand down. Rudeus was an interesting agent in his own right. Short, lithe, and the spitting image of androgynous. In fact, it was pretty difficult to determine his actual gender. His striking blue hair resembled that of Adrian, but his soul was a stark contrast to their teammate. It was a rarer type of Soul that none of the group had likely came into contact with. Hard to read, especially emotionally. His wavelength, while reserved, appeared more like thin, wispy tufts of cloud or cotton like material dissolving as it dissipated.

"Samuel Smith is in charge of the overall location; I only man the gate," Kenny told them, answering one of the first questions Feng had asked.

Meanwhile, Noelle had finally transformed, hopping out of the hand of Rudeus and taking form right beside him with the intention of following the crowd. This was the first time anyone in the group had seen her take human form. And, it most certainly was a form to behold. She wore clothes somewhat unfitting for the mission; built to draw the eye and with the body to fill them out. More so, though, she also possessed a Unique Soul. One most comparable to that of Noah. She was also one of the rare few to possess an elemental affinity with a unique wavelength. Her anti-magic had been debuted before, but the wind affinity she had with it might not have been as obvious. It wasn't something that immediately stood out to most with ocular Soul Perception without some specialized skill. That said, she had a trademark give-away. A low humming, oddly pleasant even, that radiated from her soul. One might think that her nature as a vacuum cleaner meant her soul should be roaring, but no. In it's passive state now, it was an oddly-calming hum. Akin to songbirds in the forest or cicadas on a warm summer evening. Unfortunately, only a trait one of the trio cold pick up.

The inside of the station was... underwhelming.

The outside was reinforced, but little to nothing was done otherwise. In a way, it made sense. The inside only needed to be a shelter of sorts. Housing for the agents and resources coming to and fro. A command center of sorts, too, for the chaos that was going on this far West of the actual fight. It was unfortunately easier and safer to bring things in along this route, though, making it necessary to keep reinforced. Still, it was hard to think of this place as a garrison of any kind when one could walk in and be met by a dimly lit reception area only meant to accommodate a handful of people at a time. This wasn't really even a business people visited as much as it was one they worked at.

Kenny continued on through the building.

"If you're looking for him, good luck," Kenny told them, his tone sounding somewhat defeated. He then sighed again.

"I'm sorry, he's actually out for a good cause. It just means we're locked down here," Kenny explained, realizing how petty his last comment was.

He made a quick sucking motion, releasing with a slight pop once his upper lip broke free. It almost sounded like a weak kiss, but it was more of a nervous tic than anything.

"Some kinda creature was reported attacking Witches returning from the battlefield. Most were hurt to begin with and several were killed. He went to find stragglers and hunt it. He had his own agents stand guard on the route, too. It's been like that for hours and he relegated us to manning this station," Kenny told them, giving them an overview of the situation and just what had him frustrated. Sam might have felt like a white knight, but Kenny was a fan of attention. He wasn't getting any playing guard duty.

---

The Coffee Shoppe Basement...​

Steel listened to what Nadia had to say. She had a good point. She may be able to garner more cooperation than he alone could. From the perspective of the DWMA, he and his merry little band were nothing more than another no-name band of Mercenaries trying to make their name. They mostly operated from within the shadows and had few claims to fame they could actually account for. While they were formidable and capable, having lasted for centuries and even through the horrors of Asura, they just had nothing to show for it. Such was the life of essentially working to enhance human-bloodsucker relations.

His face turned to stone as he thought this over. It was a remnant of working with the boss. Never show emotion, never allow your deepest thoughts to surface. He mulled over the pros and cons of sharing their plan. He couldn't imagine it being stolen or that Nadia could somehow run interference anymore than the DWMA already was. Besides, it wasn't as if this was an actual act of racism. It was more so the DWMA elitist attitude. Many valid mercenaries had been put to the wayside as higher priority attempts were being made.

"Alright, so be it," he said, throwing caution to the wind.

"We have actually fought Kaiju before, believe it or not. Time after time, the most effective strategy has involved some form of penetration and then normally wrangling the creature to the ground or tearing it apart," Steel explained, dropping some potentially interesting facts in that while the last Kaiju wasn't really active during anyone else's lifetime, for a Bloodsucker, a century was more like a decade. The knowledge and experience of veteran Bloodsuckers, in a way, was being squandered.

"We have a weapon.... you may not like it, but it's Magitech specifically crafted for, uh, our magic. It essentially fires a massive rod made of a titanium alloy. Connected to it is several membranes of sorts that will allow to channel some magic through it. We have several plans, honestly, depending on how it goes. We also have several rods. If we can make it bleed, there's plenty we can do. There's also the chance you could use your venom thing through the rod. Again, it all depends on if we can muster the firepower to break through the skin or through an already-damaged section," Steel told her, somewhat guiltily as he seemed somewhat dodgy in his explanation.

Which made sense. Modified Magitech weaponry like this was absolutely illegal. Modifying it to use Blood Magic or be specifically compatible with Bloodsuckers was absolutely concerning. Everything that spilled out of his mouth happened to be some of the worst fears of the DWMA. He was breaking laws and proving the dangers of his monstrous race and their ambitions all in one fell swoop. At the same time, it was a plan based on experience and was actually something different than just throwing more bombs or casting more spells. The ramifications of what Steel explained were not something to be understated. In fact, the thought might cross the mind of any sane Fate Agent that if they kept this information from the DWMA and it was found out, they might just be considered a traitor. Once again, at the same time, if they actually made a different, they could be heroes.

It was a dangerously thin line to walk.

"Problem is, I can't even get a shot to test it. The DWMA has pushed our turn to engage KN9 back three damn times. They control the scene, too, and it would be downright stupid to try and commandeer it," Steel admitted, "we're just a low priority to them and they keep putting different mages or different weapons higher up the list. They gave our last spot away to some microwave weapon, thinking they can cook it from the inside out."

"Only a small fraction of the city is even affected by this attack," Erin responded, pointing out a slight inconsistency with the word choice Dani used. She looked over, eyes half-raised, and just pointed them at Dani for a moment. "It's not like we're living in a Mad Max world, hun. This isn't Fallout or the Wasteland, either," she went on.

She then turned back to the food and hummed to herself. She demonstrated her culinary skill here a touch more. She upped the heat on the chicken and pressed down with her spatula, trying to get it a slightly better sear and of course out some of the juices. With that sizzling, the air really did spike to life with the smell of chicken. Neither bad or good, but definitely more present. Adrian focused in a little more now with his stomach making an audible grumble. He looked over to Dani, then back at the food, then over to Dani. He wasn't confused by any means, just coming to terms with the fact of how hungry he actually was.

"Babe, this is New York City... the streets looked worse when people rioted over MIBVI lockdowns," Adrian told her, somewhat agreeing with the sentiment Erin had. Also acting as a reminder that Adrian was, in fact, born and raised in this very city.

Meanwhile, Erin had began draining the noodles of their starchy water, letting it go right down the drain. Steam erupted from the pan as what little leftover water began to boil instantly once it was put back on the heat. Erin then took the pan of chicken and let some of the oil and flavoring pressed out from the chicken drain into the noodles. With that done, the chicken was now even less wet and cooking faster. She debuted yet another display of skill in that she poured the soupy cheese mix into the noodles with one hand while stirring with the other, all over a hot stove. The mix came together quickly and it seemed that she didn't even use all of the cheesy mixture, meaning she likely had made that from some type of milk and cheese combination too instead of just a box. At the end of it all, she poured the now bits of crispier chicken into the pot of noodles and cheese, completing the seasoned mix of mac & chicken & cheese.

"I mean, I'm a Meister if that counts," Erin said, finally answering the question posed by Dani about what Erin could do.

"No one can do what Sybil does. She's one-of-a-kind. So if you're measuring me up to her, I'm afraid I'll disappoint," Erin admitted, though there was a touch of aggression in her word play. Dani might not have chose the best words to use with Erin - and, honestly, that was on her.

Erin then pulled a few ceramic bowls from a drying station to the right of the sink and began scooping her mixture into each one of them. It actually smelled delicious, assuming one liked the simple combination of cheese and chicken.

"I know a bit of everything. I can survive in the wild or track in the streets. I can fight, fuck, or lie my way out of any situation... I can handle a gun, a computer, a lock, or a bomb," she said, all while dressing the table with bowls, spoons, and soon enough, half-chilled bottles of water. She then took her place.

"You don't need to be a Bloodsucker to be a badass or have some one-off skill like Sybil. My family has been helping out Fox Hunt for generations and not one of us converted. That's the thing, you know. Once you make the change, you can't have a normal family anymore," she explained, dropping a nuke of a truth bomb onto Dani. Not that she ever had to defend herself, more that there was a certain standard required to justify your place when surrounded by centuries-old Bloodsuckers yet being a mere human. It was a thought Dani likely hadn't considered, but when put out on the table, it made sense.

RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: September 26, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Interactions: Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah
Mentions: N/A
Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul @Peckinou

Everything was a shit storm, and Raphael reveled in it. He completely lost track of everyone, lost track of everything, as the Pull took him. The way Ifechi tore everything apart delighted Raphael. But then, a blast of light came from above, trickling bits of electricity showered everything - but Raphael.

He looked up in confusion, seeing the likely culprit being... Gauss? When did he get there? He could fly? Oh, no he was falling.

The break in concentration stopped the magic circle of working, and he used the last bits of it to fling him out the back side of the chain dome, throwing him towards the backwards. The giant sunfish was a huge surprise, but he didn't have the wherewithal to know it was taking their mana. Not until Maria said something. He could see gas in his peripherals, and he felt paralyzed. Not by fear, but by choice. There were so many choices he could make, but were they effective? It didn't seem like he was doing anything to stop these things.

He couldn't destroy...

Maria's words went into his mind, jumped around, and left out the other ear. They couldn't do it, and that enraged him. Still affected by the pull, he thrashed his shortened chain whip onto the sand futilely. "So, we just gonna turn tail and run? They're gonna take over the beach! They're gonna climb into the city and wreck shit! Fuck me sideways..." He groaned.

He was starting to feel the drain now, his face twitching with deep-seeded irritation. "What do you want us to do, leader-man?" He called out in his comms to Gauss, his mind scrambling as he tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't destroy these things by himself, yet inklings of his madness coupled with this pull's drive persisted. He was fighting the pull on his own though, because the sheer number of those things were breaking his tunnel vision, making him feel so small and weak. He became overwhelmed, eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to ascertain what he should be doing.

Could he do anything?

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Atlanta | Rings: 0/1

Timing couldn't have been better.

The ground had started to get hot and that wasn't from the sun or Arky’s flames.

The counteracts of these beasts and that undead rotting fish, had been gnawing at the Pull, demanding he give more and the rationale that was holding back might not have lasted much longer. So when his mind was cleared by healing electricity, and Ark was drawn clean out of the depths of the Pull, he was already missing half of what Maria said as he stumbled backwards, magic sputtering as he had fought to create weeping magma that would go rapidly flying towards his next target.

Then the new information he had factually been ignoring or unable to understand hit him all at once as he drew himself back with Raph’s loss of focus and demand for direction from Gauss.

The first thing was the Mana in the atmosphere. That thing he had been mixing up with his own reserves was now clearly defined as he reeled himself back in. Not all the frustration he had felt earlier gone but the bloodthirsty and tunnel vision certainly had vanished. With those two gone things fit into place quite quickly in all that had transpired and if anything, it really just put Ark in a more cautious state at how wasteful he had been. Worse by the fact he could tell, Raph hadn't been hit. Though he could see with his questioning the chain mage was resisting it.

“Help me recover our allies.” Ark said into the comms.

The fact he had been aware of those same allies being under assault and hadn't cared in the slightest for them in his assault wasn't something he let even enter his mind in the moment. The flickering pulses of life that he had sensed from the start had dwindled by those that were being overpowered by these new variants of beast.

The problem were those scythes. “I can cover against those water based attacks to some degree if you can at least recover some of the others.” Ark stated to Raph specifically. “We can still fall back if that is the plan, at least we'll be able to provide an assist to the rest.” Adding that at least so it wasn't like he was undercutting Gauss entirely.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin
@Peckinou Sir Les Paul Meredith

 

[RedArmyShogun]

The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Investigative Mission
Date: 09/27/67
Location: The Derelict Mansion - Liberec Region - Czech Republic
​

“I do not give all you want just for the asking, I wish for assurances and to arrange security for myself. Though I must say I’m surprised you responded at all. As to what I have to offer, why, the answers to nearly everything that brought you here, though to be clear, I do not know all that is happening here. Of course, those answers may be far beyond what you can decide.” She said with a short pause.

“I’m sure we can garner you asylum for assisting us. However, we will also want to know how you disappear and reappear, its limits, and whom else can use it. That won’t be a problem I imagine?” Elly replied, ignoring the remark of surprise at them answering.

There was a short pause as the glyph glowed faintly, it seemed her visit had spooked them all thoroughly, not being a combatant she did not really understand, but there was little harm in telling them at this point. “My ancestors have lived here and in the witch realm for generations, no, centuries, though the house has changed a few times. My own mother died and I find myself at the mercy of others, however, this is a gift from my ancestors' past.

They and the runestones act akin to a security system and transportation, by using the magic mirror I have in my room I can observe, speak through or teleport to any of the stones and back to the mirror for say 100 yards, that I touch. No one else can use it unless they are of my bloodline. My actual magic is Divination. I can predict the probability of a situation and its paths and control light aspect spells. In other words as I offered to you, I read the futures of others to a degree and advise or warn them. In this case, my benefactor is turning a very dangerous page and to be truthful if I fight you all, even with those here in my manor, my odds of surviving are very slim. If I were a good combatant I would not hesitate to leave now and go to the Witch Realm.”

Elly hummed at that. If it was limited to the stones, that made the technique less of a threat to them. Elly turned her gaze from the image to the manor, honing in on the soul of the girl inside as she spoke. ’Well, well. Truthful,’ She hummed through her shared space with Kisei. This would hopefully put an end to the previous argument and allow them to actually move forward with the mission.

“Very well… And what page do you speak of your benefactor turning? Also, I noticed that there was another person nearby when we spoke that seemed to appear and disappear similar to you. Any idea who or what that may be?” Elly questioned further.

“Why, the only page that matters, that of Destiny. If he is not stopped then all shall unravel, or maybe it will not, but the costs will be immense. And that is a simple question, she is the partner to the woman you met from before. Her soul is hard for you to lock down as she can shapeshift into a swarm of bats that can scatter about further than usual.” The reply said simply, though dropping a tiny hint at the first part of what she had to offer, a vague one.

“Well, I appreciate the answer about the shapeshifter, but I meant what kind of Destiny, dear? We also need to know who your benefactor is. And should we have to worry about the shapeshifter and woman from before? Or are they loyal to you?”

“Destiny of Fate. A great change will happen to the world, one of great terror or of great progress, far more pages are flipping than I can see. I’m younger than you. All I know is death or glory follow in his wake. And I will cease to be useful to them.

And… They are loyal to my benefactor, but they have been with me for some time. At the least I can attempt to get them to not fight what is a lost cause. As to who it is, I’ll name them only when we have an agreement or I see you in person. Unless you rather wait for them all to be in one place.”

With that, Elly tapped the heel of one of Kisei’s scythes against her shoulder idly. “What agreement do you seek, specifically? Amnesty?”

“That or my security to be ensured where I live. I wish for a guarantee of protection, and I prefer it to not be in a DWMA cell, though my own actions are not behind what you seek.” The girl’s voice replied in short order.

“I can’t guarantee that your home will be preserved considering it is the current site for problematic activities… However, if you did not partake in such activities and have been an unwilling accomplice, I believe I can make a case for the DWMA not to see you as an enemy,” Elly replied simply. At the very least, she believed she could keep the girl out of jail with her reports and by bugging Kisei a little.

Kisei squinted, almost glared at the Witch while she spoke. She demanded a lot and offered relatively little. She also spoke in riddles and effectively claimed she could see and shape the future. In the grand scheme of things, the Hoshi man knew relatively little about the more complex nuances of magic, but he and his clan were sure of one thing: soothsayers were bullshit. There were many magical creatures in Japan that claimed to tell the future, that claimed they could see the threads of probability, but it was just that: probability. Nothing set in stone, nothing ever major.

Given that Elly could break Soul Protect, he trusted that her evaluation of the truthful nature of this Witch was correct. In any other circumstance, he would have assumed a trap. Now, if it were a trap, it would be by design of these benefactors pulling strings in such a way that this Witch thought she was pulling one over on them. It was a question of if the Baroness was that cunning. A question Kisei still didn’t have the answer to.

There were some questions he did have answers for, however.

”I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the DWMA is obligated to turn you into the Wiccan Council. You would plead your case before the Court of Maba. Even if we were so inclined to make greater assurances, there is no promise that they will uphold them,” Kisei explained, pointing out the elephant in the room was the fact this girl was a Witch. Under the bylaws of the alliance, if she was captured and returned, it would be the jurisdiction of the Wiccan Council.

”If you can compromise for protections from the DWMA right up until the moment you switch hands to the Wiccan Council, that much I am sure we can provide,” added, more finely pointing out the exact limit of what they could offer.

”As for your effervescent site-seeing of the future, if you are so sure of it, you should look ahead to the outcome of that courtroom. Maybe it will provide the assurance you seek,” he spat, this time just being sour. He had his own dislike for the charlatan capabilities of a self-proclaimed clairvoyant.

What was to follow was a long bit of silence as the girl shot back; “It doesn’t work like that, either way, if that is what I must do, then I shall.” If not for the urgency of the situation, she would have waited even longer, but her life was at risk as well ultimately. “The Wiccan Council I suspect will be as you say, that is why I took this risk. Now, as to what is going on here, I’ll tell only so much till you decide on the course of action you shall take.

The Baroness is employed by another Lord, or aligned with. The missing travelers are being enthralled by the Baroness for the purpose of scientific experimentation. To what ends I do not know, though some of them have willingly or unwillingly been turned into Lesser Vampires, or higher standing ones as if to build an Army. Two of your comrades willingly joined in this, two more did not and the third…” A pause was there as she then continued on.

“By killing the Baroness the people will be freed, though you will only have a short timeframe to act. If she escapes, then you’ll have the same timeframe before they cover up the evidence and escape. It is also worth noting that the Baroness is here not by choice, but given her failures as of late another type of bloodsucker has been tasked with watching her and killing her if she runs without this higher lord agreeing. Ah yes, on the note of the scientist central to all of this, I think she’s a witch, I’ve not seen her but briefly in passing, among her activities is also the construction of chimeras and gargoyles, and for what it’s worth, she is also not there by choice.”

Zosar scratched the back of his head. “So at least half of them were press ganged. Good to know a pair are traitors.” Which was ironic in its own way but not enough for him to care about. “Which were the ones that willingly joined, could you give us a description?”

Elly glanced over to Kisei briefly. That was correct, though Elly specifically only said they would keep her out of a DWMA cell. At least he appeared placated enough by the truth regarding the teleportation. Looking back to Zosar as he spoke, she turned back to the image. “Even if you’re going to withhold that, what will determine whether we enter or not is this. What do you know of the Bloodsucker that keeps the Baroness in check?” She asked. Such an enemy was not one to underestimate. It was important they know the fight they’re entering is one they can win.

“I do not know if you would know of him, I’ll just have to trust you… As to who joined him, the sniper pair that came here, your ultimate target is Duke Richter Von Kleist of Bohemia. His ambitions go further than most know, and he maintains a very different public persona. I'll be back with what answers or what information I have shortly.”

The name didn’t ring a bell to Elly, though who knows what the others knew. “Give us a rundown of what you know ability-wise of those we face inside. Do that, and we can proceed and put an end to this as well as get you out. Once you’ve done that, speak with your guards and see what you can do about keeping them docile. Once you’ve done that, contact me again through the stone and tell me,” Elly told her. If they knew the ability of all those inside, that would make things significantly less of a risk. Likewise, if the girl contacted Elly again, Elly could confirm she isn’t lying about her guards defecting.




Interactions/Mentions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Kisei) Merciless Medic (Sara) Pumpkid (Dante) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze- (Wren)[/scroll]

 

[Haze-]

Wren
Železný Brod; Czech Republic​

“PPFFFFTT—K-HAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!”

The deafening silence that fell on the room once she was done speaking had her brain doing pirouettes, vision fuzzy. When Dante started speaking again, her head swam. And the whole world was carried away by the torrent. Spun like a dandelion, more anger just brewing and bubbling over.

The room shivered, angry— petty. She hissed, brushed off the shards of glass sticking to the palm of her hand.

Endless halls turned infinitesimal, soul room shifting and constricting around her, squeezing air from her lungs, coiling at the neck— and Wren could only rub at her temple, sagging into the dining table. The billowing figure at her side cackled harder and harder the worse it got. A raspy, whistling shrill rasped to a wheeze out of his white mask, uncaring that each huffed out laugh he let out made her feel like she were being lashed, flayed alive.

“You’re really not in high-school anymore. You are aware of that, right…?” — Wren’s fist tightened, balled up, she swatted it at the smiling shadow— earning a feigned yelp and a lingering drawl from Beelzebub. Dante’s ‘lone wolf’ act was head-ache inducing, to say the least.

It wasn’t until Zosar put out a shoulder for Sara to lean on, killing that maddening tick from her collar, that Wren took a long breath. The anger ebbed away; the dining halls etched out into darkness. Sara was fine. As fine as one could be right after being shamed in such a way, at least. That mattered more than yanking Dante’s ear off to lecture him through the comms.

She had already said enough. If the point wasn’t across, then the guy was just deaf or purposely blanking out her existence.

A twinge of understanding was punched into the equation when Kisei shed some light into Dante’s behavior. He blamed himself for whatever happened to his Meister, didn’t want any repeats, nor to deal with it— was her first and best guess. Just as Midori Hoshi used to, from what she assumed. For a split moment she drew that loose, half-assed connection between the other two weapons.

Dante hadn’t gotten over it. Kisei didn’t carry a dead name, nor a dead man’s baggage anymore.

Growing pains. As the Hoshi had put it, rather bluntly, Dante was still whining like a child. And in that sense, remembering how shallow and lonesome things were before Zosar, how awkward real progress felt, Wren could have a level of sympathy for Dante. How many times had she questioned if going at it alone was the best choice herself?

She had been one wrong choice out of the many into walking in those same shoes.

How bad would she have fucked up things if she had done more than chewed off her Meister’s arm back then? Would she have been able to recover just as she had in the now if he had died? Would she have ever opened up in the first place?

Shaken Zosar’s hand back at Gluttony’s Paramour?

With a clear consciousn—

“…fuck up…?” — Wren finished after her senior, sheepishly, staring bug-eyed at the giggling stone beckoning to them. She came back out of her musings, thrown ass-first into the real world. And the situation reeked of that pretentious scent the little witch carried. Sugary, annoyingly sweet.

Magic.

In this case, the talking stone, currently bargaining for a deal with her team leader and superior, had a lingering scent of candy left out in the sun.

What came after the little witch’s grand re-appearance was, along with the irking question of why she hadn’t just communicated safely with them through the stones in the first place instead of being extra and spooking their assassin, a long— long— and sudden back-and-forth.

A flash of white light enveloped the chainblade in Zosar’s hand; Wren stood watching the exchange, throwing confused glances at her seniors and the stone, still languidly holding her Meister’s wrist. One eye ticking at the absurdity of the sight.

Future sight, the destiny of fate, a change of great terror and one of progress— Wren felt like a damn caveman failing to understand how a spark turned to a fire.

Dante’s whole situation was put on hiatus in her order of things.

“Lil’ missy here does have a killer alibi to swing ‘round in court, ain’t she...?” — Wren sighed, arm’s crossing, throwing a hip, her tail tapped a mindless rhythm on her calf — “Innocent child coerced by the evil vampire. Yer’ lawyer’s gonna have a blast, I’m sure.” — Wren was, as normal, speaking out of her ass while she digested all of the information.

Didn’t help that this info dump in particular was a mouthful.

Once the witch’s voice had left the stone, Wren turned to look at Elly. Dead behind the eyes, lips pressed to a thin, sorrowful line. It was Astila Stein and the carpet of bluebells all over again — “I'm assuming we're taking these traitors in alive, no? Now that it's not 'search and rescue' anymore... And...y’ sure we’re enough to put an ‘end’ to all of this by ourselves, boss?” — Her eyes lingered on Sara and Dante for a second too long as she said that, twisting her lip.

There wasn’t anything else said after that, Wren just wanted to plant the point in Elly’s mind, point of the clear dissonance in the team.

Wren paused, taking a good moment to stare idly at Sara. Face scrunching up ugly as her eyes trailed the dry tear lines going down her face, she took a page out of Zosar’s book; pulling an uncertain hand and reaching over to place it on Sara’s shoulder, trying to crack a smile for her.

Her eyes slowly drifted up at the orange-top standing a couple heads taller behind the two wolves, gaze narrowing as it made contact with Dante. The situation was out of hiatus, annoyance simmering again.

“Y’ prove we can, dumbass. With actions. That’s how.” — Wren barked, answering the non-question about trust Dante had posed earlier. Even if he probably knew the answer to that already — “That’s sorta the point I was tryin’ to make.”

Wren stepped up to him, hands pocketed, oddly casual in her approach, in her tone. As if she hadn’t just been scolding him like an angry aunt over the comms just a couple of minutes ago — “Yer’ real slow, y’know?” — She reached up to check him, rapping knuckles and banging a backhand on his shoulder. Hard enough for him to feel it, not enough for it to sting too badly.

“Are y’ gonna help us kill this Duke— whoever the fuck— or are y’ gonna sit there bitching all day?” — Wren raised a brow up at him, posing the non-question — “If yer’ having trouble, y’ can just pretend it’s Kisei on the receiving end of the stick while yer’ in Sara’s hand, y’know? I do it all the time. Works like a charm.”

It was an attempt to find even ground. A blunt one. A poor one. But one nonetheless. Wren just wanted to know if they were finally moving on from the drama and focusing on the mission for once.

RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Pumpkid Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long
New York City - Eastward of Coffee Shoppe - DWMA Field camp
September 26th​

Having reached the checkpoint proper and Crimson going his own way, it was a rather dull setup, like any of the dozens of safehouses she had been too, minus a bit more fortified and set up like an office, she followed Kenny into the base, offering responses and allowing her own partners to revert to their own human forms if they wished it, responding to his own points and remarks, "Yeah, I remember you from the beach... Unfortunately, not because of you, just that whole event in general. Huh. So, they get upset at being called The Church, or being lumped together, great standards of humanity, they'll just turn on one another should they win. Hardly changes my opinion of them. As to your Bandit problem, we've ran into some already, got grazed for my problems.

Honestly upsets me a little that we retreated and let them live... but ah, not a very hero thing to say huh? And monster aside, do you have a general idea or better where Agent Smith is? The city is pretty big, also anything else to say on the creature? Unless my partners disagree, we'll go find Smith, doesn't sound like anything much will change on this side if we don't get his permission, this place is nice but eh... Rather be out and about you know? Though, is it just you three or are more agents here? Still living ones that is..."

Fend would ask in short order, having little interest in a garrison post nor considering now the time to sit around and meet new people, unless her partners felt otherwise.
Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki/Dani) Sir Les Paul (NPC's) Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov
New York City - Coffee Shoppe Basement
September 26th​

"You wouldn't happen to know who it is you've been trying to talk to would you?"

She asked of Blue Steel first and foremost, attempting to be somewhat more civil, she asked rather than demanded. "That decides a lot of what I need to do, though the fact the DWMA is planning other operations, makes me think the asshole Paladin was somewhat right, my own local command might not even know I'm here, much less the plan to use us. That I must confirm before all else." Eyeing over the contraption she gave a shrug at his remarks on not liking it.

"I much rather get my hands on the enemy it is true, but I am not so ready to die on my sword that I would never pick up a gun. Really makes me wonder what others think of me. As to whatever magics it uses, I am here to kill the beast, as long as it doesn't leave a worse problem than what it stopped, I see no reason to disagree."

She did then stick up her right index finger with a predictable, "However..." coming in short reply, "...I think we may be able to pierce its hide if you cannot, however, I rather not count on the aim of your lot, or anyone else shooting past a point where I must get out of the way in an instant. Unless there is little other choice, though with that hunk of metal, it should have no problems. Still, I need to confer with those lot... Speaking of I likely should check in with Feng, see if she met up with the DWMA yet... Either way, what was the plan you all had short of reenacting Gulliver's travels with a railgun? Though for such to be my impression, you all seem to know what you are doing."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's)

 

[Meredith]

Chanterelle Dubois

The Winds Roar

The state that Ark and Maria had reduced their part of the battlefield to was paradoxically beautiful. The gore strewn over the ground, the slamming and splashing of concrete and rebar into the water and the sand, the sweeping scale of it all. Chanterelle wasn’t pulled under alongside them, if not for force of will then by consequence of the jolt that had come from her inhibitor.

But the effort she had to expend in her attempts to fight against the fungus was maddening. The mold withered and died, which was not so exceptional in and of itself, but neither were other growths more effective at rotting the apefish. While she might have assumed a lack of resistance from fungi so far out of their element, her own creations suffered far more from the salinity of the water than did that of this adversary. It was clear that different parts of the apefish were more or less vulnerable to different types of manipulation, but to no great effect. The use of her mana in this way was a horrible waste. Her strategy turned back to one of brute assault, the growth of plants meant to grasp and gouge.

Worse was the appearance of new factors on the battlefield. The whalefall–that wasn’t a good term for it, but Chanterelle didn’t have another one, not for this kind of mass growth attached to a single corpse–brought her to a sharp kind of attention. Perhaps it was some kind of animalistic response to the smell of rot and death. Perhaps it was some sort of feeling of affinity with the factors at play. The growth of the mycelium rooting through the spent mana in the air–willow-like, and in its own way, beautiful–would have distracted her in the same way Ark had if not for the curiosity it spurred.

What she saw in it gave her pause. There was little (except, perhaps, magical creatures) that fed off of spent mana; although some of her more sophisticated creations might flower in the presence of magic in a similar way, few mages could compel real growth (or, really, any kind of magic) from sources outside of their own personal mana. The rapid growth of the mycelium from its engorgement on the mana in the air was concerning, but the idea of a mage like herself with such an ability in their repertoire was downright horrifying. Every single one of these entities were connected, she was certain of that–but there was yet no obvious source that she could identify on the field.

She looked back towards the trio, to where they had been, then further up in the sky. While the manic proposition of the Pull had lessened, she still suffered the natural inclination to believe in the necessity of the use of her magic and did not carry her observation of the magical flora’s mana consumption to its logical conclusion. She was caught in a loop of self-defense, the delayed but then nearly-instant growth of her spiked brush forcing the apefish to move just as their scythes forced her to move and shield in turn. Neither had much success prosecuting the other. Her eyes caught on Noah’s form, so far above her, crackling with energy. A deep breath.

The rest of the beach had quickly evolved into something even more threatening. The green clouds of–what, spores? poison? – had engulfed many of the agents holding the beach beside them. Worse than that, the sounds of combat were beginning to quiet, at least comparatively. What had been a cacophony of spells and steel was now thinner and more dispersed. This spawned a sort of dread that Chanterelle couldn’t quite place–no, that wasn’t true. She knew that this was the dread of losing a battle, of holding out despite truly abysmal chances, and she couldn’t quite admit that to herself.

Then, the lightning. The sky lit up with the fruit of the trio’s efforts, light dancing–almost iridescent–against the mana that so filled her vision. A shower of sparks that hardly dissipated until they met their targets, or at least the ground. It hit her like the feeling of the sun in her face when the curtains were first pulled in the early morning; a shot of lucidity. She could smell clearly, so clearly, the salt in the air.

This offering–of what, of wavelength, of soul?–calmed the beast thrashing in her chest. It preyed on that desire, hidden below the surface, to unleash all she was capable of on the world. It mellowed the feeling of amped-up anxiety curdling in her veins, lessened the manic influence of her highly-imbued blood. It was more than she could have meant to ask for. She’d assumed the trio would focus on her teammates, but she hadn’t told them to, and she didn’t regret being hit with another shot of a healing wavelength herself.

There was a cool feeling of competence that settled over her by means of the clarity it provided. The witch had been able to conduct Noah’s lightning with her spores, though the spell had not worked in its entirety. She’d been capable of containing large amounts of creatures, despite their voracious nature, capable of allowing her teammates to clear them as fish in a barrel. These were feats of magic, but they were not unassisted. If anything, her request for Noah’s wavelength had solidified that idea in her mind. It was the application of her knowledge that had made all of these things possible, not necessarily the strength of her spells. This was a type of knowledge she lacked in this changing situation. This train of thought helped her dismiss what was left of the Pull, of her drive to fight a losing fight.

The trio plummeted towards the ground, but there was little she could do about that. Still, she backed up, intending to both withdraw from the apefish at the waterline and to cover their descent. It would do them little good for their leader and his weapons to be shot down while they were attempting to land.

Maria’s voice again came to her over the comms. She called out Chanterelle’s observation of the mana absorption–good, it wasn’t just her that saw it–but brought that thought to its natural end. They couldn’t fight this here–but if not here, could they fight this anywhere? Could they drag it up the beach? Would it come to them, or would it simply continue to reproduce?

The other mages, at least, seemed to be calming from their internal struggles. Maria was fully capable of reasoning, and that validated to Chanterelle that she’d made the right call, even at Noah’s expense. Her worry for the trio was palpable, but they could hardly be more spent than she was sure Ark would be. Each of them called out for direction on the comms. Raphael was frustrated, but he was handling himself. Ark was concerned for their allies on the field, but Chanterelle wasn’t sure she was in a good position to help anyone while the apefish still threatened her, and she hesitated to leave her position between the trio and the beach for the benefit of other agents. Her spores could likely weigh down whatever poison was in those clouds, but that wouldn’t help if it only coated the bodies underneath. It was difficult to determine exactly what she was supposed to do in this situation.

“The source of this isn’t on the beach, and the preservation of life is paramount.” she chimed in flatly. Their direct orders–the ones presented in the call to combat–were clear that the elimination of the threat was wholly secondary to the preservation of life. Things had already gone downhill, and they needed to try to prevent them from getting worse.

Spores gathered around her body, and she stepped towards the nearest cloud, though she wasn’t sure there was anything still alive in it. She pushed her spores forward, intending to catch the particulate matter in the air, to push them far enough to fall beyond the cloud’s bounds despite the added weight to bring the poison to ground. If it was too light, too thin, it wouldn’t work–but it was a solution that came naturally to her mind.

She was as aware of the trio behind her as the poison (or whatever it was) in front of her, not to mention the apefish themselves, so her focus was regrettably split–but she had to do something to try to help.

The Garden Witch​

Species Witch​

Rank: Fate Agent​

​

Location: The Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ.​

Mission: Kaiju Cleanup​

Status: Determined​

​

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper
@Peckinou RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

 

[Pumpkid]

Dante Holiday

Location: Village of the Mountain Gnomes-Liberec Region, Czech Republic

Interactions: Haze- EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun​

Dante became on guard when Kisei transformed. He was not expecting him to be compassionate. He tried to give him some solace by sharing an experience regarding drugs. Dante's expression contorted into a mix of emotions. Brows raised from shock, then scrunches his nose as a ‘what in the fuck’ moment. How did it compare to him?
He did forget the program offered options for him to cope and get through situations. Of course, this is the first mission and there was no telling what he needed. Essentially he's in a trial run and he was screwing it all up. In honesty if Kisei was not in his party it would be dandy, but somehow got stuck with him. It's as if it was planned for him to learn how to deal with a Hoshi which apparently he isn't one anymore.

Great, he gave away his reason for being an asshole after he was threatened and Dante cooperated to an extent. “Really, dude?” He was bemused, irked that he outed him. ’Prick’ is what comes to mind. It was interesting and alarming that Kisei went through the same thing as him. Oh god! Is he going to end up at rock bottom and do drugs too? Even with his sob story, Dante’s mind was panicking. He still wanted nothing to do with Kisei. Not because he was a Hoshi. No, no, no, no! It was due to the fact that he just witnessed a glance into the future if he continued in the direction he was going. He didn't want to be anything like this dude. The whole point is they are too different. Well…he decided on that in his mind without giving him a chance, but so far Kisei has proven Dante right.

However, hearing his story was no doubt different than his. It wasn't that he was stained in blood, but the truth that his actions would cause someone to abandon him or actually kill or hurt the wielder. Sara happened to be one of the unlucky ones and it intimidated him on the fact that she had lost so many weapon partners that she was falling behind. He didn’t want to be put in such a position nor put her in one either. He didn't feel like they might work after seeing her soul and confirming her past. If he failed her on a mission, he would feel guilty and might be dumped from one mistake. Just one lousy mistake could ruin everything and trigger his fear of trust and prove he's unworthy.

Despite Kisei’s example and encouragement to try. Dante still didn't feel too confident. He needed a win as a sign that he can crawl out of his head and rise above. Words alone don't mean a thing even with good intentions behind them. The insult didn't help; it's as if this was the lousy ninja's chance at throwing free punches at him knowing Dante could not do anything. He growled under his breath and shot him a glare. They are not buddies, not yet anyway. Wait…why did he think that was possible? Is his head straight?

Anyway, he got the point Kisei was making. He messed up, now it's time to put up or shut up to show the team they can trust him by following orders and placing faith on them the way they would for him and trust his meister just this once to see just how easy it is and progress from there. Baby steps required a lot of risks. He didn't mean to mess up. He was trying to protect his meister by keeping her at arms length in case he did screw up, but that did not bode well. Now he's peer pressured into something he doesn't want to do. What choice did he have? Everyone has already decided for him.

Kisei mentioned no one can survive alone but he has forgotten once upon a time on various occasions he has. Dante held his tongue not wanting to quarrel anymore. He felt like a scolded child lectured by a parent. He averted his gaze and did not say a word. His anger was brewing and would have snapped and punched Kisei if he were not interrupted by a child's laughter that had everyone's heads turn in the direction of glowing stone. Dante could see stings of light connected to it leading to somewhere else. Probably a connection to another line. The little girl was trying to communicate with the group, and by the sound of it she was in trouble. So he was right? Maybe? Something to rub in Kisei's face.

As he listened to the interaction between Elly and the little girl, Sara moved in defensively to protect him. Dante clenches his jaw in distaste. He should be the one defending her. She was too good for her own right. He steps aside from her but not far enough that she cannot reach him. He didn't bother to look at her if she ever noticed his slight movement. He focused on the rock. It seems she was in a precarious situation. To think a kid with that much power is in the wrong hands, and they wanted out. Dante would help in a heartbeat, but after the argument, he finally threw on his thinking cap and found something strange. The young witch was merely using their arrival to their benefit. If he were in the same position he would too. Was he doubting them? Yes. His mind was scrambled and didn't know what to think. The orange-haired continued to observe the conversation a little more until the end.

The gist of it was the people they were looking for, are under control while two of them were traitors. What a drag. Worst of all, in order to save them they will stand before the Wiccan Council. Poor kid. They seem to just want to go home. He can relate to that. It's bad enough Kisei was being a tad harsh to someone asking for help.

Just Dante assumed the worst was over, Wren had to open her mouth and continue the lecture as if he wasn't already on the verge of exploding. She consoled Sara then glared at him spouting words. He was over this. Done. He averted his minty eyes but that was not enough to dissuade her. She actually touched him and he was disgusted. His eyes snapped towards the wolf ready to throttle her. His emotional energy was running on low and one false move could have him sent home after he just made a little progress. She was just pushing it. He removed her hands from his hoodie ready to raise his and grip her by the collar. He only stepped a couple steps forward towering over the girl before taking a deep breath through his nose and looking over his peers.

He stepped back and withdrew his attempts. “Leave me alone.” He said defeated and walked off but not far enough he was out of sight. He needed a breather. He couldn't let his anger win. Not right now. He was ready to bare his teeth. His therapist recommended fresh air and breathing exercises. Of course on a mission that's not possible. For now they were waiting on the girl to return with more information. Stepping aside doesn't hurt, right?

Dante squats and closes his eyes. He took a deep breath and held it counting to three and back out. “One…two…three…breathe. Three…two…one…exhale.” As soon as he cooled down, he looked at nothing in particular, taking a second to collect himself, find an answer. Whenever he is overwhelmed, he throws on his hood and tugs on his strings to feel small or just holds his head as if afraid to lose it.

Of course he wants to help. He was such a tsundere about the whole thing. This was a serious situation, not a playground. He had to get his act together. That much was evident, but at least they now had an understanding why he was a prick and Kisei seemed to be relieved that Dante finally snapped out of his facade. It's only temporary because he was cornered. Right now he had to keep his promise of not quitting and pushing through this difficult time. The only ally he has is Sara and yet he cannot even face her right now. He knew once that kid returned he had to just swallow everything and deal with it. This is work after all, a second chance.

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
DWMA Field Camp, New York
September 26th
Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul ​

---

Wes watched as Kenny not so subtly suggested for Crimson to make himself scarce. He wouldn’t lie, he felt slightly better once the bloodsucker had departed, letting go of a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. As Kenny began to detail his own interactions with the church, and the other hazards present in the city, He couldn't help but think about why disasters always brought out those types of people.

He could understand the looters, people using the chaos of a bigger event to grab anything they could get their hands on for when it all blew over. He could even understand the rogue witches, using the same cover of chaos to do…. Well, whatever it was that rogue witches did. Whisk away children, unleash their magic and cause chaos, or maybe they were like the rogue witch Gauss had fought against back in Egypt, terrorists acting towards some untold goal.

But for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why chaos like this would bring out other monsters. If they were smart enough to stay hidden normally, why would they take risks to come out now? Shaking his head, he followed his partners into the shelter, and was a bit taken aback at how barren it was. It looked less like a place to take shelter and more of a sad office building.

As they passed through the doors, Wes was able to make out the soul signatures of the other agents. The blue haired man's was unusually quiet, almost enough that Wes still thought he was being overwhelmed by Kenny’s soul, until he heard the faintest of sounds break through. It sounded faintly like the rusting of grass on a summer day, as if a slight breeze was blowing through a field. In comparison, his partner's soul was far more audible, although just as pleasant. It reminded him of when he went camping back when he was traveling the states, of hot and humid days spent in the forest with nothing but the cries of insects to keep him company. It was a mix that sounded natural and complimentary to each other.

While Kenny might have been keen on getting out there and throwing himself against whatever creature was preying on witches, Wes held a different opinion. Being told to basically rest and standby was far more preferable than trudging around the city and having to deal with the chaos outside. So much so that as he looked around the rather bare room of the shelter, he genuinely thought about offering to take the meister’s place. He wondered if there was a television lying around that could be hooked up somewhere. While he probably wouldn’t be able to get into his Netflix account, there was bound to be something on to keep him distracted.

Unfortunately for Wes, before he could voice his suggestion that Kenny and him swap places, Feng had made the decision that the group was going to try and locate Samuel. She did ask for his input however, giving him the opportunity to disagree. He glanced at Kenny, and then once more around the barren room, before giving a shrug of his shoulders. “Yeah, alright.”

Knowing Aki, it was unlikely she'd share his view of taking over guard duty. And as much as Kenny might have wanted to accept, he doubted he'd do so. Smith gave him a direct order to stay at the shelter, and delegating that task to someone else was probably beyond his authority. So, outnumbered from the very start, raising a fuss would only lead to him being badgered into it anyway. Might as well just say yes and get it over with.

“Is there a car or anything we can use?” He asked the red headed meister, nodding his head back towards the door. While they could just walk, the minimal destruction that they had encountered so far meant that if they were to drive, they wouldn’t need to worry too much about avoiding any hazards. And worst case scenario, they come across somewhere they couldn’t pass with a car, they were just back to walking. “Might make us stand out more if he has others watching the roads.”

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Derelict Mansion, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Interactions: Dante, Wren, Zosar, Elly, Midori
Mentions: Witchling
Pumpkid Haze- The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

Sara didn’t know how to take the information presented to her. Lots of talking. All she knew was how the Witch’s abilities worked but still couldn't understand how or why, and she just wanted to be safe while she gave information and tried to prevent some of those who watch over her from attacking them. Midori wanted to be realistic with how they were going to do this - as Sara was sure he didn’t want misconceptions or lies to sour the Witchling’s impression of them or DWMA as a whole. Either way, she seemed pretty amenable to it and continued to speak, talking of how there was someone above the Baroness and if this Baroness failed, he’d kill her.

Sara remembered Noah talking about the Baroness when he was in Romania.

The Witch spoke of the two who were traitors - the sniper pair - and said she would need to get more information shortly.

Wren seemed to have some kind of issue regarding all this, but it was completely warranted. What wasn’t warranted was her bringing up the topic again. Sara watched as Dante looked like he was going to grab or hit her before telling her off and taking a step back. With her ears back and her tail spiked up, she glared at Wren, uncaring of Zosar’s advancement to Wren’s side to protect her. Her voice was low, quiet. “Don’t beat a dead horse. Topic’s been over.” Her ears then were on a swivel, paying attention to little sounds near them as her tail hairs smoothed over.

Though, Sara now knew that Dante’s former partner died and likely blamed himself for it, and that his partner was either Hoshi or Hoshino or used a partner that was a Hoshi after Dante's partnership with him. Either way, it gave her more of a reason to stand stubbornly by Dante’s side. She took a few steps back, making sure she was near enough to Dante just in case something happened.

Letting out a sigh, she looked back at Elly, her expression weary. “So, are we just waiting for confirmation like sitting ducks out here? Shouldn’t we go find a place to hide? Though, I can’t imagine they’d have a hard time finding us since they're mostly Bloodsuckers with good noses. With all this oil and fuel here - as much as the stench is awful - can’t we use that stuff to make it harder to smell us out?” She asked, looking off further into the property to see if she could spot the source of the oil and fuel.