Demon Lord, we...well...kind of Lost your Body...

[Xin]

The Demon Lord to a sight that he was still having some trouble dealing with, that sight being a rather large bedroom with lots of pink and stuffed animals that seemed as if they had multiplied like tribbles from Star Trek. Of all the bodies that might have been used, he was stuck with that of a high school girl who obvious held on a little too much to her childhood. He knew it was not entirely his subordinates fault, after all he needed a body which had lost its mind and as she was the only brain-dead and alive patient at the time, well it could not be helped. Of course it was still his subordinates fault for not finding his body before his mind-keeping jar was about to break from holding his esteemed countenance for so long.

In any event, he had to get used to the fact he was now a girl, who had had a life, family, friends, and lived in this very different modern day world full of devices and contraptions that often put even the best of magic to shame, such as the cell-phone, quite a marvelous device for communication meaning he no longer had to take up necessary mental capacity to have mind connections with his key subordinates like in the old days. There were many other things too such as cars, computers, and institutions such as the school Irene was required to attend, and therefore he had to. There were so many things he had to catch up on just to function normally in this strange new time, but his vast intellect at least had stayed with him and already he had become proficient in most modern things.

The Demon Lord slipped out of the over-sized bed which he had to admit, was more comfortable than any bed he had slept on during his reign, and stood in front of a full-body mirror with silver edging. "Oh yes, the perfect figure to strike fear in the hearts of my enemies..." He sarcastically commented as stared at Irene Kingsley's body, not caring that she was only in her underwear. It was such a, sheltered body really, smooth skin, almost no calouses on her hands or feet, frankly it almost appeared as if she had been kept behind a glass case like a porcelin doll. She had quite well endowed proportions for a young girl, people sure grew up different from when he reigned, people became adults much faster for one and it did not take long to loose one's youthful features, it was truly a different time period. He was fairly certain Irene Kingsley was what one would call, exceedingly cute, which was mos certainly not a demon lord's trait but since he was in hiding, he supposed it was actually a bonus, though he had been nearly overwhelmed when he first 'returned' to school and he, or rather Irene, had been crushed under the weight of tearful guys and girls who welcomed Irene's return to life, ironically not realizing that they were congratulating the return of the Demon Lord.

Of course now was not the time to enamoured with the current age's ability to produce beautiful females and he had to get ready. Irene took a shower, ate breakfast, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, etc. There was a certain ritual young females had to go through each morning it seemed and he had to do his best to fit into that norm. There were several good things about his situation, first off, it appeared that the Kingsley family had quite a bit of money which was useful, but there was a limit to the amount of money Irene could use, no doubt it was the parent's way of trying to get there daughter to be smart with her money for the future, but thankfully it did appear that he could save up the money for something big later, though often his weakness for sweets made him 'loose' a few bucks every so often as he devoured yet another outlandish sweet, of which the current world seem to have no limit to.

Another advantage was that both of Irene's parents were quite busy, meaning that he was forced to interact with them only so often, though the times they did spend with her could be quite suffocating, obviously trying to make up for time lost while she was in a coma. By the way they acted, there was little doubt that Irene loved her parents quiet dearly so it was not like he could just ignore them when they wanted to have some family time. There was also a very useful third advantage to this body, Irene Kingsley had kept a diary.

Having access to her diary was a gift from the heavens, so to speak. As he had to take over a body which no longer had a mind or personality, the only real things he got from the previous mind was muscle memory, and skills of a more reflexive nature. Thanks to her diary, the Demon Lord was able to reconstruct a fairly good image of what Irene had been like, what were her likes, dislikes, relationships, friendships, and so on. He could still blame certain 'memory loss' to the shock of the accident and the brain turama but could still seem at least somewhat similar to the Irene from before and fit back in with her classmates.

Of course, there was also the problem of finding out where he body was, as there was school and schoolwork, his time was limited to after school and the weekends to effectively search. There was thankfully one very special advantage programmed into the various 'clues' that were scattered about, and that was to search out the demon lord. Of course this did not mean that he could just sit around and wait for the clues to fall into his lap, but they were have a tendency to at least get close enough to his current location for them to be viable to search for, heck even the Demon Lord did not know exactly how it worked but it would not doubt make it possible for him to be Irene Kingsley while searching for those clues.

Soon Irene Kingsley was out the door, with school bags in hand. Today was a nice sunny Friday, which meant a shorter school day a prelude to a hopefully great weekend. The school was a bit far from where she lived so she had quite an expensive looking street bike to ride to school. It would not take her long to arrive, then she just had to get through the day so that she could meet up with her subordinates to plan their next search, until then though, it was time to live as Irene Kingsley would.

[Harbringer]

“Mao-…Irene Kingsley…” Valor started, dropping to one knee and placing his left hand across his chest, his other pressed against the floor in a fist, “I have come to accompany you to…school…” His show of fealty done, Valor stood up to his full height again, towering over his master…mistress…leader…His face was unmarked with scars, and was angled in all the right places, giving him a stunningly attractive face, while the rest of his body matched, and even surpassed most elite athletes. His long black hair ran down his back in a spiky mane, while his lupine amber eyes stared at the vessel of the Demon Lord with seemingly cold dissociation. His left ear was pierced with several black studs in an effort to seem more like the ‘delinquents’ that those at school talked about, and his clothes reflected that too. He was wearing the school uniform, of course, but the white shirt was unkempt and untucked, his jacket was open, his tie done at half-mast, while his pants, seemingly normal, had a long, heavy chain going from his belt to his pocket. Most people thought it was a wallet…but how wrong they would be. The feeling of the chained dagger was reassuring in his hand as he placed it back into the pocket, jingling the chains.

“Huh…so the transfer student is with Kingsley again,” said a passing student
“Is she, like, from a rich family?” her friend asked, looking at the two, “because he keeps treating her like royalty…”
“It’s too bad…a great looking guy like that only comes around every century…” a third one replied, glancing back longingly at Valor. Feeling the slight tingle of eyesight, Valor glanced back, just in time to lock eyes, and offered a soft smile, with a nod of his head. The third girl’s cheeks lit up red like cherries as she turned away. He didn’t know why, but whenever he did that to a female from this era that looked at him, he always got that reaction. In fact, he had already been followed by a gaggle of girls for quite a while now…pretty much since he started school…What an odd, odd world. The males of the school also seemed to hate him for some reason or other, not that he would know. He had yet to do anything of interest, or anything that would really cause their feelings to be so hostile towards him.

For the past few days, Valor had been acting as Irene Kingsley’s bodyguard and companion, following her wherever she went to ensure her safety, although he was becoming almost sure that this was getting him some bad attention from the male humans. At some point in time, Valor had become the number one sportsperson in almost every sport, defeating their captains with little to no effort on his part. That seemed to be when the girls started to flock, although recently, the amount of time spent with the Demon Lord had caused some of the girls to give up, although others still seemed to stalk him for some reason, which made him stick closer to Irene for her protection. One of them could be an assassin…or even worse…a hero… He had to be ready for any possibility and eventuality, no matter the odds of it happening. Strangely enough, that was also the time period that duels between him and several other of these…’delinquents’ and gangs started to happen…and he became something called the “Demon of Wonder Gate High”. He was alarmed at first due to the inclusion of Demon, as he had suspected that he had been discovered, but it seemed in this world, things like this were natural.

“Shall we…head to school…Master?” he asked, still not completely used to this new…Lord…If he could even be called that. He pretty much needed constant confirmation from the Maoh to ease his heart and mind, to make sure he was not subservient to the will of some teenage female.

[Xin]

The first person to meet her on her way to school was Valor Esteran, the armsmaster, currently in the guise of a very good looking young man. He was one of the Demon Lord's most trusted subordinates who he had absolute faith in, his only real problem was that he did not seem to be very aware of his actions as first thing he did was bow down to Irene, something that he was accustomed to doing during the old days but it was quite out of place in this current, secular world. "Valor, treating me like my real self is a very spectacular idea while in the presence of others." With the extreme emphasis on 'spectacular' it was very easy to tell she meant the exact opposite. "While I am glad to have your support, at this rate our only safety will be being too popular and getting lost in the throngs of admirers."

Irene watched as Valor smiled to a passing girl, who's cheeks instantly flared up like a lantern on halloween. Irene shook her head, seeing a perfect example as to why this delinquent, 'bodyguard' of hers was instead of keeping gazes away kept drawing even more eyes in, eyes from the female population that screamed to snatch him away while eyes or males glared daggers of malice at him and of course there were also the longing gazes at her from some of the male populace and some glares of hated from females as well.

"Ah, life just isn't fair," Said a passing guy who stole a glance at the 'couple'. There were other such words, from males and females alike, and the Demon Lord could not help but let out a sigh. Irene glanced at her bike, which was currently by her side. The bike was a useful contraption but it also help some cultural references he had been aware of, namely if a girl was on a bike with a boy, rumors and assumptions quickly popped up. The Demon Lord had made that mistake by allowing Valor to ride him to school one day, where Irene had been quickly mobbed by students asking who he was, where they dating, and various other things which the Demon Lord did not care much about. Irene had managed to get by with the just a friend but it had taken at least two days before things calmed down, "Blast it being popular has never been so much a challenge, dealing with heroes is much easier than a gaggle of women and hordes of men."

“Shall we…head to school…Master?” Valor asked, finally they were going to do something productive, even if it was just walking, while actually the Demon Lord would be riding Irene's bike, a shiny thing which super thin wheels designed for traveling quiet fast on flat streets. Irene hopped on her bike and started at a rather slow pace, so that Valor could keep up, well actually he could probably keep up even at very quick speeds but seeing him keep up so easily would raise even more suspicions than they already had. Adjusting was something the Demon Lord found himself constantly having to do, every day there was something that needed to be remedied it seemed.

"Well come on, we do not have all day. Do your job to your utmost and the day will come when everything is set straight." The Demon Lord's state was firm as stone, it would only be so long he would be stuck as Irene Kingsley. The two headed on toward school and soon they were within the school gates. Make sure to keep your eyes out for enemies and clues. Also," Irene paused for a moment as a female waved toward Valor, obviously vying for his attention, "keep away from the poisonous blossoms." Irene parked and locked her bike down, and had to wonder if Valor would realize what she meant by 'blossoms'.

Once again, the Demon Lord found himself in the public facility called school. "Just, gotta get through this and then I'll be free to search for my body."

Heroes headquarters at an undisclosed location

CRASH! Was the sound that was heard inside the office of the current leader of the heroes. He was an older man, with a head full of grey hair but he undoubted worked out for much of his younger life as he was still extremely fit. His jaw was firmly locked as his head turned toward the direction of the sound.

"Now what on earth could that be." He got up from his desk, which remarkably had very little paper work, the majority of which he pushed onto his subordinates but still he went through a good bit himself. The heroes of course had moved right alone with society, had several large corporations affiliated with them and were quite the large 'secret' organization. They had a public face of course, but most 'heroes' in the field were in engaged in plainclothes operations, to protect the people from demonic threats and to search out evils strongholds wherever they were. They also engaged in other business pursuits, often times overshadowing their hero work since demon activity had been very sporatic over the years.

The director walked over to where he heard the sound and looked into a large glass case filled with several artifacts of various designs and purposes. Most of the artifacts were endowed with magical properties that signified different situations. A pumpkin shaped lantern for instance showed the state of a barrier around the infamous Jack-O-Lantern, a demon which had caused quite a lot of destruction over the years before it was sealed. There was also the ship-in-a-bottle, which determined the status of the bermuda triangle, nearly every item was a different magical warning system and one of those items had just broken.

"Blast, which is it this time." The director grunted as he looked at the shattered pieces of what appeared to have been a jar. He looked at the other jars, he looked at the shattered one, then the other again just to be sure. "So the day has finally come huh..." He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about what the shattered artifact indicated. The one that had been broken was a replica of the same jar that had held the demon lord for so long. It had been made shortly after the Demon Lord had escaped and had been modified to break when it was believed the jar could no longer contain the Demon Lord. If it had broken, then there were three possibilities, the best scenario was that he had perished along with the jar, the worst scenario was that he had found his body, but as there were no armies of demonic forces on the rise that was probably not possible. The third possibility was a troubling one, that the Demon Lord had moved on to another body. It had always been a possibility but frankly the heroes did not know what was needed for a temporary vessel for the demon lord so as far as they knew he could have possessed anyone! The director knew that he needed to get the word out, and he needed to get a special squad to determine if the Demon Lord was still present in the world or not, things could get nasty if it turned out the Demon Lord was indeed still alive.

The Director went to his desk, hit a button on his desk phone and held the receiver to his mouth. "This is Carth Rasmus, I have a job that needs doing, also spread the word to all heroes, there is a possibility that the Demon Lord has returned so all forces need to be on alert. I certainly hope your Demon Lord presence tests turn out negative so we can finally stop worrying about his return."

[Xartarin]

Doing a few reps before school had become a tradition for Danielle years ago. She had spent her whole life training for the slim chance the "The Demon Lord", a supernatural tyrant of legend, may return one day to reek havoc on the world. This meant making sure she could block blows with a shield, cleave heads with a broadsword, strike a target with an arrow, and track the scent of magic with ease and accuracy. But most importantly, it meant maintaining strength that could overcome even the mightiest of the demon lord's minions. The weight room at the high school was inadequate for these needs. For reasons Danielle never quite understood, she needed to maintain a cover, and that meant restraining from showing off her full strength. Working out a little before school helped her resist the urge to throw a person in public.

"Nine... ten... spot!" Danielle lifted the bar halfway up before the automatic spotter took over. The machine behind the bench press had two robotic arms that allowed it to lift the bar for Dannielle if she was having trouble. It was the only thing that could spot her, as her parents could no longer lift the weight. As the robot was doing its work Danielle got off the bench and sat for a couple minutes. She removed the elastic hair band from the back of her head that had been keeping her hair tied back. As much as she liked having her hair a bit long, she was always worried about it getting caught in the spotting machine, or in the various exercise machines she worked with.

There was football practice today, which meant that Danielle was allowed to drive the car to school instead of bike. Her pickup truck left the garage of their somewhat rural house and took close to twenty minutes getting to school. She turned on the radio as the truck bounced along the dirt road through the forest. At first there was something about Irene Kingsley, a student who in a miraculous (or as one radio voice called it, "medically impossible") event came back from brain death. Danielle had heard the story a million times before. After all, she happened to go to the same school as the inspirational tale herself.

The first time Danielle heard the story, she loved it, even though she had never even heard of Irene beforehand. A tale of triumph over impossible adversity was right up her alley. She got mad at people questioning how someone could effectively come back to life. For a few days she was part of the crowd that surrounded her. But by now she was a bit sick of it. The spectacle wore thin quickly. As soon as she could identify which story the station was talking about, she changed the channel to some old rock and turned the volume up. Music was better at drowning out the clanging of weapons from the locked case in the back anyway.

[The15thSpycrab]

Austin ran through the gloomy forest. The full moon shining overhead made the wispy fog look like writhing tentacles, reaching out to snag the frightened lad. His chest heaving, the boy stopped with his back to a large tree, trying to catch his breath, and looked back the way he came. The shadows were still coming. Nearly in a panic, Austin got up to run again, but throwing a look over his shoulder, he didn't see the root that reached out of the ground. Landing with a thump that knocked all of the wind out of him, he swiftly rolled on his back, just to see the darkness stretch over his head... Then come crashing down...

The boy woke, breathing heavily, covered in sweat. He had that dream again, the one that always left him dreading the night. Fortunately, the newly risen sun was shining through the parted curtains, making it's way to where Austin lay, bathing him in it's golden rays. He climbed out of the large, soft bed and stretched. His eyes were bleary and his muscles ached. The dream didn't exactly leave him well rested. He looked around the room, taking comfort in the familiar sights. The cream-colored wood that made up the walls, the red-oak door, his well-ordered mahogany desk with it's expensive computer. The clock on the wall said 6:30, plenty of time before he had to go to school. Moving over to his desk, he sat in the comfortable chair and booted up his computer. Checking his cyber status was his daily ritual, when he got up, during lunch break, and when he got home from school. Everything was business as usual. He updated his Twitter, chatted a bit with his online friends, and made a short post on his blog, "Haters gonna Hate", a series of critical opinions on various things. After this was finished, Austin went to breakfast, usually a buffet-style counter with many delicious foods for him to choose from. With his plate full, the lad climbed the stairs back to his room, not wishing for the company of others. After eating, he dressed in his usual school outfit. He picked up his satchel, which already held his schoolbooks and laptop, and headed to the door. Austin grabbed his soiled plate on the way past, and left it on the return counter near the kitchen. The boy made his way to the family garage, and used his electronic key to unlock his Volkswagen Beetle Convertible. He loved his car. From the gleaming chrome coating, made with a special polymer to be waterproof and damage-resistant, to the modified engine, capable of going from 0 to it's top speed of 230 mph in under a minute. Setting his schoolbag down on the front passenger seat, he climbed in, and started the engine. A gentle purring filled the car. It was unnecessary, as he could have made it so there was no sound or motion at all, but what boy doesn't like the feel of a powerful beast at his control? He pulled gently out of the garage, and then revved up the engine and peeled out down the long, tree-lined drive. Tuning in to the classical radio station, he listened to some symphonic music on the uneventful trip to the school. He parked his baby in a space close to the side entrance, and waited in his car for most of the people to move inside.

[Memoir]

Ophelia was just checking over the last sign-up sheet and poster duo that was mounted on one of the school’s corridors. She had to use a chair and stand on tip toes because she was a little on the short side, so it was best that she did these checks early in the morning before school started. Anyway, watching the rising sun from an open window was one of the best parts of the day. The sun’s rays were the purest at that point, and they hit the rim of Ophelia’s golden bracelet and choker so beautifully…

Like the other fifty posters that were around the building, this one read “Be one of the first to take part in the new Dodge ball season – practise starts Monday!” with an empty-looking signup sheet to the left of it. Practise would have started this Friday, if only the football team wasn’t using the courts all day. Once upon a time the dodge ball club was running pretty strong, until very recently when most of the students seemed a little scared to sign up for any sort of athletics at all. Ophelia had reason to believe that it was due to the influx of a set of “special” transfer students, which happened around the same time as Irene’s miraculous revival…

Speaking of Irene, Ophelia realised that she was yet to congratulate her on her return to the living world. Irene had always been constantly surrounded by huge groups of students, huge groups that Ophelia would rather avoid, and that new transfer student who followed Irene like a love-sick puppy. In fact… wasn’t that the same Valor who had been indirectly responsible for the decline in new sports recruits? The strange boy with black hair and golden eyes, with a rather large female fan base.

Ophelia grunted, then started perfecting the corners on her poster. Was this going to become a sequel to the Twilight saga? The one thing she hated was when girls and boys centred all of their attention on a certain couple, for no other reason except for their visual appearance, and choose to love or hate them for that one reason. She hated mindless empty vessels that acted that way, either saturating their shallow minds on a strange intimate fantasy, or choosing to openly condemn those that just happen to fill the opposite criteria for their ideals of beauty…

Her bracelet snagged on the metal rungs of the window, which brought Ophelia back to reality. She had been on one of her bitter trail of thoughts again. They came and went like regular impulses, and she had little control over them. Ophelia sighed, reminded herself that she was no longer in the company of bigoted heroes; even if she did get more regular updates on the activities of the demon subordinates, she’d easily trade all of that for a happier life.

Meanwhile, she tried to free herself from the window frame. Well. Tried. Her hand was free, but her bracelet had managed to become unclasped and ended up falling to the ground below, a little away from the school entrance. Her favourite one, the one that was decorated with charms such as eagle’s wings and open cages that symbolised freedom. Ophelia did consider using a supernatural hand to bring it back up again using the gold still on her neck as a medium, but too many students had started to pour in through the main gates. And by the time she got down there using conventional methods, well… a pure gold bracelet was pretty likely to be stolen by then. She cursed under her breath, and quickly slammed the window shut. No dodgeball, no dodgeball team, and no bracelet… today was starting marvellously.

[Magpie]

Though you could still hear the hissing sounds of cars that passed by on the road further down the drive-way, the outside of the Thornthon household was a tranquil place and seemed almost soundproofed, shielded from the outside world by the gorgeous canopies of large bushes and well-placed trees. It was obvious that at least one of the many people who lived here had a passion for gardening. The sun cast a mottled, golden light over the property, greeted by colorful flowers that had just begun to open up their petals for the morning. Sparrows chirped in the birdfeeds. Occasionally, dogs would make a ruckus in the garage, which had been rebuilt into a dog kennel.
The house itself looked quite cozy, despite being large enough to house three floors and even a few outhouses scattered across the area - perhaps it was the garden that did it, or just the fact that it seemed old with its many wooden panels and off-white color. It had a large front porch, which at the moment was occupied by a young woman and a large, black dog, both sitting on the stairs that led to the wooden porch itself.

"Look, Evangie. I'm just... saying it's odd, okay?" said a voice that seemed to have no source. It was just there, like a silvery whisper that the woman seemed able to understand somehow. The voice seemed somewhat uncomfortable regarding the subject it was discussing. You could basically hear the frown. "There are too many scent trails, and it's all over Wonder Gate. I've come across dozens of demon trails just during the past week or so, and I'm telling you. It ain't normal." The dog lazily scratched its side with a hind leg, looking out over the spacious driveway and the cars that had parked there.
The girl named Evangie sighed. She was blond, with long wavy hair that draped over her shoulders. "Well... I get where you're coming from, and all..." she said with a shrug. "... but aside from your sense of smell, we've had zero inclinations about the demon activity being on the rise. Mom's been watching over the news in the demonic realm, and so far we've got nada reason to believe that anything of interest is going on. Even less to think it should be any cause of worry."
"...." the voice paused. "... It just doesn't sit right with me."
"I getcha, Orbit. But as far as we can tell, my mom's right. You worry too much, you silly dog." Evangie grinned and scratched the black canine on the spot between his eyes. It didn't object. "We'll keep our eyes peeled until it all blows away, alright? Just don't lose any sleep over it. Maybe it's just some goon having a private party and it'll all go away when they run out of alcohol?"
"Demons and booze... what an excellent combination." There was a certain amount of sarcasm, and the dog rolled its eyes. "I thought you said NOT to worry..."
"And I mean it, Orbit." Evangie said, completely serious. "I've got to go back and finish things before someone finds out I'm on a break, but, really. Calm down. If anyone knows anything, we'll find out at the Gathering tonight." she said and gave the dog a final, gentle scratch over his head. "These are people who know stuff. You know that as well as I do, puppy."
With that, Evangie stood up and disappeared. The scent of meatballs and pasta drifted through doorway as she passed through it.

Orbit remained alone on the porch, and he scoffed after Evangie. His large black body heaved with the movement, the long silky fur shuddering a bit. "Bah..." the dog thought out loud, though no one was there to hear him. "No worries, huh... That'd be easier if these guys weren't big fish..."
That was true - at least one or two of the scent trails he had caught whiff of were of powerful demons. Stronger than him, for sure. The garden might be tranquil and peaceful now, but the hellhound wasn't convinced. He hoped the uneasy feeling in his belly was just his imagination, even though he had learned to trust in his gut feelings.

He sighed, and gave up on his trail of thought. It would not take him to the answer. The gravel of the driveway crunched gently beneath his paws as he left the porch and crossed the path. The noises of the suburban street seemed much more real outside the garden, as if they were alive in a different way. Though he liked the garden a great deal, Orbit found it refreshing. Having little else to do, he discreetly trotted down the walkway with no goal and no destination in mind. Maybe the park. He had nothing better to do at the moment, and he might as well gather his scattered thoughts.

[Mastermind001]

{Ryan Kross}

_Enter Kross_

" Oh my god." Kross groaned as he stepped outside of his faded red brick house apartment building and spotted a car parked in front of the driveway. He shook his head and then locked the door to his apartment, inserting the key back into his wallet. To most folks, Ryan Kross was an ordinarily a regular guy, whose only peculiar thing was being dressed in unusual clothing. Today, Ryan Kross was sporting a black jacket with only the left forearm had a black and white checkered pattern, blue jeans, where the right leg had a checkered patterned, and a black fedora, with a checkered pattern band. However, Kross really is a regular guy, he's just on a bizarre adventure with strange powers to boot.

He looked side to side, and then the nearby windows, he didn't want witnesses and lucky for him there didn't seem to be any. " Silver Gentleman." He called out. Tick! Tick! Tick! A ticking noise appeared in the surrounding area. Kross looked behind him to gaze at a silver behemoth bowing and tipping its silver top hat to him. It then stood up straight and adjusted its hat. Its silver armor gleamed in the sunlight, but exposed areas revealed the inner machinery of gears, chains, and springs, as well as the source of the ticking nose. Its face was a clock with roman numeral and hands pointing at the four and eight. " Time to take care of a problem." He commented with a smile as he glanced over to the illegally parked car.

This Silver Gentleman, walked with a loud clank as it approached the vehicle. From its right hand, it spawn a gear and attached to the roof of the car. The engine of the car came alive and the wheels turned slowly as it pulled forward to an empty spot in the front. Once the car, parked, Kross stretched out his hand to the Silver Gentleman. " Five Gears, please?" He asked and its response, is placing a metallic hand over Kross's hand. In his hand suddenly appeared, five gears, and the Silver Gentlemen faded away like the morning fog of Wonder Gate. He stuffed the gears into his pocket and then removed the gear stuck on the car's roof.

"Time to investigate the city." He commented as he walked with no direction in mind.

[Hikari Sama]

Some time had passed since the Demon Lord returned to the physical world and Kasumi had seen very little of him. His new body was actually rather attractive for a girl but it wasn't nearly as impressive as she imagined his true body was. Kasumi had been sent to scout for leads on the whereabouts of the Demon Lord's body and although she would have preffered to be with him at the school she knew that Valor was clearly a better choice as a bodyguard, still it frustrated her. She wanted to be at his side every day and make him happy so that they could subjugate the world together but instead she was on a train heading towards Tokyo University, where a proffesor was said to have studied many aspects about ancient times. She would pose as a busty young student writing a report for this one. It would be easy to extract whatever information he had.
The train she was on was packed full of people and Kasumi had assumed what was currently her favorite form. She was about 152cm, B cup size, and short black hair fashioned in a tomboy cut, and Japanese facial features. It was a failry popular form among the crowd on the train but there was one in particular that kept staring at her. An older man in a suit who was clearly a pervert by the look on his face. In all her years she had never had a problem reading the emotions of men by looking at them. Mortal men were always the same.
Once she had finally reached the train station she noticed that the man who was staring at her earlier had followed her for several blocks after on her way to the university so she decided to turn into a dark alley where no one could see her. Sure enough the man followed and tried to grab her but she knew this was coming so she quickly turned and punched him in the throat. As he was gasping for air she quickly kicked him in his groin and calmly walked out of the alley. Mortal men were all the same...

[Alphakoka]

The Dream Drop café was located in a medium-sized building and acted as the Belloper's house and feeding ground. Over the years, the café had built up a good amount of fame and while they're still unable to feed like they wanted to, the café had certainly made it easier for them to mark feeding targets if needed be and to listen some of the more circulated rumors that spreads in the city. This also includes the usual rumor of 'ghost sightings' that the dream-eaters use to keep check of the demons activities, although recently it has grown too numerous because of a certain rumor that had spread within the demons communities. Melvin was preparing to depart for the school he worked at when one of the other dream-eater called out to him. He patted his hands on the back of the lined shirt he was wearing as he stood and faced his clansmate.

"Melvin, can I talk with you for a moment?" the other dream-eater asked which was replied with a nod. "Right, you've heard of that Kingsley girl, no? And you work where she goes, no? Are you certain that her recovery had nothing to do with them?"

Melvin looked at his clansmate for a moment before sighing. As skeptical as they were, most of the dream-eater was still fearful of what the Demon Lord would do should he return to power and with the rumors that circulated around, they had been particularly jumpy at anything that the humans couldn't explain using their science as it's most certainly mean it involves either the demons or the heroes. "Look, I've thought the possibility and I did watch her these past few days. As far as I know of, she acted as normal as she could be and there hasn't been any sign of demon around her. For all I care, her recovery might even have nothing to do with demons or heroes."

His clansmate didn't completely believe the answer and stared at Melvin before adding, "Well, let's assume if she was actually Demon Lord, what will you do?"

"I don't know, it might be a good thing, the demons aren't the one that tried to kill us the whole time," Melvin answered before looking at the clock on the wall. "Anyway, I've got to go, the humans might be weak, but I swear, they know how to use boredom as weapon. I'll talk with you later when I'm back."

Not waiting for any reply, Melvin went out of the building and went to the bus stop. While the Belloper had owned several cars, it was general consensus that they were only to be used for the café or emergencies. As he waited, his mind wandered to the human girl called Irene Kingsley. Despite his earlier answer, the demon still hold his doubt about her miraculous recovery that coincides with the rumor of Demon Lord's return. That and with how the new transfer student called "Demon of Wonder Gate High" practically glued himself to her, it was probably the only answer. No, Melvin thought to himself. He was starting to assume ridiculous point, the transfer's student had earned his nickname from his competitive streak and him picking up fights with other delinquents, if anything he could only be an antisocial student with too much energy to burn. As for why he would stick around Ms. Kingsley, the answer could only be curiosity much like all other students or something even what the human call basic instinct, love. Indeed, from how he treated the girl and how he practically growled at anyone that got closer to her, it was more likely that he's a student in love.

Melvin's thought was interrupted when he noticed that he was already on a bus and it was closing to his destination. Getting off, he then proceeded towards the teacher's office in order to further prepare for his class later. On his way, he met with Irene Kingsley and the transfer student, Valor Esteran. Melvin greeted them while giving them one of his kindest smile, "Good morning Ms. Kingsley and to you too Mr. Esteran, today is a fine day to start a weekend, is it not?"