Aiko chuckled at Kenji's initial response; now this was one shameless guy! "Mm, well that's where we differ, I guess. People...interest me. Worrying would be the usual reaction, of course, but you'd be surprised at the amount of indifference in the world." She was about to throw in a more interesting topic when a growling noise interrupted her thoughts. Was that...? Aiko blinked and looked down as Kenji pressed a hand to his stomach and excused himself before turning to leave for a meal. What? Was he going to leave just like that? That had hardly been a conversation as far.

...Ah, as if she had anything better to do.

"Hmph. In that case, I'll go with you," said Aiko matter-of-factly and set off after him. She wasn't sure if Kenji'd heard her, and he walked surprisingly fast for someone who was asleep so often. She tailed him as he apparently made his way to what appeared to be a cafe before halting a little way before it. Aiko followed his eyes to a manga shop. Oh, was he into that kind of stuff? Noted. Aiko wasn't so huge a fan herself, but knowing your way around that stuff sometimes got into the most amusing sides of the most quiet of people.

Anyway, his head turned elsewhere, and following his gaze again, she whistled to herself in pleasant surprise as she saw another one of their batchmates standing next to the shop, looking all gloomy by herself despite being a cheerleader and everything. Shion, right? Aiko grinned; two's company, three's a crowd, and crowds were the rowdiest and most unpredictable things. Perfect media for entertaining scenes to unfold. She turned to check on Kenji again; he had stuffed his face into a notebook and was failingly attempting to look inconspicuous. If anything, it made him stand out all the more, and the lack of sight drove him straight into Shion. Aiko guessed it was the cheerleader that he had been avoiding, because he looked horribly flustered afterwards, hastily rushing to get out of the way and muttering things Aiko couldn't hear.

"Haha, what a perfect opportunity," Aiko giggled under her breath, and swooped in towards the two, wrapping her arms around both of them in a huge hug sort of thing. "Oh! What a coincidence!" she exclaimed loudly, but while maintaining her smooth tone. She let go of both of them and beamed. "Shion-chan? This is great, huh? Now we can all have a little party all to ourselves!"

+++

"Suuuure, sure~" So that was Breaker's reason, eh? How uncouth. Crisis Sonata would pretend it was otherwise, if only to annoy him. She crossed her arms under her chest, peering at him with a foxy smile on her lips. That day she was wearing a nice, flowy, translucent number with the tight cut and the low neckline and everything, bright red against the lush earthy colors of the forest. She most certainly stood out, and was quite happy with that. No amount of monsters could dictate her fashion tastes.

Crisis continued to follow Breaker as he pushed on, paying no attention to how her stiletto heels constantly sank in the wet soil. She was used to such little inconveniences, anyway, and she knew how to walk in just the right way that would lessen them. "In such a wide, empty forest? Oh, I wish," she said. There was no way she would climb up a tree and play music by herself again, hoping but not sure that someone would come over because of it. The time for being mysterious was over; now it would be all fun and games. "Someone has to accompany you out this forest, anyway." She grinned to herself, imagining his possible reactions, if any would even show up on that stony face of his. "It must be awfully lonely for a cute little someone like you to be walking out here all by yourself."

Kano was getting more and more bored the more he talked with Greg. He wasn't any fun for teasing, since he didn't get worked up about anything he said, nor did he get uncomfortable with his overly-friendly attitude towards someone he hadn't even talked to before. Kano was starting to lose interest in the way too level-headed Greg. Most people would try to correct more than ferociously that they aren't as those stereotypes said. Kano let out a sigh. One last try won't hurt. "Heh, you seem to be as carefree as any other Australian." His disinterest was clear in his face as he rolled his eyes and looked at the window on the other side. He noticed that he had already passed the stop in which he should have gotten off, if he wanted to go to the arcade. "Oh, hell." He stands up rather quickly and approaches the bus driver. "Hey, hey, think ya can let me down? I was kinda absorbed in my talk and missed my stop. C'mon, pretty please?" He begs for the driver to let him down and, reluctantly, he complies.

"Thanks a bunch, ojisan." He says as he bows a little. Kano turns to see Greg. "If you ever wanna come to the arcade, just ask me for directions, I can lead you there. See ya at school." He gets off the bus in quite a rush and now that he is down, he starts walking towards the arcade. "I hope someone has the guts to defy me in the dance game, I could get someone to talk with if someone did so." He feels kind of disappointed, since Greg was so little fun he couldn't even get to the good part.

---

Scarlet Thorn's kick connected beautifully with Ironclad's face and the metallic Alter Ego started dripping, what was it, acid? Well, it didn't matter. A mischievous chuckle escaped Scarlet's mouth. "What, don't tell me you work on gasoline? Man, that's so retro!" As he tried to cover up his wound, he heard how the liquid burnt the floor below them. "Ugh, so anti-hygienic. You should really buy good quality oil next time you get yourself a drink." Since the guy seemed a robot, well, it was just natural to think that he drank oil accompanied with his screw salad.

He put his guard up again after he saw Ironclad readying his next attack. When he took out his blades, he knew things would quit being boring. "Finally, some true entertainment!" He said when Ironclad threw himself against Scarlet. His attacks were, umm, how to say it. Well, Scarlet Thorn found it kind of disappointing that Ironclad was so determined on having such an unrefined attack style, Trying to slice him in two all while moving around, well, it was tasteless, no refinement at all. A swordsman should be more refined, or so he thought. Scarlet tried to escape the flurry of slices by doing somersaults, but more than obvious, Ironclad got him in the stomach more than one time and Scarlet was hurt rather badly, but his regenerative factor helped him endure it a bit, until he finally got tired of that.

In a swift movement, Scarlet used a tree to impulse him and jumped, making some distance between the Alter Ego's. "You seriously need to work on your fighting style, maybe, try looking less like a metallic brute?" Even if he said so, he didn't thought that Ironclad fought bad, more like he lacked the refinement to have an spectacular fight, and that pissed the self-proclaimed refined Alter Ego. "Ya know, I just can't fight ya like this. See ya!" He used his chains and used some of the tree branches to get himself up, and land in a branch. Next, he proceeded to take his leave after waving goodbye to Ironclad. "Finally away from that brute. Thank god!"

Lost in her depressing, self-deprecating thoughts, Shion was taking no notice of her surroundings. As such, she didn't attempt to avoid the person trying way too hard to shield his identity until they managed to collide.
Snapped from her reverie, the blonde cheerleader grunted in surprise, watching the weird guy attempt act as non-suspiciously as possible while shielding his face irked the hell out of Shion. Yeah, it was an all-too familiar scenario. An all-too understandable reaction, and not exactly anything new. But... just for today, couldn't she not have to be reminded of how much she might have messed up?

As Kenji attempted to pass, her hand latched onto his shoulder, her gaze boring into his skull, "hold it, ya dumbass. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Good going, Shion, make him feel comfortable, Shion chastised herself bitterly. She wanted to just let the poor guy go about his business and not make her reputation any worse, But she was frustrated and angry at herself. She wanted to vent, and... well, Kenji had elected himself as scapegoat, so he got to feel terrible with her.
This flawless and rational plan was quickly ruined when someone wrapped their arms around her. Very much unsure of how to react to someone acting so familiarly with her, Shion's grip on Kenji loosened while she... tried to figure out the correct response to Aiko's friendliness.

"...Don't touch me!" the ever-so-popular muttered irritably, narrowing her eyes as she seemed to shrink slightly.

Kenji admitted he didn't have the best luck when it came to interactions, however he felt that he did what he could not to upset others. When Shion grabbed his shoulder he realized just how much trouble he was in by the grip alone. He searched desperately for a way out of the situation but one came to him in the form of Aiko and it'd be a lie to say that he didn't appreciate it in every sense of word. The hug part made him arch a brow a bit but he didn't really mind it that much, in the end he decided to just accept it and take advantage of the opportunity.

"Ah well I was going to go to a cafe alone but I suppose some company wouldn't hurt," Kenji said rubbing the back of his head answering
Shion's question.
He didn't catch back at the crosswalk that Aiko was accompanying him so he was caught off guard by her sudden appearance. Kenji figured since she was here it would be rude if he invited one person and didn't invite the other, and right now he needed to make sure not to make Shion even more angry then she already was. Kenji came up with an ingenious plan that should at the very least make up for his earlier rudeness, though he considered it completely acceptable seeing the end result.
"Are those chocolates for you? Some guy probably gave them too you right...oh wait it's not time to do that yet...well that doesn't matter. Why don't I treat you to some food in the cafe as an apology for well...what I just did. You're welcome to come along too Aiko I'll pay for you as well, it's the least I can do for having to leave so abruptly."
Now that Kenji thought about it this plan was going to destroy his wallet, Kenji reached up ruffled his hair realizing the error of this whole thing, but he couldn't exactly take it back now. It was times like this he was glad he slept through his math, the last thing he wanted was the ability to actually do the equation on how much he was going to spend.
"Well if you want of course," Kenji said before pointing at the cafe a few feet away. "I'll be in there soooo...yeah."
With that Kenji turned and pulled out his wallet as he walked into the cafe and sat down at one of benches before picking up a menu.

---

Breaker decided to casually ignore Sonata's response and continued forward, he came to a stop and crossed his arms as he took another look around. There had to be a way out of his forest. Going off what Sonata was saying she was only accompanying him until he got out here which only gave him more reason to leave the forest as soon as possible. If she was going to accompany him she could at least point him the direction to the edge but he doubted that happening anytime soon. Breaker ran a hand through his hair at the possibility of no one being in this forest, aside from the negatives anyway. Personally at this point he'd rather deal with them, at the very least he could shoot them and be done with it. He didn't like Sonata but he wasn't about to pull a gun on her for no reason, he didn't dislike her to that degree anyway.
Breaker's eye twitched a little at being called cute and he put his hands on his hips letting out a small sigh as their conversation continued. He seriously considering taking back his earlier thought, maybe he did dislike her that much.
"I like loneliness and quiet," Breaker said shoving a hand into his pocket. "It's peaceful and I don't have to hear people randomly calling me cute. The sooner we leave this forest the better...I may never enter it again."

Breaker came to a complete stop as he noticed someone in the distance fighting off what looked like negatives, once he got a good look at their face he brought his hand to his own knowing who it was.
"That's Riot Lily," Breaker said before lowering his hand. "Why am I encountering the last people I want to see, next thing I'll know Scarlet will show his mug just to ruin my day."
Breaker stared at Lily for a moment crossing his arms and looking to his right as he looked at another path to take.
"Listen Sonata I really don't want to interact with Lily if I don't have too."
Breaker glanced back at Sonata as he said this, his face was still blank but his eyebrows did narrow a little at the idea of it. He was already conversing with Sonata if Lily got pulled into this he'd probably use the last of what patience he had.
However he turned back around and summoning his gun shot one of the creatures in the back of the head causing them to dissipate, he stared at his smoking gun before lowering it with a heavy sigh. Though he said all that he wasn't about to watch someone get hurt right in front of him, not that it seemed like she needed help she was doing fine on her own.
"....damn it," he muttered hating what he was about to do.
He couldn't tell how many of the creatures were left but he raised his gun and pointed it at another as it was too late to back away from the situation now, he could have just kept walking and ignored it but Sonata would be right there anyway so he wasn't going to be alone anyway.
"If she needs it we should probably help Sonata."

This looked like it was going to be fun already! Shion's reaction was that of rather ill contempt, like a wounded animal or something poetic like that, while Kenji hardly reacted at all save for a slight change of expression which reaction enough for a guy like him.

"Oh, you're so high-strung. It wouldn't kill you to lighten up a bit, would it, Shi-chan?" Aiko lightly patted Shion's shoulder. The other girl didn't seem to be in a particularly swell mood, but Aiko didn't mind. This was a perfect opportunity for some sparks to fly, after all. Aiko turned to Kenji, curious as to his next move, and raised an eyebrow when he offered to treat them to a snack at a cafe.

Nice save, though that would probably cost you, Aiko mentally laughed to herself, eying Kenji as he fished out his wallet. Now that she thought about it, maybe she was actually quite hungry. How convenient! A free meal along with maybe a bit of drama if not comedy. "Haha, great! In that case, I'll take you up on your offer, Kenji-kun," she chirped and followed him as he headed for the cafe. Aiko looked over her shoulder at Shion as she went, beckoning her with a wave of the hand. "Come on, Shi-chan, maybe a little coffee would clear that clouded mind of yours, hmm?" And even if it doesn't, at least it'd give a little color to this party of ours.

+++

Oh, look at that, Crisis finally got that statue face of Breaker's to move a little! Let's see how far we can push you, Mister Stone-cold.

Crisis Sonata opened her mouth to further taunt him with maybe other synonyms for "cute," but closed it again when she spotted in the distance the same thing Breaker just had. What do you know? It was Riot Lily, fighting all alone against a whole hoard of negatives. In fairness, she looked like she was doing perfectly fine, but it was awfully lonely to fight without any allies by your side, right? Right? Crisis could already see where this was going, and she felt excitement bubbling inside her at the possible scenarios that flashed in her mind.

To her surprise, it was Fantasy Sky Breaker who acted first, despite just noting a few seconds ago that he didn't want himself involved with Riot Lily. This was great! Now Crisis hardly had to do anything to bring this action-packed scene into fruition. Breaker was heading off to help all of his own accord! "Wow, would you look at that, you have a heart after all!" Crisis giggled, and with an upwards swipe of both hands, summoned her spears, which now hovered in the air around her. She took a few steps forward, placing the Negatives within her range but herself out of most of their range. "And of course I'll help, so don't worry about such little things, okay, sweetie?" Crisis' laughs reached a crescendo, and she gracefully swiped her arm in the air, sending her spears after the monsters nearest to her.

Though generally easygoing, Greg's facade was beginning to crack under the wave of jeering stereotyped being forced upon him. Just when he felt as if his carefully-constructed bubble was going to burst, he saw a new expression on Kano's face: boredom. No glee, no impunity, no audacity—just a lack of interest. Kano's big-eyed gaze finally left Greg, who immediately felt as if a blinding spotlight glaring down upon him had been extinguished. He was mentally relieved though physically he remained still; he didn't want to seem too comfortable around this guy.

Just as he was plotting his next move, the second blessing arrived. Abruptly, Kano made his exit, apparently having been so caught up needling Greg as to miss his stop. Greg's gaze was nailed the other boy as he cajoled the bus driver into pulling to a stop to let him out. After a quick, friendly parting comment, Kano started down the steps, and Greg saluted his departure with a genial wave. And just like that, the irritating, in-your-face attitude was gone. It felt like putting down a weight after a rep on the bench press; a lot of stress evaporated in an instant. However, Greg immediately wondered if he had been too hard on Kano. Despite his vile mannerisms, he didn't seem like too bad of a guy, and Greg's intention was never to make others feel bad.

The feeling stuck with Greg until he arrived at his own stop, after which he was more concerned about getting to his family's apartment. Once he had entered the stately gray building, he climbed the stairwell to the third floor -the stairs, though compact, were a far less crowded and a far more productive route than the elevator-. He opened the door, took a step inside, and was greeted by his little, outgoing terrier mutt Joseph, who slipped in happy barks between ecstatic licks of her favorite human's hands. “Hey, doog,” Greg told her, who wagged her little tail with gusto. Next, he found his mother in the bedroom, lying on the bed with a laptop. They exchanged a warm hug before Greg shrugged out of his jacket and went to hunt down his novel. Homework could wait a little while.

-=-=-

Ironclad was taken somewhat aback by Scarlet Thorn's sheer disregard for propriety. A perfectly good fight had ended in utter disappointment as the effeminate ego slipped away, decrying Ironclad's fighting style in the process. There was no joy to be had in such a victory. “Next time I won't play with you, freak,” he threatened the forest. In response, a pair of eyes opened in the gloom, heralding the return of the negatives. Rather indignant, Ironclad sheathed his blades with a bit of a flourish before continuing on his path as if there had been no skirmish at all. Now, though, Ironclad left the occasional burning drop in his wake, and he moved somewhat quicker. The forest's edge was not far at all, but it seemed far longer, and with every step he took he felt his world shrinking. After watching his contention with Scarlet Thorn, the negatives knew this steely brawler could be taunted, battled, and hurt, and with that knowledge came the absence of fear.

After what seemed like hours, Ironclad passed the last of the dense autumn trees onto a yellowed, boulder-stewn field. In the distance was a fort, wood and stone and steel, harboring allies. With no shadows to hide them from Ironclad's wrath, most of the negatives stayed behind. One, however, did not. Its footsteps could be heard behind him, and he knew that to try to outrun it would be both futile and self-detrimental. He turned to fight, and got his first eyeful of the negative.

It was fearsome thing. Easily twice his height, its ebony form was dominated by anthropoid legs and gaping, ragged jaws. Even as it roared at the metallic warrior, however, Ironclad scoffed. “You. Thought you might stay dead longer this time around. Don't feel like you're worth the effort, but who am I to deny a slobbering sack of scum its deathwish?” The afternoon sun glinted off his blades up as he removed them from his back and locked them into Zweihander form. “Quit hissing and come here.”

The mention of the chocolates made Shion flinch slightly., and simply stare at the ground intently. Rationalising to herself that Kenji meant no harm at all, she barely managed to hold her tongue. But still... she should probably just let Kenji go with Aiko. It was obvious she was only getting invited to prevent some sort of situation, so Shion figured just leaving would solve that.
Still, when the two headed for the cafe, Aiko was beckoning for her to follow, leaving the cheerleader momentarily stuck. Why would anyone genuinely want to be around her? It didn't make much sense to her. As much as she wanted to avoid proving how stupid she was with words, that simple gesture was enough for Shion to cave in and shuffle after them, her face reddening slightly.

Well, fine, I just won't order anything. Shion decided, I'll just sit there, not say a word, and we'll all come out of this just fine. Yeah, that makes sense, just shut up, Shion, it'll be okay.

---

The crowd was being thinned, slowly but surely. The challenge was, well, non-existent, but the sheer tedium was proving far more lethal than the actual battle. Why couldn't this be an army of super-powerful goliaths or something? Something that would take at least a few more hits to fell! God, something interesting happen already!

And then others came to fight the Negatives.

Well... it was different, at least.

Crushing one more of the creatures underfoot, Riot Lily glanced at her fellow Alter-Egos, a small grin on her face, "Hey now, shouldn't you lot be hiding somewhere safe? I can protect you all just fine on my own!"

Lily planted one of her flower-like weapons into the ground, hoping that using only one would up the challenge even slightly, even if it was going to be mitigated by her having allies in this fight. Still, gotta make the battle more interesting somehow!
"Aw, there's not a whole of 'em left..." lamented the Alter-Ego. Those numbers were gonna diminish so much faster now... oh well, they were far too weak to live, anyway. Maybe she'd get lucky next time. With a casual swing of her rose-like weapon, Riot Lily began to enact the end of the battle.

Kenji picked up the menu and opened it deciding to get something cheap for himself, the cafe wasn't a large one and compared to some it wasn't as occupied though school was out, but there were some students he recognized from school in there but they seemed to pay each other no mind lost in their own conversations. Kenji normally came here after school since they also served sweets alongside regular food, he was going to get a couples piece of cake but that wasn't an option anymore now that he was treating the two so he looked for a sandwich.
Kenji raised his hand and waved when the two entered to show where he was at, he pointed at two menu's across from him already having asked the waitress who was another student for extra menu's. When he first came here he was curious what she was doing working here but when he thought about it he didn't think their school minded students working so he decided to let it go deciding not to pursue it any further.
He was looking at his menu so he wasn't sure if they had made it to the bench yet but he spoke anyway still flipping through the pages for something.
"Feel free to order whatever you like," he said stopping on the drink section. "We can talk while waiting for our food, well I suppose we'll finish our earlier conversation Aiko-san."
Kenji smiled a little mostly to himself as he flipped back another page finding it hard to find something cheap and tasty that he wanted at the moment, but his stomach reminded him not to be too picky right now.
"I'm curios what you were doing in front of the manga store Shion-san, I've never seen you in there before when I've gone in."

---

Breaker's foot slammed into a negative sending it into a tree before he walked by it raising his gun and shooting it in the skull as he passed, he closed his eyes deciding to ignore the comment about his heart and especially the sweetie he was pretty sure he just heard.
He summoned his second gun firing over his shoulder nailing another negative in the skull before looking over at Lily hearing her speak to him, a small sigh escaped from him expecting that a little bit but he dug his own grave on this one, he did willingly decide to help.
"Your sentiment is noted but I'd probably appreciate it more if it wasn't an insult at the same time," Breaker said to Lily ducking a swipe from one of the creatures before raising gun and putting it to its chin pulling the trigger.
Though he was irritated he admitted he was relieving a bit of his stress on this things so ever so slightly he seemed to relax just a little bit, though he still preferred relaxing with peace and quiet on one of his long walks.
Breaker didn't fight with flair like the other two viewing the situation more troublesome than entertaining, even while putting the gun against the head of another negative his expression never changed, to someone that didn't know him it may seem creepy he could kill with such an emotionless face, one he wore even when he pointed a gun at a fellow altar ego but he didn't see the point in smiling when he pulled the trigger on these things.
Granted there was one ego he'd pull a gun on without a second thought and a smile might crack on his face as he did so but at the moment it wasn't necessary to think of them.

Breaker turned his gun sideways and stabbed it into one of the creatures mouth before firing watching it fall to the ground, he stared at it for a moment as another approached him from behind, he rested his gun on his shoulder with the gun upside down before pulling the trigger nailing the creature between the eyes. These things really weren't that much of a challenge, compared to the others anyway. They were more trouble in larger groups and when they were bigger, these seemed like small fry but he couldn't let his guard down. Even inexperienced soldiers were deadly in extremely large groups if used together, he kept an eye on their flank not really in the mood for any more surprises, last thing needed was a sneak attack from the forest.
"Are you still kicking Sonata," Breaker said not looking at her. "Going off my luck you wouldn't fall the easily."

For a moment back there, it looked like Shion was going to refuse, but she tagged along after them in the end, so there was no problem there. Everything seemed to be falling together of its own accord.

Aiko took one of the seats across from Kenji and swept up the menu, scanning over the contents. As she did so, she replied, "Oh, don't worry so much about that, Kenji-kun. I'm fine with talking about anything, really, and that was a depressing topic." She waved the subject away; in any case, Shion seemed depressed enough, and Aiko could bet that talk about a comatose person wasn't going to help. She was getting a bit tired of the topic anyway, and Kenji had already offered up a different one with Shion.

The cafe menu included the usual things expected of any other cafe, nothing particularly eye-catching. For a moment, Aiko considered ordering the most expensive item on the menu to see how Kenji would react, but that particular item seemed to be a huge slice of blueberry cheesecake, which Aiko wasn't very fond of. She shrugged off the idea and flipped the page, scanning the drinks page, waiting for Shion's reply to Kenji's question.

+++

"That was one hundred percent compliment, Breaky," Crisis Sonata lied as she sent spears into Negative after Negative. There were a lot of them, but they weren't very strong, intelligent, or quick at all; fighting them was like repeatedly stabbing a block of cheese, especially with the three of them now fighting together. Riot Lily seemed to agree, judging by the tone of her voice as she declared that there were only a few of them left. Indeed their numbers seemed to be thinning; the battle itself was proving to be much more boring than Crisis thought; might as well finish it quick.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine, thank you," scoffed Crisis at Breaker's comment, making a quick little twirl to get her point across. "Aww, how about you?"

In response to the taunt, the negative lifted up a spearlike leg and drove it toward Ironclad's heart. The huge limb was pointed enough and fast enough to impale even the armored alter ego's cuirass, but luckily the negative's fighting style hadn't changed between each of its 'lives'. In a silver flash, Ironclad brought up his zweihander to block the blow while shifting to his steady forebalance stance to avoid being pushed off his feet by its kinetic force. With a heavy clang the leg connected, and while Ironclad's almost buckled and dropped his back leg to its knee, he held firm. Miffed that its potential one-hit-knockout was intercepted, the negative cackled and raised the leg again. This time, rather than blocking, Ironclad stepped to the side and allowed the full strength of his monstrous enemy to sink the leg into the soft soil. “Not any smarter, either.”

The savage claws of Ironclad flipped forward into active position and he leaped onto the negative as it struggled to free its leg from the clingy, root-laden dirt. He held the zweihander in reverse grip to keep it handy. Though large and fearsome, the negative's shadowy composition meant that its weight was less than what it appeared to be, and Ironclad's quarter-ton form almost tipped it over when he latched onto it with his claws. As such, while it took only a moment to release its leg from the ground, it was kept occupied by its endeavor to stay on its many, thin feet and not fall onto its side. Seemingly realizing that sooner or later Ironclad would be able to kill it if he remained on its back, the negative took off skittering toward the forest, attempting to brush its metal rider off with the dense autumn foliage. Ironclad saw this and stepped up his progress; he was now on the creatures back, every slash of his claws eliciting a new pained shriek and releasing a murky seep from the tenebrous skin. Using his tail as an anchor, he stood up shakily and prepared his zweihander for a critical blow to the base of the negative's biggest skull. The light glinted off the blade as he readied it, eyes gleaming gleefully, to take the foul beast's life a third time.

Unfortunately, the negative had evolved after all. Behind Ironclad's back, it raised a fell stinger akin to a scorpion's, and just as the alter ego held high his blade it struck. Totally unprepared for such a strike, Ironclad tumbled from the negative's back and fell onto the ground hard. The sword lodged in the ground roughly eight feet away. Cackling, the monster turned back around to face its prey. Only a few dozen feet away now, the forest was swarming with smaller, jeering negatives, ready to pile on like hyenas once the lion had secured the kill. Ironclad pushed himself to his feet as its maws extended forward, ready to rip his metal apart.

Over the bestial laughter of the negative and the howling of its smaller brethren came a whistling sound. Once he had heard it, Ironclad's tension faded. “Do me a favor and keep standing still.” Before the jaws could close around him, a projectile lodged in the negative's main head with a meaty shnuck, causing it to pause. It was some sort of arrow, shaped like a corkscrew and glowing with intense blue light. The sight of it filled Ironclad with satisfaction. “Much obliged.”

The energy stored in the arrow discharged into the body, and it exploded into a black mist. Suddenly very quiet, the other negatives shrank back into the safety of the forest. Laughing cruelly, Ironclad turned away from his trees to face the fortress in the distance. Its windows pulsed with blue light, far softer than that which had made the arrow so lethal, and despite the miles between them Ironclad could hear, “Come. I am waiting.”

Shion, with the bag of chocolate resting on her lap, kept her hands clenched together on the table, her eyes focusing intensely upon them in an effort to be as invisible as possible. If she did that, everyone could go home a bit happier. Well, two of them would, but that was better than none, right?
So of course, Kenji had to go and ask why she was sitting in front of the manga store, which left her wondering what kind of plausible answer to give. Like hell she was going to admit her passion for childish romance comics! Well, it wasn't exactly a problem, was it? All she had to do was calmly and rationally explain that her being in that place was merely coincidence, nothing more to it.

Shion opened her mouth, inhaling to steel her nerves, her amber eyes flickering in his direction, and finally voiced her believable cover story;

"Mind your own goddamned business!"

Glaring at her clenched hands once more, she wanted nothing more than to repeatedly slam her head against the table. Instead, she settled for sinking into her seat, avoiding eye contact with Kenji and Aiko.

---

It wasn't long before the last Negative was defeated, it's head crushed between the pom-poms resting atop Riot Lily's flower stems. Her allies had managed to defeat the others as well, giving them a reprieve from the battle. Though perhaps 'reprieve' was too strong a word, given the overall challenge.
"Well, I appreciate the thought, guys," Lily said, her weapons gone with a flash of light as she turned to face them, "but you shouldn't put yourselves in danger when I've got things handled, 'kay?"

Her arrogance may have been born from good intentions, but it was arrogance nonetheless, not that she seemed to care how she sounded. Riot Lily took a seat upon the ground, sighing loudly, "then again, even non-combatants could've cleared such a crappy crowd! Almost not even worth the effort of killing."

Kenji nodded wondering what he should talk about them next, he agreed bringing up Kazuko again was a little depressing and Shion seemed lost in her own thoughts. He tried to think of a joke to break the tension but it wasn't exactly his forte so he just waited for Shion response. When Shion inhaled he lowered his menu, he waited with a small smile before she spoke. Once she did the smile faded and the menu slipped from his grip as he stared with his mouth slightly agape, he wasn't expecting a response like that.
"Huh," Kenji said rubbing the side of his head. "Alright well we don't need to talk about it then.”
He raised his menu back up finally finding what he was going to order, he closed the menu and set it to the side before motioning to another seeing Shion wasn’t looking through it.
When she sunk in her seat he tilted his head closing his eyes for a moment as he thought about what to do, he wasn't really sure what to discuss with two girls...well to be honest he didn’t know topics with two guys either. Kenji figured that the waitress probably wasn't going to approach the table for a few more minutes now after Shion response so he needed to think of something.
"No need to be shy Shion-san go ahead and order," he said opening his eyes and pointing at the menu. "So what do you two do in your free time? Not just at school as I know what you do Shion I slept in the storage room once and saw you do a routine when I was leaving."
Kenji brought a hand to his chin wondering if he should have mentioned the first part but it was too late now, he looked over at Aiko folding his hands together.
"I know little to nothing about you Aiko-san. Oh I'll go first since I'm asking such a question. I enjoy naps long walks on the beach and anything I can do with my hands. What about you two?”

Breaker tapped his gun against the side of his head pretty sure Sonata just called him Breaky, he wondered if he could accidentally miss one of the negatives and hit Sonata in the process. He noticed that the negatives were pretty much gone and the few that remained Lily had taken care of so he dismissed his gun and crossed his arms over his chest finished with ‘helping’.
“I’m fine,” he responded keeping his attention forward. “No part of that was any kind of compliment Sonata.”
He squeezed the bridge of his nose as he knew what he was walking into, but still did nothing to stop it.
“I just needed to release some stress that’s why I shot the thing. Stress you built up mind you.”

Once Lily finished off the last negative Breaker fully relaxed, well as much as he could in the current situation. Stuck between Lily who kept insulting him in a kind manner, and Sonata who enjoyed nicknames and messing with him; in such a situation it was hard to fully lower his guard. He sighed a little, he could have have run into Radiant or something but he wasn’t that lucky, she may get to close for comfort but at least she was well mannered.
He forgot the other Ego’s name but aside from the giant cannon she had and the possibility of it being pointed at him he had no problem with her personally. He sighed as at the end of the day he would have preferred being alone, he did admit that he wasn’t at least bored in his current company.
When Lily spoke to him the polite insult hitting him again, he adjusted his gloves in silence. At this point he could even deal with the possibility of Ironclad.
“Well it seems you didn't need the help next time I’ll just keep walking,” Breaker said lowering his hand. “Anyway Lily do you know the way out of this forest, Sonata decided to accompany me…but hasn’t pointed the way out.”

"Ooohh. Looks like someone's had a bad day," Aiko mumbled with an eyebrow raised and her menu lowered ever-so-slightly. That had been kind of surprising, but not particularly offensive. It took a lot to seem offensive to Aiko. Aiko's eyes followed Shion as she sank into her seat, looking like a pouty kid and everything. How cheery. Something must've been bothering her, but even Aiko knew where to stop pressing. People stopped being interesting the moment they became seriously angry.

After a period of predictable awkward silence, Kenji put forward a different topic. Shrugging as she put down her menu with a flourish, Aiko put her foxy smile back on and decided to forget about Shion's last statement. "Hm, are you interested?" Her fingers tapped on the menu's plastic cover as she spoke. "Heehee. Well, okay, I'll tell you. I like to sing, play the violin; musical pursuits like that, mm?" She sat up with her back straight, hands poised on her lap like she was posing for a painting. "And of course, socializing has its own charm, doesn't it?"

+++

"Oh, too bad. You mustn't be used to compliments then. Shame." Crisis Sonata sighed dramatically and shook her head, waving dismissal at her spears. They vanished into mist like the corpses of the Negatives scattered everywhere around them. Now that Crisis really looked at them, they looked quite disgusting, faceless piles of mush disappearing into nothing way too slowly. Crisis scoffed and turned away from them to look at Breaker instead. "Me?" She said with mock incredulity, placing a hand on her chest and giving out an expression of hurt. "I was only trying to help, Breaky!" Crisis picked the pet name that seemed to get the most reaction out of him, and told herself she'd use it more often.

Crisis Sonata nodded to Riot Lily next. "No, no, sweetie, it's no problem. There's nothing else to do in this godforsaken forest, so you don't have to pretend you owe us, or vice versa, mmkay? But yes, there's that. That entire fight was pretty draggingly boring in itself." Crisis punctuated with a fake yawn. "And I told you already, didn't I, Breaky? Any way is the way out, if you walk in a straight line." The Alter Ego crossed her arms and winked. "Probably."

With an impatient shove, Ironclad pushed the main doors of the fortress open. Its well-oiled hinges didn't squeak at all, but all the same it groaned beneath the weight of the wood. Any normal human would have been unable to open it, but thought Ironclad wasn't renowned for his strength, such an obstacle was a piece of cake for him. Inside, his heavy metal frame clicked on the marble floor of the great hall. Though the wall sconces, blazing with white light, were ornate, and the draped banners eye-catching, the alter ego ignored them and strode straight through to a staircase. The ascent was tedious -it would be for any individual who weighed in at half a ton and had feet larger than the stairs on digitigrade legs- but before long Ironclad was on the battlements. Up here the wind sang through the carved stone, but it was a different beauty that the steel warrior had in mind.

One of his allies stood be the parapets, loosely holding an intricate bow. Her name was Quicksilver Seraph, though Ironclad called her Sera. She wore a festive dress, layered with regal garments, giving her the semblance of a queen. Beneath the majestic exterior was a gorgeous face, green-eyed, crowned by long purple hair tied in a huge braid. Though far from overweight, there was an enticing fullness and vitality to her figure. Most impactful, however, was her personality; Ironclad knew from experience that while she was generally compassionate and stately, she could also be playful with those she knew well and deadly with her enemies, as evidenced by how she dispatched the negative from afar. Of every alter ego he had ever encountered, this woman was the only one who truly held his respect, but there was something else as well. As Ironclad approached, she span around with a smile on her face. “My friend,” she sang, “I trust you are unhurt?”
“No negative can hurt me.”
Sera rolled her sparkling eyes. “There's the Ironclad I know. Tough, brash, untouchable...” She was closer now than she was a moment ago. Her hand was on Ironclad's shoulder, and the metal was not so cold. “Or are you? Good to see you again.” He waited a moment before lifting her hand off with uncharacteristic gentleness. “Likewise. Won't be long before Midwinter's Envoy arrives as well. Any news?” She shook her head. “Not really. I heard that Black Storm Barrage attempted to free poor String Master from the black lotus again. No effect.”
“Her persistence only belies her desperation,” remarked Ironclad callously. “And incompetence. If Black was a real protector she'd be able to help her friend. Not that String Master deserves it—her weakness and instability enabled this mess.”
“How could you, Ironclad?” Sera admonished him, “Those two are friends. You can't simply abandon people because they're weaker than you. The strong protect the weak, help them and fight for them when necessary. You and Envoy and I should be right alongside Black to help break String Master free.”
“The strong survive while the weak perish,” came the cold, impersonal retort. “Nothing is more natural than that.”
In response, Quicksilver Seraph's eyes began to burn with teal flame and she angrily crossed her arms beneath her chest. Before she could respond, whether with words or blue-green fire, there came an distant roar. Approximately a mile away and several hundred feet in the air, a huge, winged negative flew over the autumn forest. For a moment, both Ironclad and Sera were stunned by the size of the thing. In the silence that followed, the metal warrior was first to speak. “Engage?”
“No.” Her rage fading fast, Seraph bent forward, hands on the battlements, to get a better look at the monster. “Not yet, at least. Only one person could have attracted a negative that large on so glorious a day. Midwinter's Envoy is bringing company.”

-=-=-

The door to the King family apartment opened abruptly, and in walked a bedraggled man in cheap formal clothes. His hair, including his goatee, was just beginning to gray, and his fatigue was apparent on his face. “Anyone home?” Called Gregory King, Sr.

"It's no good to make other people worry, or to get hurt and end up in hospital yourself, just to visit someone. As she's your friend, Kazuko-san would not be happy to learn that you've gone and done something stupid just to sit around waiting," Reo added, moving close... and suddenly hugging Mio, "You need to take care of yourself; nobody will be happy to be helped if it causes you that sort of harm."

---

"No good; you can't succeed," the abundantly-haired girl stated, backing off a little and patting the other apparition on the head, "Faithful, like a dog; about as bright as one. Not a good idea to throw yourself at a futile target again and again. Definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results."

"... You... you're right, but..." Mio paused for a few moments, looking downwards with a frown even as her older sister hugged her. It was true that Kazuko wouldn't want to see her hurt, but... she couldn't just abandon her! Not even if being there wouldn't change anything, not even if Kazuko didn't even know she was there... she had to be there, by her side. It was the only thing that felt right. "I can't just... just leave her lying there without going to see her, onee-san. I can't. It feels so wrong... I just can't do it!"

It was wrong, plain and simple, and it-

"And you're not even trying to help."

---

There was no appreciation or joy in Black Storm Barrage's expression as she felt the taller girl's hand pat her on the head, and present a false summation of herself. Just because she had failed did not mean that she could not try again. It wasn't insanity, or a lack of intelligence, that motivated her. It was duty. It was her duty to help others in this world. To help String Master. String Master had been suffering, those... creatures appearing around her more and more... and then something happened. Something made it worse. Something hit her and hurt her deeply. The Alter Ego returned to her home, the glass flower... and it shut. The crystalline forms that reflected the light and shone beautifully... they were stained black and swarmed with monsters. Something had broken String Master. Black Storm Barrage couldn't stand by.

She had to fix it. Even if none of the others tried... she had to break through the glass flower and fix her.

"And you're not even trying to help," she said, simply. Her tone was harsh. Black Storm Barrage was not in a good mood.

---

What... was that? For the briefest moment, Mio felt... something like a dream, some sort of... image of some... tall girl with long hair? There were books, and those words... was she remembering a dream she had?

Kenji rubbed the side of his head watching the two for a moment relief flooding through him on the inside when Aiko responded, he admitted he was a tad surprised by the response he wasn't expecting anything like that. He gave a nod deciding not to respond to whether he was really curious, for the most part he just wanted to avoid any kind of awkward silence. It seemed Shion really wasn't in the mood for conversation so he decided to leave her be in that regard, if she spoke of her own will he'd respond otherwise he might want to avoid forcing a conversation. Now that he thought about it he did impose a little just to clear up the misunderstanding, if she didn't order anything he would understand as well. For the moment at least he should talk to Aiko as she does seem to enjoy socializing.

The waitress eventually came to take everyone's order, Kenji looked at the waitress trying to remember exactly what he was going to order, as he did he started wondering how all of this happened. It had to be back at the crosswalk when he first spoke to Aiko. If he had kept walking he'd be home by now and sleeping on his comfy futon, that or he'd be napping under the kotatsu, just thinking about it made him homesick but it was too late to walk away now. Kenji didn't dislike Aiko or even Shion for that matter but he enjoyed his solitude. Actually that wasn't completely true he was willing to admit that having some company was nice but a part of him really did want to be alone, at least for a little while. Kenji came to realize pretty quickly that he forgot to order and looked at the waitress rubbing his head and chuckling a little as an apology.
"I'll take this," he said pointing to the menu before handing it to her. "Sorry I kind of zoned out there for a bit, must be more tired than I thought."
Company was nice but he'd give anything for a little alone time after this, he looked back at Aiko before speaking again grinning at her.
"Music...that's pretty cool actually, I can't really play anything and I can't sing on key to save my life so that's impressive. If you ever play let me come hear you, ah just nothing too slow or gentle I'll end up falling asleep....ah though I suppose that'd be a compliment if your music has that kind of effect right....ah I don't know."

---

"I'd give anything for some privacy," Breaker said squeezing the bridge of his nose as Sonata talked. He glanced over at her as she motioned to herself, he turned his attention forward again deciding to casually ignore that Breaky he just heard. While Sonata talked to Lily he closed his eyes taking a few moments to enjoy the closest thing he had to privacy in the last couple of minutes...or hour he couldn't even tell anymore after being in this blasted forest. Once her attention returned to him he turned to face her blinking twice before he turned and walked away deciding not to respond to that.
"You know what Lily forget it enjoy the fact you can be alone, I'll find the exit," Breaker said walking away. "If you're coming Sonata hurry up, I doubt those are the only negatives around. Unless you wish to stay with Lily which I won't mind at all."

Breaker continued walking bringing a hand to his chin as he allowed his mind to wander a bit as he walked. Why did he suddenly feel uncomfortable, well more than usual in his current situation. He knew it had to do with the negatives, and after a bit of contemplation he came to realize what exactly it was.
"Are there more negatives?" Breaker questioned aloud. "I fought some earlier but they were in a smaller group, maybe because it's in the forest and there's more places for them to hide. I hope that's the case, the things aren't normally a problem but large numbers of them would be a hassle and I've seen some big ones....I hope it's just the forest."
Breaker lifted his head as he noticed a small clearing in the distance, a smile almost found a way onto his blank face as he finally found an exit, he picked up the pace a bit wanting to leave the forest as quickly as possible and distance himself from Sonata.
Regretfully luck wasn't on Breaker's side as he stepped out onto a large field and staring into the distance noticed a large fortress, he blinked a few times staring at the huge fort before he looked around only to see more forest.
"....no way in hell am I going near that thing," Breaker said crossing his arms. "Something about it just screams not to get involved...."
Breaker trailed off at the end of his observation glancing back into the forest, then back at the fortress only to run a gloved hand through his hair, should he go towards the fortress which probably doesn't take kindly to strangers, or does he go back into the forest with Sonata.
"Both options are equally unpleasant," he said shoving a hand into his pocket thinking.

---

Kenji held his head as images flashed in his mind for a moment, a large field surrounded by a forest...and he was pretty sure he saw something that looked like a fort in the distance but that didn't make any sense. He was pretty sure he heard someone talking too but that didn't make any kind of sense, it was a man's voice he knew that at least.
"I think I really might be tired," Kenji said ruffling his hair. "Seeing things."

Aiko smiled at the waitress and flipped the pages of the menu as she approached. "I'll have the croissants and a large cup of this coffee over here, please." She smoothly motioned to one of the coffees on the menu with a foreign-sounding name. Honestly, she just didn't know how to pronounce it, but no one had to know that. Besides, she at least legitimately liked coffee, and now was the chance to buy something expensive-sounding, right?

As the waitress took away their orders and menus, Aiko turned back to Kenji. "Oh, it's alright! Not everyone can be talented. I'd play something for you right now, Kenji-kun, but unfortunately, I left my violin at home. Maybe next time." She mentally listed all the saddest, most sleep-inducing pieces she could think of and kept a mental note of them. It'd be amusing to see what kind of effect they had on him, after all. "How about a song instead? My singing is just as good as my violin-playing, mind you."

+++

Hm. It didn't look like Lily was willing to walk any farther with Breaker, so now Crisis would have to choose. She pursed her lips in a pouty frown for a moment before going with Breaker; she was just getting the hang of annoying him anyway, although he was also getting the hang of ignoring her. Everyone had their limits, though, right? It'd be a challenge.

"Oh, alright then, fine. But I'd rather we all go together, mm? Still, I chose you, Breaky, so you better feel flattered for real this time." Crisis fell into step next to Breaker, breaking into a run as he quickly found an exit and went towards it with haste. "Hey...See? I told you the exit was there."

As they emerged from the foliage together, a fortress of some sort loomed up in the distance. It seemed dark and foreboding, the type that came out of horror movies...and also acted as perfect sets for drama. Crisis Sonata grinned; she knew some kind of action was waiting for them there. She could feel it. Breaker's lack of enthusiasm dashed her hopes a little, but she wouldn't let that get to her, now, would she?

"Aww, are you scared?" she teased, grabbing his hand by force just as it had escaped his light hair. Running for the fortress ahead, she towed him behind her and yelled back, "Come on! It'll be fun!"

+++

Aiko blinked at Kenji's sudden remark; her excitement drained away all at once, replaced by a surreal feeling of forebode. "Me too," she could have said, but she didn't, even if a second ago she could almost feel sure that there was some sort of building there that wasn't there before and someone's hand was in hers, if that made sense. Instead she shook her head, getting rid of the weird feeling, and eventually recovering the gesture into theatrical pity for Kenji. "Aw, poor you. Sleeping through class and still completely exhausted..."

Upon hearing his father's voice, Greg sprang from the bed and rushed to greet him. This enthusiasm was hardly new; for years now Gregor Sr. had worked the same job, and though two promotions had convinced him to stay, it remained as tedious and exhausting as ever. As such, Greg Jr. made sure to treat his hardworking parent with respect and love. Still, it wasn't easy for the boy to maintain a thriving companionship with his dad. As an employee in the realm of customer service, Gregor Sr. dealt with an inordinate amount of trouble and tribulation every day, and often it made him too tired or angry for family activities—or even interaction. Greg greeted his father with a brief but warm hug. “What's up, dad?”
“Everything that's supposed to be.” A weary smile appeared of Greg's face. “Except morale, maybe. I need a beer.”

A few seconds later and Gregor was in the kitchen, popping the lid off an Asahi lager. Though by no means an alcoholic, it wasn't unusual for him to take a drink after work to relieve some of his pent-up tension and anxiety. Greg Jr. leaned against the fridge, arms crossed. “I was thinking of going around the corner for Japanese food tonight. Whaddya say?”
Greg Sr. finished a sip and replied with dry humor, “That's new. Eh, go ahead. Need any money?” After shaking his head, Greg Jr. left the kitchen and sauntered to his room. Once he had properly placed the bookmark in his novel -which he had left splayed open on the bed when he had heard his father's call- he rooted around in his wallet for some cash. Fortunately, there was enough left from the trip to the mall on Thursday to buy a few containers of food for supper. He stuffed it into his pocket, zipped up a navy blue hooded jacket, and headed outside, hoping to beat the crowds by arriving and ordering early.

-=-=-

From the forest behind Fantasy Sky Breaker there came rustling and panting sounds, increasingly loud by the second. Distracted by his own indecision and the teasing of Crisis Sonata, he was taken off guard as a dark blur sped past him, running at full tilt. It had a masculine humanoid shape and no malevolent aura, which debased any possibility of it being a negative. Breaker hadn't much time to examine the blur before a far stronger presence -once again from behind him- made itself known. With a cacophonous shriek, the enormous birdlike negative crested the edge of the forest, intent on the running man below and ignoring the two newly arrived alter egos.

With no trees to obscure his line of sight, the running man slid to a stop and turned around, holding aloft a bladed steel scepter. As the gargantuan negative approached, a singularity of cold manifested around the scepter, and soonafter the alter ego fired a blast of icy wind. The freezing jet arced through the air and splashed against the negative's face, instantly coating over both nostrils and eyes in ice. It shrieked again and flapped its giant wings to gain altitude lest it fall to earth and become vulnerable. For a few moments it would be unable to attack.

The black-clad alter ego fell to his knees, panting heavily. Now that Crisis and Breaker could see him clearly, they saw an older man with stringy black hair tied in a loose ponytail and rampant stubble. His eyes were dead white, which contrasted the formerly elegant, now ratty clothes he wore. Like Quicksilver Seraph, his garb was also interspersed with decorative lengths of cloth, though his were slashed and teal rather than maroon. The scepter was now slipped into his belt, indicating that he had no intention of continuing to fight the negative. “Hello, children,” he wheezed, “Anyone got any liquor? No? Shameful! Name's Midwinter's Envoy. Nice knowing you.” He laboriously pushed himself to his feet and took off running once more in the direction of the fortress.

From the fortress parapets Quicksilver Seraph narrowed her eyes. The brilliant blue flash in the distance, near the forest's edge, could be only one thing. “There he is,” she remarked. Ironclad, whose eyesight was less sharp, strained to see. “His ice has temporarily decommissioned the beast, but it won't last long. There—he's running for us again.” In addition to the familiar form, she could dimly make out two other alter egos. “He's not alone. I wonder who they are...?” Ironclad smirked, though of course the expression was invisible beneath his armor. “Weaklings or cowards. I wonder if they're going to run from Envoy's negative or get killed by it.”

Kenji let off a weak chuckle at Aiko's comment on sleeping class as he couldn't deny it, his mind was still a little focused on that scene it felt so...real yet far away. In the end he put whatever he just felt aside as the waitress walked off with their orders and Kenji looked back at Aiko bringing a hand to his chin as she spoke, he wasn't sure what exactly to say to her original response on talent so he just nodded in agreement. He had to mentally prepare for the price of the other item Aiko had ordered but one of the other reasons he ate here was the prices weren't destructive but what little money was in his possession he was attached to. Kenji ruffled his hair a little disappointed about the violin, he's never heard one in person before, much less by itself. He was willing to admit he wanted to hear her sing, but something in the back of his mind kept telling him to move, yet at the same time he wanted to stay.
"That would be great, there's gotta be a quiet place around here to listen," Kenji said bringing a hand to his chin. "Well not now of course as you'd have quite the audience."

The waitress returned with everyone's food and set it down on the table, she handed Kenji his food since it was just a few sandwiches and a soda before handing Aiko her food. She smiled and walked away before Kenji clapped his hands together and grabbing his food took a bite, the flavor brought a smile to his face almost immediately. They really put effort into making even the simplest thing delicious.
"Ah everything here is always good," Kenji said grinning. "Small cafe's always have this deliciousness to it, that aside this is actually kind of nice, I haven't eaten at this cafe with anyone before, it's a different experience with others definitely."

---

Breaker decided not to comment on being 'chosen' as it was more of a curse than blessing at the moment, but commenting on it would only give her ammunition which at the moment she didn't need more of. Breaker stared at the fortress still torn at what to do when Sonata took his hand and pulled him along, he looked at his hand in hers his eyebrows narrowing a little. He was actually very shocked at the moment but his expression didn't change as he wasn't sure how to think about what was happening, in the end he ended up pulling his hand free just as the figure ran past them. He blinked a few times surprised at the sudden appearance of the figure only for the negative to show itself shortly after. Breaker remained silent as the negative engaged the man seriously considering turning and walking back into the forest if this was what he was going to encounter here.
"Your sense of what's fun worries me Sonata," Breaker said shaking his head.
Once the negative flew back into the sky and he could get a good look at the man he reached up and ran a hand through hair with a long sigh, today was turning into a very long day and seeing as that creature was on it's way back it was only going to get worse.
"Midwinter Envoy," Breaker said summoning his pistols. "A very bad first impression yet I'm going in the direction he just went."

Breaker looked up at the creature as he readied his guns, it was a big creature so it was probably going to take a few shots to take down, it being in the air wasn't a problem for him but grounding it would probably be the best idea.
"Sonata let's keep moving towards the fortress, I intend on getting my directions. Thanks to Midwinter Envoy we know have more to deal with, I'll be looking at you once that creature is grounded to finish it off as I'd rather not use too much magic killing the thing. I'm putting some faith in you for this, don't make me regret it."
Breaker looked up at the creature and raised his guns as he started taking slow steps back making his way towards the creature before he fired up at the creature, a few of his bullet's clipped the creatures wings but it was a moving target and it was going to take a bit of damage to force it out of the sky.
He considered using his revolver to speed up the process but that would require more magic with each spell and with Sonata here it wasn't necessary to rush it.
"Another big one of these things," Breaker said slamming a new clip into his gun and continuing to fire. "How annoying."
His bullet went straight through one of the creatures wings and he continued firing fully intent on knocking it out of the sky and getting home.