Interestingly enough no one paid much attention to the real Omega. His copy took care of Clarissa, but to make sure nothing would happen he created two little mice, both were loaded with a binding spell, which would be needed later. As he turned his cloaking back on he slowly moved, letting his copy have fun with the mage. Leaving one of the mice to go with two bigger shadowfiends to bind the downed mage. That connected with his copy should be enough, even if the bigger beasts get slain by her.

Meanwhile Omega by manipulating shadows and moving in blind spots, additionally ensured he was not traceable. It took him a bit but he managed to get close to Ascot. Catherine looked mad as a nest of hornets, but that was something he’d deal with. Wordlessly giving the signal for a fiend to attack, similarly he’d let the second mouse go and get Catherine in a bind. One should note that both mice didn’t have to attack the targets, it was enough even if destroyed by them. However the bind triggered only if they were close.

Omega placed a hand on Ascots’ shoulder, letting him know that he was there with him. Even if hidden by both his magic and his devices. The remaining number of shadowfiends was not that much different from what he had initially, however the spell took a large toll on him. Fighting would be really hard now, so if anything else, he’d avoid combat, letting his pets aid the other fighters, after all it wasn’t over and Omega had a bad feeling in the back of his skull. Something wasn’t right, but it may have been just a feeling.

The magi teamed up against him, even the one Eise had taken a liking to. And they called him underhanded? Self-righteous bastards. This entire day was turning out to be a pain. First the solid floor he was inside of crumbled, and then something forced him solid, and then Silas trapped him in steel. Yes, it was truly a pain.

Black Cat dropped the armor around his body completely, the black scales dissolving into a black smoke and then fading to nothing. The steel holding him fell to the ground with a clang now that the body it was wrapped around had become thinner. Eise, hidden only behind the black mask with the glowing blue eyes, stuck his human hands in his pockets. He couldn't really move too far in any direction without getting trapped by more pieces of metal, at least not with his powers suppressed as they were. "Truly a pain," came the hiss of Black Cat's inhuman voice. His eyes met those of a boy with white hair, the one who had ripped the ground, and then the world around the assassin was obliterated by fire.

Black Cat walked slowly towards Conor, a path between them thoughtfully cleared by the boy's flames. The assassin's ravaged armor was back, and the last remnants of the conjured hellfire reflected against the superheated scales. He looked down at his unarmored arms. Red and black and burned and completely useless. Inside his head Eise was screaming. Kuro couldn't even make the deadened limbs move.

One psycho magi ahead, one traitorous bastard behind. Black Cat fell backwards and then flipped upwards through the air as if up was down for him. He landed crouching on the metal ceiling far above. His tongue split the metal as if it was paper, and a solid kick opened a tear in the ceiling, sending a beam of light onto the showroom floor below. He was done with this day. Black Cat slipped out of the killing room and onto the roof. He sprinted to the edge of the roof and leaped into open air. Screw the job, he wanted to live to kill the man who had sent him here.

The E3 Floor

"Conor...hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the entire floor?" spoke Ascot. "I know the Time Stop prevents anyone frozen from getting hurt until its over, but you're forcing me, Axel, and Genevieve to play 'cleanup crew', yet again." And, since Ascot had Timespace and was the only one among the Agents able to manipulate the chrono-frozen bystanders, this meant that he had to do the lion's share of the work.

Unless of course, he conscripted the remaining Magi in the building, some of whom, like Ken Saddler, had tried to be heroes, while others just hid. Of course, this risked revealing that the Agency employed kids, but Mentalism existed for a reason; he can just mindwipe people afterwards. Sighing, and resigning himself to the task of removing memories later, he approached Ken Saddler, and spoke:

"Timespace is a very common School, but also the most underutilized; few people have the magical dexterity to use it as more than a speed enhancer. We need to gather as many Magi with that School as we can, so that we can move the bystanders away before the Time Stop ends."

"A group spell?" Ken asked. "It'll be hard, but follow my lead and I think I can do something, kid." He then headed back to the convention hall, where, accompanied by Axel and Genevive, the forgotten Agents, he began gathering as many people as he can, sometimes directing Axel to heal them in the process.

Finally, a group had gathered in front of Ascot, who then went to Silas, and spoke:

"You help too; you have Timespace, and we need as many Magi with that school as we can. I'm going to create a mind-link with every Magi in this group, ask them to either help with the group spell - if they have Timespace, or provide Mana, if they don't."

Eise

Eise would cut through the Time Stop's barrier in just a few seconds, emerging back into the 'present' time, where the only inhabitants were the NYPD and the still-frozen spectators. If he took the time to look, he would see the 'stiffs' move en masse, towards the parts of the centre still intact.

But if he didn't, no big; he would be off the centre and loping off, unseen, through the grounds, before moving on to the alleyways where he can take refuge, and heal.

Thaz

While the others went to do cleanup (if anything else, the Brat at least knew the importance of such things), Thaz was going to the part of the centre where the Mechanical Spider had come from, taking note of the vanishing bodies of ArcU's 'Ghost' Troops; Timespace was such a powerful School. There, she found what she was looking for, a great machine shaped like, well, a collection of clockwork.

The Time Stop Device.

The woman waited for the others to finish cleaning up, then for Ascot to mind wipe the Magi who had helped him and disappear, before causing the device to explode. There would be a sense of vertigo as time in the centre was put in sync with time outside again, and the frozen Nonpracticing Magi would begin moving.

Meanwhile, Akira Kariya was still her prisoner, meaning that the entire case was closed. The NYPD would be coming, and, well, there would be questions...

Aftermath

Once everything was settled, the Agents returned to their HQ, where Heinz Harper praised them all on their valor, and formally introduced the two new 'unofficial' members, Silas von Wainright and Omega.

"These two, as part of the deal, will be staying in the Agency Building," spoke the man, "and I expect you to give them only a minimum of harassment; they saved many lives today because of their actions. Not that our official Agents slacked off, of course; Ms. Carlton," he was referring to Thaz, "you did well."

Conor chuckled. Again.
"Ascot my friend, you have much to learn." Conor stepped forward about five paces, pointed at the floor, and snapped. The stone flew back into place, sealing itself as if no damage was done. It even was polished because of the repaired damage. Conor turned and faced Ascot.
"You were saying, my boy?", he said with a hint of a smirk. Then, he laughed and looked at his body. Bloody and bruised, not too horribly, it hurt though. Conor summoned a cane made of cool burning fire and stooped into a hunchbacked position. He rarely joked, but took this opportunity to say, " sonny have you got an aspirin? My old bones are a-killin me!" He spoke in his best elderly man voice, which he thought was quite killer.

At The Headquarters.
Conor sat through another boring "Thank you for your service, yadadayada country, blah blah blah...", he didn't care. He was waiting for the meeting to be over, he had a question to ask omega.

When it finished, he walked towards him, mind set.
"omega. I have a question for you. You see, I head a very powerful guild of fighting mages, ones who fight for fun. We need some new members, care to join?" Conor said this innocently, but deep down he wanted to fight Omega purely for payback of his "dirty trick" in the E3 event. He wanted vengance.

Unfortunately Black Cat got out of his steel trap. Silas still had the metal under control so it wouldn't drop in the ground. Black Cat was making his escape so Silas quickly merged the metal parts into one big metal spear and threw it at Black Cat using his Energy powers. Unfortunately he missed. It was still unclear to him why they needed to kill or just apprehend Black Cat, but he wouldn't think too much of it.

The fight finally seemed over. Silas didn't know if they managed to succeed in the end or not, but at least all of this was over. A group approached him and asked him to help them by using his Timespace abilities. Silas nodded. "Okay." he only said and joined the group in performing a group spell. Afterwards he noticed that Akira was apprehended. Now he know that at least their main goal had been reached. Silas headed along with members of The Agency to their headquarters. Like the deal said he now was a 'member' of the Agency. After the speech Silas walked up to Heinz.

"Hey, I believe there was another part of the deal. The part where I get money. If I get the money now I will continue to aid you, but I need to send the money to the person who currently is in control of my firm." he said in monotone. "Can you perhaps immediately send it there instead of giving it to me. Or you can make a deposit on the bank account of the company."

((Collab Post between Mass City and Letter Bee))
Heinz was using his ability to be in multiple places at once; an ability that was mostly used to tackle paperwork and bureaucracy, to both introduce Omega and Silas, to sign and review more documents, and, finally, to see the President, teleporting to the sole unwarded spot in the White House. After a search, both mundane and magical, by the Secret Service, Heinz was now heading to see Michelle Addison.

President Addison was busy with her speech at the upcoming UN summit in Oslo. She was in the Oval Office and she heard the knock on the door. The president buzzed them through.
"You wished to see me, Ms. President?" Heinz said as he opened the door.
"Yes, how is the E3 situation coming along?" Heinz could tell the president's gaze was wandering.
"Oh, it's already finished. My Agents apprehended the culprit, one Akira Kariya, defeated several Mafia Hitmen, and even saved several civilian lives. Oh, and we repaired most of the damage done to the building as well. A full report will be sent to you in the morning," Heinz finished.
"Good. At least that got done in good time." The President walked to a door off her office to her more private office. Heinz heard a sink turn on. "Any ideas on damage?"
"My nephew..." Heinz said feeling renewed guilt while talking about him, "My nephew, Ascot, as well as one of the Game Developers, Ken Saddler, managed to shield many of the civilians early on; the number of civilian deaths can be said to be...seven. Condolences and compensation have already been sent to the afflicted."

"I'll have to write some letters," the sink turned off. The President came out into the Oval Office. Heinz saw that she was wearing lipstick. "Death like that is sad. At least it is not frozen solid. We were lucky. You were lucky Heinz. The media will wonder why seven died. Hell, they will wonder why anyone died!" The President waved her arms in the air. The signals she was sending Heinz were not what he may have been hoping for at first.
"It was a large gathering," the man spoke, "hundreds, or maybe a thousand, people were in the building, and the casualties could have been worse without the actions of my people. In my - probably heartless - estimation, seven out of one thousand is acceptable, at least as regards public opinion." It also helped that ArcU had a time-stop handy.
"Yes and I guess that time stop will leave no long term effects on the people in the center? I mean no chance of a motion sickness of some form?" The President walked up towards Heinz. She looked like she was activating her ablities in a minor way.
"Well, there's a sense of vertigo, but with most people, it'll leave them in a few seconds to a few hours," answered the Agency Head. "ArcU - not that they haven't eliminated any material evidence that it's them - are very good at their hardware."
"So what do we do, not go after them?" The President huffed. She was getting very close to Heinz.
"I didn't say that; Akira Kariya's turned state witness, and he's testifying against ArcanaUnlimited in exchange for a reduced sentence. His testimony would be enough to boot ArcU off Troy forever; perhaps enough to stop most US business with the corp for good," the man said, knowing that his hope of getting out alive was to tell the truth. "However, most of ArcU's business is in the Congo and Africa, as well as India and...the SAC, so the shock can be mitigiated. Nevertheless, ArcU would find it hard to do operations on both American Continents, especially if we get Brazil to join in the ban."
President Addison seemed to be letting her powers flow free, her ice-based powers made the room temperature drop twenty degrees in a few seconds, a useful ablity in a political argument in the oval office. "I saw a report that stated if ArcU wanted to the governments of SAC would fall like that!" she snapped her fingers. "They have a mix of people that use them to advance their careers and others who are against the ArcU but know any movement against them means ruin for their nations." The commander-in- chief placed her frigid hand on Heinz's shoulder.
The man knew that he shouldn't shudder, and he didn't. He continued:
"How are our allies in the Philippines? Are they still holding up against ArcU and SAC's economic and political pressure?"

The President sighed, a small cloud of frozen mist came out of her mouth. President Addison walked over to the massive Resolute Desk and leaned against it. Heinz saw the president's appearance changing as her blonde hair became snow white. "Holding on, for now...." Heinz could see her hands turning blue. "We can never go after the head of the ArcU! We only get little fish, never a boss!" The President turned around and Heinz saw her skin was now blue, a side effect of her powers. She did not do this too often in front of senators and other politicians. "I hope we can stop panic with the ArcU attacks." she sighed.
"ArcU isn't our only problem; during the E3 incident...the Mafia Hitmen were protected by another party, a female Mage with control over mist. We speculate that she's a Matter Magi, and a very powerful one at that," Heinz said.

"Great! Just peachy." She paced. "We cannot do anything about it now." The President walked towards Heinz and grabbed his hand taking him to the private office. "Now tell me the truth on one thing. Will you tell me one thing?"
"What is it?" responded the Agency Head, now curious.
"Do I look good blue?" she smirked.
In response, Heinz put a quick Spell of Resilience on his lips, and kissed her.
The President returned the kiss on his lips too and then broke it apart after a minute. "Was that fun?" The President smiled at her former boyfriend. "Let's hope the media does not find out."
"Let's really hope they don't," Heinz said as he turned to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow." the President smiled. She walked to the desk in her private office. "You can go now." President Addison wanted to watch him leave. She opened the cigar box on the desk, pulled out a cigar, and lit.

((Collab Post by Lucek and Letter Bee))

Omega's Introduction, Expanded!

With the whole mess over and dealt with, Omega could finally get out of there. However now that he joined the Agency, he’d need to interact with people. While basic psychology would suggest wariness to a stranger, that was even more so towards an assassin. Because of this he decided to take on another face. One of a new agency member, after all he thought that if he was less and assassin more an agency member they’d be easier to deal with. So after letting his copy go with the rest he would follow on full stealth after them. Changing into his other persona, that of a Magi-Tech engineer and Omega’s “handler”. Of course this would be discussed with at length with Heinz and Ascot so they could do part of the explaining to make it more plausible.

Heinz and Ascot were accompanying Omega to where the operatives and most of the staff of the Agency were gathered; on the way, Ascot spoke:

"Amazing. With that guise, only Thaz would get on your case for being a former assassin. Then again, she tends to do that; whatever her faults, she's always honest about what she sees as people's faults. Anyway, we're here." And Omega can see Thaz, Conor, Axel and Genevive among the operatives seated. Silas was also there, standing.

"So," spoke Thaz, "that's the handler for the thug you hired, Heinz? Doesn't look much to me. Can he really control the assassin?"

Omega smiled at Ascot, it was a warm genuine smile. “Honesty is a good trait for a person, at least they will be blunt about things they see wrong.” He said warmly. After nodding he continued “I have been trained after all so this is not that hard.” He nodded. Omega looked around the room and saw the agents gathered, though the question Thaz raised made him chuckle.

“Well I indeed may look not like much. But I have some of my experiences with him.” He smiled at Thaz, “My name is Lucius Dreigiau, it’s a pleasure.” He bowed to those gathered in a very formal manner. “As to answer your question, I can handle him. Why don’t you stop being antisocial Omega?” He said as he pulled up his right sleeve, revealing a virtual interface tailored into his glove. Pushing a few buttons, which was half for show and half to test a feature he built into his copies device, he shut off the cloak, revealing the Omega copy standing a few feet from Silas prepped against the wall. After appearing the copy looked as if it sighed. To which Lucius smiled. “See?”

"Amazing," spoke Thaz in a slightly sarcastic voice. "I'll admit, I don't think that you're all there, but, well, I think I'll trust you, Mr. Dreigau." Ascot, meanwhile, felt a precognitive 'ping' from his Timespace powers; the name Lucius; it was of special significance.

Lucius chuckled. “True, I don’t have that much experience, but I hope I can have your guidance so I can improve.” He smiled brightly. “And please, call me Lucius or Lu, I’m not one for that much formality.” He himself thought he might be taking this a bit overboard with the cheerfulness, but that wasn’t that much of a big deal.

Thaz raised her eyebrows, searching for any hint of a joke in Lucius' demeanor. She was always suspcious of new people, but, at the end of the day, a handler was someone she can understand. Now if only Conor the Thug had one...

Seeing as Thaz seemed to warm up a bit at least, Lu decided to at least try to get this session out of the way. He looked at Ascot then Heinz. “I thank you for the privilege of working here, I hope I can be of use.” He said in a calm cheerful tone. “If there are any questions you might have about me or Omega I’ll answer as he isn’t one for talking.” He sighed, his shoulders dropping a bit, going back to his positive self soon after. “But if not I will not take any more time, after all everyone has plans and things they have to get done.”

"Then, I think we're done," spoke Heinz kindly. "I'll show you and your ward your separate quarters." The man knew how to keep up a masquerade.

((Collab between Amaya and Joshua Tamashii))

Rose walked to Amelia's bedroom knocking on her door before walking "Amelia its just me...you want to go out to a café with me and Amaya just us girls and to get out of here awhile?" she said gently as Amaya leaned against a wall waiting outside as her gold eyes kept watch of the area

Amelia looked over at Rose from her desk. She had left the mission control room before the spider had shown up, so she assumed the entire mission was going to go off without any problems. She was somewhat surprised Rose asked her out, since she was only allowed outside the building unless Ascot was with her. But if Heinz had given permission then she supposed Rose might be able to take her out.
"Did Heinz give you permission? You know I can't leave the building unless Ascot is with me and he's on a mission right now." she said

"In all truth he did leave you in my care and Amaya isn't suppose to leave but she does because I do her mental evaluations outside and see how she does ...plus don't you want to get some fresh air?" asked Rose

"I... I guess some fresh air wouldn't hurt." Amelia said, getting up and walking over to Rose. She didn't seem comfortable with the idea but she was willing to go, if only to have something to do while Ascot was on his mission.

"Trust me, a little air will help my evaluation of you to see if you're ready for society." said Rose gently

"I don't understand what you mean." Amelia said" I don't really care for society. I'm happy where I am."

"I know you don't bit if you had to help on a mission i have to evaluate how well you do mentally with crowds and strangers"she said before Amaya popped her head in "Can we go please I want to eat" she said.

"If Ascot is with me I'll be fine." Amelia said before Amaya spoke. Amelia herself was feeling a bit hungry, so the idea if food was rather tempting." I'm ready to go if you are Miss Rose."

"There might be missions where you both get split up...I just have to assess your mental state" she said

"Lets go" said Amaya happily

"I get that you have to do that, so please stop saying it." Amelia said quietly before taking Rose's hand so she could lead the way.

Rose smiled as she held Amelia's hand before she lead Amelia to a café near where the current mission was going on. She smiled as Amaya picked a spot in the outside garden area foe the three of them.

The entire way to the café Amelia stayed close to Rose, looking a bit nervous after they left the Agency. She had been out in the city plenty of times before but she had been with Ascot all of those times. It wasn't that she didn't trust Rose or Amaya but Ascot just made her feel a lot safer. When she saw the café and that they would be outside she had her reservations but said nothing as she took her seat and waited for Rose's eventual questions.

Rose kept a silent eye on Amelia , she noted mentally that Amelia would indeed be scared without Ascot ..however, rose knew the possibility of Amelia and ascot getting separated on a mission. Simply, rose needed reassurance for Amelia to even be considered a true agent.

Rose took her spot as Amaya took the last spot. Rose ordered an ice tea as Amaya ordered a soda. "Get whatever you want dear"said rose to Amelia.

She turned towards Amaya "I will start with your questions...tell me what you remember before the agency..."she commented

"When I was first brought to the agency I had no identity... nothing I could call mine..no will no name... I don't remember a lot ...mostly people in lab coats. They moved between white and blue and unaffected by the water I saw...I vaguely remember what they said something about a series coming along better then hoped. Just blurry bits I heard or could remember..." said Amaya

Amelia ordered a glass of water with a slice of lemon. She looked around at their surroundings while listening to Amaya speak of her past. However she didn't seem to know much, which surprised Amelia since Amaya seemed to be so much older. Not only that but some of the things she said were rather confusing for the younger girl.
"Wait Amaya, you don't remember your family? Surely your parents didn't... didn't leave you like mine did. You must have family somewhere who care about you. Did you lose your memory or something? If so can't magic get it back for you?" Amelia said before thinking about the rest that Amaya had said" Wait... were you experimented on Amaya?"

Rose sighed taking her glasses off before Amaya nodded "I don't have parents...I really about a few years old now...I was made in...A lab...I am not an original...I'm a...I'm a... I am a clone... I have no memories of before I woke here...I don't know who made me or why I was made or for what purpose..."she commented

"The Tamashii family said there was more like her exactly...Amaya was the only one they could get out and save"replied rose "she stays with me cause the other men don't treat her like a being...like a man made monster... this is why she doesn't go anywhere without me or someone I trust for her safety until we know more about her" Rose explained as Amaya lightly scratched her arm.

"But she isn't a monster." Amelia said, her tone a bit angry" A monster wouldn't heal the wounded. They wouldn't put up with the abuse that comes with that line of work. Amaya is more the lines of an angel then a monster.

Humans are the real monsters... I hate them. You two, Heinz, Ascot, and maybe the boy who saved me are fine but... I can't forgive the things those monsters did to me and to the others... humans are so quick to forget that they're no better then any monster they can imagine. Men are the worse of them. The things they can do without concern for those involved can be outright despicable. I hate them... I really do."

"And it is understandable of why one considers her or them monsters." Rose said gently adjusting her glasses "We fear and hate what we can't understand."

"I understand all I need to perfectly." Amelia said" Humans are monsters. That's all I need to know."

"if all humans are monsters then that makes you one...all men and women who assisted Atlantis are monsters" said Rose

"I am a monster though aren't I? I lived while other died because of me. I know I'm a monster, I accept that. It's all I'll ever be." Amelia said.

"That you are not.. you live to make sure people don't suffer like you did and Ascot needs you...monsters are not needed" Rose said

"That's not true. Ascot doesn't need me." Amelia said" He's strong, reliable, and can carry is own weight without being a burden to others. I'm none of that. I'm so weak and I'm no help to anyone. The Agency will never make me an official agent because of that. You need to constantly evaluate me because I'm too... fragile I think is what I heard some of the other agents said."

"The other agents don't understand and if you were so fragile...you would have never made it out or wish to be around other human beings....I am going to request some field mission for you to be paired with ascot.. I will monitor the mission from afar...I want to prove you are not so fragile...I also want to have you train more on your abilities and magic with me and Heinz. If you complete these to my standards I will make sure you become a field agent with ascot as your permanent partner.." said rose writing down some things

"Congratulations Amelia... I have faith in you and I know you will succeed" Amaya said sweetly

"I'm not so sure." Amelia said" I'm only good at gathering information from the dead. I hate fighting, I hate killing, I hate pointless violence. I don't want to be an Agent but if I don't I'll lose what little I have. I'll be nothing but street trash again. I'll probably end up the same way I was before you all found me."

"We always need spies and informants to assist in information like other possible Atlantis hidden or cloning labs like the one Amaya was made in...I want to prove that you are not fragile like everyone thinks I can tell you will be fine" said Ross hearing her beeper going off. "Seems the mission was done let's go check on ascot And the others shall we?"asked rose paying for their tab as she headed back to the situation room, letting herself and the other girls inside

Rose adjusted her half moon glasses as her eyes examined the group "congratulations on the win, most of you knows me and my assistant but I am here to check over everyone make sure there is no wounds or possible things that might contaminate our Agency" she said

"Ascot." Amelia said, moving over to his side, looking relieved.

"I see you're still doing well Amelia. Ascot hasn't been a total idiot then." Joshua said before spotting Amaya. He was surprised to see her still at the Agency after four years But she had grown a lot in those 4 years and she looked... beautiful. The moment he realized where his train of thought was going he silently cursed himself and tried to push the thoughts out of his head, though it was proving difficult as he couldn't take his eyes off Amaya much to his frustration.

Eise's arms were dead, so Black Cat couldn't lift them to cut through the timestop. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Biting down on his own limp wrist, he brought his glowing claws up to touch the barrier. Blue sparks flew from where his claws touched, and after a few seconds he was able to cut an opening in the magic. The time differential between inside and outside the affected space was enough to cause the magic preventing Black Cat from using his powers to fail. The assassin took two steps and vanished.

He stopped running a few miles from the convention center. In a dark alley Black Cat finally dropped his mask. Eise yelled until he was out of breath and his voice broke. "Dammit," he growled. He couldn't see the damage to his arms, the injury was covered in glowing blue spirit energy and black armor, but he could feel it. It hurt like hell. It would be a while before Kuro repaired his arms enough to use without the armor. Dammit, it looked like he wouldn't be going out much for quite a while. "At least it wasn't a machine gun this time," Eise mumbled to himself. That one had cause more internal damage, but he didn't remember it hurting quite as much as his arms hurt now.

Eise used some of Kuro's power to leap to the top of the building he had been leaning against. He had to stop by someplace on his way home. Black mist and blue electricity reformed the black scaled armor over Eise's body. Black Cat jumped from the rooftop he stood on, landing on the glass side of a taller building and running to the top only to leap once again onto the next tallest building in sight. When he was high enough to clear the gap, and with a running start, Black Cat pushed off against the skyscraper's top with all of his immense strength.

He shot like a black arrow over the city, disappearing and reappearing every second to stretch his flight much farther than even he could have jumped. Instead of landing on the island itself and leaving a crater, the water stopped his flight. The resultant 'splash' sent a sizable wave onto the island and caused it to rain for a few seconds as gravity caught hold of the displaced water and told it to go back down. Just as the first raindrop fell, a black-clad figure appeared standing on the island. When the rain passed, he was looking up at a massive statue of a robed woman. Black Cat dissolved from where he stood and reappeared standing on bridge of the statue's nose.

She might not have been built as a symbol of magic users, but that's what Black Cat saw her as now. Standing on her pedestal above the ground, keeping the world at arm's length, always looking down at everyone and everything. Uncaring. He spun, using his body to move his arms and the deadly claws attached to them. The face of the statue of liberty looked down her nose at the world no more, her green eyes shredded through by five long cuts. The one responsible was gone again, moved inside the statue in search of his real prey.

((Collab between IVIasterJay and Joshua Tamashii))

Black Cat smelled fear, it rose up from below. He'd made himself known to his prey, and he'd made his intentions as clear. "Liar," the spirit hybrid hissed.

"Fuck you!" The mafia's man went down on one knee, the back of his leg cut.

"The assassins you sent today, they were liars too, so the fault is not all yours I suppose," Black Cat hissed from the shadows again, his voice bounching from corner to corner, side to side.

"You want your money then!? Is that what you're here for? You're the one who failed to complete the job! No one ever said anything about the people we hired being trustworthy or anything!" Enrico turned around as the sound of footsteps on the metal staircase came from above. "Fine, take the money! I'll be seeing your head when the full force of the mafia comes after you to get it back though."

The blue glow of the assassin's claws lit up the inside of the statue from above. Black Cat looked down at his prey. "Was that a threat?"

The man knew he had made a mistake. He took a step back to get away from those cold, blue, inhuman eyes and his foot slipped from the step he was on. He fell backwards, but someone was there to catch him.

The man yelled out as Black Cat's teeth closed down on his shoulder. Red blood ran down Black Cat's face. Still, the assassin had stopped him from falling all the way down and to his death. To die in such a stupid way would only be a waste of human life. Black Cat intended to enjoy himself first.

Enrico Hernandez screamed as he was cut apart. Arms still dead, Black Cat split apart the man's skin and flesh with his razor-like tongue. The man screamed and screamed and bled and bled, but he wasn't allowed to die. The fun would end if he died right away. It was only a matter of minutes before he did die of blood loss, but those minutes were the longest minutes of human history for Enrico. There was a lot that could be done to a person in a matter of minutes.

"You're far too slow you know that kitty cat." A voice said fom above Black Cat. Jack was there, sitting a few steps above him and the now dead Enrico, a plain black mask over her face" You
were so focused on your fun we couldve killed you a dozen times by now before you even noticed, thick fur or not. But youre just an animal, so why should we expect anything less?"

"I felt you there, assassin of the mist." Black Cat didn't bother looking around. "But even so, it would be a simple matter for you to kill me I assume." He spit a chunk of red flesh and blood out of his mouth. It hit the metal staircase and seeped through the gaps to the floor far below. "I assume you came here not for me but for him, in which case you are welcome to him." The assassin stepped back from what was once a human being and now resembled nothing of the sort.

"Why should we play with a broken toy?" Jack asked" You might prove entertaining, if you stood a chance against us, but as it stands, breaking you would be too easy. You're far too predictable, lack self-control, and worse of all, have no real sence of what it means to kill. You simply prey to eat, nothing more."

"You know nothing," Eise hissed out in Black Cat's voice. He wanted to kill her, wanted her dead, but in his current condition he didn't stand a chance. Despite her strength and his own words, Eise was confident that he would be able to stand his own against her at full strength. Defeat her? Probably not, but then again, situations arose.

"I know all I need to know from watching you fight." Jack said, smiling underneath her mask." You're nothing but a wild animal, waiting to be put down after you've bitten one too many people. And when the time comes we will be more then happy to do that job. Don't expect a grand death either. We rarely act like we did earlier to save your sorry hide."

Black Cat chuckled, even then sounding like something between a hiss and a purr. "Save? That's funny. Save, you?" He looked the girl staring down at him in the eye. "You save nothing." Black Cat sat down on the step below the corpse, watching the drops of blood fall through the gaps. "I already know you enough to say that," he said with confidence. The spirit-hybrid's outline blurred and dissolved as he reappeared on the step three above the girl. He hated to allow a magi to stare down their nose at him.

Jack giggled and didnt bother to turn to face Black Cat
"You are entertaining. We might get some amusement from you yet, our dear toy." she said" Please don't break too earlier. If you do, well have to scrap you and find a replacement and we hate it when our good toys break."

"I fear I may have to kill you, girl in the mist," Black Cat purred. He wanted it, to end her power. The stronger the magi, the stronger Kuro desired their blood. This girl was strong, but the boy inside the convention center had caused Kuro to call out even louder for his death. Eise wondered why that was. She was obviously stronger than he had been. Eise sighed. "I think I must go for now. Do not follow me." He disappeared and reappeared mere feet from where he had been, but it was enough to put him in place to fall all the way down to the bottom of the statue. He landed silently and looked up once at the girl, a drop of the dead man's blood hitting his face.

Kuro was preoccupied with repairing the body, but the girl had stolen his attention. How dare she live! How dare she use that magic! How dare they! Eise pushed the spirit's raging to the back of his head. Powerful indeed, but not the same.

Jack glanced once at the remains of Enrico before getting up.
"Keep things entertain, kitty cat." she said before walking up the stairs. When police came to survey the scene, she would be gone, like mist on a windy day, gone without a trace.

Black Cat stood where the edge of the land met the waters. He stared at the water intently, and then at the statue, and then at the water, and then at the statue again. "God dammit!" Inside Eise's mind, Kuro was crying. True to his mortal origin, he hated water, and without any convenient skyscrapers available it looked as if Eise had no choice but to swim. It was going to be a truly crappy morning tomorrow. Beaten, broken, cold, wet, probably going to catch a cold. Hm, maybe the neighbor's girl would bring him soup. Eise did enjoy his neighbors, especially when they were girls bringing him food. Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be completely bad after all.

Kuro chimed in. And with what arms will you be opening the door with? It was Eise's turn to retreat inside his mind and cry. Kuro made sure to get the poor body home and to bed. Truly, humans could be such stupid creatures.

GM Post

"Done, and done," spoke Heinz to Silas. "Your friend will be recieving your payment soon." He then took out his smartphone and began the necessary calls. At the same time, though, he observed Ascot, Amelia, Amaya and Rose out of the corner of his eye, and was glad that all four were well. There was yet another moment of regret; regret for what he had done to his nephew, but, for now, he was happy they were alive.

"Hello, Amelia," spoke Ascot, "I see you're doing well; I'm glad of that." He then looked up to Rose.

"If there's anyone I would trust, other than myself, Joshua, or Uncle to protect Amelia, it's you. Thanks for taking care of her." In Ascot's mind was the idea of further expanding Amelia's circle of friends and trusted people, something that must be done delicately, so as not to scare, or worse, alienate the girl.

"Conor," Heinz responded, "If you want Omega to join your fighting club, ask his handler; Omega himself is a tad bit asocial. A bit sterotypical, really." Unlike Thaz, Heinz rather liked Conor, not just for his fighting skills, but for the brash, unjaded spirit that he brought into Agency interactions and operations. That, and Conor reminded the man of Ascot's parents; his brother and his sister-in-law.

Arthur, Marina, I'm so sorry, thought Heinz. As he watched the Agents leave to begin their interactions, the man saw...himself walk over to his position. It appears that his simultaneous trip to the President's office had succeeded. Heinz, with a casual nod, fused with his alternate self, gaining the memories of said self thanks to the melding.

Tangent: The ability to appear at different places at the same time uses Timespace, but without Mind or Life, one can only act through one 'body'. Heinz had mastery of all Nine Schools, with Bureaucracy as the reason why he wasn't able to solve everyone's problems for them; same for President Addison. Anyway, point was, Heinz was powerful enough, and had the appropiate Schools, to appear at different places at the same time, while others didn't.

Meanwhile, Ascot walked over to Conor, and spoke:

"Hey, why don't you teach me some of your moves? My Eskrima training's been lagging since the last few missions."

((Collab Post with Mass City))

"The Statue of Liberty Defaced!" screamed headlines, TV news shows, and the net. On TV news programs people were being interviewed.

A black construction worker looked angry, "How dare someone deface the Statue of Liberty! If I find out who did this I would [Bleep] that guy up!"

The news cut to an Asian American woman. "I am angry, why would anyone do such a thing?"

An older Philipino man, "Why would any one do such a thing to my adopted homeland?"

Across America similiar questions were being asked by all peoples, mundane, magic users, of and everyone else was forthing at the mouth about whom deface the statue of liberty.

In Washington, President Michelle Addison walked into the Press Room. "Good Afternoon. I will make a statement and take no questions. Earlier today an unidentified male defaced the Statue of Liberty. I have instructed the FBI, and other Agencies to find the person responsible and bring them to justice. I make one warning to the person responsible for this act on the very symbol of liberty in this nation. Run and hide. Find a hole in the Himilayas and never come out. If you do you're head will be on a pike. I hope his head ends up on a pike. Good day." The President left the room.

Omega and the clone inspected the rooms, they looked similar and would work just fine for what he wanted to do. It was a good thing he could just phase and go back and forth through the wall between the rooms, saved unneeded explaining why he was going in and out of the other room as the handler. As an explanation of watching over his protégé would work only a few times. No matter, Omega decided to make the room a bit more cozy, the clone would stay there as it recharged, but a small daily routine would be incorporated as to make the appearance that someone is living there.

As for the other room, Lucius, as he was still in that persona, would let it stay as it is, however he would need to move some things in there. After all he needed some of his tools and materials. It was a good thing that his suppliers were clean and as it turned out also supplied the agency. This meant he could get the stuff he needed the same day. He made the call and now all he had to do was wait….

One thing: Paperwork is a pain Omega thought. Getting the stuff in was way more problematic since he had to explain why he needed the stuff. He should have asked Heinz to just get him the things. Well what’s done is done. He hoped he wouldn’t get unneeded attention because of it. Setting everything up and preparing the workspace took well into the afternoon even with Alpha’s(clone) help. Omega felt that actually making that clone may have been a somewhat good and bad idea… after all there was a spirit in it… which seemed to recall some experiences gaining hints of a personality. No matter if that happened then he’d have an ally… or enemy. Didn’t matter now.

Omega would have to make something to use in the handler persona as using his powers was out. But having weapons with similar abilities wasn’t. So creating something that bound powers into it and was still usable as a weapon would be best. Thinking about it Omega came to a conclusion he could make something with the materials he had, not to mention he had two spirits that would work nicely. Not to mention they were pestering him for something akin to a body for the longest while. This is what you get when you bind spirit familiars to yourself. With that he went to work.

The first thing to do was creating two items that would be able to draw out the power of the imbued spirits. A fetish would work, but it had a form already, no what he needed was more akin to a core, for storing energy and engraving the powers into them. This is a hassle He thought to himself, but started choosing gems for both cores. Molding them together correctly was the tricky part. Not because of the way they interfaced with each other but the way the powers that would be engraved worked together. The most important however was the inner core where the familiars themselves would be housed, well more like their souls.

As a failsafe Omega created two pearls of his own blood, solidified with his magics. They would be durable, but in the case of destruction, the soul would return to him, keeping his familiars of dieing. This was important as no matter how annoying they were, they were still important to him. Around the two pearls he created an array of container gems, which would store the magic matrix for each type of magic they would be able to use. However the one that was most important and at the same time biggest and most complex gem was the Matterialization matrix. After all, a sphere wouldn’t be able to be used as an efficient weapon.

The core of the weapon, which would be enclosed in a very durable and lightweight material, was about two inches in diameter. It seemed small but it would be enough. Any smaller or bigger would be a serious hazard to usability. There would be ten matrixes in the core, one for each fundamental type of magic and one as the spirit core. Once everything was connected, the enchantments made, not to mention all of the preparations, Omega could proceed to the final and most draining part of the creation. That is imbuing the crystals with magic, writing it into the matrixes and last but not least binding the spirits into the pearls.

Omega sat on the ground, drawing an array with shadows, it was something he was able to do with his magic, when done, he sat in the middle of it with a core in each hand. Concentrating he sent out a call, to spirits, ghosts and specters he knew of and was sure at least some would help. He waited, minutes, a quarter hour, half, but no one was coming. It was strange, this was the first time this happened, there must have been a ward preventing their entry. He had another way though, he renewed the call, but this time… he engulfed the whole room in shadows, which also canceled out any magic that could be detected from outside, and would allow a point of transfer for those he called. They came, more than he asked for. It seemed most were either nature spirits or those of the dead, some however looked like from a plain of existence outside of this one. No matter, he shared what he needed, his plan, his plea, some bargained some agreed, some declined.

Those that stayed, agreed to let their powers be copied for an exchange of Omega’s power. After all it would leave them weakened and easy prey to what was out there. He had no choice but to agree. His powers would recharge, but it would take far longer for the spirits, thus the exchange was fair. Each of the ghosts embedded part of their essence into a gem, which was transcribed into the matrix as a template for the magic. While this happened, Omega used his magic powers to recharge that of the spirits, used in the process. This took hours as each core had to be charged separately as well as each gem. When they finished it was already early morning.

After thanking the ghosts and sending them back Omega could finally imbue the pearls and finish giving his two familiars their bodies. Transcribing their whole essence into the cores took another two hours, draining Omega completely. He knew it worked, but the only thing he could think of was to close up the cores in their protective enclosing and rest. Letting the two charge up in the mana released in the air. The way it worked was simple, for just materializing a body that could move the mana consumption wasn’t much, so that in the surroundings would suffice. Especially with how the array was built. But if more magics would want to be invoked then the user would have to supply the magic. This was good as Omega could use his reserves for the two cores instead of his usual magic. Not to mention only he could use the cores as they were still his bound familiars.

Falling onto the bed and dozing off as soon as he hit the pillow just showed how much energy it took to make these. Mental and physical exhaustion was easy to understand, after all he just spent over twelve hours on this project. With the last of his conscious mind he called out for Alpha to keep watch over the rooms and wake him up if something was amiss.

His handler huh? No. Not worth it. If he's going to be that hard to track down just to talk to him, it's not worth it. However, Ascot here is practicall begin to be a new member. Well maybe not that , but if I help train him... He could be quite a useful fighter for us to have around. He's already a talented kid. He could be our newest, and maybe someday our most powerful fighter. With exception to myself of course, I haven't told anyone yet, but I'm going to be representing the U.s. In eskrima next year at the Olympics. Maybe I should tell Ascot. He seams trustworthy. Ya. Hell, not even Silas knows. I love the guy, but he can't keep a secret for te life of him.

"Thanks Mr. Heinz, but no, if he wants to contact me he will. This life isn't for everyone. I look forward to working for you again. Actually, Mr. Heinz, I'd like to talk to you about something if you could do lunch around noon. The restaurant is called 'The Conisuer.' It's a five star, the only place I go if I truly want to privately discuss business."

Another thing unknown about Conor: he was rich. Very rich. The man who adopted him left a considereae trust fund for when he turned eighteen. The trust was actually revealed to him by Heinz. He had an excess of One Hundred Twenty Million dollars in his account. He didn't use it for much though. He had a nice, one person appartment. Nothing too flashy, didn't have or want a car, and he had his clothes, designer, we're the only thing that remotely gave away his wealth. But his friends didn't care, they came from different backgrounds, and they figured Heinz had supplied them.

As Conor walked away, Ascot asked the question he'd been hoping to hear. He wanted help fighting. Eskrima, specifically.
"Absolutely, my boy! If you're up to it, we can go right now! Not going to lie, I was hoping you'd say that. We need a few strong new mages for our guild. That is, of course, only if you're willing to join. I don't know what your opinion of us is, but we're all nice people. We're a little odd I'll grant, but we're a family, and there aren't any bad apples among us. We either convert them to honest people, or we kick 'em out. I think you'd fit right in. " Conor earnestly smiled at the young teen. He had hopes for him. And for himself.

Something was tugging at Omega’s sleeve. He grudgingly opened his eyes slowly, still tired. What he saw was a fox and a cat. ”So it worked then?” He asked a slight smile on his face, it was a true smile, not the one from his handler persona. ”Yes~” They answered in unison. So far so good. He thought. After all if they could materialize then the process was successful. But now he needed a shower. Checking the clock confirmed what his internal clock told him – He slept for an hour and thirty-eight minutes.

After he took care of his morning hygiene, he confirmed Alpha made at least some attempts to conceal the truth. No one should have noticed anything off. No matter, Omega felt he needed exercise, not to mention a test of the capabilities of the two would be needed. For now though he made his way to one of the training rooms not so far from where they stayed. It was empty so he could try sparring with shadows. Literal of course, after all he could invoke some of the already contracted fiends for training. No one would notice as he didn’t need any magic to invoke them, but having Alpha there was more for camouflage than anything else.

He took of his coat, revealing his trained body. He called for three fiends, making it look like it was Alpha who called them. Both the familiars and his clone sat next to the wall close to where he left his coat as he trained hand to hand combat with the shadows. A bit of stretching and he was ready to go. Even if he could predict most of the movements his “enemies” would do, it was still challenging as they could coordinate wordlessly with themselves while he shut off receiving their signals. This was needed as he would hear and counter everything they did too easily.

They stood against each other, Omega and the three shadows, one in the front and one on each side. It started, the one in front threw a straight punch at Omega while the other two rushed him. The man blocked the punch with his arm sliding the attacker to the side making him almost collide with the other, giving himself an opportunity to flip over the last one. Now all three were facing him, so he waited. The shadows, chose to encircle Omega, then threw a flurry of punches and kicks, some dodged, some blocked. Omega decided to put things up a peg, he kicked on of them with a high kick going upwards, only to bend backwards and kick the one who wanted to get an attack into his back, finishing it off with a windmill while standing on his hands. Such acrobatics continued for at least an hour or until someone interrupted them.

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Joshua Tamashii))

While talking with Rose, Heinz again used Timespace to appear in more than one place at once; this was going to be a busy day. The man walked over to where Ascot was training with Conor, and where, he presumed, Amelia was watching, and walked over to the girl, making sure that his footsteps were audible, so as not to surprise her. Then, the Agency head said:

"Hello, Amelia. I see you've been staring at my nephew all day," he was smiling now.

Amelia turned around to face Heinz and respond to him but the moment he spoke she shut up as her face turned bright red and her expression one of embarrassment
"Th-thats not t-true." She said, stuttering a bit and she avoided looking up at Heinz. "D-did you only co-come here to make fun of me?"

"Actually, no, and, sorry about that. Anyway, I came here to tell you...that you're going to have to train as well. You see, I think it's about time that you learned to control your powers, so as not to accidentally harm or kill anybody."

"How can I harm others? All I can do is talk to spirits and its only bad for others when they come after me." Amelia said, still completely unaware of her Death magic powers thanks to the seal on her.

"Exactly," spoke Heinz, "when they come after you. What if I told you that you had the power to fend them off; make them go away? Ever since your 'trauma', you always had."

Amelia winced when Heinz brought up her trauma as he called it.
"Please dont bring that up. I hate those memories." she said, in a much lower voice then before, as if she was scared of speaking her mind, which she hadnt been allowed to do back in the day.

Heinz sighed, and continued:

"Again, sorry. My point is, however, you can make the Spirits and Ghosts - he was captializing now - leave you if you want them to, and even...serve you." Heinz was uncomfortable with telling a little girl that she can control the dead that haven't 'passed on', but he'd done worse, and besides, this might actually result in some good. "You know about the Schools, right? You would also know that your powers fall under the portfolio of Death and Otherness.

"If you had more control of your powers, you won't have to be in danger every time you go outside, or even when your emotions flare up," the man continued.

"'m not interested. It's my punishment for living while letting all those other girls die." Amelia said quietly "Its been passed by someone and now I have to live with it."

"Amelia..." Heinz looked at her with compassion. "No, it's not your punishment, and it's not your fault. You survived, yes, but, you shouldn't be guilty about that, because someone had to carry on those girls' legacy, someone has to keep their memory alive as more than a news article, as more than just casualty reports. Someone has to remember that they were people, not subjects as I once said...others were, and help prevent such things from happening again."

"Not merely that, but for you to gain control of your powers, means getting the ability to console them as well, just as you have been consoled."

"How can you console a soul that no longer has a chance to feel happiness again? How do you console a soul that knew nothing but suffering and humiliation for what seemed like forever?" She asked, slowly standing up" Tell me, what words can you say to make them feel better? What can you do to make up for all the time that they lost?"

Heinz withstood the verbal onslaught and spoke:

"Why don't you let me show you?"

"Because I'm not sure I want to." Amelia said honestly before walking away, heading to her room.

The man sighed, and continued:

"I know you're upset, but, the fact is, you yourself know what Death Magic can do if it's not controlled. In theory, when you're upset, you can release a wave of Death energy - small e - that can slay people, or raise them as zombies. If you don't gain control soon, and you lose your composure, well..." Heinz felt bad for tormenting Amelia like this, but he knew that the alternative, for Amelia to be an uncontrolled nuke, would be worse.

"Shut up... just shut up." Amelia said, struggling to hold her emotions back. She knew Heinz was right but she didnt want to admit it. To do so would be to admit she was a living weapon. She didnt want that. She just wanted to be as close to normal as possible, to try and ignore her gifts/curses of magic.

"Amelia, trust me when I say that this is for your own good." He then raised his hand. "Unlike with Ascot, I'm not doing this so that you can be a weapon, or even a source of information. I'm doing this so that, one day, you would not live with the guilt of killing more people, when you don't want to kill."

"SHUT UP!" Amelia shouted before running away. She knew Heinz would follow or just go ahead of her and intercept her. Either way she wouldnt be able to get away from him. She just did'nt want to talk to him right now. She didnt want to think about what she could accidently do and, deep down, she was too scared to train in magic for fear of what she could learn she was capable fo doing.

If she made it that far, she would rush to her room, her only sanctuary other then her mind, and throw herself on her bed. She would reach under her pillow and grab onto the firegem Ascot had given her, the familiar object giving her a sence of comfort.

She didn't make it that far; Heinz had teleported between her and the door to the room.

"Amelia," he spoke, "I'm sorry, but I will train you to control your powers, and this will be every day, whether you like it or not; you have to learn."

Amelia didnt reply as she clenched her fist and bowed her head in resignation.

"Yes Master." she said, the words leaving a sour taste in her mouth.

"Don't call me Master; I'm your teacher. Now, let's go to one of the training rooms, shall we?" And with that, Heinz teleported them both to one of the training rooms, where various magitech and pure tech instruments resided. He then fetched one, which looked like a small floating metal ball, and handed it to Amelia.

"The first test, is to gather as much Death energy as you can, and rust this ball - which is stainless stell, by the way - into dust. Only the ball; nothing else."

Amelia took the ball and watched it hover above her hand while listening to Heinz instructions. If she had to guess, he was new to teaching, since he provided her no instruction on how to go about the task assigned to her, as if she was just expected to know. So she only had one thing to say.

"How?"

"Oh, right, how," spoke Heinz. "First, close your eyes, and open your mind; ever since the Awakening Surge, humans have a sixth sense that allows them to sense magical energy. You can feel it on the back of your head, like a third eye which you can force open - in your case, it's already been opened several times - in order to look at the Schools you have."

"Once you have opened this third eye, you can sense two streams of energy, one black, one whitish-green. These are Mana 'colored' by the Death and Otherness Schools. You can gather, with your mind, with invisible arms, parts of the black stream, and move them somewhere else, like the ball." Heinz had taught Ascot before, but the boy already had a working knowledge of magical theory when the two had met, unlike Amelia.

Amelia looked at the ball above her hand before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She had no clue how to use this sixth sense, absolutely none. But she figured if she cut out all the other senses to the best of her ability she could figure it out. With her eyes closed she could no longer see. So she just had to ignore how standing still felt, any noise going on around her, and any scents in the air. There was nothing to taste around her so she didnt bother with that.

It took several minutes but she finally began feeling something that she couldnt describe. It was something that seemed to assail her other senses all at the same time, as if beckoning her. Though she didn't physically move, she let her mind follow the sensation. After a few moments, in her minds eye, she saw the streams Heinz spoke of. The black one of Death, which stood out in the darknes with streaks of grey, and the greyish-green stream of otherness. Following Heinz instructions, she tried to redirect the black stream but no sooner did she try then did a series of white runes block it from moving.

Physically, the runes on Amelias body began glowing, blocking her ability to use magic.

In response to this, Heinz made a subtle gesture...and loosened one of the seals, but only a little; enough to let a trickle in.

The moment the seals were loosened so that a small trickle was let loose, the physical form of them on Amelias body vanished, hidden from sight again. In her minds eye, Amelia spotted a hole in the wall in front of her and began focusing on getting a bit of the black stream of Death to go through the hole. It would take several minutes but she would get the stream through the hole but was hesitant to apply it to the metal ball. She could feel the engergy: IT was cold, taking the heat out of the very air and sapping her very strength, as if it was slowly trying to drain her life. She could feel that this energy was the closest thing to actual death one could experience without dying and it scared her greatly.

With that fear came a lose of control though and there was a small explosion of the energy in the room, scaring Amelia and completely breaking her concentration as she fell to the ground, the metal ball falling with her and floating just above the floor.

Heinz was there to catch her before she truly hit the ground, his eyes shining with fear, fear for her. True, it was his fault in the first place for turning her into a child informat, that still didn't mean that he didn't care for her, after a fashion.

"Amelia, are you all right?" he questioned. "Don't worry, the energy, it did the same to me, back when I was first learning it." He then smiled. "You did well, being able to touch it in the first place." The man then gestured, and half of the floating ball turned to red dust.

"Observe what I did, controlling the energy as quickly as, well, a whip, and lashing it out at the half of the ball. Now, you try it on the remaining half."

Amelia shook her head, looking scared.

"That energy... I dont like it," she said in a low, scared voice as she began shaking in his arms at the thought of what she had felt. "It felt... so cold, so wrong... I dont want to use it."

"Death is many things, to many people," spoke Heinz. "To you, it's terrifying, cold, and...enervating, and why should it not be, when your experience with death is so...negative? However, Death can also be peaceful, an end to a satisfied life, or an end to great pain. Not to use Mentalism, but here's how I see it." And with that, Heinz filled Amelia with a sense of peace and awe, with all of her pain, all of her fear fading. This, to Heinz, was what death meant to him, the ending of suffering.

"Focus on this sensation, then make the energy you feel, feel like it. Impose this sensation upon the energy until it takes," he continued. "Then, try again."

Amelia calmed down as Heinz illusion of peace washed over her, calming her down. She slowly got to her feet and looked at the half-ball of stainless steel floating a few inches away from her. Closing her eyes, she found the streams of energy a bit more easily this time and once again she focused on the death one. Pulling a bit of the Death energy towards her again and once again she felt the coldness of death. However she also tried to think of how Heinz saw death. It didnt really lessen the cold but she found herself able to ignore it a bit. She knew she could never view death as Heinz did, so she would have to get used to this coldness. In a way it felt familiar to her, as if she had felt it before today.

Turning her attention to the half-ball, she began directing the death energy towards it. The energy resisted and it began demanding she put effort to move it and make it bend to her will. Slowly the ball began rusting but even this small feat was beginning to take a toll on Amelia. She didnt back down though and kept at it until the half-ball was entirely rusted. As soon as the task was done though, she fell to her hands and knees and began coughing, covering her mouth with one hand but unable to block some blood from slipping between her fingers onto the floor.

The girl was still in Heinz's arms, and the man held her close, trying to lessen the pain using Mentalism and Life. He then spoke:

"It's okay, Amelia, it's okay, you did well; we can stop for today." Heinz felt pain again, pain that instead of making Amelia better, he had instead turned her into an 'asset'.

"I'll try and ease up in the future," he then smiled, before taking her to Rose's medical wing and setting her down on an unnoccupied bed.

Amelia didnt reply as by the time the attack ended, she was exhausted and simply collapsed in Heinz arms. If it hadn't been for the blood on her lips and hand, she might've been sleeping peacefully after a hard day's work. It was probably the most peaceful anyone had seen her in a while

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Krodin329))

Conor and Heinz

"Thanks Mr. Heinz, but no, if he wants to contact me he will. This life isn't for everyone. I look forward to working for you again. Actually, Mr. Heinz, I'd like to talk to you about something if you could do lunch around noon. The restaurant is called 'The Conisuer.' It's a five star, the only place I go if I truly want to privately discuss business."

"All right," Heinz spoke, already having an inkling (an inkling that happened without magic) of what Conor was going to say. "I love that restaurant; it's a place I go to whenever bureaucracy doesn't bind me. I'll see you there at noon."

"Fantastic. Black tie, or just business casual? Either way, we don't need reservations I'm friends with Marco, the owner's son, James. I help train him for formal Eskrima tournaments."

"Something that I already know," spoke Heinz. "Head of The Agency, remember?" he quipped.

"Oh, right. I forget sometimes. Alright, well I'll see you there. Thanks, Mr. Heinz. I'll see you later!"

Conor and Ascot

Ascot smiled at Conor, before saying:

"While that offer's good; Uncle has...other plans." He then put up a Cone of Silence just so no one can hear them. "You see, I and Amelia, if she's willing, might leave the Agency and go to the Magical Peace Corps, once the year is done." The Magical Peace Corps was a group whose purpose was simply to help people, either by healing them with both Magical and Technological means, or replanting forests, or repairing infrastructure both in the US or abroad. Not merely that, but as reports of undead and hostile spirits increased, the MPC also acquired the role of exorcists, helping to destroy undead (Ironically with Death Magic) or calm down Spirits.

"Isn't that great?" spoke the boy, before continuing:

"Let's head for the training room, then," he spoke before noting, once again, that Conor was the only Agency member (alebit unofficial), who didn't take issue with him basically, being, well, his Uncle's child soldier. He had been meaning to ask him about that, but, well, he had forgotten due to the chaos of E3.

"That's fantastic man. I'm happy for you, honestly." As they headed to the training room, Conor considered telling Ascot about his future plans. However he decided against it. He'd reveal it to everyone collectively what he was planning.

When they arived at the training room Conor began by stating, "Alright, Ascot. You're an excellent Eskrimador. However, your basics are actually a little lacking. The way you move with your forward triangles is a bit...staccato. It should be a little more flowing. So, to start with we're going to be practicing the basics. Don't take this as an insult, by the way. I spend hours on basics every day. It's an important part of Eskrima. So, the way I practice is I actually practice in water."

Conor walked over to a large child pool, only about two feet deep. Up to their knees. He said, "Alright, lets start with forward triangles."

Conor began to step forward, right leg leading. His right leg went forward about thirty degrees to the right and then he switched his right leg with his left, moving his right leg back. Then, he repeated it.

"Now you try, Ascot!" He said encouragingly.

Ascot smiled, accepting all of Conor's suggestions. The young man reminded him of his parents, just like Heinz. This made Ascot extra accepting of the young Mage, and, well, Conor was a fun guy.

He stepped down to the child pool, inwardly worrying that he had gotten it dirty, then began practicing forward triangles. Although a little unused to the resistance given by the water, his young mind adapted quickly, and he was soon duplicating Conor's steps.

"So, Ascot what you're experiencing with the resistance of the water will strengthen and give your muscles control. This will let you be more precise, acting faster so your legs move in and out quickly. It's hard to explain in words, but it really works."

The boy nodded, continuing his training, gaining a better feel for the water's slowing effect on his body and reflexes. He tried to work with the water, to flow smoothly; knowing that to treat the water as an adversary was bad for him, bad for his training.

After twenty minutes of doing this, Conor's thighs told him they had had enough.

"Alrighty. My thighs officially are tuckered out. Hopefuly you can see where I was coming from though." Next, I need to know how your tapi tapi is. Want to run through the twelve basic ones?"

"Yeah," said Ascot. He then drew two rattan sticks from a dimensional pocket, and readied his position.

Conor made a bewildered face and realized he hadn't been specific enough.

"My bad, I meant twelve count tapi tapi abiscidarios."

Conor swung forward with a head horizontal strike, and Ascot responded by striking the stick, taking the force out of it, and then taking hold of it, and providing feed back in a four count strike System. Conor continued to run through the other remaining eleven strikes, with Ascot performing them well.

This continued for a while, with Ascot, well, having fun. When it ended, the boy said, eagerly, sounding like a real 13-year old for once:

"More, more!"

Conor broke from his normal strike pattern and began to strike more frequently, harder, and more randomly, responding to the feedback with his own. Ascot's foot work had already improved exponentially, but he was still stuttering slightly at the tip of his forward triangles. To demonstrate the issue, Conor stepped forward in one of his strikes, blocked Ascot's return shot and flipped him over his shoulder softly.

Conor lifted him up and said, "You're close to having perfect footwork, Ascot. But you need to practice. How often a week do you practice?"

"Two to four hours a day, whenever there isn't a mission. True, I don't think that's optimal," answered the boy, "but I also have magic practice, lessons in history, literature, and philosophy, as well as the times when I try to tutor Amelia. Let's just say I'm booked a lot."

"I see. If you end up joining the Peace Corps you might have more time to practice, other than that... if you can't find time to practice, I can't really help you."

Ascot sighed, and continued:

"Well, I could slow down and speed up time for myself alone, but I'm afraid of its effects on my aging. Nevertheless, if you feel I need it, then perhaps I can use that power?"

"I don't know it's up to you", said Conor.

"Then I'll use it," spoke Ascot, and, with a gesture, time seemed to slow down for the two of them; Ascot could slow down time for others due to having Law as well as Timespace.

"Now, what about a few more moves till we stop?"

"Sounds great!", exclaimed Conor.

They then spent the next three or four hours in the timespace loop, practicing. By the time they were finished, they emerged sweaty, bruised, and over all happy. Conor hadn't felt that happy in a long time. He'd been far from happy since he was beaten by Omega. However after working out with Ascot, he felt decidedly better.

Conor looked at Ascot with the affection an older brother could deliver to his kid brother. "You know Ascot, if you ever need a place to go, somewhere safe, somewhere to get help...you find me. Okay?"

"Okay," Ascot spoke in a tired voice, nodding as he did so. Conor's affection was fully returned by the other boy, who did see him as family. The boy knew about the other young man's tragic past, and felt that he wanted to give him the sensation of having family again. Not just that, but it also meant that Conor did see that, technically, Ascot's situation was bad; technically.

"I'm going to see Amelia once more, and then shower, brush my teeth, and then sleep," the boy said. "Bye." And then he left, not realizing that his uncle had risked his beloved's life...

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Lucek))

Ascot was devestated.

Apparently, his Uncle had tried to train Amelia, but ended up aggravating her condition in the process, causing her to to be confined to the medical wing. How could he?! Hhow dare he?! Ascot didn't care what his Uncle did to him, but any hint that Amelia might come to harm sent him off to a blaze of worry. Amelia was his charge, the person whom he had been devoted to for the past three years. He couldn't allow her to get hurt, not under his watch.

After checking to make sure that the girl was really all right, Ascot went back to his room. On a whim, he sent an Email to Lucius saying:

Hey, Lucius, why don't we have a dream-meeting? Basically, we both sleep in our rooms, and I use Mentalism to come inside your head. Normally, I wouldn't ask this of people, but, well, some sad news has happened today, and I need to both rest my body and talk with someone. Ascot knew that dreamwalking granted his body less rest than True Sleep, but it was still enough for his needs.

He waited for Omega's answer.

Omega finished his training, working up some sweat. Still it was mostly because of the length and intensity of the training. After returning to his room and refreshing himself he noticed a message on his terminal… it was from Ascot. He didn’t see anything wrong with agreeing to that, he had a spot for the boy, maybe because he felt something similar from him. No matter, he picked up the device and wrote an answer.

I don’t mind, though I’m not really sure if I’d be the best person to talk to. I’ll make you a “door” so you can get past the wards that are around my room, all of them. I’ll be done in a few minutes, we can go at it then.

He sent it and went to work, making an entrance like that was easy, after all he had to only make a connection though. Still to someone wanting to go in it would be like a door they’d have to… well knock on. No matter, he was done faster than he though so he laid down on the bed, sent a signal to Alpha to do the routine and fell asleep.

Thanks, Ascot messaged after he had showered, brushed, and put on his pajamas. Then, he turned off his computer and went to sleep. From there, it was easy for him to break out of his own dreamscape, and, well, escape to the space between dreams, which appeared as a space of blackness, dotted with globes of light that embodied human minds. Following Omega's unique dream-trace, the boy went to the imaginary door, and knocked.

The door opened with a slight sound, which shouldn’t be really happening after all this was not a real door. No matter, once Ascot entered it would close behind him, not allowing entry for anyone else. The space was black, seemingly empty, aside from the small crimson and azure spheres that illuminated a small path. It led to a place where two large beanbags a small table with a book on top of it. It was lit by the same lights, but the small space was brighter. Omega sat there in one of the beanbags, next to him a cat and fox curled up on pillows, they seemed sleeping. The man motioned the boy to sit, with a welcoming smile, so different than he usually was, not to mentioned he looked younger here, his age about the same as Ascot’s.

Oh, wow, thought Ascot, Young Omega looks so handsome! The boy immidiately felt guilty for some reason, and that reason was not because he felt that what he was feeling was wrong; that was so 70 years ago. Rather, he felt as though he was betraying someone, someone with...someone who - and then he remembered Amelia's frail form, lying on the medical bed.

I'm in love with Amelia, but still attracted to other people, that was Ascot's conclusion. He then sat down happily, and a little bashfully, on the beanbag chair, smiling all the way. When he had finally settled himself, he spoke:

"Thanks, and, you're cute as a 13-year old," the boy openly stated.

Hearing the comment Omega blushed a bit, this was his more innocent self, he didn’t know why he looked like he did, but he had all his memories aside from those locked by magic. “Thanks…” He said a bit flushed while scratching his own head looking a bit innocently, but steadied himself soon after. ”I’m not really sure why I look like this, or this place, it was like this from the beginning. Well it’s not that important.” He chuckled, regaining himself fully, then smiled and continued looking at the boy, a small glance at the book on the table. ”So what did you want to talk about? You seem a bit off.” Omega could read people, what he said was put mildly, the boy really was not himself.

"I'm the handler for a young girl named Amelia..." spoke the boy, before giving a summary about who Amelia was, her backstory, and finally going back to Heinz's attempt to train her, an attempt that left the girl injured and in pain. His tone was sad, even more so because he had just discovered that he loved her in the strangest way possible. He then continued:

"Anyway, Amelia, I love her, and I don't want to see her come to harm. Although Uncle had the best of intentions, he always has, I find it hard to deal with the fact that he can...blunder in such a big way, and with such consequences. I can handle him training me and sending me on missions even though it's dangerous and breaks the law, but to put Amelia in danger, well, I'm hurt..."

"I just now found out that I love her, and, well, I'm wondering, should I risk letting her come to harm all the more? Should I continue to trust Uncle?"

”Hmm….” Omega rubbed his chin on hearing about the situation. He was at a loss, but something was bothering him. Why did Amelia’s condition seem familiar… No, now he should try helping the boy… I don’t really know.”” He paused but continued after sighing. ”I don’t know what love is, well I can understand it but on a different plane. I can say that when you love a person you worry about their wellbeing more than your own. You want what is the best for those you care about… but…”

He leaned back in his beanbag a bit. ”I think I can see where you are torn, you care about both of them, both your Uncle and Amelia. Thing is while you know your uncle tries his best you don’t want to see her hurt. Sorry it’s a bit hard to put it into words.” Omega sighed. ”I can only say that you want to trust your uncle as you know he wants the best for both of you, but because he fails where you think it counts most, you start having doubts.” He really had trouble expressing himself, he wasn’t used to doing that. ”I think you should talk to your uncle and tell him what you feel. Not to mention offer help with Amelia, he wants to improve her condition but I think he wants to do it too fast… not to mention… Amelia… seems like a curse… strange…” He got lost in thought the last words barely audible.

"Yeah," spoke Ascot, "perhaps I should go to Uncle, tell him not to act alone. Uncle's a man of impulse; it both serves him well and hobbles him. As for Amelia, what curse are you talking about? Her condition, it comes from her harsh living conditions, as well as the lightning shocks the Mafia gave her when she disobeyed."

Omega snapped out of his daze, when Ascot spoke. ”Something was bothering me, that’s all… I mean you know how you can use someone’s own magic against them right? It doesn’t work on experienced mages but rookies or those untrained… I think you get the idea. It just seemed similar to that curse. Basically their own magic is eating away at the body. The condition is similar, that’s all. The seals preventing her powers from overflowing also got me thinking that it might be it. But I don’t know… maybe… sorry I don’t think it would be self-inflicted. Forget I mentioned it. After all this isn’t the issue. But yes, you should talk to your uncle, I also want to offer my help. Somehow both you and this Amelia seem to be somehow kindred spirits to myself. I don’t know why I have this feeling though.” He smiled embarrassed, though his eyes looked at something he couldn’t grasp… something close yet forgotten.

Ascot looked straight into Omega's eyes, taking in their golden hue. He then felt it; not the precognitive 'twing' that accompanied him when he heard the name 'Lucius Dreginau', but, rather, a hunch, a true hunch.

"Omega, sensitive question...how much do you remember of your childhood?" the boy asked. "Just asking because, well, even though you're a, well, assassin, you have this sort of...innocence about you."

The assassin… or rather his now young form sighed. After a short silence he said on a slow almost painful words ” I am the first Omega, now you are the second. I started walking this road once in solitude, but I was joined by you, as you will one day find one who will share our fate. More than just by blood, we have been and will be as one. May the shadows protect you my child. Omega… Child of the dragon.” Omega got quiet for a while, taking the book from the table, opening it on the words he just spoke. It looked like the book was a diary, which he handed to the boy. If Ascot would look through it he’d come to a passage stating : My name is Omega, aside from that I am nothing. The pages before that were blank, nothing was there as if erased. ”Those words were said by my master, teacher…. Mother… That book… well I think you should know what it is.” The word mother was really quiet for some reason. Not to mention the pain and sadness when he spoke.

"Your memories. The book symbolizes your memories." Omega's pain and sadness were reflected by Ascot now, reflected in the latter's eyes and demeanor. "Your master, she was a morally complex person, like Uncle." He then looked away.

"You know, the reason I allowed myself to be used by Uncle was so that other children won't have to be used, so that they wouldn't have to suffer..." he was crying now. "To be deprived of your..." he then estimated the number of years the blank pages covered "...of your first ten years, no one should go through that, unless said ten years were really, really horrible. And, somehow, I don't think they were."

"I'm so sorry..." the boy said, his tears continuing to fall.

Omega blinked, he wasn’t controlling himself, it seemed his body moved by instinct. He kneeled next to Ascot and hugged him, petting his head gently until the boy stopped crying. ”Thank you. But don’t cry, this is how my life went, it was both good and bad, it made me who I am now. Maybe it could be different, but I know one thing…. If the First Omega hadn’t picked me up… I would probably be dead.” He paused and looked at the boy. ”I learned how fragile life can be, even if I take lives I don’t want more like me to be made… That was what both the previous Omega and me strived to do.”

The two animals stirred and trotted over one hopping on Omega’s shoulder the other on Ascot’s. ”These two… are like me… they lost but gained things. That is life. I… live like I have because I have nothing else. I am grateful I met you… you are kind… Let me help you how I can, as you have already helped me, thank you.” A single tear slowly traced his cheek, before falling to the ground.

"Thanks..." spoke Ascot, genuinely greatful, genuinely glad that he was being embraced by such a handsome person. "And, I want to be of help as well, because when people suffer...I suffer as well." His tears began fading, and a smile graced his face once again.

"Omega...if for some reason you want your memories back, just tell me," he continued. "'Until then, why don't we just spend the time talking, playing games, and, well, being close. It's been a long time since I've interacted with people my age, even though in real life, you're not really...well, let's just say I miss the company of other teenagers, even if it's stimulated."

Omega shook his head. ”Regaining them seems tempting… maybe someday… now it would just remind me what I lost and can never have again.. that would be sad.” He went back to the other beanbag. ”Well stimulated… I don’t know… wouldn’t me not having those memories basically make me a teenager now? After all I don’t really know my age aside from being past twenty… Removing the ten years I don’t have… well let’s say In heart I am one.” He chuckled. ” But I would love to keep you company, I haven’t really lived the life of a teenager like normally someone would… being an assassin and all.” He smiled. ”Right, maybe Amelia could join us… either here or.. well I figure I could pass for a teenager with a bit of tweaking.” He grinned.

Ascot smiled. "Perhaps in the Dreamscape, then. So, it's a playdate?" Hopefully, Amelia won't be too jealous from the way I act around him.

”I’d love to.” He smiled genuinely and innocently. ”Just give me a nudge, I’m free as you know.” He chuckled. This will be fun, I just hope I don’t screw up. Well the two will help… He thought to himself a bit antsy for the next meeting already...

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Amaya Tamashii))

Once Heinz had reunited with his alternate selves, he kept to his office, signing paperwork, receiving reports, supervising operations and training exercises, and general Agency Head stuff. He was a master of multi-tasking, even as a child, and that gift had only advanced as he grew older. However, the man's door was open to all who came in, especially Rose and Ascot.

Rose left the medical wing of the building to go search for her boss to do her usual report on Amelia and sometimes Amaya if there was any new light on the girl's purpose.

Rose didn't bother waiting on Heinz to call for her as she just barged in like normal "I have some new information on both Amelia and Amaya , which would you prefer first...one is more pressing than the other," she commented to her boss adjusting two files in her hands.

Heinz raised his eyebrow in bemusement, then spoke:

"On the one hand, Amelia is someone who needs the most help. On the other hand, Amaya's the more mysterious. However, I'm going to select Amelia first, because, despite appearances, I do care about her."

"She is the more pressing issue...I want to give her a trial run in the Field as an agent like Ascot and for her to only be paired with Ascot...she is mentally more intact and more stable with him around...I want to keep a monitor on her conditions and to be both hers and Ascots handler so I can further help her adjust,"said rose laying Amelia's file down "all my notes and reasonings for this is in there along with her routine checks and psych evaluation I did an hour before the e3 mission was complete,"she added.

Heinz's face hardened, but also filled with guilt. The man then spoke:

"What I did with Ascot; turning him into a field Agent, it was illegal in the extreme, and dangerous too. I told you what happened to him; how he was ambushed, then subjected to various...indignities. I don't want that to happen with Amelia, I don't want her put in danger. Not to mention that Amelia hates fighting, and killing, and exposing her to situations where she might fight, well, it's even more irresponsible than sending out Ascot."

"Look, I stole a lot from Ascot when I turned him into Amelia's handler. I stole his childhood, I stole his friends, I stole a normal life from him. And for what? To use his power? I don't regret making Amelia happy; and giving her a chance at more happiness, but, that doesn't change the fact that I damaged Ascot in the process, by turning him into a child soldier. If I do the same to Amelia, put her in the field where she can get ambushed and captured, well..." Heinz trailed off.

"Not a combat agent more of an informant...you know her abilities to talk with spirits and it is dangerous when she is worried about ascot with her heart condition...I know what it is like having my childhood stole by the mafia killing my parents on the trapdoor that hid me and my brother then that disease that killed what family I had left...I know that first hand I seen things kids shouldn't... I am doing this for Amelia..she feels weak and useless and her talents are wasted sitting around here with nothing for her to do... her so called room is more of a storage unit cause she is afraid to ask...when Ascot isn't around she comes to me to keep occupied because she has nothing else to do waiting on Ascot,"argued Rose.

Heinz considered Rose's words, then responded:

"Amelia can talk with Spirits from within the building; there is a special area designated for that. As for her room; it shouldn't have been like that, it should have been the same as Ascot's. And, as for the larger problem of Amelia feeling useless, well, she can be trained to try and control her magic; at the very least, it'll provide her with something to do. In fact, I've been meaning to train her in Magic's use myself," he spoke.

"Not just that, but, well, I'll tell you a secret. Have you heard of the Magical Peace Corps?"

Once Rose had given her answer, Heinz would continue:

"Once Amelia has been trained enough, I would have she and Ascot join the Corps; there, they won't have to kill anyone, the number of enemies they would fight are less, and , most importantly, they'd be surrounded by kind and understanding people. Not to mention that if Amelia has control over her powers, she'll be able to play the role of exorcist very well."

"I've heard of them and personally I had a debate between them and the agency when you found guys found me...I suppose that could work but both will feel abandon," Rose commented "plus you forget Amelia's mental and physical state," said Rose.

"Ascot already knows of my plans, and, as long as he and Amelia can stay together, he approves. As for Amelia's mental and physical state, the former can be helped by more psychological treatment, and the latter...the latter is mostly aggravated by her inability to control her power. Which is why I'm also planning to train her," replied Heinz.

"You will be the one to tell Amelia cause she would rather hear that from you Heinz," said Rose, not planning on arguing with him about the issue any longer.

"Now as for Amaya, here lately it seems some old memories have surface from four years ago...I don't know why after all this time these are finally surfacing," said Rose showing Amaya's file with the transcript of their last session.

The transcript detailed each and every session from the day the tamashii family brought her to the agency to their last session earlier today.

" As you can see, it has taken four years for her to remember something about the series going good and how the water in her tank looked like and she mostly noted seeing a cold white room a lot when not in her tank. I just find it strange how after four years she suddenly remembers this Information," said Rose.

"What could have changed?" asked Heinz, both to himself and the medic. "For four years, nothing has changed for Amaya except her physical maturity. Perhaps, as she matures, her memory is improving?" What the? That sounded stupid!

"I don't know but I wonder if she is one of those people that can easily adept to a chosen magic...within the first few months she showed ice was her ally, and then in a year healing became as common as breathing for her...from her young genes she is really only four years old physically but she is mentally up past the age she looks...whoever created her and the others had a dark purpose if it was as the Tamashiis said," said Rose.

"True," spoke Heinz. "Creating Artificial Magi...certain people, such as Arcana Unlimited and various governments, would have a stake in such a project. However, I don't think even ArcU would have such a sensitive project in the United States itself." His face grew grim.

"I think, Rose, that we might have a new enemy."

"I figured there might be one, as we would have heard something from within ArcU's ranks if they were responsible and they would have came for her..so either its a new group or something else is stirring up in the shadows," she said

"So should I continue to keep a close eye or would setting her boundaries farther and watching out for anything odd...maybe put her on a few missions with one of the Tamashii present to keep an eye on her," Rose asked wishing to know their next step.

"There's only one Tamashii left, remember?" spoke Heinz, before continuing:

"If I were the 'old' Heinz, I would have allowed this, purely because Amaya seems to be a very powerful Mage. However, I'm no longer the old Heinz. What Amaya needs is a loving family to take care of her, not exposure to danger. So, yes, keep a close eye on her...although you should allow her to meet with Joshua from time to time."

"Anyway, one last thing," he spoke, "two weeks from now, I'm sending Ascot to go shopping with Amelia, and perhaps Amaya and you. Can you be in charge of guarding them?"

"Hey I tried it is Joshua who doesn't answer my requests to meet her...they seen each other earlier but didnt speak,"said Rose" I have taken both girls under my wing as a mother figure to them. Yes, I can keep guard over the three of them," said Rose grabbing her files situating them in her arms.

"Thank you," spoke Heinz.

GM Post

Two weeks had passed since the E3 Skirmish. Now, Heinz Harper, after making his preparations, had asked every active member of The Agency to meet him in the briefing room; he had an important announcement to tell them. He had also, through Timespace, appeared at the Morning Glory Bar again, in order to offer Joshua a second job. In both places, he spoke:

Agency

"For a long time now, we have heard rumors of Babylon, a secret brothel ran by the Mafia, which, due to the powers of Timespace, is able to fit 500 Sex Slaves, 250 of them children. We have chased those rumors -" it was an open secret that Ascot had been going on missions with the intent of tracking the location of that site, and a few even suspected what had happened to him, and cursed Heinz.

Morning Glory Bar

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Joshua Tamashii))

"Joshua, I have heard news of Babylon -"

"Stop, just stop right there." Joshua interupted" I still remember ATLANTIS. I lost my closest and LAST FAMILY THERE!" Joshua said, getting up, his expression livid" Are you suggesting you send in a small hit squad again Heinz? DID YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM LAST TIME?!"

Both Places

Heinz stood up in shock, Joshua's triade affecting him in both places that he was. In the Agency, Thaz sensed the Timespace fluctation, and began thinking: It's that Merc again.

Morning Glory Bar

"No," spoke Heinz. "This time, we'll be cooperating with the NYPD; the latter, even the Practicing Magi, think that we're a bit of a hotshots, but they were impressed by how we managed to rescue 993 of 1000 people in the New York Convention Centre, without damage to the building. The Agency investigates, the NYPD provides the numbers and the muscle. Or at least, that's what the plan is."

Joshua rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Im out." He said" Im not going through that shit again. Besides you got plenty of powerful mages on you. And chances are security there is tighter then Atlantis was, more magic and shit like that. Id be nothing but a burden to you all. Best you higher those hitmen from last time. Their ruough around the edges yet but they can probably help you more then I could, unless I can somehow miraculously learn to use magic."

"I'm not asking you to go after Babylon directly. Rather, I'm asking you to accompany one of those hitmen, Omega, and his 'handler', Lucius, on a mission to find someone who might be of help in finding the place," Heinz explained calmly.

Joshua thought about it while staring at his drink.

"I'll do it for free." He said. "Put my pay towards helping those kids instead. Also, dont make any of them another Amelia. They dont need to be agents simply because they got granted inmmense powers they didnt want."

"Understood," spoke Heinz. "Creating child Agents...that was the biggest mistake I ever made in my entire life; may I one day be forgiven for it."

"The question now comes down to whose forgiveness are you really asking for in this case." Joshua said calmly.

"Yes, yes it does," continued Heinz, his attention turning back to The Agency building.

The Agency

"Anyway, let me continue," spoke the man. "The Search for Babylon will take two teams; one to do the actual searching, one to distract the Mafia. The first team will consist of Lucius and Omega, and possibly Joshua if I can hire him. Their objective is to 'negotiate' with The Scandalmonger, a Magi reporter adept at Mind, Timespace, and Otherness, and who, well, uses her powers to find out scandalous behavior among the rich and powerful."

"The Scandalmonger lives in the Bahamas, in a heavily guarded mansion filled with attack dogs, guards, and an entire PMC (Private Military Contractor). Most of them are Nonpracticing Magi, but there are rumors that they got a hold of some Orichalcum, as well as Microwave guns that pierce magical shielding. Not just that, but the Scandalmonger herself is a powerful battlemagi, able to remove the senses of those who attack her. Beware"

"As for Team Two, they are to distract the Mafia by attacking one of their warehouses, one containing cocaine. Said Warehouse is, well, in the Warehouse district, and ostensibly contains flour. However, the guards at the warehouse are more numerous, more vigilant than ones actually guarding flour, so something's suspicious. My personal hunch is, well, that it's bait."

"Whether it is or not, it would gravely distract the Mafia if the bait is taken, and Conor and Silas, to me, are also the prime candidates for escaping any ambush the Mafia may set; Conor is an immensely powerful martial artist, while Silas...Silas has Timespace. Not only will they prove a harder fight than the Mafia would expect, but, well, they're also flashy." Heinz then looked at Thaz and Ascot.

"Thaz, your job is to act as Liason Officer to the NYPD; I'll be honest, Ascot is more diplomatic than you, but, well, he's also 13 and illegally employed. Anyway, your job is to build relations with the NYPD and build up the force necessary to take down Babylon. Yes, yes, I know, you're abrasive, but you're also honest, while I'm not. Therefore, you will be best in building relations."

"Ascot," he then turned to the boy, "Don't take this the wrong way; you're a powerful Agent and would probably do well, but, I've decided that the search for Babylon is too...sensitive for you. Instead, you, Rose, Amaya and Amelia are going shopping; shopping for new furniture for Amelia's room." Thaz breathed a sigh of relief as it meant that she wasn't going to be responsible for Ascot's well-being.

"Now, this meeting is adjourned. Feel free to make what preparations you can for the trip, as well as react to the news."

A Few Hours Later

Omega's team would be flying to the Bahamas through plane, as the Scandalmonger's estate would be warded against teleportation. After reaching a suitable landing spot, the members of the group would then parachute out of the plane, so as to lessen their detection through magic.

Conor and Silas, on the other hand, would just be teleported to the top of the warehouse, where, after a few seconds, they would be met with gunfire.

The group saw the compound, it was a Bahamian style home as was the out lying buildings. In all it was 20 buildings, the main house was the largest. Many outlying building had barracks, power generators, satellite dishes, garages, and stables.

The guard shack was extremely busy. Men are running back and forth.

The guards seemed to patrol an area. in a uniform and choreographed manner.

The cameras swept the areas at random intervals. One camera was being repaired but there were additional PMC men in the garden. More men in the area were armed rifles and submachine guns. It was hard to see inside the house the shutters were closed. It appeared to be very easy for those in the house to defend and hard for those trying to break in to do that.

This would not be easy. A guard was walking towards the group.