-

After parting from his new big sis and having fun watching the ‘littler sis’ play her game Charlie spread his arms wide and had let himself fall, managing to promptly fall asleep mid-fall. It wasn’t a true sleep, not really. It was closer to a peaceful daze, or a laptop going into it’s screen saver mode, he was vaguely aware of his surroundings, but managed to recharge his battery, to continue the metaphor.

~2:00 am~

Upon waking Charlie stumbled to his feet and stretched, bones audibly creaking. Rubbing his eyes Charlie followed the guards instructions for the night trip to an abandoned city. It wasn’t a particularly strenuous walk, sure he hated walking in general, but what can you do? His last attempt at a vehicle nearly ate him, so it was currently beyond Charlie’s inclination to try and make something.

Arriving at the ruins, he couldn't help but blurt out “This place looks absolutely fucked”. The landscape before him was simply broken and desolate. As he stared, the crowed naturally gathered itself in front of a littler girl... who had the creepy sword guy by her side. Since he wasn’t an idiot he figured out almost instantly that the sword guy was some sort of faculty. As Aria explained the rules, Charlie looked around at the crowd and saw a green haired girl trip over nothing before scrambling for a pair of glasses.

Tilting his head slightly, Charlie was slightly confused at her actions but snapped back to the speech in time to hear that there was some kind of scavenger hunt for cards or something. Since the Minor Arcana seemed to dictate teams, Charlie had to wonder If I manage to get a bunch of different Arcana cards, couldn't I theoretically pick who I team up with?... Plus there was the Fool and Charlie wasn’t made of stone, those baked goods looked delicious and sure, if he happened to come across it he’d pick it up.

~

Entering the ruins, Charlie struck out in a direction of a building that didn’t look totally ruined. Keeping an eye out Charlie noticed about four flying sphere’s that shot something at one unfortunate participant, knocking him out. Sneezing absentmindedly, Charlie pulled out his ray gun and took a few pot shots at the sphere’s, hitting one, the ray punching through it’s light armour and knocking it to the ground.

As soon as one went down the other three started firing darts at him. Ducking behind a corner Charlie really wanted to take them out and tear them apart. What method did they have for flight? There was no obvious means of flight so it must be completely internalised somehow which facinated Charlie. Another thing was those darts, if he could crack them open and take some he’d have a good paralytic agent. Taking a tennis ball sized metal sphere out of one of his lab coat pockets, Charlie lightly tossed it out and waited for the ‘splat’ noise.

“SPLAT”

Cautiously looking around the corner, two of the sphere’s were caught in the orange gooey mess and trying to fly around, making them look like drunken bola’s before crashing into a wall and getting stuck. For the last drone’s part it was charging at Charlie as if to slam into him. Disappearing from sight as the drone was about to slam into him, their was a light popping sound at the displacement of air as he teleported before blasting the drone point blank from behind. Gathering all of the drones Charlie stabbed the gooey drones on a piece of rebar while using it to cracked them like eggs and started rummaging around inside of them, putting any interesting components in his pockets, especially anything that looked like an engine for FLUX powered.

Once the student hopefuls had all arrived at some desolate ruins of a respectably sized city, the Head Master herself finally decided to arrive. She, alongside Ellie and one of the people who tried to start a fight the previous night, stood before the students and explained how the exam would work. Gil had four and a half hours to get through these ruins, but he also had to find a tarot card before reaching the exit. The card wouldn't just serve as a pass, but also would determine who Gil would be matched with later in the Academy. As Ellie took her sweet time trying to heft a large starting pistol, Gil looked over the ruins one more time. This city isn't too large. At a brisk walk it would only take probably an hour to cross with all this rubble, so surely the time limit reflects more on the challenge of finding the cards. As soon as the shot was fired several students, in fact a large number of them, bolted in various directions into the ruins. Rushing through won't afford any advantages. If I have so much time I should use it wisely and focus on finding a tarot card rather than getting through.

To that effect, Gil waited a brief moment by Aria and company to see if anyone else was going to go sprinting by. Once it seemed the rush was over he rested his hand on his gun again and began walking into the ruins. "See you on the other side," he spoke up rather casually to the Head Master in what could be easily attributed to either confidence, arrogance, or ignorance. Depending on perspective. Many students entered the ruins in a fanned-out fashion, so Gil figured it would do him no harm to just go straight towards the exit. By moving at a casual pace he would be able to soak in details better and search more accurately. Once he had a tarot card he would be guaranteed entry into the Academy, so that was the primary focus. It didn't take long for him to find something interesting but it most definitely wasn't any kind of card.

As Gil crossed a largely intact intersection, surrounded by not-so-intact buildings, he saw four floating metallic spheres. Those seem man-made. Drones of some kind. Are they here to watch us or are they here to interfere with us? The answer was made clear when all four drones finally noticed Gil and simultaneously launched their electric darts at him. The teenager didn't hardly have time to react but it seemed he didn't need to. One of the darts landed firmly in his right arm but Gil quickly realized it wasn't a tranquilizer. It was an electric charge, likely intended to stun the victim. Something that would have no effect on Gil. "I see..." The four drones began floating closer at speed, probably intending to ram into him as a better method of attack. But now Gil was prepared. He moved his hand away from his holstered gun and held both of them rather loosely in front of himself, pointing all of his fingers towards the incoming drones. "If robots are my only threat then I should probably thank the Head Master later."

Electricity cracked along Gil's arms in coils, before suddenly all four drones had bright arcs of electricity shoot from within to link directly to Gil's fingertips. The display lasted hardly a split-second, resulting in the four drones falling out of the air and harmlessly to the ground. They had been drained of all their power and shut-down, leaving them completely intact but perfectly disabled. The coils of electricity around Gil died down, but sparks would continue to occasionally crack in the air around his body. I can't expect drones like these to be my only challenge. I'll use the energy they gave me and continue charging, just in case. Considering we're supposed to become Chasers then there might even be Youkai in this wrecked city. Can't just use them for a charge. Gil rested his hand on his gun again and continued onward, leaving the deactivated drones behind. The Lightning Cowboy had a tarot card to find.



The young Flower Spirit was interested by the exam put forward by Aria. It was like a large-scale scavenger hunt. Erisa had learned of games like those from the first humans she met. But it seemed they had to find some kind of "tarot cards of the Minor Arcana", something that she had never heard of before. Odds are they were something that would seem to not belong in the desolate ruins of an old human city, so if it stood out enough she would surely find it. The idea of finding the special card seemed appealing briefly, just as an excuse to spend time with the vampire and fellow Youkai Head Master, but Erisa couldn't eat sweets. She couldn't really eat food to begin with. The only thing she could ingest aside from water was pure sugar. While the doughnuts seemed quite sugary they still would be a terrible idea to try and eat.

Either way, once the search had begun with the boom of a gunshot, Erisa broke into a jog. She didn't go straight forward, but instead to the left somewhat. If they had to search the whole city she figured it would be best to head north, or what she thought was north, and work her way south before heading to the exit. As she ran she reached into her quiver, drawing a black cylinder that clearly wasn't an arrow. It was actually her special bow in its compact form. At the press of a button on the side it extended fully, proving to be quite the large weapon. It was actually taller than Erisa was, though it wasn't like that was much of an accomplishment.

As the silver-haired girl trekked further and further into the ruins she began to feel a bit... sad. Try as she might, there was absolutely no plantlife nearby. She couldn't feel even a blade of grass in the city. What had befallen such a place as this to not only exterminate the humans and the architecture, but also the plants? As unsettling as it was she felt like it could be compared to a desert, in a way. Inhospitable, though this wasn't by nature and instead by something else. Erisa wasn't alone with her thoughts for long before something fired an energy bolt at her, barely missing and hitting a wall nearby where it left a searing mark. She turned her attention to the direction it came from, finding a humanoid robot holding some kind of laser rifle. Or perhaps it was that FLUX that she had heard about? Either way it seemed menacing and already tried to hurt her. As she jumped out of the way of another red bolt, Erisa drew back the drawstring on her bow. A white light formed into the shape of an arrow already notched, her Zetsu becoming her ammunition. When she released the string and let loose her attack, she was a bit disappointed to find that the robot was tougher than it was tall.

The Zetsu arrow struck it square in the chest but shattered on impact, completely failing to break through the drone. "Oh wow. This thing is tough. But what is it though? It's shaped kind of like a human..." Erisa wondered aloud, jumping backwards over the seared wall and using it as cover as the robot opened fire again. It would fire once every second or so, continuously pelting the wall with whatever kind of fire-based ammunition it was using. Erisa couldn't tell, but it was also moving around, working its way to another angle to get a shot on the girl while using suppressing fire to keep her from checking. "I guess I'll have to hit it harder. I don't think it will let me get close enough to use my Twin Dragons, so I have to fight it from afar... Why did it stop shooting?" Erisa peeked around the wall, looking to where she had last seen the drone. Not only had it stopped firing or making noise at all, Erisa had absolutely no idea where it went. There was so much rubble and broken buildings and ruined cars and the like. It could be hiding anywhere. It would seem the combat AI in this drone was smarter than Erisa. "Uh-oh..."

Cold.

Shinobu hugged herself in the desolate city, trying to stay warm and silence the sound of her chattering teeth. The night had been harder on her than she imagined, what with the sounds of everyone else’s breathing and her own grumbling stomach. The small sandwich she had before leaving Ari’s home wasn’t enough, and the brunette could only clench her teeth, willing her stomach to stop groaning. It had been perhaps ten minutes since the Headmistress, an equally petite but infinitely more powerful young girl, announced that they were to look for cards within the ruins of the desolate city, before marching to the other end.

Right now, there was no doubt that other Chaser-candidates were marching through proudly, striking down any stray youkai and wrestling cards from the grips of demonic entities. Shinobu, on the other hand, was still trembling, trying to calm herself, trying to breathe.

That white-haired man’s words last night hurt, but they were painfully correct as well. She was too small, too underdeveloped, too magically lacking, too utterly useless to even be noticed by any others. And it wasn’t even like she was pretty enough to get any attention from any boys, unlike that youkai with the big forehead, who kept on coughing from another man’s cigarette smoke. Ah, maybe she shouldn’t do this after all.

“But you should, Shinobu-chan.”

No, she can’t. There has to be another way to pass the test, right?

“You already know the answer to that, my dear.”

Yeah, isn’t that a shitty truth. But she’s going to fail, so maybe she should just wait until she was bigger.

“Every year that passes is another year since my death. Don’t make me wait too long, please.”

She knew that, but…

“You spent five years, after all, and caught the eye of a recruiter, after all. Be proud, Shi-chan!”

Caught the eye of a recruiter only because Ari introduced her.

“Stop thinking about those useless things. Are you just going to run away, after taking your first step?”

…

No.

NO!

She will not run away. She will train until her body breaks, then recover, and train even harder afterwards. She will continue on and on, never wasting a single day, so that she can give meaning, give value to all the lives that she trampled on in order to live.

The trembling stopped.

The pain numbed.

Slowly, Shinobu drew Remembrance from its scabbard, gripping its black-leather hilt until her knuckles turned ghost-white. She closed her eyes, seeing the blurry face of the father who abandoned her. And when she opened those too-large eyes once more, a feral violence etched itself into the sea-green irises.

She was fifteen minutes late.

The others had a fifteen minute head start.

But Shinobu was used to disadvantages and disparities.

The night breeze of the Crimson Sky blew away the words she muttered to herself as the petite girl walked into the labyrinth, carrying an oath to the starry heavens.

As soon as Aria began saying that the cards that they would find would have to be the same and make up for who they would team up to be with, Gaz began thinking screw looking for cards, he'd just choose someone to team up with and stick with them and find the correct cards with them. The yellow eyed guy looked around the group soon noticing the girl that stood next to him yesterday asking him about sandwiches when he said that the skinny women here, Gaz knew he needed to move fast when he heard the gun shot.

Gaz walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder." Hey you." Gaz looked her in the eye with his demonic looking yellow irises." Your coming with me. Let's go." He told her before pulling her along to the downtown ruins, the place looked like some type of war or giant battle happened here; if Aria told them that one happened here then he sure as hell didn't pay not attention to it or cared, all he knew was that he needed to get some cards with Juniper and make sure they had the same cards." Be ready for anything, you never know what could be in these types of ruins, besides just us and the others." Gaz told her." The name's Gaz by the way."



Eiko stood silently listening to each and every one Aria's words about the cards." Mineor..Miner..Minor Arcona cars..Minor Arcana cards ?" XXVII tried to repeat what the vampire told them all while noticing the succubus looking under her skirt, she didn't really say anything thinking it was a weird playful custom they did here, and it reminded her to not wear a skirt or dress around her. Suddenly the young looking vampire said that there was a fool card to and it would be a card that would allow them to eat from a numerous amount of round deep fried breakfast circles of many different kinds.

" Uhh...What does this have to do with getting into the academy ?" As XXVII asked the question a shot was fired and she knew that she had to get moving, She quickly checked her weapons and took off towards the ruins quickly with her arms behind her back, she had her two machine guns on her hips and her short sword resting on her back.

So, the trial was to go into a ruined city, find a bunch of cards and bring them back, roughly before the sun rose. Seemed easy enough. Of course Juniper wasn't so naive as to think it would be a total cakewalk - the cards would be very well hidden and probably guarded by a monster or two - but she had everything she needed. A full belly, a weapon and armour and her intuition. And the Director had told them to have fun, which was exactly what she planned on doing.

"The Easter Bunny isn't real, silly" Juniper giggled at Lloyd before he ran off. For someone who was so old, he had such childish beliefs.

So who would she team up with? That question seemed to be answered for her, as the white-haired boy from yesterday rocked up and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey you." he barked, with an intense stare. Juniper stared back. "You're coming with me. Let's go." He didn't really give her the choice, dragging her behind him like a parent with a disobedient child. Not that she would resist him anyway. She would need as many eyes as possible for this task and if there were two of them they could probably find each other's cards. Oh! Maybe if they found two cards of the same kind, they'd be on the same team together! She didn't know much about Tarrow, but there had to be at least two cards of a kind, right? Or maybe they would be on the same team simply by working together.

"Be ready for anything, you never know what could be in these types of ruins, besides just us and the others." The man continued "The name's Gaz by the way."
Hmph. Man of few words, this guy. She thought he'd be a little more talkative, given his loud-mouthed nature yesterday. Maybe he just needed to come out of his shell, or maybe he was focused on getting those cards. Smart, but boring.

"Juniper. Nice to meet you!" She didn't bother extending her hand. "Alright, mister, we've got a challenge to win. I say we look around for monsters first, because the boss lady will probably have hid those Tarrow cards where the monsters are. The more monsters we find, the more cards there will be, right? So let's get moving!"

Juniper stormed on ahead, heading into the heart of the city, whistling a merry tune as she did so. She wasn't worried, with Gaz at her side and her pick in her hand. After all, how hard would it be? All they had to do was root around a ruin the size of Cardiff looking for a couple of little cards, make sure they were the same kind of card, fight off any monsters or rivals who tried to get to the cards before them then make it back to the boss lady before sunrise. Simple!
"So where are all the beasties?" she asked aloud, half to Gaz and half to the ruin.

Erys had, since arriving in the atrium, kept quiet. A slight nervous excitement kept her from talking to others, contrary to her usual behaviour, and instead had her standing aside from everyone, listening idly to the talk that was happening at the front from presumably one of the teachers. Though, she did become slightly more interested as another girl appeared on stage.

Though, the interest didn't last long, as she heard that they would all be sleeping where they were. She was, of course, not best pleased, but decided to... Begrudgingly, follow orders. Even if she weren't to sleep much at all, it was best to get some small amounts of rest before the next day, when the inevitable test would take place. If anything, she should have been excited. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself.

---

Around about 2:00am

Erys hadn't slept much for the night - or what they got of the night - though what she did manage was mostly refreshing. She was not best pleased, however, to find out that they would all have to make their way through an abandoned city to do their initiation, or test, or whatever. It struck her as rather odd that a young girl, at most 14, was giving everyone the run down on what they were to do, but she shrugged it off as no more than the eccentricities of the work line she was putting herself forth to.

Then came the idea of teams.

She slightly shuddered in both excitement and nervousness, realising that the people she would be teamed with would likely be her team mates for a long time running. What if she didn't like them, or they didn't like her? What if they were awkward between each other because of some odd differences that split them? What if-

"Wait, where did..?"

Erys looked up from her daydreaming, only to see that everyone had already left for the city. In a slight bout of panic, she took off in a sprint, headed straight for the city, and past some of the stragglers that were hanging a bit behind. The feathers attached to her katana's scabbard flapped in the wind, mimicking her hair as she ran full throttle in a hopes to catch up with the others. The challenge had a time limit, and she slowly began to think she might not make the deadline.

---

Everywhere around her was desolate, void of life and silent save the sounds of faint fighting coming from the others Initiate Chasers. To Erys, the scenery was both sad and beautiful; a landscape of wonder in of itself, no matter what kind of backstory it may have had. Though, her attention was immediately snapped away from the surroundings and to a shiny white wolf robot, lunging from atop a wall. She almost hadn't seen it, but now that she had, her brain snapped straight into a battle mentality.

Even though the sight was in her peripheral vision, she dodged the drone with expertise. Stopping dead in her tracks, she back-peddled a step before rolling to the side; standing up once more with her blade in one hand and the scabbard in another. The bot was fast, too, and immediately turned for a second strike - this time with its claws outstretched. Across its expressionless, white face, a mixture of different colours danced in an array; yellow, blue, red, orange.

The wolf recoiled slightly, despite not feeling pain, as it's left paw was cleaved clean from its arm, the wiring melted and sparking in an unnatural fashion. Erys crouched, a small blade like object falling from inside her sleeve, and she began to write. The symbols, though, were indecipherable, and the screeching sound the blade made would have defended anyone in the nearby area. Once finished the inscription, she stood once again and beckoned the drone to her.

It obliged the call with a lunge and a swipe, aimed straight at gap between her chest and jugular. However, as it came into reach of the girl, she made a quick step back - the runes on the ground igniting in a white-blue glow, painting the underside of the robot. A series of ice spikes rose up from the ground in a circular fashion all across immediate vicinity of the rune, enveloping it, and impaling the wolf in dozens of areas and causing the glow in it's eyes to die.

And, in a quick and rapid single movement, Erys performed a slight flourish with her blade, showing training, before sliding it back into the scabbard, and then giving a quick bow. Her uncle had always taught her to be respectful after a fight, even if the opposition was dead. With that, she continued on her way - towards absolutely nowhere.

#1

~Lucille Ferris~

---

The girl with green hair and glasses stood awkwardly as the plethora of First Year students, all rampaging past her in hopes to get into Akatsuki Academy, stampeded away. She was left behind for a few moments before the last wave of students carried her away into the arena. Only then did she realize her dire mistake and tried to force her way back to the starting line.

But it was no use, the girl staring dumbfounded as she had somehow made it well past the starting mark. Gulping, she fixed her glasses and looked at the ruined landscape all around her. Wait a minute, wait a minute! She didn’t belong here! She was a Second Year, not a First Year! She thought this was some welcome meet and greet thing, not the actual First Year Orientation!

Sulking, Lucille sighed and wondered if her team even knew where she was. She was so excited too, having even woken up early for a bright new day of fun. So much for fun…sighing in defeat, she trudged along some random path in the hopes of getting somewhere. Maybe the Head Director would understand her own clumsiness.

Well….at least she had her trusty parasol. Holding the thing by her side, Lucille gingerly opened up the thing, yelping as it did so with sudden force. Not like she needed it seeing as it was still quite dark out. But who knew what dangers lay in these ruins-oh wait. She did. Because she did this all before. Last year. As a First Year.

Sighing dejectedly again, Lucille walked forward once more with parasol in hand. By doing so, she ran into two of the First Years: a pink-haired girl in armor and some guy with white hair and yellow eyes. Lucille fought the urge to yelp once more, realizing that maybe these two could help her? There was no way she could get scared now!

She was their Senpai! She was a whole year ahead of them! Yes, that gave her strength and confidence! Managing a smile, she walked over to the two with stride in her step and determination in her eyes. She would get to the bottom of this-

“Oof!” Lucille cried out as she tripped over a stray flower, falling flat on her face.

---

Mizura sighed "The only second years to not make it to the damn orientation, why does this always happen to our group, it's either Ikkime or Lucille...fucking im going to get handcuffs and just keep the two together" walking out and down the path following down the trail he had once been on before, he was looking for Lucille, part of their team LIM. The girl had told him she was ready but as soon as he and Ikkime got there, low and behold the girl was no where to be scene. Chihiro walked next to him humming "You know Mizu, that Luci girl isn't all to smar-"

"She's just clumsy is all cut her some slack alright Chihiro" he looked down at the blue wolf bounding next to him and smelling for Lucille, it smirked.

"You have the dumbest cru-" Mizura grabbed the skin of it's neck making it yelp and disappear.

"You nosey asshole, what is my own personal feelings is mine and mine only, stay out of that stuff" silence answered him back, which meant Chihiro was done pestering him or simply just tired of talking to the boy, most likely both. Mizura looked as the landscape started to sculpt into the abandoned city were the first years gathered for the first time, however this was also bad, since he had lost sight of Ikkime who was trailing behind. A place like this, Ikkime was either going to get herself of all three of them in trouble. Picking up his pace, he quickly made it to where a lot of the first years had gathered, chatter ringing in the air, for a second he felt a little nostalgia, before feeling Ikkime close.

Ikkime sat a top a building, near no one but Aria would have noticed her, but to the first years she'd go unnoticed. Scanning the crowd, she crouched and looked for Lucille, hoping she was at least fine enough for Ikkime to scold her, making them late for their own orientation and being stuck with first years all over again. "I think i see her Ikki" Yuiko stood and leaned over pointing to the girl in the crowd, who had seemingly fallen. At the same time, Mizura looked up to see his little sister, then looked to where Yuiko was poit. Seeing his sister jump into the air and sending herself towards the girl, first years would start to notice the commotion. Mizura quickly moved through the crowd, sliding past people, before reaching Lucille and picking her up bridal style. Quickly jumping out the way, Ikkime sent a kick towards where Lucille should have been, instead a poor first year now replaced the spot and received a kick to the face, sending him barreling into other first years.

"God dammit, why did you move her Mizu, you'll coddle that damn girl way to much" looking at Lucille "you need to lear-" he glared at her, his eyes then instantly made her shut up.

Mizura put Lucille down, putting a hand on her head, before moving to help the seven or so first years that got hit from the attack. However the first boy was completely unconscious, as well as injured "great another thing for us to get in trouble for..." Chihiro appeared and picked up the boy "I'll take him to the staff and explain what happened?" the wolf looked at the boy and Mizura simply nodded and put a hand through his white hair.

---

@Brithwyr, @Spriggs27, @TheWindel

James fucked up, once again. He realized that if he kept gliding at this pace he would reach the end of the ruins before he found his Tarot Card. Jamie stopped gliding through the Ruins and slowed to a walk. He forced himself to slow down and observe his surroundings. The visibility was super low because of the crimson skies so James had to squint in order to make things clearer. He was getting no where, this was a nightmare. Wolfe spotted some other students occasionally, he even saw Tadakatsu climbing an abandoned building with his girlfriend on his back. Three ß drones took this opportunity to sneak up on James. He was still distracted by Hope and Tadakatu and trying to find a Tarot Card. The drones took up offensive positions behind cover and started popping shots at James.

Jamie jumped when he heard bullets ricocheting off of the building around him. As a defense mechanism, he shifted his skin into steel. Steel was one of the harder materials to transform into so it wasn't going to last long. It did the job though, as a couple bullets that managed to connect with his body lightly dented the steel instead of ripping through his human skin. Granted, the dents still hurt considerably. Wolfe slammed his fist into the ground and sent a shockwave through it towards the drones. It was strong enough to force the drones to fall backwards.

James used this opportunity to push forward towards the robots. By the time they got back to their feet he was on them. Jamie had his two daggers levitating above his shoulders. He used his ability to launch the knives clean through one of the drones. The robot twitched before going down. The knives levitated back to their sheath on James' lower back. Wolfe then lifted the two robots using his ability to manipulate metal and launched their rifles from their hands. James concentrated and literally tore the drones in half using his mind.

Jamie turned his skin back to normal, and was actually sweating from the exertion. He hadn't used his ability in a while and he was a little out of practice. He used to be stronger to be honest, he hadn't even used his advanced techniques yet... Well shit, he was tired now, and he still had to find a card and make it out of the ruins. Maybe he would be better off trying to look for a partner? He had no idea how many more drones there were, not to mention that there were probably Youkai around here too. James plodded out of the abandoned building and looked around. Remembering what Hope and Tadaktasu were doing, climbing the building, gave James an idea. Maybe height would help, he would be able to look down and the drones wouldn't be able to get him (mind you he doesn't know about α drones). Wolfe concentrated and the piece of compacted dirt and stone under his feet levitated him into the air. He was hovering about 15 feet into the air on a large piece of sand and rocks, observing the ground below. Then suddenly a squad of four α drones bursted around a corner and came face to face with James. Jamie realized they definitely weren't there to play patty-cake. Confirming this, the drones released their darts at him. He used the same tactic he executed earlier and turned his skin into steel. The darts bounded off harmlessly. When that didn't work, the drones charged him. Wolfe smashed his fists into them with ease, denting them and sending them spiraling to the ground.

"What the fuck man! I just want a card..." He exclaimed, annoyed. He had to have been searching for around an hour now, this was getting ridiculous. James raised his patch of levitating sand higher into the air, up to roof top level now. At this height he could see some other students and drones, but people solemnly look up and probably didn't notice him. He wondered if any of them had found their cards yet. Jamie wasn't pass fighting someone for one if he couldn't find one. That was a last resort, though, he still had plenty of time...

"Wrong, all of you" the senior instructor declared. "the answer is-"

"A miserable little pile of killings, of course! But enough talk... Have at you!"

Makoto glanced up as another woman flew in from behind. Another red head. Wasn't that hair colour supposed to be exceedingly rare?

Soon after the alluring red haired yokai touched the floor, she began to ramble on about screwed up plans and sleeping on the floor. With food. Something similar to that. Being the overly prepared man he was, Makoto's father had already packed her some late night snacks, so this girl wasn't going to go hungry any time soon. A bento box slumber party in a totally not suspicious looking academy? She could deal.

Even after the two red heads left the soon-to-be students to their demise, Makoto could still hear bickering in the background. Although she seemed like the sort of person to watch a fight or even break one up, she decided not to linger. Becoming Kanemaru sushi on her first day didn't sound at all appealing. Or appetising.

Anyways, she had an entrance exam to prepare for. Eat, sleep and get the hell up before you're left behind. That was her current plan. As much as she wanted to start speaking with the interesting sprinkles of people lying around, food and a good few hour's rest would be much better. Heck, if this was a serious, serious test then she would most likely come out alive of this eerie entrance exam.

I guess I'll just decide to sleep for the rest of the evening and let my mental alarm clock do the work. There will be a successful outcome, of course. I hope.

---

2:00 AM

Makoto's eyes snapped open at exactly two on the dot, or something close to that. Heart pounding and brain on a 'late for school' type overdrive, the girl slipped her arms through her grey leather jacket. Makoto had always been one of those easy to freeze types.

Simply put, all Makoto really had to do was get to the finish line inside the four hour and thirty minute time limit, find a card and try not to die on the way. These were actual ruins, of course! Who knew what could be lurking behind the battered rocks or torn down houses? Still, this wasn't a challenge Makoto was going to back down from. She believed she had enough confidence in her abilities. Hopefully, they would be enough.

Then, the shot was fired.

If she was going to survive for the next few hours or so, she was going to have to keep her energy flowing at a steady space. No rushing ahead or sprinting into the unpredictable darkness. Gripping the handle of her shinken, Makoto took in a lungful of air before trekking into the desolate danger zone.

---

Ten minutes or so passed by, and Makoto seemed to be lagging behind. In the short time span she had already seen many other teens sprinting past, while she, on the other hand was continuously searching for these so called tarot cards. In all honesty, she didn't mind too much about the team she would eventually end up in. She could talk with anyone, even if they wouldn't want to talk with her back. That's just how she was.

It was probably about time she got up and started to move again with the others. If she continued to search every single damaged house in sight then she would get nowhere.

Especially if there were pesky robots trying to cut her down.

"Oh… God."

If that cracked mirror hadn't been in her line of sight she really would have become a bloody plate Kanemaru sushi. As the humanoid robot swung its sword down, Makoto managed to swerve out of the way, crashing into a dirty bookshelf. The robot only continued to swing, and Makoto would find herself literally rolling around the trashed room.

Not good. Not good at all. If I can just try to outrun this machine for a minute then I should be able to–

The β drone wouldn't even stop to let her think. Rude thing.

Time to bust out of the withering house.

Makoto could hear her own heart about to explode from the adrenalin. She kicked the wooden door down with ease and did a barrel roll onto the dusty pathway. All that was on her mind now was to run.

Run! Run for it!

Fifty seconds. The drone sure was a persistent one. Its mechanical sword slashed at Makoto as it got closer. As she ducked, she could swear she saw a strand of her hair drifting to the ground.

Forty seconds. Makoto looked like she was going crazy, her eyes looking in at least five hundred directions at a time. She then came across another trashed home, and a pretty stable looking one at that. If she could speed up a bit more then maybe she could take cover and regain some of her energy.

Thirty seconds. Sweating buckets, Makoto darted behind an empty bookshelf, breathing much faster than usual. Sword still in hand, the girl tried to remain silent, when the small robot smashed its way in. Freezing up colder than her snow white skin, Makoto squeezed herself into a tight, not so little ball.

To her surprise, Makoto noticed it walking away after peeking from behind the her hiding place. Quite unusual. Very fishy. Still, this was her chance to escape.

Going full on ninja mode, Makoto crept up to a window, trying to peer above it.

Big mistake.

The blade shattered the window, forcing Makoto to shift to the side. It would beat away the wood above her with one deadly strike, leaving the tall teen exposed underneath.

"A-Ah… Good morning?"

Great. It was just going to be another repeat of the previous house situation at this rate. It was probably best to take this womanly fight outside instead.

Zooming past, Makoto made it out, currently twenty metres away from the sword wielding robot. She immediately took her stance, eyes locked on the drone. Her left hand tightened around the handle a bit too much, whilst her right remained under the guard.

It's just a robot, Makoto. You can defeat it. Just put your right foot out and swing like… swing like how mother taught you.

As she slid her right foot forward the robot threw itself at Makoto, ready to bring her head down with its blade. There was no way she was going to be taken down so easily, though.

"Kanemaru Style, Sacred Touch:"

Lunging forward, the drone readied itself for a deadly swing.

"Slashing Mode."

Bringing up her sharpened sheathed shinken, the robot's chest sparked where blood would have poured out from on a regular human being. Gripping the handle with two hands, Makoto brought the scabbard down and sliced its metal head. Now that was how you butchered a robot.

"Phew, that was a kinda surprising!" Makoto exclaimed, finally able to breathe again. However, the battle wasn't over yet.

"What?"

Two drones of the same kind came charging in, swords in hand and ready to kill. Makoto panicked for a second, almost losing the grip on her sword.

Note to self: Improve your reaction time dammit!

"Impact Mode!"

Strengthening her sheathed sword, Makoto thrusted the pommel into the front drone and swivelled around to pierce the one from behind, sending it flying into a crumbling wall. To her surprise, the front drone's head was still intact, so she delivered a downstroke to end its not so lively life.

"All right. Now I have the chance to breathe."

Glancing up at the blood coloured moon, Makoto sighed. How many more miles was it to the finish line now?

Suddenly, something familiar caught her eye. She'd seen it before; an old house with dangling rusted letters as a sign.

Makoto had just taken a few too many steps back from the finish line ten kilometres away.

Gyuuki

First Post

The walk went on for a while, Gyuuki noticed that a lot of the human students would stare at her at times and whisper things to their friends, only once she heard what they were saying and it was about how they hoped they wouldn’t meet her in the ruins and how she probably ate humans considering she was a Youkai and all. “Silly humans, I’m vegetarian” she thought, dismissing the insult.

Finally they arrived at the borders of the ruined city and more clear instructions were given. They would need to cross the city and find a Tarot card under a time limit. When the talk about donuts started it completely hypnotized the ox demon “Yush, I will get the Fool’s Carrot Card” she said to herself, her ears and tail wagging in excitement.

She turned her head to ask Kurenai what a carrot card was, but alas, by then the red bladesman was gone. Not only her actually, almost all of the other participants had entered the city by now, she couldn’t find Juniper, the sleeping girl or even that one flower youkai either. She sighed “I only hope that the cards are not only on tall places”

===============

The exploration had been oddly peaceful so far, but by now Gyuuki knew there was danger, the sounds of other battles echoed through the deserted town, none close to her, but still a sign of what was to come.

At one point she came across a very lengthy building, while most grew vertically this one went horizontally through a few blocks, it also didn’t look completely damaged, some wreckage moving would be necessary but not too much. Since it had two stories at most it looked like a good way to avoid the open streets for a little while.

She didn’t even imagine what a mall was, for her this place was odd, full of narrow corridors filled side by side with small rooms full of random stuff like ovens, shoes, beds, toys. All of the decayed stores were creepy, but only one managed to scare her, a room full of mostly broken and decomposing mannequins. Once she noticed that they were just old objects the youkai laughed it off.

A few steps later, Gyuuki saw another one of those mannequins behind a few shelves, alone and almost intact. “Oh, this one didn’t decay? That can’t be. Maybe it is a clue to the card?” she said to herself. She walked closer to it, and when she was a step away she noticed it had a blade.

She almost didn’t have the time to sidestep as it slashed said blade in her direction. “What the..” she didn’t know what that was but she was going to have to take it down. The youkai used a palm strike, but all that it did was to almost injury her wrist, the thing was made of metal.

The robot went for another sword slash, this time however Gyuuki was aware of the combat and she managed to block the arm before it could fully move, she pressed her legs against the thing and used all of her force to disjoint the arm. After a loud ZAP the arm lost its energy and the sword fell to the ground, the robot tried to grab Gyuuki’s leg but she avoided it and immediately followed it with a calf quick which made the robot lose its balance and kneel down.

Finally the Ox demon raised her leg up and delivered an axe kick, breaking down the odd machine. “And that is why I hate machin…” before she could even end her phrase a shot of light flew close to her face. Another one of the robots, this time it had a gun and it had positioned itself over the shelves.

The youkai pushed the shelves, making they fall over in a domino effect. The robot was expecting such move and it somersaulted, landing on its feet on the collapsed shelf and ready to shoot. What the robot was not expecting however was that Gyuuki was strong enough to throw the first shelf in his direction as soon as it jumped. It crashed on the robot not harming it but making it loses its focus. The damage would come next, as Gyuuki managed to get close to the machine.

She heard the sound of a door opening in the back of the store, more of these things were coming, so she would have to be quick with this one and not give it the time to react. A left jab first, then left hook, finally she cross punched its head. All the metal did was crack a bit, these things were awfully resistant. But so was Gyuuki, who as soon as the punches ended did a back kick, the already cracked head finally breaking as it met the ox-demon’s hooves.

She immediately turned to the back door expecting to meet more armed enemies, but there was nothing. She stared at it with suspicion and started to walk slowly towards it. Then a sound of something hitting a wall echoed from deep within the room, perhaps this bait could have worked when the ruined mall was somewhat active, but on the absolute silence of these ruins and after she saw how sneaky those things were, said sound had no reason to exist.

Still, Gyuuki pretended that she was going to walk into the room. Since the sound was on the back it was supposed to make her rush forward and ignore anything close to the door, so it was easy to guess the positions of the ambusher. She kept walking until she was a few steps away from the door, then she charged forward and jumped. She saw two things moving, so she went for a scissor kick, hitting one on the torso and other, who was crouching, on the head.

The one hit on the face fell to the ground malfunctioning, the other had only flinched and dropped its gun. She started to spin to get the momentum for another attack, but a sudden sting and the subsequent shock stopped her. She looked back and saw a mechanical sphere floating behind her and another dart being shot by it. Gyuuki tried to move to kick it but her legs were stiff and almost unresponsive, she needed a ranged option.

The functional robot tried to pick his gun on the ground, but the youkai reached him and grabbed his arm. In reaction, the robot used the free hand to punch Gyuuki on the face, she willingly took the hit and used the chance to grab another arm. She then swung the enemy across the room, throwing it into the flying robot’s direction.

The spherical machine maneuvered to dodge it while also trying to stay out of Gyuuki’s range. However the room was small and Gyuuki was 1.9 meters tall, a desperate lunge was enough for the Ox-demon to reach for the sphere, spiking it to the ground as if it was a handball.

Due to the lunge the youkai fell to the ground, her legs still unresponsive due to the shock. Thankfully the spherical robot looked like it was broke, the robot she threw however was starting to move again. If it managed to stand up she would be done for.

The ox-demon lets out a scream and uses her hands to jump forward, she grabs the robot’s foot and pulls it towards her, however before she could punch it, the machine managed to defend itself by starting a struggle as the two fighter's hands met. Gyuuki could see the robot starting to get a better footing than she, she needed to kill it now, yet she had no free hands and her legs were unresponsive.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

While screaming like a beast, the ox-demon dives her head against the machine. Her horn gores the abdomen of the enemy, she used it to trash circuits and wires and she kept doing it for a while, even after the lights of the robot turned off and it fell to the ground.

“Heh, this time, I didn’t lose my horn” still laying on the ground, she remembered a similar situation in her first battle.

“This was such a close call, I need to train more. But first I need to get into the academy, get my donuts, get the carrot card and get these cables out of my horn, gah, this is why I hate machines” she commented, praying that her legs would get better soon

@TheFourthIV


"The Easter Bunny isn't real, silly" Juniper giggles at Lloyd before she ran off.

All the blonde kid did was sigh in slight annoyance at that remark.

"Well no shit!" he calls out to her as she runs off before talking to himself, "After all, I don't see big ole' Totoro walking around here now don't we?

Either way, all mentions and jokes aside, it was time for him to move. But as Lloyd begins to jog to the right, he can feel the ground shake below him violently. Was it an earthquake? Hell, this aint even California so definitely it aint them. Of course, it must be coming from a mage as he turn around to see James raising some minerals from the ground and propelling himself forward.

"Don't try to keep up Blondie," he taunts as he surfs away.

Oh great, someone has transportation. Someone seems to be cheeeeeeeating. Ooooooh, even though he really wasn't anyways. Now Lloyd would probably follow Juniper, if it wasn't for the fact that big hot-headed, sancho-man Gaz over there didn't get to her first. He really doesn't want to fight him right now. Suddenly, Lloyd sees a mineral lagging behind James' big mineral surfboard, which might be already miles ahead of him. Maybe he can not only get away from that Gaz dude, but also A). Find and maybe steal a Tarot Card, B). Find a Tarot Card for himself, and/or C). To also annoy the fuck outta James... or be friends, like he sorta is kinda like him-ish. Either way, he wastes no time as he grabs a hold of the mineral and flies off behind him.

As he follows the mineral's lead, he happens to see several drones on the way towards James' location. Looks like it was time for Lloyd to use his own manifestation. Gripping the mineral with his legs, as if he was riding a horse, he takes off his right black glove and creates a finger gun. Then Lloyd fires at the incoming bots with his finger, firing several green volts of plasma at them, destroying them with one shot and causing several explosions in their wake.

"Weeeeeeeeeee!" he says in slight glee as he fires the shots, "Eat that you flying tin cans!"

But just as he was planning to have some more fun, the mineral was able to find James and ultimately let gravity push it back down. Lloyd was bounced off the mineral as he tumbles sideways right beside James, who seemed to have exclaimed something to himself. With a groan, Lloyd gets himself off the ground, brushing himself off.

"Oh hey there!" he says in an almost sarcastic tone of greeting, "It's good ole' Jamesy boy, my most favorite guy in the world! Guess I tried keeping up with you and totally succeeded after all."

He then chuckles to himself lightly as he looks around for any possible side of a tarot card, while listening to James' response.

As she delved into the Downtown Ruins, Shinobu quickly developed a handy rule: if she heard explosions or screams or gunshots nearby, she would head the other way. All throughout the city, the young girl took detours, carefully climbing up rusty fences or descending through underground tunnels. Whenever she heard anything nearby, Shinobu will find a place to hide and hold her breath the moment something passed by. Cowardly, perhaps, but the examination wasn’t about killing these robotic menaces. It was about finding cards within the city.

All things considered, could she even pierce the steel exterior of these drones? They were most likely produced by YTC, and were designed to kill Youkai, so…the young girl would rather not test her luck. Remembrance was a dagger, but outside of the small, flying drones, she doubted she could even destroy one of those beings. For the time being, she’ll take it slow, and explore further, deeper. The cards wouldn’t be out in the open, and even buildings on the surface probably won’t carry too many of them. If she was correct, and if the amount of drones she had encountered while exploring the ruined subway tunnels were any indication, there should be many more cards underground.

And now, she was staring down into the abyss.

Subway tunnels were fine, but the sewers were even better. Taking in one last breath of the cool, arid wind, the little girl hooked her fingers into the gaps in the manhole and pulled.

It didn’t budge.

She pulled harder, her face turning red.

It still didn’t budge.

She pulled with all her might, clenching her teeth in order to prevent herself from screaming.

Regardless, the black-metal disc did not move a single centimeter, and Shinobu released her fingers. Angry red indentations were in them, a throbbing pain pounding in her head as she glared at the heavy piece of metal. Looked like she wasn’t going to be climbing into the sewers after all. She ran a hand through her tangled brown hair, calming herself at the face of this unexpected adversary. It was disappointing, but there were other options still. As long as she avoided concentrations of other combatants, she still had a chance of snagging something for herself.

“Damn, five years and you still can’t lift up a rusty plate of metal?”

Shut up, Saita.

“Love you too, kiddo.”

I know.

Shinobu brushed a fingertip over the jade earring, a small smile creasing her features, before closing her eyes. The smile faded, turning into a frown once more. Though very faint, the ground was rumbling periodically, not from the explosions or some random earthquake, but of something else. Within the ruins that all the other prospective students were partying in, there was a gargantuan presence that was on the move. A colossal being who’s presence could be felt.

Did the others know of this? They probably did, seeing how Shinobu was so much weaker than them, but a prideful spark popped up in her heart regardless. A prideful spark, and then a new job. Avoiding this thing was going to be instrumental to her ability to pass the test. No doubt, this giant machine was supposed to signify to the students a Youkai that they must escape from, rather than defeat. She looked about herself, before finding an open window to a tall, if not slightly slanted, building. With a hop and a skip, the girl vaulted over the frame, rolling as she landed on the other side. The staircase was stone, though the railing had cracked and rusted with age. Solid enough.

Once again, she closed her eyes, listening for the tell-tale signs mechanical whirring and FLUX-engine hums that alerted her of nearby drones.

Silence.

Good, there was n-

A mechanical wolf stared her in the eyes, blinking with Christmas light colors as it opened its mouth, a row of steel teeth that were already close enough to scrape Shinobu’s face off.

In an instant, she suppressed the scream that jolted out of her mouth, closing her eyes and holding her breath moments before its jaws clamped over her head. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as a metallic clang could be heard, as Shinobu, relying only on sight now, bent her head down, and crouching. Her heart was pounding too fast, and she was using up what oxygen she had too quickly. Pushing off with all four limbs, she bounced backwards, hoping that her sense of direction was still correct and that she had slide through the wall of the building.

She had. Her eyes opened to the outside building once more and, pressing her invisible body against the outside wall of the building, Shinobu took a quick breath, before holding it once more and looking into the room.

The mechanical wolf was still there, lurking, its prehensile tail swinging from left to right as it hunted for its invisible prey. Shinobu definitely couldn’t hear it coming, and she never saw it when she came in the first place, so either it was really good at hiding, or it also had some form of invisibility.

It was a good thing that it didn’t hit her though, or she’d have to find another building.

Shinobu scanned the room once more, ascertaining that the wolf was alone, but then, as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Definitely invisibility. She bit her lower lip, steeled herself, and finally took in a long, deep breath, filling her lungs with as much oxygen as possible.

One minute. That’s how long she could move while invisible, provided that her heartrate was normal.

Taking pains to move slowly and calmly, the scrawny brunette lifted one leg over the low-hanging window, and then the other leg, before stepping down into the room. There was still nothing nearby that she could see, but she wasn’t going to take any longer than she had to. Each step was as soft as possible, and she brought her hands out to the side to ensure perfect balance.

Her heart was beginning to tremble, and her lungs were screaming by the time she got to the other side of the room, where the staircase was, but even then, Shinobu forced her mouth closed, her nose plugged. And then, she began to ascend.

It was a stroke of luck that the stairs weren’t wooden, and she ascended as swiftly as possible, reaching the second floor before she collapsed on the stone, panting heavily. Red spots were popping up in her vision, and she shook her head, trying to gain control of her body once more. The wolf apparently didn’t notice her, and Shinobu managed a weak smile, sitting on the stairs.

She allowed herself one minute of respite, before continuing onwards, one hand on her sheathed dagger, and another one on the derelict railing.

But nobody came, and the rooftop was void of drones when she finally managed to push open the rusty door. Surveying the reddened sky and the depressing sight of destroyed civilization, Shinobu’s doll-like eyes searched for that earth-shaking giant that she felt, but to no avail. Either it wasn’t moving any longer, or it wasn’t as large as she imagined it.

Oh shit, what if the only reason she felt it was because it was actually really, really close by? Instinctually, the girl whipped her head backwards, wondering if she was, in fact, being stalked by some giant mecha.

There was nothing there, though, and just for good measure, she pushed the door close. Unless that invisible wolf ALSO had intangibility, there should be some obvious noise if it tried to get on the rooftop. Not that it mattered too much. From now on, she could jump from rooftop to rooftop, maintaining a high ground advantage.

Shinobu had no confidence in her ability to deal with those armored drones or that invisible wolf-drone, but the flying ones? It may take some time, but with enough stabs, she should be able to take one down. The problem of not having a card hadn’t been solved yet, but hey, if she couldn’t go underground, her search should be above ground.

Gaz looked at Juniper as she told her name to him, Gaz began looking around." Yeeeaaaah. Alright, let's look for shit to beat the hell out of and find these lame ass cards, would've been easier if these mother fuckers just told us to pick people we first see, or just throw us into the forest and tell us the first asshole we see would be our fucking alley. NOOO we gotta do this stupid ass card shit, I can't wait to see a monster because I'll take all my fucking anger out on it because this shit is fucking dumb."

The second Lucille fell into the view of Juniper and Gaz, the white haired guy quickly rolled up his jacket's sleeves and punched his gloves together." Oh now look at this, a fucking green haired monster, might as well kick it's ass and get a card from it, hey Jun, jump in if you want." Gaz told her before his gloves erupted into flames and he began running towards Lucille as she was still on the ground, Suddenly Gaz noticed a couple other students near them; Gaz sighed and looked at the others before he was almost kicked by one a yokai that knocked a guy out. Gaz groaned before looking back at Juniper.

" Juniper !!" Gaz yelled to his partner." We're still somewhat close to the others we gotta go in deeper and find some monsters and animals to beat up !!" Gaz walked back over to Juniper and put the girl onto his shoulder, Gaz began heading the other way from the yokai and the green haired girl, he didn't really want the others to get in the way really.

@Brithwyr@TheWindel@SolisHeretic
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Eiko began running through the ruins dodging destroyed cars, and many giant pieces of rubble, behind her were a pack of what Eiko could tell to be robo wolves, or mecha wolves, she couldn't actually see them with her eyes, but she could hear them and see the impact on the ground where they stepped; Eiko took a second to look back at them before she kept moving she was hoping to lose them earlier but sadly she still had them on her trail and somewhat gaining on her, she only wished that she could see them instead of them being invisible and chasing her.

Eiko vaulted over a large car, when she gotten onto the other side of the large car she noticed another student fighting against other mecha wolves, Eiko not being able to stop herself due to her momentum, face first head butted the bespectacled girl, and in the moment accidentally planted a kiss on her cheek. Eiko recoiled after head butting the glasses girl," Sorry...I'm..We're in danger." Eiko told the girl before turning and taking her short katana out of the sheathe on her back, she turned to the pack of robo wolves that were following her." Wolves have been on my bottom for a long time now." Eiko said to the other student.

XXVII stood in front of the bespectacled girl from the side where the pack was coming from and took up two handed stance with her sword, she held her short sword as if it was a long sword, suddenly the wolf pack revealed themselves; the second Eiko caught a look at them she didn't think much of them due to their robotic look, she thought they would look more intimidating or at least scary, maybe to a lesser person but not Eiko.

One of the robo wolves charged at her then pounced at Eiko when it covered enough distance; the seconds it was in the air time seemed to slow down as Eiko waited for the right moment to cut, when it gotten close enough Eiko cut the wolf and kicked it away from her and the girl off to the side.

" You can't have my card wolves, I earned it." Eiko told the machines, even though the wolves were just machines, Eiko felt that they were sizing her up, but she then realized that they were probably thinking of ways to take her down, suddenly the rest of the pack began charging her, Eiko spun around and tossed her sword into the air, she took both her Mp7s off her hips and began firing on the entire group dumping most of her ammo into them and wounding one of them while the others scatter around. Eiko was hoping she could take down all of them with her ammo, but she ended up making them scatter and circle the two," Don't be worried I've got this."

As Eiko tried to tell the girl she could handle the wolves that she brought another one tried to pounce on her, but in the last second her short sword came back down to Earth blade first and embedded it's self within the mecha wolf and immobilized it." See I have it handled." Eiko said before the last wolf of the pack pounced on Eiko and this time actually got her, the wolf tried to bite her head, but Eiko held it back with her gloved hands grabbing it by the top of it's head and it's lower maw, Eiko pushed the machine wolf back and quickly grabbed one of her MP7s and put the machine pistol to the underside of the metal wolf's chin and fired the rest of her ammo into it.

With it's last bit of energy, the robot wolf managed to scratch Eiko over her left eye, the injury wasn't too bad but it would leave a cool scar, as Eiko pushed the broken machine wolf off her body she sighed and bushed her pants and shirt off, she looked at her gloves to make sure they weren't damaged either." Ah cool my gloves are fine too." Eiko looked at the bespectacled girl." Oh ah, sorry for running into you, my name is Eiko XXVII." she told the four eyed girl before grabbing her sword from one of the wolves's bodies and putting it back into the sheathe on her back and reloading her machine guns." If you need any help I'm willing to help you, I've already gotten a card myself."

@Vocab

-

The coils of electricity around Gil's arms slowly died down, reducing themselves to intermittent sparks that would flicker around his body for a split-second at a time with an almost silent 'pop'. The three humanoid drones in front of him were all face-down on top of a pile of rubble from a nearby leveled building. Like every drone before them they were completely drained and deactivated without so much as a fight. Gil paused a moment to look down at the fallen robots, bringing his arms back to his sides. These ones were a bit more clever than the last. I didn't expect them to hide behind a simple pile of rocks. But it didn't really matter either way. The wolf drones are still sneakier than these types. Not that it helps them that much... With a resigned sigh, Gil continued walking down the desolated street.

He had been stopping at every intact building and car, inspecting as much as he could for any of the tarot cards. Either he wasn't very fortunate so far or they were hidden quite well. As the brown-haired gunslinger stopped to look inside a broken-down car he was met with the sudden appearance of another wolf drone. As the mechanical beast leaped at him from inside the vehicle, Gil leaned backwards as arcs of lightning connected the two briefly with a loud buzzing sound. By the time the drone crashed into the street it was apparent it wasn't getting back up. Gil turned his upper body to look back at the robot canine. More robots. Still no card. The sparks continued to faintly pop as Gil moved on from the car. It was a subtle sound that Gil practically couldn't hear anymore after so many years of it, but it was a nice touch when compared to the occasional sounds of battle that would echo across the ruined city. If he had to judge by sounds alone it would seem that practically nobody else was having a good time in this scavenger hunt.

As Gil continued his trek into the city he spotted someone up ahead. This was a surprise to him, considering how long it had been. He had figured that most everyone that had run ahead instead of walked casually would remain ahead of him. But clearly this person, a girl judging from afar, must've slowed down or something. Maybe she even got turned around after a fight. As Gil began to approach her he realized something. There were never any rules established, he concluded, narrowing his eyes towards her but maintaining his path. If she thinks I have a card she may try to fight me if she's as desperate as some of these other kids. Or perhaps she might just see me as a threat if she already has a card. Gil kept his left hand resting on his holstered hand cannon and kept his right hand in his jeans' pocket, but internally he prepared himself for a possible confrontation. As he approached the girl, who seemed to be tired or perhaps exhausted, he cleared his throat loudly to get her attention. "Hey, you seem to be a little tired," he spoke up as he approached. He didn't care if she noticed his posture or the occasional spark, if it was going to be a fight then so be it. But his tone of voice suggested no hostility at least. The easier things had to be, the better.

"Most everyone else is probably way ahead of us by now. Could've sworn I saw you get a good head start on me before." The black-haired girl clearly had a sword but that didn't stop Gil from approaching her. He raised his left hand from the gun on his hip to hold it out towards her. "Name's Gil." Before she could even try to meet his handshake and introduce herself there was the sound of shifting rocks from behind the Lightning Cowboy. Another wolf drone appeared out of thin air, already mid-leap towards Gil's exposed back. The young man tilted his head to the side slightly and glanced backwards, bringing the robot into his peripheral view. In much the same fashion as the robots he had faced before, arcs of lightning danced between Gil and the drone in a split-second, leaving the robot with no power. The lights deactivated and it stopped moving completely, though it was still airborne. Gil simply leaned his entire body to the side and let it fly past him, narrowly missing both he and the girl he just met. And this entire time he had kept his arm out as if nothing had happened. Coils of electricity from the drone wrapped around Gil for a second before being properly stored within. As he stood back upright it appeared as if nothing had even happened over the past few seconds. "Seems I wasn't the only one who found you," he joked, though his expression remained rather deadpan.

@Jay Kalton



"Wow, that was a lot harder than it had to be," Erisa commented to herself, placing a foot against the hull of the humanoid drone and gripping the steel arrow that was sticking out of its chest. "These things are almost like living things. They don't just stand there and shoot like they do in the old movies. They run and hide and use cover and stuff." The arrow had gone entirely through the robot and pinned it to the ground, which required Erisa to huff and puff for a brief moment before she could build up the strength to retrieve her arrow. With one final yank it came out, tearing out a few electronic bits and bobs in the process. "My Zetsu isn't strong enough to get through that armor. I suppose I should just be ready for more of these. Good thing there was only one. I spent way too much time in this fight..." The flower spirit gently placed the arrow back in her quiver before stepping off the defeated robot. After looking both ways for a moment she turned to face the direction she naturally felt was east and continued walking again.

As Erisa searched around she quickly became bored. She could hear sounds of battle occasionally but it seemed that only that one drone was the only thing she found. Nothing else. Nothing interesting to look at, definitely no drones, and most certainly no tarot cards. After a long silence she began talking to herself again. "I wish I could find a tarot card just so I could know what that is. This is getting so dull. But what if I can't find one of the cards? Will they kick me out? What would I do then? I haven't fulfilled my purpose yet. That would certainly make things harder for me. I don't even know what I'd do, honestly. Should I come up with a back-up plan? Hmmm, I suppose I should. Just in case." As Erisa began rambling to herself to stay occupied she had completely neglected to notice the sounds of incoming enemies.

A new drone appeared hardly a meter away from her to the right side, one of the canine types. Erisa only barely saw it out of the corner of her eye and was able to react out of sheer panic rather than controlled will. Despite her reflexes it wasn't quite enough, as the sharp claws of the drone cut a gash through her right midsection. Her blood splattered against the ground, mostly red but having a notable shade of green within due to her natural chlorophyll within her blood cells. The surge of pain surely got her attention as she whipped around to face the wolf drone as it landed. "Twin Dragons!" Cliche as it was of her, as soon as she called the name of her manifestation it began to appear. Plant matter rapidly expanded in two columns from her upper back, forming the massive limbs that were her Dragons. As the drone turned back to face Erisa it would see one of these jaws was already lunging toward in an attempt to swallow it whole. While the drone was able to turn invisible again in time it was too late to actually move completely out of the way. The Dragon's jaws clamped shut, taking the left half of the robot with them.

As brief as it was invisible, the remaining half reappeared and collapsed on the ground, sparking profusely from the cut wires. Despite the fact it was 'bitten' through by a plant with jaws and very corrosive acid, it appeared as if it was cleanly cut. As the Dragon shrunk back in length to become symmetrical with its twin, Erisa put a hand over her wound. "Ow, ow, ow. If only I had some water..." She didn't get to lament long, as another two wolf drones lunged at her from behind. She had managed to encounter a small pack. Fortunately for Erisa she was much more wary and actually noticed their approach this time. The Twin Dragons both lunged out at the incoming drones, biting through them as if they were paper and leaving hardly anything behind. They were almost completely 'swallowed' whole. Sure, they weren't actually swallowed, but the acid within the Twin Dragons broke them down nigh instantaneously. There was no getting them back. "Why are there so many of them? How many of these things are in this city?"

After glancing around for a moment and determining that there were no more drones in the immediate vicinity, Erisa withdrew her Twin Dragons, returning her to a rather normal appearance. She continued to keep her hand over the deep cut in her side while she held her bow in the other. "That really hurt..." As Erisa continued her search into the city she was notably more quiet now. It seemed that she learned from this experience. She would have to not only be searching for cards but stay on her toes for enemies. There were more than she thought there were, after all. It wasn't long before Erisa heard a scream nearby. It didn't sound like one of pain or fear, but instead something like one would let out to psych themselves up. Perhaps 'yell' would be the proper term, but it sounded feminine so it didn't quite come off that way. Regardless it gave the flower spirit something to investigate. She walked into the building she heard it come from but there was no more sounds now. It was a particularly large building, seeming to have multiple smaller buildings inside it. Surely quite the area to cover and it didn't narrow anything down by much. "H-h-hello!?" she called out, hoping to get a response from a human or fellow Youkai. Erisa had already decided that she didn't like the drones.

@Double Capybara

Erys had walked a short ways away from the sight of her previous battle, when she heard the sounds of more wolves. She paid no mind to them, though, as they sounded a bit of a distance away. They wouldn't have been an immediate threat, and the less time she spent in battle the more energy she would have for whatever test might have laid behind the endeavour they had all been set upon.

As she went to step away again to look for a card, she turned her head and was immediately ploughed into, almost head first. Whatever it was that had barrelled into her had already stepped away, and they both didn't seem to notice the fact that the more clumsy of the two had managed to kiss the other.
"Argh, damnit... What are you doing, idiot!" she yelled, dazed from the impact and completely ignoring everything that was said.

When Erys regained her senses, she looked upon a battle between what she thought was the girl that had barrelled into her, and three of the wolf drones. Despite having a bit of a bone to pick with her, she watched the battle with curious eyes - mildly amused at the girls fighting style. A sword and guns? It wasn't the first time she had looked upon such a fighting style, however those people tended to have their guns within the weapons, rather than being a separate entity.

After a short while, the wolves were dealt with and the girl came out seemingly no worse for wear, with nothing to say for the fight besides a scratch across her eye and some empty magazines.
"I would challenge you for charging into me, however, because of the entertainment you provided just then, I will refrain." she said, looking over the girl slightly, as well as her weapons. "I won't question the last part of your name, as I have heard stranger, though I will ask that you do be more careful when running at me in the future. I might accidentally kill you." she had already begun walking away when she remembered that the girl had offered to come with her to search for a card.

Though it undermined her an amount, having someone else keep her company as she searched, but the company was company all the same. Erys had been getting slightly bored from walking around on her own.
"Hmm... You may come with me as you like. Though, try not to get in my way if and when a battle does indeed arise. Your skills might be useful, though. Now, come along." she turned away and began walking in the opposite direction the girl had come from. After saying it, she immediately regretted the way she spoke, but chose not to say anything to keep up appearances.



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