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The ocean breeze danced through Tanzaku City during this fresh Spring night, bringing with it the salty, fresh scent of the sea. Clouds overcast the town, gently rolling across the night sky while the waning moon's glow shone through them. Tanzaku City shone brightly like a candle in the dark, it's residents not yet willing to go to sleep just yet. The sounds of laughter, music and cheering could be heard all through the city from various restaurants, night clubs, theaters and parks. They all lived such happy content lives on the surface. They would always remain blissfully ignorant to the damage their negative emotions could cause the town. That's just the way things are.

The chatter and jovial laughter started to become distorted, the towns people's voiced being muffled as if they were submerged underwater. Then, one by one, the street lights began to switch off. The tall skyscraper's light dimmed and faded, the people dancing in the park became blurry and unrecognisable and all the cars that sped through the streets came to a stop. Tanzaku Town was submerged in darkness. From this void, a single light appeared. The lonely street lamp shone a spotlight down onto the footpath, casting a long shadow out onto the road. With time, more street lamps would turn back on, casting their own shadows. One by one, each shadow began to distort and flicker to life; rising up from the ground and taking the form of a silhouette. The blurry visages of the townspeople walked by them without even blinking an eye. And why would they? They couldn't possibly comprehend them. They couldn't see the Shadows.

As the civilians walked past, the silhouettes turned on their spot to face them. In unison, they all elegantly raised their arm up in the air whilst simultaneously lifting one of their legs off the ground. Eerily, they began to dance whilst they stalked their prey. As they approached the humans, who were still unaware of their presence, the distortion surrounding them began to fade. The image of two young high school girls discussing the latest gossip as they giggled at their phones came clearly in to view. As they became clearer to see, so did the true form of the Shadows. The once human like silhouettes had began to drip away, revealing a small group of horrifyingly transfigured creatures. Each one unique in it's repulsiveness, their true forms appeared to be a strange mash up of various everyday items, people and plants all mangled together into a terrifying amalgamation.

They grew closer to the two young girls, hissing and screeching in anticipation of their prey. The one at front raised what looked to be a long, feminine leg covered in a fishnet stocking up towards one of the girls. At the end of the leg was a large crab claw instead of a foot, with two menacing eyes that gurgled and shifted position whilst hungrily staring at the two girls. It reached forward a few more inches, it's eyes leaking a putrid black substance while it voraciously tried to grasp at her hair. It's claw was only a second away when suddenly a white and red blur fell from the building above; crushing the Shadow underneath all it's weight. Unable to handle the impact, the Shadow erupted with black goo spreading all across the street. The two girls walked on, unharmed and unaware of what was happening behind them. Eventually their figures began to blur again once they were far enough away from the Shadows.

"Ugh, I hate this stuff." A voice spoke from the mass of darkness that was once a Shadow, stepping out covered in the horrid substance. The other Shadows stood silent, still processing that their prey was escaping. Their eyes wandered to the young man dressed in a Captain's uniform that now stood before them. The black goo had melted away off from his clothes, which now shone as brilliant as the stars in the night sky.
"There's a lot of you out tonight. Looks like we'll be working until dawn." He sighed, his expression hardening with annoyance. The Shadows met his expression, readying to attack the one thing that stood between them and their food. One lunged forward first, raising it's large, knife like appendages to strike the Cosmic Prince in the heart.

Kim rose his longsword, effortlessly slicing away it's long, spindly arms with a single strike. The Shadow backed away, screeching as it assessed its wounds. Kim placed his sword in front of his face, keeping one fist behind his back. He stared down the Shadows with a furious expression.
"I'm not going to have enough time to get my homework done because of you bastards!" Flourishing his blade with a finesse beyond his years, Kim lunged forward towards the small group of Shadows. They all reached out to strike him, but he had already passed through all of them in what seemed like an instant. Confused, the Shadows were barely able to turn around to where Kim was now standing before they heard the sound of him sheathing his blade.
"Bloom!" At his command, a large thorny vine suddenly became visible to all of the Shadows. Ensnared by the magical plants, they tried to squirm before many beautiful red Roses bloomed around them. The petals scattered from the vine, whirling around as they violently tore the group of Shadows to shreds.

The explosion of black goo created a small tremor that shook the nearby streets. Of course, the civilians disregarded the event as just another minor earthquake. Kim brushed the substance off his shoulders, staring behind him as he saw the other Princes beginning to assemble. There were a lot out tonight; some he definitely recognised as Moon Princes. He sighed, knowing that his fellow Sun Princes would not be happy to see them in their territory. It annoyed him as well, though Kim was much more tolerable of the Moon Princes these days. The clouds parted above Kim, but even the light of the moon wasn't strong enough to penetrate the darkness that surrounded Tanzaku city tonight.

The bustling city's night life never failed to provide Lucas will plenty of visual amusement as he took in the neon-bright scenery from his seat on a sidewalk bench, earbuds firmly in place as the rapid beats of his preferred liquid drum and bass genre pulsed against his eardrums. He could almost imagine the rhythm of life and lights around him were tuned to the music. That thought didn't soothe him as much as he thought it would.

Today was one of those days when he simply didn't feel like heading home just yet, his bag of convenience store food dangling loosely from where his arm was stretched across the top of the bench's backrest. He took a moment to lean his head back, reveling in the salt-sweet air from the ocean's proximity to the town. Somewhere he could breathe--not in the sense that his family or school life applied any pressure to him that he didn't allow, but in the sense that he could just let down his guard and not worry about having to care or how much he frankly didn't care. Lucas banished that train of thought before it could proceed any further. Stress management, and it was only effective as long as he didn't think about the mechanism or its ramifications.

"I don't care," he said softly to himself, speaking slowly and with enough of a lilting cadence that any passerby would think he was just singing along to a song. That wasn't completely untrue. "Apathy" would be the title of the theme song Lucas sang along to his entire life. Or maybe it was more accurate to call it the title of a mantra.

Deciding that sitting around with only his mind and his music to distract him was probably not the best way to keep idle thoughts from wandering into mental areas that Lucas had very consciously cordoned off, the teenager cast his eyes around, looking for some kind of distraction that wouldn't bring any unneeded attention to himself. He liked to watch and be amused from the sidelines. Particularly active participation was a little more effort than he was comfortable giving, and he wanted that nice balance of doing the bare minimum for his fun. He settled on his mobile games.

Lucas played a few songs on Cytus and sighed as the congratulatory screen flashed with another "Master" rank score on the last song, wondering how to stave off boredom now that the rhythm games were getting repetitive. A banner appeared at the top of his screen reminding him that he had missed a lot of messages on Skype. With his mind only on some form of more interactive amusement, Lucas called his girlfriend on Skype. He briefly checked her name again on the phone to make sure it was right: Amy.



"That went about as good as it could've," Lucas muttered to himself as he put his phone down at his side. Leaning back against the bench, he heaved a quick breath out of his mouth. Nothing. No racing heartbeat, no flushed cheeks, no tears coming to his eyes. The movies really overplayed how the whole "breaking up" thing worked. How did so many people--like Avee--have so many issues with it?

He spared the time on his phone a quick glance and lurched to his feet, realizing he had lost track of time during the conversation. Maybe he'd make it back home before his parents started blasting his phone with worried text messages and calls.

A throwaway thought bounced to the forefront of his mind as he finally bothered processing his fresh ex's last words.

Huh. I still don't remember how to pronounce her name.

The thought was gone before he had taken two steps.

Namely because the world had dipped out on having colors and everyone was reduced to indistinguishable images--like someone had decided to render the crowd in smudged charcoal.

Lucas looked around, not quite comprehending what he was seeing in this new monochrome and Gaussian blur filter of reality. Nothing seemed solid, yet everything felt substantially there. But it was all fundamentally wrong somehow because everything simply moved inhumanly.

"Hey!" he called out, trying to grasp a hold of anything normal. A response. Turns of the blurred head-shapes. Anything.

And got something entirely monstrous instead.

Creatures--things--were rising from the ground, each one unique in its blend of the mundane into something altogether horrible. Lucas was distinctly reminded of the childhood fear he had of Pablo Picasso's paintings, particularly "The Three Dancers," the vivid painting approximating with a disturbing similarity the stature and movements of the shifting masses that Lucas could only describe as vaguely-human mosaics of reality. Except these things weren't harmless paintings. They were real and every fiber in his body screamed "danger." Lucas had no mental quip for when his consciousness only screamed back "how exciting."

He ran towards the direction of home, dodging the facsimiles as the streetlamps flickered back to life, revealing patches of vivid details stitched together all wrong--a cellphone and Scrunchie mashed together here, broken birds melted into zippers and suitcases there, eyes and mouths protruding all over a magazine cutout of a dancer whose body was corkscrewed beyond human limits. Too much to look at. Couldn't understand. But there was a mounting sense of thrill spurring him on and Lucas noted with no small amount of surprise the ease with which he had settled into the thick of the situation. It wasn't happiness he felt. This was something more compelling.

Lucas sprinted faster, catching quick movements in the distance and a lingering scent of roses. This didn't strike him with the sense of impending death he had felt upon finding himself in whatever hell this was. Unnatural excitement and harried thoughts producing recklessness, he skidded to a stop in front of an actual person in a sharp, white military uniform with carefully crafted gold accents and epaulets. The guy didn't seem much older than him, and from the looks of things had just finished dispatching a group of monsters with a flashy storm of petals.

"What--" Lucas gasped for breath, realizing too late that this person could be just as dangerous as the monstrosities nearby--probably worse if he had killed them. But it was too late to run now. Not that Lucas wanted to run anyway.

He braced his hands against his slightly bent knees as he leveled a wary glance at the guy's fancy attire, choosing not to say anything more and waiting to see if this was the last mistake he'd ever make. He should have been worried that there was an unsettling giddiness that accompanied the thought of this guy lunging at him with that sword.

@Leslie Hall

Jumani tugged on his hair out of frustration. "Ooooh! I knew I shouldn't have ran off on my own! Now I'm away from my senapi" Four shadows, threw their weight onto the scene. Their repulsive bodies pulsating, as if something were to burst out from inside their bodies. They each secreted a disgusting dark goo, the only thing Jumani could do was fight back. Summoning his weapons he quickly shot four bursts of water, the shadows squealed in agony. Jamming appendages into their wounds as they began to bleed the disgusting ooze. With a small chuckle, Jumani began to blast the beasts with a few shots from his weapons. "I wish not to wear your insides." Clicking a button, the weapons glowed skyblue for a moment as Jumani brought them together, merging them into a single long range gun. "Sa-yo-na-ra! Bake-kun!" Four single shots, a long range torrent of water send the shadows flying into a wall. They burst open and mixed with the water. Bubbling and boiling as the fluids mixed together.

Nodding, Jumani was pleased with his small battle. Suddenly a large explosion and a flurry of pedals scoped the area. In awe of the sight, Jumani knew who that would have to be. It screamed his team captain, the Prince of Roses. It was necessary that he catch up with his leader to gain orders for this operation. He also didn't want to stand around too long, under the impression that the scent of his bentos' were attracting shadows.

"Hoooooooi, Lein-kun! Please make with the slowing of your speed!" The young boy in a sailor suit cried out to his comrade. Running towards the rose casting prince his uniform blowing in the nightly wind, a medium sized backpack strapped to his back, he chased after his comrade. Panting, between breaths he began to form some sentences. Regardless, that last flurry of magic seemed powerful. It's important for the princes to work together, if they become overwhelmed they can drain their magic fast without even realising it. Jumani didn't really know this, he just wanted show the captain he could fight.
"I'm here to your aid Lein-kun! Please order me to do as you wish!" Shouted the sailor clothed boy. Previously oblivious to the person being there he then addressed the civilian with a kind smile. O--oh erm... Konichi - Eto - Konbanwa! It is fine evening is it not? Um, might I suggest you be taking the cover. It would be most saddening if you were to get hurt". Waving his hands with a kind gesture to move along, Jumani forgot to take into consideration that they might be in danger from incoming shadows. A bright idea gleamed in his noggin, looking at the civilian he pressed a button on one of his guns and shifted the ammo type to protective bubbles. Pulling the trigger he created a small barrier to protect the innocent from shadows that would come, in hopes that the bubbles would do something like musk his scent.

Turning to his comrade he shouted the current status. "Lein-kun! We have a single civilian and multiple shadow's coming. I'm unaware of the whereabouts to which our remaining mates are. But do not fret captain! I'm sure they will appear to us soon!" With a grin, Jumani prepped himself for battle as he waited for incoming orders.

He looked left, right, and left again. Nothing looked familiar. This part of the city was a maze to him. Especially when a bird snatches your phone right out of your hands. And then when you chase it. And then when it decides to fly up a rather large building. This had to be a joke. Karma really. Probably the universe repaying him for the rubber cockroach he left in his teacher's lunch. He snickered to himself. The detention was so worth it. The karma, still to be seen.

Thankfully, it seemed he was in a busier part of town. Soft music played, the lights soft and comforting as plenty of people chattered at little restaurants and cafes that peppered the streets. Everyone seemed relaxed, happy. A street magician caught his eye and Alexander meandered over, thoughts of home and a late dinner forgotten as he applauded the tricks. Then the air shivered.

It started off as the music faded. The lights turned cold. Some flickered before shutting off. The music swelled, now a cacophany, before stopping abruptly. Fear. Anger. Jealousy. They zipped through his mind before fading into the background, seeming to sink into the cracks in the floor and the walls, seeping into the dark spaces between bodies, dripping into the shadows. Alexander sighed. He was tired from the show and still had plenty of homework. Guess he'll just have to distract the teacher with another prank, again. Ideas start moving but he shook them off. He pulled off his hat and tossed it into the air.

A magician's top hat fell instead and he caught it, black smoke tendrils wrapping around his body before exploding pink. He brushed off his suit, put on his hat, and drew a deck of shimmering pink cards as two black blobs materialized in the air. They boiled and writhed before the left formed, a multitude of gnashing teeth, mouths, and eyes lunching at the Prince of Tricks. He smirked and flicked a card out that expanded instantly. A heavy thud as the shadow rammed the new barrier, he flicked out three cards rapidly as the other, rapidly growing orb. An ear piercing screech made him flinch as he called back his barrier, the distraction costing him a small cut of his cheek as the first shadow bit the Prince. He shove a card into the beast before swatting it away and snapping. The shadows exploded in a shower of pink, their remains scattered across the pavement.

'Tsk, that's what I get for being hasty afterall.' He though, mildly annoyed as he rubbed the cut. The red stain quickly faded from the white glove. 'At least clean up is easy.' He glanced around, noticing no shadows, and vanished into his hat to appear fifty feet up, an expanded card laid out as a platform. He took in the city. The distortion field was huge. He sighed again. It was going to be a long night.

He glanced down and frowned. A large number of shadows seemed to be headed in the same direction. Never a good sign. He followed in the air, jumping from platform to platform form as he created and recalled them. He should probably put a damper on their numbers, throw in a little chaos for the beasts, but he was afraid it would disrupt their migration. And he needed more information before assaulting them. He knew he should wait for the other Moon Princes but he would find them when he had more on the phenomenon.

Then he rolled his eyes. Should have guessed. The Petal Prince was at the end of the yellow brick road. He dispatched them with ease it seemed so Alexander waited for the other Moon Princes and watched. The sun prince summoned vines and roses in a spectacular display. Alexander clapped politely. Despite their differences, the magic was visually appealing. He watched as a civilian trapped in the field stopped dead in his tracks before the prince and watched him warily as he caught his breath. Interesting. A human who didn't bolt when they saw a boy wielding a magic sword, obliterating monsters. He watched as another prince-in a sailor outfit no less- encased the human in a bubble. Must be a shield or ward of some sort.

'You should consider just removing him from the field you know. Don't bystanders just distract you lot? He projected the though into the sailor prince's mind. He drew a card, the 4 of spades, and flipped it idly through his fingers. He should be ready just in case though remained waiting for the other Princes.

A jauntily hummed melody drifted in the sea-soaked breeze as it weaved it's way over and around the oblivious people walking the colorfully lit streets. A young girl with long pink braids sat on one of the many street benches with a chocolate ice cream cone in hand. She wore a lacy white blouse without sleeves and a pair of light pink short-shorts with sandals, swinging her legs patiently. If it weren't for her hat, gloves, and scarf, suggesting the idea that she'd at least remembered what month it was, one might think she was sitting on a bench at the beach in the middle of summer.

It was a beautiful night for chaos. Her first night in Tanzaku City. Well-- her first real night, to be exact. Jin couldn't wait to transform-- to let go of the breath she'd been holding in all week. She felt like someone should really give her an award for not murdering every person she knew back at the institution. The girl that broke her crayons, the caretaker that scolded her for always losing her key, the older boy that wouldn't leave her the hell alone....

Truth be told, Jin never really got cold. And she really wanted to wear this outfit her Aunt had bought her the other day. It was pretty-- but nothing like her uniform. Tilting her head back, she watched her breath leave her nose as she hummed, imagining it drifting all the way up into the clouds. Oblivious to the oblivious people giving her strange looks as they passed, Jin mindlessly tuned into a conversation from the bench to her right. Aww... some poor girl was going to be really sad tonight for sure. What a big meanie that guy was.

She turned her head as the boy jumped from his seat, staring at his phone. Late! Haha, he's late for something.... She resisted the urge to smile and stood up, staring at the back of the boy's head as he shouted "Hey!" before bolting down the street. She didn't bother herself with trying to figure out who he was calling to. If she waited much longer, she'd be late as well.

Looking past the boy at the gathering shadows, a thin, vulpine grin crept across her face. Wrong way, guy.

Plop.

Her expression flickered like a faulty light bulb as her eyes eventually came to rest on the glob of chocolate gracing the sidewalk's nonexistent taste buds. An unpleasantly familiar cat strolled out from under the bench and gave her a long stare before proceeding to lick it up. A single tear trembled at the corner of her eye as they started to turn black-- like someone had dropped a droplet of black ink into the whites of her eyes.

"Aw man... That's really rude, Baka. Learn some manners, you stupid cat." she seethed, glaring.

MITSURU SAZANAMI

Mitsuru shook in their bed as a grim sensation slithered down their spine. Tonight’s field seemed to be bigger than usual. Of course, their 'usual' only consisted of a measly two nights’ patrol, with minimal combat because they were merely accompanying a group of more experienced Moon Princes. They groaned and rose from bed, still faintly surprised that the action wasn’t accompanied by all-encompassing pain. That was definitely something to be grateful for.

The thin teenager walked over to their desk and looked at the clock. 10:18pm. A bit past their bedtime if the timetable above their desk was something to be followed. Mitsuru could probably get rid of that restrictive schedule soon, if the rest of their symptoms disappeared as quickly as the initial ones. The same went for the incomparable number of pill cases that also sat on the desk. Mitsuru smiled at the thought of finally being free, to be able to operate their body the way they wanted. With almost child-like enthusiasm, Mitsuru transformed and silently leapt from their bedroom window.

They laughed as they ran through the night, the wind streaming past their face and pulling wisps of smoke from their eternally steaming cloak. Mitsuru pushed their muscles to the limit, sprinting hard and jumping from fences to rooftop, fully enjoying their recently discovered mobility. To be so strong and fast; it felt truly amazing. After successfully landing a double backflip from the top of an apartment building, Mitsuru reluctantly decided that it was time to get to the matter of hand. First course of action was to locate the other Moon Princes and group up.

They spotted a small group of shadows and descended to engage them while summoning their weapon, a hefty double bladed staff. They landed with a slash to one of the larger fiends, destroying it, before launching into a flurry of strikes and slashes at the others. The Shadows fell easily from Mitsuru’s attacks, earning the teenager a pleased smile. A sudden roar pulled them out of their satisfied state and a particularly large garbage bin was hurled at them. With a small yelp, Mitsuru disintegrated into smoke and let the bin pass through. Phew, that was a close one. Foolish. They should have assessed their surroundings before letting their guard down, especially since they weren’t accompanied by the Moon Princes this time. In their smoke form, they avoided the following volley of garbage bins, before rematerializing behind the monster and killing it with a slash to the back. After making certain that all the monsters truly were eliminated, Mitsuru hurried towards the fallen bins (which were thankfully already emptied for the night) and neatly placed them in their original positions. Moon Princes were heroes after all, and heroes had to make sure that the public felt safe in their neighbourhoods.

They continued patrolling through the streets, hoping that their comrades would arrive soon. No such luck, unfortunately. Instead, they encountered a hideously large cluster of Shadows engaged by only two Cosmic Princes. Sun Princes to be precise. Mitsuru scowled at the thought of them. They had been warned about them when they started out. To top it all off, there was a civilian in the midst of it all. Sure, the poor fellow seemed to be protected by some sort of bubble but there were already some Shadows who were curiously gazing at the boy.

“Reckless bastards,” Mitsuru muttered. It seemed that the other princes were right. These Sun Princes barely showed any concern for civilians.

Mitsuru took a deep breath before reverting into smoke form, swiftly dodging and speeding past Shadows and Princes alike. That move might piss off those stubbornly territorial Sun Princes, but Mitsuru ignored the possibility of retaliation. It wouldn't be anything the Moon Princes couldn’t handle. Plus, there was a helpless civilian that needed saving. That was far more important than the petulant whinging of those Sun Princes. They materialised in front of the boy in his bubble and dispersed the Shadows closest to the bystander.

“Have no fear. I’ll get you out of here soon,” Mitsuru spoke firmly to reassure the civilian. By ‘out of here’, they meant the cluster of Shadows, not the bubble. That protective barrier possibly had its uses.

Quickly putting away their weapon, Mitsuru lifted the bubble with both arms and began transporting the civilian to a safer place.

No sooner had he huffed and puffed his way towards the first strangely dressed guy when another showed up with what looked like water guns and a boy's sailor uniform, rattling off a series of nigh-incomprehensible sentences that Lucas could only partially parse as probably addressed to Flowers. It took him a moment to catch that "Lien" was the name Sailor Water Guns used to address Flowers and he did his best to keep the name in mind. No guarantees with what seemed to be going on at the moment.

Especially no guarantees when Water Guns turned one of the pistols towards Lucas and fired just after he had advised Lucas to take cover.

"Wait--" the protest was cut off as a bubble enveloped Lucas. He held his breath for a moment, thinking the watery sphere would drown him, but realized soon enough that he was simply surrounded by a translucent, blue barrier that held him suspended at its center. He tapped against it gently, testing its firmness and was surprised by how much his hand bounced back at him. So a shield, then. Okay. This could be a good thing if these whimsically powerful people(?) weren't planning on wiping his memories later or killing him because he had seen too much.

Sounds came through the watery shield a bit distorted, but Lucas still managed to make out most of what Water Guns said to Lien.

"Lein-kun!...single civilian and multiple shadow's coming. I'm unaware...our remaining mates are. But...captain! I'm sure they...soon!"

Single civilian had to be him, Lucas figured. But what was the rest--multiple shadows? Was he talking about literal shadows or...

Lucas's gaze darted to the dark, irregular shapes bleeding into existence all around them, rising in a jerking stutter from the ground. Shadows. Yeah, that made a lot of sense.

And it sounded like there were more of these fancy guys on the way.

On cue, repeated flashes of movement caught Lucas's eyes as he scanned the buildings, wondering if shadows would burst from everywhere else, too. A giant card flipped in and out of existence as some distant figure deftly alighted on card after card, making them disappear and reappear on a forward path. Before he could get a good look, however, a rush of dark gray and black wisps swirled beside the bubble and Lucas turned quickly in that direction, coming face-to-face with a blond-haired teenager wreathed in a thick, froufy cloud of smoke that wrapped around one shoulder like a cloak, giving the guy a lot more presence. Was this guy a shadow, too? The more fascinating concern was that the new arrival had just stepped into physical being from ribbons of vapor.

“Have no fear. I’ll get you out of here soon,” the stranger spoke. Maybe not a shadow? Lucas didn't think he had a choice in the matter, anyway, given his state. And as much exhilaration as Lucas had felt earlier, he still wondered how wise it would be for the stranger to free him from the bubble when Water Guns had seemed worried enough to pop the shield onto him in the first place.

His concerns were dispelled the moment Smokey the Bear casually picked up the bubble with Lucas in it, hefting it into position with both arms before walking at an unconcerned pace away from the amassing horde of shadows.

Lucas rapped his knuckles against the bubble again, feeling that repeated repulsion on impact. He hoped the movement would attract the attention of the guy carrying the bubble containing one very shocked and confused--albeit a little excited?--civilian.

"Hey!" he shouted, not worried enough about his well-being to consider that maybe talking to superpowered individuals he had just met was not the smartest idea when he hadn't assessed how hostile they were. Water Guns had seemed friendly enough, at least. "What's--" going on? What is all this? What are you guys? What are those things? What the fuck? Too many questions starting with that word raced through Lucas's mind and he didn't think the prep time before impending combat was the moment to ask them all, going by what Water Guns had said about more shadows incoming. "Am I gonna get to ask anything after you guys are done with those...whatever they are? Shadows or something, I heard?" he asked instead.

@banjoanjo

Smooth, sweet, and foreign music blared atop a particularly tall building in the town. Beside the boombox from which the music poured, a Russian boy reclined in a beach chair. A hands-free reading apparatus held a textbook open above him as he relaxed on the rooftop surrounded by music. The cool night air danced across Ivan's skin as he studied. A windsock picked up the shift in the wind from atop a pole, and in turn Ivan noted the change.

He gave the bow in his hand a gentle squeeze as he turned the page. He'd been rushed to Japan due to the immediate urgency of the situation, so he hadn't been able to get a full working knowledge of Japanese. He knew enough to just barely scrape by, but that was not enough; he had a country's reputation resting on his shoulders, so he couldn't accept mediocrity. As such, he spent his nights studying the language, working to become fully literate and fluent.

As he was The Prince of the Sun, Ivan's fighting prowess was reduced at night; his finisher could work on the sunlight reflected by the moon. But on a night with clouds like this, he thought, it simply isn't worth the trouble of running through the streets without direction. As if sensing the boy's thoughts, Makar huffed his agreement from his cushion beside Ivan's chair.

However, Ivan wasn't helpless on this cloudy night - not by a long shot. In fact, that was exactly what Ivan was being. As Ivan turned the page again, he felt a Shadow's presence about half a kilometer to his east. Judging by the constant appearances and disappearances of the Shadows to the north of him, Ivan could tell the other Princes were probably hunting in that area, leaving the east unoccupied. This prey would be his.

Ivan brushed the textbook holder aside as he sat up, readying his bow. He sighted down the shaft, searching for the telltale visual distortions that marked a Shadow's presence from outside its barrier. A flickering shadow caught his eye, marking his target's location. He carefully raised his bow straight toward the sky from that point, drawing one of the special arrows he'd prepared for night sniping sessions. He pulled until his hand found his cheek, then let the arrow fly.

Off into the heavens it soared, seeking to join the stars hidden above by the clouds. As if it had been turned away by the heavens themselves, the arrow turned, curving gracefully back toward the earth. About 100 meters above the ground the arrow burst like a firework, sending streaks of light in all directions. A whistling, buzzing sound screamed through the night to all who could see the event as flechettes made of magical light streaked down from the arrow's burst. The deadly hail fell, impaling all Shadows below but harmlessly dissipating on contact with anything lacking Cosmic traits.

Ivan nocked another arrow as he strained his senses, hoping he'd made the kill in a single shot and wouldn't have to expend a second arrow for such a simple beast. Luckily, the presence faded to nothing, telling Ivan he'd scored another kill. With a smile, Ivan lowered his bow and used the tip of the arrow to burn another tally mark onto the wall. 27 in total he'd killed from this seat, and he'd not kept count of his kills on his feet.

Satisfied, Ivan swung back into the chair, pulling the textbook back into place. I'll let those princes to the north have their fun, he thought. I've got all I need right here.

Located near the outskirts of the city, black smoke trickled from the broken windows of the main building and panicked men rushed out onto the grounds. Small shadows erupted from the doorways behind them, spilling out onto the grounds in chunky heaps. An alarm blared uselessly within the building, bathing the shadow infested walls in red light. It was anarchy. Shouts of confusion and distress only fueled the fire-- so to speak. Just outside the high, protective concrete walls, other base workers sat at their security desks idly watching videos on their phones or flipping through magazines.

"нσ, нυм...," Jinx stifled a yawn as she stretched, a glowing red crown atop her tresses as she sprawled out inside a floating bowl of candies. She rolled over to her stomach and peeked over the side of the bowl, resting her head in her hands and kicking her feet. Below her, several base workers screamed and cried, running for their lives through thick, multi-colored underbrush as a pair of huge living dolls, eyeless and dripping with blood, chased them with loud, buzzing chainsaws.

It wasn't her best work, she had to admit. But at least they hadn't resorted to rocking back and forth on the floor and doing nothing. That happened last time and things got really boring really fast. She frowned, peering up at her pink cotton candy sky with her black and gold eyes, maybe it was the dead babies with adult faces. She nodded to herself. That had been a bit too much... or maybe she shouldn't have made the faces look like people they knew. Sure, it made a lot of shadows, but it wasn't very much fun.

Outside her force field bubble, pink and writhing with rainbow colors despite the obvious lack of sunlight, controlled flames licked at the walls and entrance ways, making the room very hot. Leo floated throughout the flashing red room, gulping down whatever he could get his mouth on-- rifles, pistols, ammunition, grenades, rocket launchers-- they had it all. She'd felt absolutely giddy upon learning there was a base in Tanzaku City. She'd always wanted to try shooting a gun, and now she'd have a whole arsenal to play around with....

Alexander tilted his head as a moon prince- hm, who is that? Not sure we've met yet. Not that Alexander has been around long, just shy of seven months- zipped in and... Did he just? Alexander blinked as he just slipped away with the bubble. Just like that. No magic. No sneaking. Just upsie dasey and off he went. No concern for the sun princes. No concern for the shadows. Just get the bubble. If he could, Alexander would have been howling. He leaned forward as laughter racked his lungs. And kept leaning until thump, he hit the ground hard. And what better way to celebrate falling off a building than playing with the rather large shadow pulling itself out of the ground.

An insect wing on a twisted human body and appendages, hundreds of tiny human eyes on a fly's face, and ooze dripping off its feelers. Alexander rolled left and right as he dodged the dripping substance, small holes burned into the ground where it landed. He shrieked as he rolled into a pile of dirt and vanished into his hat. He reappeared behind the creature, a card held between each finger. His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into an angry pout. The nasty, sadistic side of Alexander reared it's ugly head and he realized he found a wonderful waltzing partner.

Two pink flashes of light and the feelers hit the ground, dissolving away. White gloves pulled the wailing creature close and they waltzed, the shadow stumbling along with the Prince of Tricks. Everytime the shadow got its footing, Alexander slammed it into the building before continuing on mercilessly. He snickered mentally each time the shadow tried to wriggle from his grip. With a final flourish and a short bow, the shadow erupted and painted the building wall.

'Honestly, has no one ever taught you manners?' He though irritably. His irritation caused him to slip the thought into each of the other princes' mind, his control not perfect by far. He still wasn't used to being able to communicate so easily. 'Hate the man, not the suit. You never dirty a gentleman's suit.' Alexander clicked his tongue as he plucked a white hankerchef out and dabbed ooze and dirt off himself. He tossed the soiled cloth to the ground and frowned. What was he doing...

He bopped himself on the forehead. Smokey the Bubble Thief! He bolted after him. He quickly realized he wasn't going to catch up so reached out for his mind and sent a quick 'Slow down Smokey!' The Prince of Tricks boasted an impressive magic reserve but seriously lacked in every physical attribute. Against a fast and agile prince like Smokey, he would just be eating dirt.

He vanished and appeared ahead of the prince, clearing out lesser shadows that started gathering. Quickly establishing a safe zone inside a circle of cards, he gestured for the bubble carrying prince to enter so he could close it off. They needed to establish a more secure area, preferably in the air, and a line of mental communication but this would work for now.

---

---

The euphoria of the hunt was something that Kim knew all too well. He stood there in the empty street with heavy breaths, staring down at the pavement where the sticky, black substance the Shadows secreted when destroyed. While he watched it slowly thin out and disappear into the cracks in the concrete, he couldn't help but smile. The nature of hunting Shadows was incredibly dangerous, even to the Princes, yet here he was smiling as if it were all some joke. Perhaps this was his fate as a Sun Prince; forever craving the thrill of the hunt. His fist clenched around the hilt of his blade in frustration. He closed his eyes, cascading the already dimly lit streets in darkness. Kim breathed in through his nose, letting the scent of the city flow through him. For a brief moment, the world melted away around him and he was submerged in the fragrances of the world. Through the salty sea breeze, aromatic roasted coffee beans and excited sweat; Kim detected something rancid. There were some Shadows approaching a few blocks away. No doubt they could smell him just as well as he could them.

Kim slowly opened his eyes, only to find a young man planted directly in front of him. Instinctively he took a step back, his hand reaching for the hilt of his blade. Of coarse it didn't take him long to realise he was just dealing with an ordinary person. Except no ordinary person would be able to walk around in here. Kim glanced the boy over once, watching him keeled over and panting like a dog. He must have had sprinted here. He looked to be a few years younger than Kim. Squatting down slightly to meet the stranger at eye level, Kim began to speak.
"Hey, are you alright man?" Before he could get an answer, a familiar voice spoke up from behind him.
"Hoooooooi, Lein-kun! Please make with the slowing of your speed!" Standing up straight at the sudden voice, Kim turned around to greet the puffed out Salve with a smile and a gentle punch to the shoulder.
"Remember to avoid using my name, Naive Prince." Kim looked around to make sure no one was nearby. "If a Witch finds out who we really are then we're screwed." Salve continued to talk, seemingly distracted by Lucas, before deciding it would be safer for Lucas to be kept in one of his magic bubbles.

"Lein-kun! We have a single civilian and multiple shadow's coming. I'm unaware of the whereabouts to which our remaining mates are. But do not fret captain! I'm sure they will appear to us soon!" You did it again, thought Kim with a sigh of defeat. He froze for a moment, thinking about what Salve just said. Captain? Stepping forward, Kim flicked Salve on the forehead with a slight 'tsk'.
"I'm not your Captain. We don't really do that here. Even if we did; we're the same age so it'd be weird." Kim was surprised that he was letting himself entertain the thought of being the Captain. He wasn't going to lie; it sounded cool.

The scent of something else Kim found to be rather unsavory touched his nose. He rolled his eyes as two other magical presences appeared suddenly nearby. Of coarse they would show up on Sun territory; they couldn't resist making things more tense than they needed to be. Kim turned to face the Prince of Tricks, scowling at his comment about the civilian 'getting in the way'.
"We've got this handled, Moon Boy." He spat out the derogatory nickname as if it were poison, "I'm not in the mood to be dealing with your kind tonight. Take this opportunity to get the hell out of here before someone not as nice as me shows up and picks a fight with ya." Despite his warning, it seemed as though the Trickster Prince had other plans. The other Moon Prince Kim had sensed had yet to appear up until the moment he materialized behind Lucas' bubble. Kim wanted to groan. Of coarse it was the Smoke Prince; one of the few people who Kim always had trouble detecting before it was too late. Speaking of, it seemed Smokey had decided to take it upon himself to whisk away Lucas to safety. The Trickster Prince was quick to follow.

"Oi!" Kim called out, leaping up into the way whilst a thicket of vines sprouted from the ground below him. The thorny plants rose up and twisted together, creating a row of rosebuds that sprang open into large flower platforms for Kim to run along. He intended to chase the two Moon Princes when suddenly he felt the horrid presence of Shadows. The ones that were tailing him from a few blocks away had finally caught up. Kim almost growled, his teeth grit in frustration as he had no choice but to drop the chase and return to Salve to help him fight the Shadows. Leaping down from his vines, Kim flourished his blade and spun through the air. A phantom copy of Blooming Rose phased into existence in front of him, which he anticipated with a preemptive grabbing motion in front of him as it appeared. Clasping two swords, Kim stabbed them downwards as he fell onto a Shadow that had begun forming near Salve.

"Let's get this over with; I need to exert some energy so I don't feel the urge to wring the necks of those two Moon Babies when I find them." With that final word to Salve, Kim leapt forward into the fray with reckless abandon.

MITSURU SAZANAMI

Flitting past the Sun Princes was simple enough. Simple, not easy. Being in smoke form for anything over five seconds was exhausting and the toll it took certainly applied in this situation. Mitsuru struggled to maintain a brisk pace as they hefted the bubble through the streets, their mind still reeling from the flashy bastard’s words.

Who the hell did that shiny, rose-scented prick think he was? Typical Sun Prince cockiness. Suuure, the situation was totally being “handled”, as the Rose Prince put it. Of couuurse, there was absolutely no chance of the numerous swarms of Shadows endangering the poor fellow who had wandered in while the Sun Princes were trying for a Shadow-slaying personal best. Bastards, the whole lot of them. Mitsuru doubted that they would have even noticed if the civilian had gotten killed. They probably would have been too busy with their show-boating and sparkly special moves.

Mitsuru did have to admit though, they got spooked for a second back there. They didn’t expect the Rose Prick to actually go after them. Mitsuru scowled at the memory. He probably wanted to hog the glory of saving an innocent civilian too. But despite all the resentment they held for the Rose Prince, Mitsuru had to acknowledge that he seemed like a powerful and versatile fighter. They remember glancing back with a sly grin as they took off with the bubble, though the smirk soon fell when they witnessed the thick vines emerging to create grand-looking platforms for the Rose Prince. Needless to say, Mitsuru was quite relieved when the arrival of more Shadows forced the Sun Prince to abandon his chase. They grimaced at the thought that they almost needed to fight the more experienced adversary. If the rumours of a turf war were true, Mitsuru would need to get stronger very quickly in order to hold their own against Sun Princes like Flower Boy. And that meant not getting completely worn out after using their smoke ability for only five seconds and jogging a few hundred metres while holding a civilian. Speaking of the civilian…

“Hey!” the bloke called out and rapped his knuckles against the surface of the bubble. His voice was muffled but still slightly audible.

“What’s… Am I gonna get to ask anything after you guys are done with those...whatever they are? Shadows or something, I heard?"

“Well…” Mitsuru stalled, genuinely stumped by the question. The senior princes had talked about this before, right? Out of the corner of their eye they noticed another Prince, watching them from the top of a building then proceeding to fall off it as he laughed. Ouch. He didn’t seem hostile or harmed by the fall. A Moon Prince, perhaps? At least an ally hopefully. Mitsuru spied some Shadows further ahead that they could definitely use some assistance with.

“If I recall correctly, your memories of your time here will vanish as soon as you leave the Otherworld,” Mitsuru replied in a composed tone as they found a nice level spot to set the bubble down. They summoned their weapon to engage the shadows, “So to answer your query: probably not?”

Suddenly, a stray, rather loud, thought pierced through their anticipation.

'Honestly, has no one ever taught you manners?' an irritated voice that wasn’t Mitsuru’s spat, 'Hate the man, not the suit. You never dirty a gentleman's suit.'

Mitsuru whirled around, trying to find the source of the mental intrusion. They couldn’t spot anything that could have transmitted the thought messages. Unnerving. Unseen potential threats were unnerving. Ignoring the shadows down the road, Mitsuru once again picked the bubble up and made their way down a different route. It wasn’t long before they saw some more Shadows in their way and another telepathic message came through.

“Slow down, Smokey!”

Mitsuru froze in their tracks, internally sighing in dismay. It seemed that nickname was going to stick around. The senior Moon Princes had laughed and slapped Mitsuru on the back, calling them “Smokey” after they introduced their powers. A more important thing of note was that the voice was male. That ruled out the chance of it being a witch attack. Mitsuru turned to greet the new arrival but was faced with nothing. They turned back to find a fellow Moon Prince had already dispatched the lesser Shadows and constructed a sort of shelter with his magic cards. Ah, so he was the Prince of Tricks.

Without further delay, Mitsuru carried the bubble into the safe zone before exhaling from exertion and relief. It was nice to finally have a small break.

“Thank you for the assistance,” they bowed after setting the bubble down once more, “I’m quite new to this so please forgive the inconvenience.”

The sound of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" plays through my over ear headphones. I watch as the people in the street go about their daily lives thinking what it must be like to have such close personal realations with others. I close my eyes imagining myself in front of a stage conducting "The Nutcracker" as a world renowned conducter, using most of my proceeds to help contribute to my current oprhange and ensure they get the ability to study music to help them escape reality. This vision is quickly interupted as I feel a cool vibration I've only ever felt a very few times before.

"Shadows? Here? This would be so much easier if it was more than just me..." I look around for a secluded area and find a narrow dark alleyway. "There!" I casually walk towards the alleyway hoping that no one could see or follow me. Quickly slipping my down my pocket and pulling out my new conducters baton that is currently both cool and vibrating. "Alright here it goes" I exhale, nervous, worried, but knowing what must be done. I begin to conduct as i did those nights ago and just as before the baton transforms, taking over me and controlling my motions. A rhapsody of water and magic swirls around my body as i take new form in a pure white conductors out with sapphire accents and silver crown.

"Capriccio!" Two pools of water form beneath my feet as i jet up to the top of the building to look for the distortion field. "Alright not too far. Capriccio" I jet towards the field thats only a block away. When I near the field I see more shadows than ever before. There is a swarm of them and in the midst of it all is a bubble that seems to be moving, a magician chasing after the bubble, and two boys one with the power of what seems to be roses and another with a squirt gun. "These shades must be priority i can see about the magician later" There's a pause as I contemplate how strange that sentence was. I grasp my baton firmly and make a slight swish in the shape of an arc. An arc of of ice appears from the bottom and top of his baton as a string of water connnect the two points to form a bow. A quiver full of arrows both made of ice appear on his back. "Watch your back!" I shoot an arrow at a shade appearing to the back of Flowers, dispersing the shadow. Three more arrows are released before i leap down the building changing my bow to a sword as I run it through another shade. "You ok? Also who are you?" *This guys presense feels weird, whats more why have i never seen these boys before* I stand by his side and hold my own against these deformed abominations in hopes that i can get some answers as to what i am, who they are, and what comes next.

Wachter stood in the open doorway of his house's back door. He removed his coal-stained apron and put on his jacket. He sat down as he pulled up his shoes, and switched them out with his work boots. He stood up, and turned back one more time as he called 'Bye Father, I'm heading out for a stroll.' He waited a moment to hear his fathers affirmitive grunt, before he stepped onto the moonlight street below, shutting the door behind him.

Wachter made sure he walked a good two blocks from his house, before he transformed. A white glowing circle appeared beneath him. His entire body was transformed into an entire silhouette of light. When it faded, his clothes shifted from a worn jacket and stained pants to gleaming iron armor. He took a step back, and pulled his divine blade Eisen from the center of the circle, before it faded.
Crap, he thought. That was bound to ring the dinner bell for a few straggling shadows. He clutched his blade as he marched down the street. He had no idea exactly where any hotspots were in this city for shadows tonight, until he stepped off his street. He detected a large battle not too far away, but there were already a few princes there. There was a civilian, but judging by how he felt him and another Cosmic Prince moving away at a fast speed, he wasn't needed there. No, instead, he felt something faint, yet equally dreadful, near the outskirts. Once he left his street, he began jogging. A pathetic sight among other princes, he knew, but he couldn't sprint and become a winded meal for whatever Shadows were doing god knows what.

As Wachter ran through a crosswalk, he grabbed a map and opened it. The energy signature was coming from... The city's SDF base. What would Witches, much less Shadows, need with Ammo and Firearms? He didn't know what they were planning, but he knew it would endanger people.

He reached the base in half an hour. He visually struggled as he climbed over the high concrete wall, and hit the ground on the other side with a loud thud. He stood up and brushed himself off. Already, he saw dozens of men running in panic on the grounds as shadows spilled from the largest building, some of which chased behind them. Wachter held his sword up high, as white energy enveloped it. Right before the first Shadow was in arms reach of him, he unleashed it, killing it and several of the shadows behind it. The signature was strongest in the building they came from, meaning either a Witch or her Familiar was inside there. He found the dragon's lair, now he had to slay it.

@Baklava

Aww Jumani had done it again, he forgot that that calling out Leins' name is entirely forbidden when they're fighting and transformed, revealing each others identity can be very detrimental if their identity gets revealed to the wrong person. How he could forget that nobody can figure out who they are in a transformed state was beyond his own teammate. Even someone who shifts form as little as Jumani can't be easily recognised. With a small flick on the forehead, Jumani was chastised with good reason. (upuu.. That one really hurt compared tot he last one, Lein-kun must be severely angered about something...) Rubbing his forehead Jumani apologised with his whole heart on the line. Jumani believes he could do nothing worse than disappoint his teammates, he'd only recently befriended Kim, despite how much Jumani would testify to their closeness, their friendship was really only on the rocks after just being crafted some time ago. He places Kim on high pedestal and would love nothing more to become as strong as him, being able to waste shadows into nothing with a single strike.

Following his eyes, Kim seemed to looking at somebody in the area, turning around Jumani didn't catch the person but saw his bubble barrier fly off with the civilian still inside. Awe struck, Jumani had no idea his bubbled could fly, that was of course until he barely noticed the figure carrying it away. Cupping his hands to his mouth Jumani shouted towards his bubble. "Thankyou for taking to the cover! Captain and myself will attend to the baddies here!" Whilst Jumani was distracted by the bubbles' mysterious courier, a shadow began to fester and bubble, shaping it's malformed body into existence to the side of Jumani whom was blissfully unaware at the time. From up above came his captain, destroying the shadow in one single strike. In awe Jumani was amazed, but he could see the fire burning in Kims' eyes, something had must have angered him. On command he aided Kim in the battle. Firing bullet to the sky, raining bullets of magical raining, striking the shadows from above, these small assaults would stun lager foes, giving Kim a chance to defeat them faster.

"Worry nort captain! I shall cover you like honey syrup that can't be washed off"

Alexander flicked the last card into place, sealing off the circle. With a quick nod to the other prince, he reached up to tap Smokey’s forehead lightly. A softly glowing pink dot appeared and a hushed click in the back of his head signaled the established bond. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them excitedly. A grin spread across his face.

‘Fantastic! The link is set. Now you just have to think and we can talk to each other!’ He turned to look at the bubble thoughtfully, ‘Organization is key to success in a fight and the first step is getting the high ground. This bubble is going to slow us down.’ He drew three cards and slashed the bubble until it popped, reaching in to grab the boy before he fell. He looked a tad younger than Alexander and more than a little confused, though an odd glint in the civilian’s eyes made Alexander pause. Is that… excitement? Alexander pondered to himself but shook it off. No matter now. He snatched up the boy’s collar and slammed him against the barrier, eyes narrowing.

‘Listen here pretty boy. If you value your life, you listen to everything that comes out of my mind. That’s the only thing getting you-” Alexander’s face twitched and he started chuckling silently before releasing the boy. ‘Sorry, sorry! Always wanted to stick the tough guy routine but never can really. But seriously, listen to me if you want to survive. And don’t worry too much about everything; you’ll forget it all when you leave.’ Alexander flipped out a ramp and zipped up it, dragging the civilian up by the hand. He laid a flat card out thirty feet up and motioned for Smokey to follow.

‘Quickly Smokey! We’ll put together a quick plan up here and methodically obliterate…’ His thought trailed off as he glanced back at the Petal Prince. He stopped to deal with a few mob of shadows a block away it seemed but what caught his interest was the magical power that had appeared. It was definitely a Moon prince but they had launched themselves into the fray. Right next to the Lord of Thorns. On an "extra prickly' night. ‘By the heavens, doesn’t the boy have ANY preservation instincts?’ the though growled across Smokey’s bond. He tipped his hat off his head and concentrated on the new prince as it rolled down his arm before flipping it up with a flick of his fingers and caught it in his other hand. With a twist of his wrist, he snatched the new prince from inside his hat and threw a card through. The new prince landed on his feet a few feet away and Alexander whirled around before poking the new boy’s head hard, bringing him into the link between himself and Smokey.

'I'm trying really hard not to believe you're suicidal. Never ever go near a sun prince, especially that one, without backup. You're more likely to end up in a gutter somewhere than helping.' Alexander looked him over and sighed. A civilian and a crazy prince. The only way to make tonight more complicated would be a Witch and that was the last thing he wanted right now. He rubbed at his neck gently. His magic needed a rest. He used a lot on that last teleport.

No sooner had Smokey mentioned inevitable memory loss than a voice rang out in Lucas's mind. Not his voice. That was the perturbing part. This overlapped with the terrifying visage of Flowers dashing briefly after the two of them on a wave of vines and, well, flowers before encroaching shadows forced him to turn his attention elsewhere.

'Honestly, has no one ever taught you manners?' the unknown speaker (thinker?) grouched as Lucas looked left and right from inside his bubble, hunting for the direction of the voice even as he immediately realized there was no physical interpretation of the sound. 'Hate the man, not the suit. You never dirty a gentleman's suit.'

He hadn't even grasped what was going on before Smokey decided it wasn't worth the hassle of stopping. Lucas's makeshift pack mule proceeded forward with him in tow before stopping abruptly again, this time looking behind in exasperated acknowledgement of another arrival who quickly diced apart several nearby shadows with cards expertly wielded like knives.

Only when the giant cards raised into a barrier around them did Lucas finally put two and two together to realize this was probably the same guy who had been flitting through the sky earlier on the giant card.

"--quite new to this so please forgive the inconvenience."

He caught the last bit of Smokey's comment to Cardshark and turned back to focus on the two of them. "New"? So there was some kind of rolling recruitment process for something like this? As Cardshark sealed up the barrier and tapped a glowing pink dot on Smokey's forehead, the two of them looked completely at ease in the warped environment, behaving and setting up as if there was nothing more natural than what they were currently doing. Lucas opened his mouth to ask something despite his earlier reservations, but for the second time that day someone turned their weapons on him, this time in the form of magically sharp cards. He reflexively leaned away from the location Cardshark started slicing at, but there was no denying his simmering desire to actually get closer once the attacks had abated.

Cardshark caught Lucas just as the bubble and its levitating effect dissipated, and Lucas suddenly found himself pinned to the newly erected card wall as the source of the thoughts turned out to be Cardshark himself. Despite the slight pain in his shoulder blades from the sudden impact, he couldn't help his fascination at hearing a voice while the other boy's lips didn't move a millimeter.

Surreal.

And that did it. Lucas snorted with a quick laugh that he tried to cover up. Picasso painting monsters, an alternate reality or something just as bad, and it was the magical ventriloquist that finally made him think the word.

His laugh matched the timing of Cardshark's chuckle, and Lucas let the misunderstanding remain, preferring to zero in on yet another "second" of the day--losing his memories, something Cardshark was also bringing up.

But it made sense. If this happened frequently and Lucas had simply forgotten about every other incident, it stood to reason that there was no point in wasting time asking or answering questions. He let Cardshark lead him up the ramp and stood by silently while some kind of meeting took place.

From this viewpoint, he had a solid angle on everything that was happening on the battlefield, from Roses and Water Guns fending off shadows not far from them to another of these magically gifted teenagers (at least, they looked like teenagers) shaping water with precise movements of a conductor's baton and blasting through more shadows.

Cardshark was apparently talking to Smokey, though Lucas wasn't privy to that particular channel. He sighed a bit in frustration as the battle raged around him--useless, but wanting to be useful. Or something like "useful" but with a bit less sensibility attached.

A fluid motion from Cardshark caught Lucas's eyes and he almost stepped off the platform in surprise as Maestro popped up right in front of their group, seemingly conjured from the inside of Cardshark's top hat. The magician/card dealer took on a lecturing stance as he faced the boy with the conductor's baton and Lucas almost wished he could listen in on what they were saying, as unrelated as he was to the situation.

Instead, he shuffled away from the edge of the raised platform and tried to remain as unobtrusive as possible, eyeing the twitching, sliding, jerking, twisting, shadows below them. They were safe at their height, for now, but he could see a few masses of shadows starting to clump together into a suspiciously tower-like structure. Something in him itched to reach out and...strike them? But with what? A vestige of a memory that was his and simultaneously not his flickered dimly at the back of his mind, but a guttural rasping noise from one of the shadows directly below the platform shook Lucas from his thoughts.

"Guys?" he pointed at the shadows trying to coordinate themselves upwards.

@Achronum@banjoanjo@Trainerblue192

As I continue to fend off these abhorrent creatures I begin to wonder it there will ever be an end to them for there seems to be a greater number than I'm used to seeing. Ok concentrate. Keep my stance wide and my body lowered. Dodge, parry, strike, Dodge parry, strike. UGH! But why's he have to do it with his hand behind his back?! I glance over at Flowers as i see him fight effortlessly all while having one hand behind his back. Watch this then I think to myself as i place my hand behind my back almost challenging both myself and this man for no real reason. Just as soon as i do this i pull in my frozen rapier readying for a strike when suddenly I'm not there. I find myself on a rooftop about skewer what is either a master poker player or a street performer. DISSIPATE I yell in my mind before i hurt this kid, and just like that my frozen rapier dissipates and melts away leaving only my baton.


The strange man pokes me hard against my forehead and there's a bright pink flash as I hear 'I'm trying really hard not to believe you're suicidal. Never ever go near a sun prince, especially that one, without backup. You're more likely to end up in a gutter somewhere than helping.' inside my head. Well if he's not a poker one way he's a poker the other, *sigh* guess i didn't just develop a way to teleport just now. I stare him straight in the eyes both in amazement and anger as not only does this mean there are others like me but he also pulled me out of a fight that needs to be fought, but why? "Woah woah woah slow down. Whats a sun prince? because he's clearly some form of gardener so maybe garden prince? Also why would i be suicidal to help him? why do i need back up to fight along side what could be comrades at arms? Who are you? And lastly why did you pull me out of the fight?" I snap at the man...heh, me...snapping at someone thats new. But I need answers and im going to get them from one of these people tonight. I look around, there's what might be a "prince of soot sprites" and..."prince of teaching?" maybe just a civilian i mean they cant all have powers. I'm out numbered, there's no shadows and i've just noticed i never came up with a cool superhero name for my secret identity. I begin to realize that although these two have powers they feel nothing like the two i met down the way, theyre almost...friendlier in a way.

Suddenly the civilian speaks "Guys?" as he points to a mass of shadows attempting to make their way up the platform that upon furthernotice seems to be a giant card. Guess the answers will have to wait. I begin to orchestrate as i did before in an arced motion creating water that will sheath my baton like a bow and freeze and then a string of water connecting the bows end for finish. Reaching behind me i grab a few arrows so i have them at the ready for shot after shot. I load one and aim carefully at a shadow and shoot. The mass of of discordant sight bursts as black goo splatters on the ground. I release two more into two other shadows each with the same result. The last one i hold i pull with all my might as i say "It's curtain call" it's curtain call? really? thats the best i could think of on the spot? alright new list need a cool name and cool phrases. The extra might from the pull allows for the arrow to make its way through every shadow in a straight line down the building, which admittedly was only about 4 but hey still good. I grab some more arrows as i see that this may be a long night and there may be more to this magic than i know.

"ʜᴍ?" Jinx lifted her head, cocking it to the side as her eyes peered off into the unseen. She placed her hands firmly on the edge of the bowl and kicked her feet off of a candy bar, allowing herself to flip over the side and land soundlessly on the ground. Without moving, she zoomed through the colorful plants, past the giant dolls, and in front of the seven base workers she had been toying with. Her crimson red pigtails slowly floated back down to her sides as she came to a stop, smiling at the men. Some of them tripped and toppled over each other as they slid to a halt.

"ƒυη'ѕ σνєя, вσуѕ," she sighed melodically, extending her hands as two massive, gloved hand replicas appeared on either side of the men. With a quick, side swiping motion, one hand snatched all the men up and deftly tossed them up into the air. A deafening boom echoed across the fields of Jinxtopia as the two hands came together, the seven screaming sissies smashed into silence in the center of the two massive palms, along with a satisfying squish.

The bubble popped and the seven men, who had previously been aiming their guns at Jinx in a half circle, were sent flying onto their backs. Leo quickly swooped in and swallowed up the weapons which had been dropped. The workers were slow to get up, evidently pondering where they were or how they were still alive. Jinx proceeded to ignore them, hopping on top of Leo's back and squeezing his neck in a tight hug. "уσυ'яє ѕυ¢н α gσσ∂ вσу!" she cooed, leaning forward to kiss his head. She then turned to see the shadows bubbling up from behind the men as they rubbed their heads and looked about the flame engulfed room.

The shadows began to take shape, nervously stomping two pairs of massive feet each, which stuck to the floor like gigantic pegs coated in black honey. "ι ℓιкє тнєѕє σηєѕ," Jinx smiled as Leo turned to face them. Seven long backhoes protruded from mammoth bodies which were entirely covered in needle-like spikes. The backhoes themselves were deceiving in shape. They pulsated and seemed more consistently solid-- like armored throats. Within the scoop-like ends, one would notice a deep tunnel of spinning black teeth mixed with blades-- like a deadly garbage disposal.

Leo floated up to one of the broken windows as one of the shadow creatures proceeded to scoop up two of the men. Their terrified pleas for help were kept brief before being ended with the sound of shredded flesh and bone, coupled with the terrified screaming of the other men as a thick red rain splashed across the floor before them. Even so, the blaring alarms and crackling flames prevented the sounds from reaching the ears of the Prince outside, whom Jinx peered at through the smokey window with such excitement she was practically bouncing out of her seat.

She glanced down at the seven massive shadows. "ℓєт'ѕ gσ ѕαу нι тσ συя ηєω ηєιgнвσя," she chimed, flying Leo down toward the back of the room, "αη∂ ι тнιηк ιт'∂ вє яυ∂є ιƒ ωє ∂ι∂η'т вяιηg тнєѕє gυуѕ ωιтн υѕ, тσσ." She jumped up to stand on Leo's back as the pair slowly floated forward. She held her arms out at her sides, a dark purple fire ball glowing ominously in each hand. The shadows turned their deadly mouths in her direction before stomping away in fear towards the large hallway that led towards the door. The men below scrambled to get out of the way. A crackling squish signaled one's inability to do so.

As the seven shadows neared the too-small door, she kneeled forward to dig around in Leo's mouth, proceeding to clumsily pull out a large rocket launcher, which kept snagging on his teeth.

Fump.... BANG!

A massive explosion sent the front corner of the building where the doors were located crashing and crumbling as Jinx flew backwards, nearly falling off of Leo. The front of her bangs were slightly singed as she scrambled back onto him. "ωσωєє," she chirped, "тнαт'ѕ gσт ѕσмє кι¢к!"

The seven shadows barreled forward toward the Prince of Iron like seven mighty, long necked stallions of doom. Or that's how Jinx hoped it looked, as she currently couldn't see anything through the smoke and dust. The creatures pawed-- pegged?-- the ground anxiously as they surrounded the Prince. Having patted the fire out of her hair, Jinx and Leo slowly floated out of the smoke and into view. The pair floated there enigmatically for a moment, the flames behind casting a faint orange glow along their darkened silhouettes.

"нι тнєяє!" Jinx waved and smiled, instantly shattering the austere mood, "му ηαмє'ѕ נιηχ!"

Wachter continued slaying several shadows that dare approach him. He had purchased himself to pull out a grindstone and sharpen Eisen, and watched the scenes around him. Most of the buildings were untouched. Glancing back, he saw few of the workers only just start evacuating at the sight of their fleeing comrades.

Suddenly...

Fump... BANG!

Wachter saw a smoking hole appear in the main building's corner. He saw seven shadows leap from it and charge at him.

Wachter watched as the seven Shadows formed a circle around him. He gripped Eisen with his armored hand, preparing to fight. He begun to charge Eisen's energy, preparing for an all-around blast, preparing to eradicate them in gleaming iron magic. Just as Wachter was about to release it, his concentration was shattered by the annoyingly chipper voice of a girl. "нι тнєяє!" Wachter looked up, and saw a silhouette of a girl, floating in mid air, "му ηαмє'ѕ נιηχ!"

She appeared to be riding a massive reptile. Visible anatomy would suggest that it was a fish. Wachter wasn't certain, biology never held his attention for longer than a minute. If something was a dog, it was a dog. If it was a cat, it was a cat.

Knowing most Witches had foolish behavior, he let his guard down, knowing she would most likely gloat about the predicament then kill him without a word. ' I suppose you're the ringleading Witch behind this attack, "Jinx".' Wachter glared at the amused girl. ' What would one be doing at an arms base? You know normal humans hardly know of our existence, much less will they be able to fight us with guns.'

Wachter began charging Eisens magic once more, hoping she wouldn't notice his sword taking on a radiant gleam. He eyed the shadows surrounding him, and suddenly clenched Eisen with both hands, and stabbed it into the ground. A blast of radiant energy threw back the seven Shadows surrounding him, in a blinding beacon of white light.