@wxps350@Baklava




In an alleyway near the edge of the city limits, William wondered in his lonesome straying further and further away from the city and its suburbs. Passing through the streets he didn't even bat an eye at several stray shadows looming to find prey. William had no interest in stomping such weak 'threats' tonight, he rarely did. He was wearing a black trench coat over a grey shirt and black jeans. sporting as well a pair of black gloves on his hands. There didn't seem to be anyone active in the streets he walked in anyway. "This city is such a pain, thousands of ants but no lions to fight." He said to himself, but was quickly surprised at the sight of a sliver of black smoke in the distance. Raising an eyebrow, he investigated further into the outskirts of town, Leaping into the air as webbed, bat-like wings grew from his back, soaring into the air until he came across a strange building with a broken window where the smoke seemed to have come from. Outside of this building he could hear fighting and the fleeing of civilians. Something causing this much trouble was no ordinary shadow. Landing onto the roof of the factory he saw two strangers and a collection of shadows that were being slain. It didn't take a genius to know that the female was a witch, and it wasn't hard to tell that the other stranger was a moon prince.

William scoffed at the sight, almost chuckling to himself. He had no interest in a tag team fight, let alone work with those overachieving moon princes anyhow. Instead, he decided to watch. It wasn't so much the outcome that interested him, so much as it was amusing to watch someone as weak and pitiful as a moon prince to battle a witch. He didn't bother to hide his presence as he sat on the edge with his legs hanging down with one knee up for his right arm to rest upon. Watching the fight from above, his glowing crimson eyes illuminating partially in the night sky and watched from there, having no interest in interfering. Hell he'd probably let the witch go if she could kill him, only so that William could fight her without the disadvantage of her being exhausted from a fight prior on a later date.

"I suppose you're the ringleading Witch behind this attack, "Jinx.""

Jinx's smiled widened. She liked the way the handsome prince in the gleaming silver armor said her name. He was like a knight from a fairy tale, here to save the beautiful princess... from boredom.

"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."

She stared down at the shiny Prince and might've noticed the sudden glowing of his sword if the presence of yet another certain someone didn't give her cause to turn her head. It was another Prince! And this one had cool bat wings and glowing red eyes. A Demon Prince! she concluded gleefully. She smiled at him, her own eyes glowing gold back at him as she did so.

"ι ¢αη'т тєℓℓ уσυ, ѕнιηу ρяιη¢є~" Jinx giggled as if his question had been a joke. She turned back to face him, "ι--"

The Shiny Prince stabbed his pointy sword into the ground and a blast of light forced Jinx to cover her eyes. The shadow creatures tumbled and staggered backwards. "ωнσα!" Jinx exclaimed, clasping her hands together. The surrounding seven shadows began stomping their feet once again, lowering their strange 'heads' and whipping their tails aggressively.

"υн σн!" Jinx continued, lowering her hands into her lap, "ησω уσυ мα∂є тнєм мα∂."

The first of the seven creatures burst forward towards the Shiny Prince, lowering it's single backhoe-jaw to the ground in an attempt to scoop him up and grind him to bits. Jinx hurled two fire balls at the Prince's back side while the creature charged his front side, hoping to force the Shiny Prince to take the beast head on in some way.

Maestro was quick to take care of the shadows attempting to dogpile onto each other to create some disturbing version of a tower and Lucas was vaguely disappointed he couldn't have done anything to them himself. Something was tugging on his attention at the periphery of his consciousness--had been for a few minutes now. He couldn't exactly identify it. There was just a growing, restless urge to...step beyond himself? Something like that. If there was any buildup of the desire, it was painfully slow and Lucas had the sense nothing would really "work" tonight as far as his pathetic self was concerned. It was ridiculous. Even if he did listen to that insistent tug, he'd only succeed in dying. So why, then, was the sensation so persistent? This wasn't really him. He didn't mind things like this. Not to this extent.

"Look out below!" a voice from above scattered Lucas's focus to the winds as a tall, armored, sword wielding nutjob divebombed the group on the platform.

Lucas's initial thought as he scrambled to get out of the way was simply, What the fuck?!

He might have said it, too, if he had the breath to spare. He still might have said it after catching his breath, if Solaire and his jolly cooperation didn't barrel roll Lucas off the edge of the platform.

Now it's just too late to swear, Lucas figured as the shadows and the ground rushed up to meet him in slow motion, the speed of thought far outstripping anything gravity was capable of.

That tug at the back of his mind stopped tugging and simply subsumed him. In an instant, images, voices, and thoughts drowned him, the memories that were his and simultaneously not his unfolding rapidly in his mind's eye like someone was smoothing out pieces of crumpled paper where the creases of the pages mapped one disjoint memory to another.

Tears, laughter, regrets, love. None of them were strictly "his," but he couldn't deny the encompassing feeling that he was still irrevocably a part of them.

Muted skies and brilliant sunsets flashed before his eyes; he heard conversations with people he didn't recognize; he saw battles with creatures he couldn't understand.

And still the pages kept unfolding and Lucas could barely find his voice to scream.

A chain wrapped tightly around his throat, the spear-tipped ends trailing after him in the air like a noose had just been cut. The material was too smooth and pliable to be any kind of metal, and too cold to be any kind of cloth. The length of chain only constricted further at the thought process.

More chains materialized in the air around him, the appearances and motions rapid enough that they looked as if they had appeared all at once. It wasn't Lucas's careful realization that identified each motion as subsequent and distinct.

They circled around him in a writhing ball just as Lucas crashed into the ground, the impact splattering several shadows across the pavement. The protective barrier of chains instantly unwound itself and released its occupant, a strangely calm Lucas standing with his hands in his pockets and one chain still coiled around his throat. Dozens of chains sourced from small pocket dimensions that lined up in multiple columns along both sides of Lucas's spine. "He" laughed once, a brief "Hah" before one of the loosely floating chains pivoted and speared through his chest, dissipating as it made contact with him, the shattered remnants reshaping into a black trench coat lined with red and white stripes along its edge. Several more of the chains followed suit, stabbing at his hands, legs, and feet to form the rest of his outfit: white gloves, black slacks, and polished, black dress shoes.

The last chain, the one around his neck, repositioned its spear tip to face Lucas's forehead, then shot forward, faster than he could blink.

A featureless steel mask with two openings for eyes looked up at the metal-clad knight jumping into the fray after him. Then the mask looked away, resummoning the spent chains and whirling them in rapid cutting motions, mowing through the nearby shadows and then stabbing outwards, piercing through even more of them. A group of shadows lunged at the figure in the trench coat, only to meet the business end of the many chains that were now forming a phalanx of death against any charges.

Dress shoes tapping smartly against cement, the masked teenager walked towards one edge of the circular phalanx formation of chains, pointing two fingers like a gun at some distant target before a 30-meter dome burst into life at his unspoken directive, scattering broken blue lines of magic sporting serrations and crenelations like an abstract analog clock had been smashed beyond recognition. The many shadows caught in the circle suddenly found themselves trapped in the very center by an almost unstoppable pull and the chains broke formation to spear straight into the ground, emerging from the floor in a pillar at the center of the grouped shadows before the individual chains split off and spun in a circular motion like the blades of a blender, puréeing the mass of creatures into a chunky soup.

The area near the platform was now almost completely clear of shadows, with stragglers in the distance keeping their distance for the moment, shifting about warily.

The figure stumbled.

And Lucas was more aware of himself again. Almost all of the chains vanished instantly, leaving behind only two emerging from the very base of his neck. The field nearby fizzled away as well, a giant smear of shadows in its wake.

He had been suffocating somewhere beneath a plethora of "hims" that weren't truly him. Movements that he didn't know. Tricks that he had never seen before. Utility he had never even thought of. More than him. Too much more than him, and still the pages continued unfolding to his limit.

Lucas looked back at the platform, staggering and almost falling before one of the two remaining chains stabbed into the nearby floor, the slack snapping straight and holding him in place. Still not his command.

The second chain mimicked the movements of the first, and before Lucas could understand what was happening, the two chains were raising him like flexible stilts back up towards the platform, dropping him off gently at the edge where Solaire had accidentally shoved him off.

He fell to his knees, hands grasping at his chest as he struggled to breathe inbetween too many intellections that spanned beyond his meager understanding. The facets of thoughts and emotions threatened to break him, and just as his mind reached that tipping point, a clapping sound like a book slamming shut resounded throughout the wreckage of his mental state, sundering his connection to the innumerable fragments of recollections.

Everything disappeared. All gone. Even the memory of the myriad lives he had seen was fading fast--fading even faster as Lucas tried to think back on it. In a second, only the stark impression that he had just lost sight of a transpiercing dream (or was it a nightmare?) remained.

Lucas sucked in a deep breath, confused, exhausted, and feeling a profound sense of...loss. Like he had just forgotten something incredibly vital--something that should have been far too crucial to simply forget. Something that he had forgotten anyway. Even that notion was already slipping away as he thought it, leaving behind only the deepest fatigue he had ever felt in his life.

His trembling hands groped at the mask on his face, pulling it off and staring at it as his vision swam dangerously in front of him. It was immense and miniscule at the same time, the realization that he was a part of this, somehow.

The mask dropped from his hands as he lost consciousness and collapsed to the side. Several seconds later, the transformation vanished as well in a spray of broken blue lines.

@Achronum@Trainerblue192@banjoanjo@PapiTan

Wachter saw the girl turn her head. She still payed attention to him, however, as she said "ι ¢αη'т тєℓℓ уσυ, ѕнιηу ρяιη¢є~". She giggled as if his question had been a joke. Jinx turned back to face him, "ι--"

Wachter's attack threw her and her shadows off guard. The shadows tumbled backwards and the girl covered her face. What was she looking at? Wachter felt a Cosmic presence approaching; Another Prince, most likely. Whether they would be friend or foe wouldn't matter as long as the Witch needed to be stopped, right? Wachter watched as the Shadows stamped on the ground. Jinx giggled, almost ridiculing him, "υн σн! Nσω уσυ мα∂є тнєм мα∂.". Wachter saw one bound towards him, opening it's large mouth as if the beast expected a meal to be that easy.

Wachter held Eisen sideways, manipulating the Iron Magic inside of it. Eisen became sharper, and much longer, almost like a crude hybrid made between a Lance and a Sword. Eisen then gripped his blade with two hands and thrust forward into the beasts gaping jaw with a shout of conviction, completely impaling the beast. Wachter looked into the giant red eyes of the Shadow with hardly an arms length between them as it started slowly dissipating into nothingness. Wachter almost grinned at his small victory, but heard a loud *CRUNK*.

He saw a large crack in Eisen.

Wachter almost slapped his brow for being so careless with his weapon. Again. Stretching Eisen to such a long length and trying to hoist the shadow off the ground as it leapt were both foolish decisions. He still had to deal with six more shadows, a Witch, and her familiar, and his sword was already cracked. If he didn't want it to completely shatter, Wachter would have to resort to just sword skill.

And yet, he shouldn't have to be in such a situation. Wachter felt the princes energy extremely close now. He looked up to a nearby roof--

And saw a black haired person just sitting there, watching the fight go down. Wachter could tell he was a Solar Prince at this point. Content to just watching the battle go down, too damn prideful to put aside any ego's. Wachter cleared this throat.

"Lend me your aid, you cowardly welp!"

@Baklava@dragonmancer

@wxps350@Baklava

William didn't offer no return smile to the witch, he cared little for her games. At least for now anyway. The prince watched, though the bright flash momentarily blinded him, his vigil returned when it faded, and he was amused at watching the moon prince over powered. Annoyed at the moon prince's tone as he asked for his assistance. "Call me a coward again and I'll do the witch's job for her." I stared coldly before my prideful side showed over. "This isn't my fight, if you truly are a proper prince, you should be able to handle this on your own." His arms crossed, crimson orbs analyzing the six shadows, a witch, and what appeared to be a monster of a familiar barely visible.

Needless to say, he was generally curious. At first he might have decided to help him if he was going to surely die, but after being insulted so, the odds of that decision slimmed. In fact now he would be much for satisfied in watching the witch slaughter the Prince desperate for aid in his own battle. A cocky and cruel smirk formed on his face as he spoke again. "If you can't handle the most basic jobs of us princes then you should have just stayed home, or at the very least stick to small-time shadows."

Raucous laughter rang out as the shadow disappeared around the Shiny Prince's sword.

"тнαт... ωαѕ αмαzιηg!" Jinx applauded.

"нανє уσυ ρℓαує∂ тнιѕ gαмє вєƒσяє? ωнαт'ѕ уσυя ηαмє? αяє тнєяє мσяє ρяιη¢єѕ вєѕι∂єѕ уσυ αη∂ вαтмαη σνєя тнєяє? ωнαт'ѕ нιѕ ηαмє? нσω мαηу ρяιη¢єѕ αяє нєяє? нσω αяє уσυ gσηηα кιℓℓ тнє σтнєя ѕιχ ѕнα∂σωѕ αℓℓ ву уσυяѕєℓƒ? ∂σ уσυ тнιηк уσυ ¢αη ∂σ ιт? ∂ι∂ уσυ ησтι¢є уσυя ѕωσя∂ ¢яα¢к נυѕт ησω? ¢αη уσυ ƒιχ ιт? ωну'∂ уσυ ѕтαв ιт ℓιкє тнαт? ωну ∂ι∂η'т уσυ ѕтαв ιт ιη тнє тυмму? ι ωσυℓ∂'νє ѕтαввє∂ ιт ιη тнє тυмму. αяє уσυ gєттιηg нυηgяу? уσυ ωαηηα σя∂єя α ριzzα?"

As Jinx giddily prattled on, the Shiny Prince called out to Batman for help-- though whether he was requesting help with the shadows or her incessant babbling had yet to be seen.

"Call me a coward again and I'll do the witch's job for her. This isn't my fight, if you truly are a proper prince, you should be able to handle this on your own."

Jinx once again turned her attention towards the Prince with the bat wings. She sat forward, frowning and furrowing her brow as she thought for a moment. "נσв?" she muttered to Leo, "συя σηℓу נσв ιѕ тσ нανє ƒυη! ...ιѕη'т тнαт яιgнт, вσу?" She ruffled the shadowy dinosaurs nonexistent fur on his head.

"If you can't handle the most basic jobs of us princes then you should have just stayed home, or at the very least stick to small-time shadows."

For the sake of prolonging her game, Jinx hoped Batman was paying attention as she hopped to her feet on top of Leo and bent her legs, launching herself towards the rooftop. The crisp night air whipped through her pigtails as she flew, not unlike a comet. Cones of purple fire spun at the soles of her shoes, propelling her forward. Landing a good several yards behind the part of the roof Batman occupied, Jinx smiled widely.

"нι! му ηαмє'ѕ נιηχ," her hands became engulfed in amethystine colored flame, "тнє вєѕт ραят σƒ му gαмєѕ ιѕ тнαт єνєяуσηє gєтѕ тσ ρℓαу, ѕιℓℓу! ℓσѕєя ραуѕ ƒσя ριzzα! _{ιƒ тнєу ∂ση'т ∂ιє ƒιяѕт....}"

"яєα∂у... ѕтαят!" she exclaimed before proceeding to hurl several tire-sized purple fireballs in William's direction.

In the meantime, three of the six shadows stampeded towards Wachter from all sides. If only there was a way to slay them that wasn't so hard on his blade....

MITSURU SAZANAMI - PRINCE OF SMOKE

Mitsuru rubbed their forehead where the Trickster Prince had tapped them, somewhat expecting a rabbit or something of a similar whimsical sort to suddenly appear. But nope, it was just a telepathic link. Mitsuru kept an eye on the civilian as Trickster teleported another Moon Prince up with them, some sort of orchestra conductor themed Prince. The frazzled lad looked faintly familiar. Did he attend Yagami High too? As the new arrival asked his multitude of questions (the guy was even more experienced than Mitsuru, wow) Mitsuru spied the Shadows clumsily trying to climb to their height. Following the Music Prince’s example, Mitsuru converted their weapon to bow form, unloading a few arrows into the approaching Shadows. They missed a fair few shots though. Mitsuru made themself a mental note to keep practicing with the bow. All in all, everything seemed to be going well. Then a weight dropped out of nowhere, shaking the platform and toppling the civilian onto the ground below. Mitsuru stared for a second in disbelief. What the hell just happened?

After shooting the sheepish newcomer a dirty look, Mitsuru threw themself off the platform, dissipating into smoke form for maximum speed. They made it to the ground first, a few seconds before the civilian was expected to. Then it happened. The civilian transformed. Into a Sun Prince of all things. A million thoughts raced through Mitsuru’s mind.

Was he pretending this whole time? Was he on some sort of infiltration mission for his Sun Prince comrades? Who the hell was this guy? One thing was clear. Mitsuru despised this guy, for his lies and trickery. Of course the Sun Princes would stoop as low as this! Now that they thought back to it, Mitsuru first found the civilian next to the Sun Princes. It was all starting to make sense.

The civilian landed safely back onto the platform before reverting back from transformation, as if the bastard was hoping that his cover wasn’t blown. Then he proceeded to collapse. Oh no, Mitsuru was having none of that nonsense. Mitsuru changed back into smoke form, hurriedly soaring back up.

“Sun Prince,” Mitsuru hissed, grabbing the faker by the shirt. The bastard was out cold. Mitsuru swore internally, forgetting the mental link that allowed the Prince of Tricks to hear their thoughts. Interrogating and/or beating the hell out of this pretender was out of the question now, since he was unconscious. It would go against the Moon Prince code, or what Mitsuru assumed was the code.

“What do we do with him now, Trickster?” Mitsuru practically growl-thought to their senior, “This bastard probably thought he could mess around with us by playing civilian. I say we return him to those Sun Pricks. Pitch him like a baseball.”

After asking for their next course of action, Mitsuru turned and glared at the newcomer Prince, the one who had leapt down with them.

“And you,” they snarled, pushing an accusing finger into the idiot’s metal-plated chest, “Watch where you’re bloody going next time.”

What a bloody buffoon. That sort of carelessness could have cost a civilian’s life. Ugh, at least this idiot’s out-of-nowhere appearance exposed the lying rat. Could have been worse.

@PapiTan @Achronum

@wxps350@Baklava

William watched as the witch approached him, his eyes narrowed at her annoyance. He was practically giving her the benefit of leaving her alone. Her insane nature became clear as she spoke to him.
Williams eyes widened in surprise before he was engulfed in odd colored flames, the explosions blasting him back from the roof and falling onto the ground with his clothes burning with residue of the witch's fire. Strangely, the flames themselves didn't burn his skin, though the force did bruise him a bit.

"You little.." He muttered in frustration as he took to the air, flying above the roof and glaring down upon her as he rested to a hover. "I'll wipe that grin off your face!" He shouted as he took off the glove of his left hand, then aimed that arm down towards her. His hand would rapidly morph, skin turning to plated scales and horns, eyes forming on what is now a large head of a dragon that was once a hand. The monstrous head would let out a roar before red flames grew from it's throat and sprayed the fire down upon her from above.

“Look out below!”

Alexander whipped around as the armored prince came hurtling down and sent the civilian flying off his card. What was with toni- The though cut off half way as the supposed civilian transformed and hauled himself back up to the platform. The boy collapsed and Alexander just blinked. It took a moment for everything to set in. The boy’s confusion was plain to tell and well who wouldn’t be. But the universe just had to have its fun. Right now. No witch sure. Instead, a newly realized sun prince. Alexander’s mouth hardened as Smoky snatched the front of the boy’s shirt and practically snarled.

It reminded him of his first transformation. Thankfully, two other moon princes had been around to help. The exhilaration as magic flooded his veins seemed to make the night all the more beautiful. Moonlight waltzing with the soft glow of city night, a cool breeze carrying a scent of flowers above the rooftops, the sound of cars and people passing below. The two helping him learn the ropes told him to stay in the area while they checked out a recently manifested field. They encouraged him to spread his magical wings so to say but not to stray too far away. He teleported eagerly across the small rooftop while flipping cards out in random patterns.

Boredom quickly set in. He roamed further and further away from the original point, teleporting aimlessly around just because he could. That’s when he first encountered the sun princes. He tried to stay hidden, watching them kill off a few shadows, but they noticed him almost immediately. A voice in the back of his mind whispered run and he bolted as quickly as he could. The two hooted and hollered, practically dancing around the inexperienced Moon Prince, thoroughly enjoying the chase before tackling him down mid jump. Apparently, the pair decided their job was to educate Moonies who wandered into their turf. The lesson didn’t leave his skin for several days after that. Thank the heavens for concealer. It would have been awkward to explain to his Mom.

He looked down at the kid thoughtfully. They could do the same but it wouldn’t really have the same impact. The sun princes would probably just mock the poor kid and Alexander wasn’t really into beating the stuffing out of someone that didn’t deserve it. Alexander clucked his tongue disapprovingly at the situation. What could he do that… An idea flickered through his mind. A cold, wicked smile unfurled across his lips.

‘I’ll deal with this Smokey. I have the perfect idea in mind.’ Alexander purred across the link. He picked the boy up gently and looked around. Most of the shadows cleared out, the remaining princes could probably handle the situation themselves. He felt a small twinge of guilt as he watched the conductor but this was an opportunity he couldn’t give up. A trickster couldn’t keep his throne without some surprises after all. He’d just have to deal with this tomorrow.

‘Alrighty listen up Smokey, Conductor. You should have enough to deal with the remaining shadows but I recommend moving away from the Lord of Thorns down there. Seems to be extra prickly tonight.’ He flitted off to a nearby roof top. Weaker than most princes, Alexander was still stronger than a normal person and this waif of a boy didn’t weigh much to begin with. ‘The bond will drop once I’m out of the area and my cards will as well. However, we need to have a discussion. Meet outside the front entrance of Yagami High at the end of the school day and we’ll head over to my house. We’ll have some privacy away from the eyes of prying Sun Princes.’ With that, Alexander sped off across the rooftops. He didn’t want Petal Prince noticing their absence anytime soon.

@banjoanjo @Trainerblue192 @PapiTan @January

---

---

The glint of rose tinted steel pierced through the mass of Shadows as Kim danced around them. There was a certain rhythm to the way he fought; precise yet firm footwork and a heavy stance guiding his way through each attack. The Shadows screeches was the only thing Kim could hear aside from his own heartbeat. He was still worked up over the Moon Princes kidnapping that civilian and needed an outlet for his anger. Thankfully, Shadows made for excellent punching bags. Thrusting his sword forward, Kim sent it flying across the street to pierce a Shadow through what looked to be a baby dolls plastic head. The eyes of the creepy thing went black before it erupted into a mass of goop. Another Shadow, this one covered in rotten fish heads and porcupine needles, saw that Kim was without a weapon and dove in for an attack. This attempt was quickly met with a sharp uppercut from the angry young man.
Like I said, great punching bags. His satisfaction with pummeling Shadows with his bare hands quickly faded when he felt a sharp sting in his right hand. Bringing it up in front of his face, Kim took notice of many shallow cuts along his arm and wrist. Perhaps punching the prickly shadows wasn't his smartest idea.

"Hey, mind patching me up man?" He looked over to Salve, who was already providing excellent support by keeping the mass of Shadows distracted and stunned for Kim to deal with. The two of them had quite a lot of synergy together, Salve's supportive nature giving Kim that extra edge he needed to take on the tougher foes. Everyone always got the impression that Kim was incredibly strong because he could mow down waves of Shadows effortlessly, but truthfully that was just how his magic worked. Average power spread out over a wide distance. He lacked the ability to condense it to a single point, which made it almost impossible for him to deal with opponents at his level or above on his own. Thankfully these Shadows were child's play.

Kim had been too focused on his pain that he did notice one of the straggling Shadows making it's way up behind him for a sneak attack. Thankfully, a swift arrow from above made short work of it. More Shadows began to creep out from the depths of the alleyways, snarling with hunger at the sight of the two Princes. Kim braced himself for the next fight, but was instead met with another Prince dropping down to deal with the group of Shadows.
"You ok? Also who are you?" The boy asked, leaving Kim dumbfounded. Something seemed off about him. His Magical Presence was similar to that of a Moon Prince. So why would he be here helping Salve and Kim out? Before Kim could address him, he was seemingly teleported away in a fashion that reeked of the Trickster Prince.

"This night just keeps getting weirder." Kim thought aloud, walking over to Salve before giving him a friendly clap on the back. "Hey, good work. Having you around makes things a lot easier. Now, if you wouldn't mind," Kim lifted up his injured hand with a grin, "I kind of got carried away back there! Sorry." Kim looked up to where he thought the other Moon Princes were, only to find that they and the civilian were gone. Cursing under his breath, Kim spat at the ground in disdain.
"I swear if they hurt that kid I'll punch their teeth out. Let's go, Salve. We're not gonna be able to track them easily with Shadow the Hedgehog around so we may as well just keep hunting. We'll have to search for them sometime else."

---

---

The Otherworld had set over the city nicely and Phantom was intent on enjoying the show as much as she could. Her visage danced in the twisted moonlight, gowns blowing ethereally with the wind. It was almost as if there was no one underneath at all. Even against the sky, Phantom went unnoticed by all below her. It was a unique talent of hers; to slip out of existence at will. Here she could observe as much as she wanted whilst only being a shadow in the corner of ones eye. Yet even this form had its disadvantages. That crippling feeling of nothingness threatened to drag her soul into the void each time she shifted between planes of reality. Not to mention she lacked the ability to interfere with the world around her. Quite bothersome.

Phantom spent the evening admiring the work of Shadows and observing the Princes below. From her vantage point she was able to see quite a large gathering of Cosmic Princes, including a civilian who had just transformed into one.
"A new Sun Prince? Beatrice will want to hear of this." She spoke to herself, when suddenly another magical presence caught her attention. Her gaze shifted to another Sun Prince, this one perched on a vantage point and sniping down Shadows. Not much of a socialite, perhaps? Curious, Phantom's body dissipated into thin air before re-materialising behind the Prince of Sun. Slipping out of the void, Phantom's sudden presence no doubt alerted him. Even so, she felt no need to be coy.
"Don't bother to draw your weapon against me, boy; I can be miles from here before you even have the chance to draw an arrow." Satisfied that she'd convinced Ivan to be peaceful for now, the Witch continued. "What's a handsome Sun Prince like you doing out of the spotlight? Not that I can blame you; operating from darkness is much more efficient." The brim of Phantom's witch hat was brought down low, completely covering her face from view. This combined with her elegant, purple robe gave off the impression of a possessed set of clothing rather than an actual person.

"нανє уσυ ρℓαує∂ тнιѕ gαмє вєƒσяє? ωнαт'ѕ уσυя ηαмє? αяє тнєяє мσяє ρяιη¢єѕ вєѕι∂єѕ уσυ αη∂ вαтмαη σνєя тнєяє? ωнαт'ѕ нιѕ ηαмє? нσω мαηу ρяιη¢єѕ αяє нєяє? нσω αяє уσυ gσηηα кιℓℓ тнє σтнєя ѕιχ ѕнα∂σωѕ αℓℓ ву уσυяѕєℓƒ? ∂σ уσυ тнιηк уσυ ¢αη ∂σ ιт? ∂ι∂ уσυ ησтι¢є уσυя ѕωσя∂ ¢яα¢к נυѕт ησω? ¢αη уσυ ƒιχ ιт? ωну'∂ уσυ ѕтαв ιт ℓιкє тнαт? ωну ∂ι∂η'т уσυ ѕтαв ιт ιη тнє тυмму? ι ωσυℓ∂'νє ѕтαввє∂ ιт ιη тнє тυмму. αяє уσυ gєттιηg нυηgяу? уσυ ωαηηα σя∂єя α ριzzα?"

Wachter felt his temple twitch in annoyance at his opponents relentless pestering. Perhaps this in itself was some form of abstract torment utilized by the Cosmic Witches. Suddenly, after a few choice words to each other, the Witch hurled several massive purple fireballs at the winged Solar Prince. As the Prince was consumed in the eldrict fires, they dissipated, leaving nothing. Wachter almost chuckled. Yet another Solar Prince's hubris had been their downfall. Or so Wachter thought.
"You little.." Wachter heard, "I'll wipe that grin off your face!"
The Solar Prince shot up high into the air, beating his batlike wings. His hand had turned into a dragon's head, which was aimed at Jinx, and shot a large beam of pure-red fire. The Witch was officially distracted. By provoking the Solar Prince, Wachter had bought himself some breathing space.

Some.

The six remaining Shadows roared as they bounded towards Wachter from all sides. He couldn't handle six of those beasts at once; Just to kill one, Eisen had to be cracked. Wachter pointed his swords downwards again, and thrusted it into the earth, blasting back all the Shadows again in a glorious white light. Wachter hopped forward. By moving his position, the Shadows were no longer an equal distance away from him. It broke him out of having to just buy more time with an attack that struck every Shadow at once. He could now strike at each Shadow as it approached him on a fixed schedule, dealing decent damage instead of constantly stalling his defeat.

‘Alrighty listen up Smokey, Conductor. You should have enough to deal with the remaining shadows but I recommend moving away from the Lord of Thorns down there. Seems to be extra prickly tonight.’ "My name is..." There was a long pause as I realized that these Prince's probably kept their identity secret and as should I. Though as i stand here watching this mad man leave i begin to think of what sort of a name a Prince even has? Best to keep my "name" silent till I've heard all of theirs. I look around and decide that the best place to jump to is just straight down to the few shadows that remain before this card disappears. "Capriccio" I jump up high into the air feeling the night air as it goes through my hair and brushes my face. 'Guess i should switch to sword stance now' I pull my blade in close as i prepare for a lunge downwards onto the shadows. As i fall down towards them sword aimed and ready to pierce i begin to wonder what he'd meant be Sun and Moon Princes and why it would matter. What did all of this have to do with him and what does it all mean. I hit the ground as i pierce through a few shadows that were piled up then swing my blade in front of me to clear a small area. 'I guess all that really matters is that maybe...just maybe i might make some friends'

I continue to work on the shadows, ready to go and help the princes i'd left behind in the last batch. With each strike i feel a sense of relief, a sense of companionship knowing that i no longer have to keep this all to myself. That i no longer have to be alone. '*groans* What is that Prince of cards doing with the new guy? Why was he so interested in him?' I continue to work my frustrations through the shadows and look back at the two other princes left at my side. " Hey! You two understand what all is going on? If so mind clue-ing me in?" There's a lot left unanswered and how am i to know who to meet after school? Do we all go to the same school? Guess i'll just have to wait to find out tomorrow wont i...

Another squealing laugh sang above the sound of the burning armory and the shouting men inside. Her smile only widened as the Batman threatened to "wipe away her grin".

She watched in awe as his arm transformed into the head of a dragon. She quickly crouched down and jumped, heading towards the flames head-on for an instant before disappearing within the inferno. Batman might've expected her to burst through the flames towards him, being just as fireproof as he, but no such attack happened.

As the flames cleared, Batman would see-- for the briefest moment-- a large, translucent pink bubble, swirling with colors with Jinx inside. Whether or not she was moving within the bubble was indiscernible as the moment he laid eyes on it, the bubble burst in a most bizarre way-- seeming to implode and then push it's contents outward-- including Jinx. For extra umph!, fire exploded at the soles of her feet, allowing Jinx to wrap her arms around the dragon's mouth.

She smiled wide, hugging the dragon head tightly enough to prevent it's mouth from opening.

"тнαт ιѕ ѕσ ¢υтє!" she cooed, snuggling her face against the dragon's snout.

Meanwhile, out of the corner of her eye, Jinx noticed that instead of three running at the Shiny Prince, all six had decided to charge him. Three of them suddenly became preoccupied with two men running out of the armory. They chased them with their scoop-like heads scraping against the asphalt, creating sparks as they galloped.

@wxps350@Baklava

The flames immediately stopped flowing from its maw once the witch wrapped around its jaws. "W-wh-Get off of my arm!" I yelled in frustration as I tried to violently shake her up. "Are you dense in the head?!" The dragon head would be closed with narrowed golden eyes. Trying to shake her off he would fly back to the rooftop, and transforming his arm back to normal, still flailing it rapidly. His crimson eyes glowed with moonlight, and the wind would catch some of his hair as he glared at her in frustrated rage.

His eyes fixed to the other prince that was being swarmed by the shadows. He sighed briefly as his other arm transformed into a similar dragon head, opening its scaly maw to release a jet of flames towards both the prince and the six shadows, not caring who'd he hit, though it likely would have spread to both him and the ensuing shadows.

He looked back at the witch with narrowed eyes, "So your fireproof too huh?" He scowled in annoyance, not really expecting, nor caring for her to answer. His other arm shrank and morphed from a dragon's head to a normal arm and hand, flexing his fingers a bit once it was back to normal.