She was right in that it didn't sound all scientific. That didn't come off as a surprise to him- rather, Shion's ability itself was more of a surprise. Being in your own world...

Well, Bang did enjoy trying that, at least. When writing a story, authors often seek to make it all happen somewhere in their heads before putting it down on paper, after all. Some preferred to brainstorm quickly to make bring ideas into a reality as quick as possible. He knew both of those methods, because he himself tried them out whether he felt productive or unusually lazy.

Espers, however, were capable of completely distorting what's expected of the field of reality everyone was in, rather than constructing a reality on paper.

It was wrong to compare the two, really.

Esper abilities really did look foreign for people like him. It could range from some of his friends' odd, yet simple abilities that could feel like a tiny miracle, to some rather macabre sights like the one he had witnessed. He saw it almost every week for certain, but he never got used to it because he wasn't capable of it.

The ice in her hand glistened, his turquoise gaze reflecting a bit of its lucid color. Just looking at it made him feel less hot under the weather. Then he looked up at the skies, which were far, far from looking like they were in a winter season. The ice was pretty, its small frame glinting with light, and quite real, too- and he got the gist of what she wanted to tell him.

He thought about asking her as to what the "normal education" was supposed to be, but at that point, he knew he could look into it himself. Bang still knew little about Shion, but quite frankly, nobody knew much about him either.

Everyone did know one thing, though. The fact that he wasn't an Esper. Not even he knew what he would be like if he did end up becoming an Esper.

Her open thoughts on what his Esper ability could be did sound interesting. What could he end up with? If it was something like... "being set on fire whenever his vocal cords were quiet," he'd be in for some serious trouble, though he highly doubted there would even be an ability like that.

"It's alright," he said, almost dutifully, when she gave a short apology for her explanation. For a moment, he wondered how to tell her about what being someone with abilities was like.

It wasn't... normal, even if it was, technically. And it wasn't boring, even if it should've been.

"Having no abilities is," he spoke, a rare pause falling in-between his sentence, "...interesting. Not in the way people think, though."

As he entered the super market, he turned to Shion, wondering if he should tell her to wait. Even if her ability was literally cool, leaving her alone in this weather sounded rude, so he said nothing on the matter.

"Rather than the 'having no abilities' part being interesting," he explained, his tone idle as he walked, "it's the abilities around me that become that much more significant.

Bang quietly picked up some radishes and chili peppers. He observed the radishes closely before he took them. Occasionally, there could be spoiled or damaged radishes among the normal ones. They were pretty much the black sheep nobody wanted, because there really wasn't any more use for them aside from just being worse radishes.

For a moment, the thought of Esper abilities and the magnitude of said abilities' effectiveness, crossed his mind as the analogy drifted in his mind. It quickly faded as he went to purchase the ingredients.

He made sure to buy two chocolate bars before leaving the market.

Despite having a cast on, he held the bag of groceries on his own with his free hand as they left.

"Some abilities can be horrible, and I admit I wouldn't want to see them again- like a certain one I came across a while ago. But most of the time, like your's, they could be interesting, or mesmerizing in some ways. It could be because I know little as to how Espers' realities work."

Glancing in front of him, he decided to take a different road that could lead him to his house. The one he had in mind had more trees, and trees were pretty nice to have around during summer.

"Even if I did know," he admitted, "I don't think my thoughts would change that much. Everyone's realities being unique and peculiar to me, that is."

_@DarkWolfX37

@NaraK@DarkWolfX37

Road from the Supermarket

"What a healthy viewpoint! But sadly, one I cannot condone!"

The figure ahead of them turned, his slowly rotating parasol coming to rest upon a broad shoulder as his gaze met theirs. He was a handsome young man of rugged features, with a messy head of jet-black hair that trailed down his back in a neatly-knotted queue. There was a wild air to him, from the sheer masculinity that oozed from his open white tunic to the sharp, predatory look in his silver eyes. The tension in the air was one of expectation, and from the the upwards pull of his lips, it was clear he knew it too.

"The Esper unconsciously imposes himself on reality!" he declared, striding forth with parasol in hand. "An artist painting over the canvas that is our world!"

Each word was spoken with utmost confidence, each syllable said with joyful relish.

"He does not know, but his innermost desire is to dye the universe in his own colours! To spread his very reality to all four corners of this Phase! And all because he wishes to know the will of the Heavens! Ha haha hahaha! Is it not such a selfish wish?"

He halted in his approach.

"Ah, it appears that I have become selfish too!" he remarked, shaking his head reproachfully. "Forgive my impiety, it was truly disrespectful of me to address you two without first introducing myself!"

The parasol slammed shut.

"I am the one they call Touhama Shuuji."

He was bending forward, body shifting like a bow into a stance. His parasol, shut, was gripped purposefully within his hands. What he wanted had become very much clear.

"Bang Constantine, I have heard of your boxing prowess," the young man continued. "And thus, allow me the honour of tearing apart your misconceptions!"

"When da fook was I gonna fill ya in?" Brennan shot back, face scrunching up as though he'd taken offense to something Umeko suggested. Clearly the idea that he was keeping his girlfriend in the dark about his actions and intentions was as personally wounding as it was true. His pout was deep and expressive. "Last night you were in a shit mood 'n' wanted to play with da action figures. So I letcha. Dis morn we went right over to da bank after groceries. I toldja 'bout as quick as I coooould."

Fucking justice. It always made her cross her legs and pout like that when she thought it wasn't being respected. Brennan whipped out his phone and began typing the name the banker had given him into the search bar of his mobile browser.

"Now we're on da same page. We can be joostice together."

@Plank Sinatra@Krayzikk

Google

Google was fast to act, thanks to the high-speed Internet that was ever-present in Academy City. As the results loaded up, Brennan would be exposed to a number of irrelevant links to Pinterest pages and a number of other articles that contained either "Kiara" or "Vinke" in them. However, slightly down the front page was an article in Japanese, one that clearly and distinctly contained the two words together.

An article that identified Kiara Vinke as the deceased. A Dutch national that had been on a working visa in the City.

It appeared that Antiskill had already identified her. Not long before Brennan had made the withdrawal, in fact.

Bang stared at Mr. Touhama Shuuji for a moment, his blank expression indicating towards any kind of thought whatsoever.

His train of thoughts passed by his station of recognition as he looked for any sign of this man, who showed up. None, unfortunately, but he was overflowing with spirit. For a moment, Bang wondered what this man wanted from him, but Bang himself wasn't too concerned about that.

What he was more concerned about was that he had essentially been challenged.

Unconsciously putting down his grocery bags at Shion's direction, Bang kept his gaze locked onto Touhama Shuuji, as the man shut his parasol and assumed a stance. It was a stance Bang did not recognize. Perhaps it was because...?!

...

...He knew almost nothing about martial arts.

Ah.

...

Well, that didn't change the fact that this man was challenging him.

Bang Constantine lived a somewhat different life from the average high school student, or at least, an average high school student without powers. It was a very subtle difference, something that did not show up quite often, and served as both a bane and a boon to him. This vague difference was to accept not only the norm, but also believing in certain, specific things outside the norm.



Glancing at Shion, he nodded to her as if she understood what was going on, and it was something he wasn't going to decline. Then, bowing respectfully to Touhama, Bang raised his fist, as his other was currently in a cast. He hunched over ever so slightly, a tilted leg pushed forward. His eyes gleamed, questioning nothing of the man who challenged him.



If this Touhama Shuuji knew something more than he did, then he was ready to accept it. After all, Bang wasn't an Esper. But he wasn't going to go ahead and reject this man's passionate challenge. There was passion- spirit, flowing through his words, and Bang recognized that. It had actually been quite a while since he boxed in actual matches, but he had sparred enough to not lose his form. He also seemed to be so into the situation, he briefly forgot about his cast and what he was going to make for dinner.

@Crimmy@DarkWolfX37

"Before we left. When you mentioned you needed to go to the bank in the first place. While we were getting groceries. Before we walked into the bank."

Umeko counted the times off on her fingers, at least until it was time to take a sip of coffee. Her eyebrows had immediately arched at Brennan's attempted, and very transparent, defense. It was even less justice to masquerade your deception in the shroud of justice. Still, it wasn't very surprising. She would extract her reparations later.

"Any time, really. Don't worry. You'll make it up to me later."

"Fook dat. You don't need more models."

Brennan was scrolling through the article on Kiara Vinke through the cracked screen of his phone, grimacing every time the touchscreen refused to respond or the phone would lock up. He probably should have thought to leave it in rice overnight, but there was only so much one could do about moisture in a phone when it had been willingly power-fucked by a pressurized pipe burst. He made sure to glean over every sentence twice as it passed through the non-cracked portions of his screen, just to glean any additional info he could from it.

"Spoiled chuunibyou. I'll buy ya a jacket tonight. Chuunis love jackets. And I wanna return to da scene of da crime anyway."

"I didn't say I did," Umeko said mildly with a smile that said that was exactly what she meant. She wasn't worried. The Irishman always insisted she didn't need any more, but he was also always the first to ask about whatever one she was eyeing in the shop. Or 'begrudgingly' offer to go to the shop in the first place. She'd let him pretend she didn't notice. "I just said you'd make it up to me. Which you will."

"How do you even know what 'chuunibyou' means?"

”Wha? I live with one, ya fookin’ moran. Always shriekin’ what a fookin’ superhero y’are. How could I not know?”

Ahhh, that wasn’t fair. She just loved justice. Brennan began scrolling through the article on the woman’s murder, giving his girlfriend a wide, irritatingly playful smile to take the sting from his retort.

”Says ‘ere our bird was a journo. Dat’s never a good sign.”

There was something important this morning.

Exactly what was kind of escaping her. It was earlier than she usually wanted to get up, and her brain wasn't quite firing on all cylinders yet. Boot-up-sequence hadn't proceeded. Still waiting on the go from the bridge bunny. But it was Saturday, and there was definitely something important going on that morning. So Umeko started to push through the haze. First, she stirred. One limb at a time. Stretch a little. Yawn. At some point she'd actually gotten from the table where her half assembled Exia waited to the bed. She wasn't sure when. Didn't matter much.

Yawning quietly, so she didn't disturb the still-sleeping-Irishman, she scooted to the edge and the bed and pulled on her slippers. It was just late enough in the year that the floor would feel too cold without them. The Japanese girl padded silently towards the kitchen, pausing long enough to give a critical once-over to her work on the Perfect Grade from the night before. Nothing stood out, so she continued. She was growing more aware by the second, but it was still eluding her what was so important. It didn't have to do with that journalist. They hadn't turned up much of anything yet, which meant she didn't get to go after the A-LAW. It wasn't about the probe.

She poured a glass of milk and sipped at it, mulling over the issue. Maybe that would help.

A glance back towards the bedroom, at what was hanging on her closet door, finally flicked the switch.

Kanacon. I have to wake Brennan.

"White Devil coming in hot! Dead ahead, B!"

The words of Noel du Acier, the plucky bridge bunny aboard VSS Sapphire Jubilee, sounded alarmed as they rang out in the cockpit of Brennan's Ekaterina IV. She was nervous for good reason; the White Devil was the ace of her ship, the JS Blue Destiny, which was a nerdy and dumb name for a ship that would never, ever reach Venus, Tree Diagram, or even the roof of their apartment building half as well as Jubilee would. But just as his ship's name and specs proved superior, so too would the Irish warrior's piloting.

Two beam rifle shots lanced through the vacuum, crackling as the directed energy approached with murderous intent. His custom Ekaterina easily dodged and returned fire, although he too doubted they would do too much to her either. The White Devil took pride in her mech, and as loathe as he was to admit it, she was a superb pilot herself. That was the way he liked it.

"̟̓̓̈́W̦͍̗̰̪̠̦͗ͦ͑̃̉͊̀̇ͫH̜̰͇̗̹̟͍̖̅I̻͇̘̟͕͔̭̗̅̑͊ͯ̄͊T̙̙̲̑̆̉̍͒̀ͤͥͩE̖͌̽ͭ̂͐̇̚ ̭̟̤͇̤̥̠͗̂͛͛̋̏D̟͓̓ͨ̐͗͌ͬ̾Ȅ̤̟̣̳͎̊V̟̳̣̖͒͋͊I͙̪͔̩͖͍͉͔͐͊̊ͫͯL̜̞̞ͯͨͤͨ̀!͍̟͈͕͚͍̒̄ͣͬ͋"̗͔̀ he screamed, leaning forward in his cockpit. "̹̯̰̝͇̞̝ͣͤ͐̾̈S͎͎̦̦͗ͬͮͣ̔ͣ̊̈͂H̼̯́̐O͔̬̘ͫ̊̇ͬ͑̏ͪW̗̉̓̒ͫͩ ͍̳̞͉̜̭̭̐ͥ̋ͬͣ͊ͥͧY̲̠̞̥͙̑́̔̇̊̈́̔O̝̜̣̍̓̇̃͛̆̉ͦU̳͉̯̔ͩͪR̲͎̬ͣ́S͓̼̣̙ͤ̒E͇͍̹̬̗̣͓͉͚ͣͬL̯̮͍̼͗͗ͪ̎ͪ̾ͯ̚F͎̲̼̩̜͗ͯ̈́ͤ̄̾!̜̻̭̊ͧ ̹̭̦͇̖ͫ͆͌ͫͅW̬͕̺̱̗͕̬͚͎ͨH͍̰͎̳͚͖̰̄̌̓ͯͩ͌̂̍I̤̥ͪ̾̈́͊͌̾ͅT̟͙̗̙͇̝͇̖ͣ̏̌̈̀̚Ḙ̰̯ͭͤ̑̎ͫͭ͐́ͪ ̤̖̯͈͐͊ͭͩ̌D̳̭̫͛̅̆̈́̾Ḙ̠͎̯̯̘̿ͧV͍̟̼̞̪ͭ͌͗͊̽̒͐̇Ï̲͍̟L̰̺̲͚̜̖͊̉ͅ!͕̪̖̮͖͖̳̞ͭͣ̔̽̄̿̐"͎̲̙̟̋ͣͭ͂̚

"burennaaaaan"

...

What the hell? How dense were the Garbanzo particles around here? Why couldn't he--

And wher--

Was the enemy ace hiding from him?

"̡͂ͪ̽͏͇̣͉̮̩̪W̸̢̢̡̞̫̳̮̌̿̊̿͂͌̌̂̋͐̾H̴̵̦͉̱̠̱̘̞͓̋̆͐̅͂̕͟Į̵̲̯͇͓̭̪̪̩̦̺̪͇͋ͩ̈ͯ́͢T̵̶̵̙̭̮̦̼̤̠̟̺ͣͪ͌̽̓̀̊Ê̴̖͙̥̱̫̮̜͓̪̜͚͙͇̇͌ͥ͟ ̡̪̟̠̭͌̓̔̀̓ͧ̿̃͗̈̉͗ͤ͂̇͐ͮ͌̿̕͘͝D̵̈́̆͐ͬ̌͑̇̿ͮ̓ͮ͢҉̞͓͙̖̺͉͓̜̣̯͇̝̻͖͓̜̭̜́͡ͅȄ̘̞̬̰̣̭͖̬̩̭͙̣̭̠̹̦ͧ̿͐̀̀͛̆ͫ̀̀͢͠V̶̶̨̪̞͖̜̻̺̯͍ͥ͌̄͒̌̽ͦͣͭ͂̂̓ͤ̄ͫ̾̏̓̽İ̶̵̲̺͍̳ͬ̃ͥ̿̀Ļ̷̱̲̯̩̭̹̭̳̦̭̰͉̜̭̯͉̬͈ͮ̑̉̔̂ͨ̀́̎͌̓͝!̵̧̇̄ͬ̾̆̒͐ͥͩ̿̔͊͝҉̳̖̦͙͖̘̗̜"̸̶̨̯̦̙̻̜̺̲̹̟̯͍̜̦̤ͮ͐͋̑̔ͫ̈́̔̋̽̕

"burennaaaaaaaaaaaaan"

His eyes snapped open. Umeko Kawaguchi was standing over him. Or at least, it looked like Umeko Kawaguchi...

...

"What the hell...is that?"

The Japanese girl closed her right eye with practiced precision, and brought her left hand up to her left eye with the first two fingers extended in a V.

"It's Kanacon, Brennan." She answered, still stretching out the syllable, as though the lone sentence answered everything. It should. She had been waiting all week. "We need to get ready to go."

She took his hand and pulled him into a seated position, before the stunned Irishman had a chance to say anything else. There was no time for it. She still needed to make sure her hair was right, get her staff assembled, and herd him out the door. There was much to do, and very little time to prepare. Umeko had overslept. She had meant to brush up on her catch phrases, but there was no time for that now.

"Up. You have to get ready."

Right.

He'd forgotten about promising her a trip to the convention. Umeko liked to go to these things fairly often, generally with some kind of costume or seeking some kind of collector's merchandise. Mecha conventions, robotics displays, magical girls...her tastes looked varied at first glance, but all of them centered around the same core principle: Kawaguchi Umeko wanted to be a superhero. Unfortunately, that generally meant that she wanted Brennan tagging along. Such was the case this morning.

While Umeko was fixing up the last details of her costume, Brennan was showering and getting ready. He refused to dress up himself, although Umeko's occasional entreaties were gradually growing less occasional and more convincing. He mostly stuck to chaperoning her, holding merchandise, taking pictures, and sizing up the other magical girls to see who could give his the most competition. He was, in short, the superhero love interest. Pure eye candy. Whatever.

He was ready to go in record time; in fact, he had probably managed to get dress faster than Umeko had finished putting the touches on her costume. He walked out and plopped down on top of their counter with a cheerful sigh and a grin. The biggest concession he'd given his otaku partner was dressing to complement her outfit; his shirt today was a cool cyan, relaxing and casual for the end of summer. His beaten up phone sat in the pocket of his vest, weighing it down. He hadn't gotten around to grabbing a new one yet.

"Ey, lass, whatcha say to some cof-OI!"

---

Needless to say, she didn't want coffee. She didn't even want to apologize for yanking on his shirt's collar on her way out of the apartment. Kawaguchi Umeko acted like a head on his shoulder as they took the bus to the Dianoid would be enough to cool off his surly temper.

...

It was helping. Very slightly. Slightly enough that his mind left his shirt and started to wander again as they passed the bus route where they'd found the body the other night. As the bus took them along the main street back to the Dianoid, Brennan found his gaze drifting again and again. The blood splatters had been scrubbed clean from the streets and sidewalks, and by now the pipes in the alleys had been repaired after Brennan's esper powers had done a number on them. His wary stare caught the alleyway where he'd cornered the body thief, and Brennan wondered if anyone had thought to scrub for evidence there.

It would be worth a look later that night. But for now...

The Dianoid.

---

Kanacon. Academy City's pre-eminent gathering for all things Magical Powered Kanamin, Magical Powered Kanamin Integral, and another dozen ridiculous spinoffs with ridiculous crossovers and even more ridiculous magical girls. Today, they were all infesting the Dianoid, along with hundreds of cosplayers that idolized them all.

"I'm goonna lose ya in dis crowd," he grumbled to Kawaguchi beside him, arms crossed across his chest. "D'you wanna come wit' me 'n' look for da Magi☆Mint Chip? Or am I loogin' dat around by meself all day?"

"You couldn't lose me if you tried. I'm distinctive."

The girl herself beamed, surveying her surroundings with great interest. Some of the other cosplayers caught her eye, a well done costume here, an excellent prop there. Hers were better, of course. She'd been preparing for ages. But it was fun seeing what everyone else did, especially takes on other characters. There were rivals, spinoff stars, minor characters; a vibrant range of enthusiastic cosplayers spread amongst the un-costumed. And then there was the merch. Official convention exclusives, original animation cells, replicas, figures, memorabilia. So much to look at. And decide what was coming home with her.

Eventually she re-centered on Brennan, though it didn't take long. Her grin didn't diminish. He looked grumpy. He'd perk up soon. Aaaaand, she wouldn't make him stay long. Just a couple panels. A little merch. Then home.

"We can go find it together. No panels for a couple hours, and the dealer room doesn't open for another half hour. We'll have to spend some time in line."

@Crimmy@NaraK

---

"Right, what he said." was all she said before she became very confused. She couldn't follow what seemed to pass between two. Suddenly Bang nodded at her and took on a fighting stance. Were they in danger? Was this the fabled 'passion between men?' She tilted her head to the side slightly and stepped back a few steps. Perhaps this would be interesting as well?

@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra

KANACON

Magical Powered Kanamin. The official English title of the multimedia franchise known more commonly in its native country by the name: 超機動少女カナミン (Chō Kidō Shōjo Kanamin). Its protagonist, the titular Kanamin, was a certain ordinary high school girl, except for the fact that she was actually a magician in disguise as a schoolgirl in order to avoid the Albigensian Crusaders of the Roman Catholic Church. This unique situation of hers was a never-ending source of trouble, and the misadventures she found herself wrapped up in were the focus of a TV anime (and its critically acclaimed sequel, Magical Powered Kanamin Integral). Every denizen of Academy City knew her name. How could they not? To many, Kanamin was their heroic idol, and thus it was no surprise to know that on this day, the Dianoid would be hosting the greatest Kanamin convention in the world.

Kanacon.

Not only was it a place for fans, but the corporations and creators behind Magical Powered Kanamin's success were present too. Voice actress Yuka Iguchi, whose famous early roles included Nitros Oxide in Crash Twinsanity and Cow Girl in Goblin Slayer before she became Kanamin herself, had arrived early to greet the fans and promote the new song produced by her collaboration with the Orbit Portal Company: Shining Star ☆ LOVE Letter. The main scenario writer of Integral, supposed cyborg Kamachi.EXE, could be spotted near the artist stalls where he was buying every print of Kanamin he could find. And even BEGA had set up their own tent where convention-goers could play nearly-finalised builds of the highly-anticipated upcoming Kanamin fighting game: The Second Magical Powered Kanamin Fighting ☆ Climax!!.

Anything a Kana-lover wanted could be found within this floor of the Dianoid. All they had to do was look around.

But not all guests were Kana-lovers.

"I saw Cosplay Girl Olivia!"

"Really? Wow, did you get her autograph?"

"No, she was airborne. That jet engine of hers is just too sweet."

"Big mood."

Gandharva stared straight ahead, the inane chatter of his customers drifting into one ear and out the other. After the indignities he had suffered during a prior night, the young man had discovered that what once would incite his choler now seemed so paltry and insignificant to him. He could now tolerate the inelegant blubbering of the common man, though it tarnished his sense of elegance to admit so. However, it was also a situation of necessity: as disgustingly debilitating it was to debase himself through such dreadful deeds, it was his duty, and to approach it without any professionalism or subtlety would only bring greater shame.

"Your Magi☆Mint Chip is 900 yen," he declared, the register chiming beneath his skilled fingers before he handed over the customers' strange purchase. "Please, enjoy your day."

To his left, an individual wearing a deformed facsimile of the fictional protagonist turned to face him.

"My friend, you look like you want to 'blow off steam', yes?" asked his comrade from within the costume with unfettered joy, voice distorted by the technological wonders of Academy City to replicate Yuka Iguchi's role. "Do you want to 'take five'?"

"No. I am able to handle this," replied Gandharva stone-faced. "However, why are we here?"

Why were they at an anime convention in the first place? Why had they lowered themselves to sell Magi☆Mint Chips? He could not comprehend the reasoning behind their presence.

"When you feel a bit 'under the weather', as they say, it's hard to do things you like, right?" mused the costume lackadaisically. "I wouldn't know, but we can 'get a leg up' on our reputation if we can hold 'their feet to the fire', yes? That is the saying?"

"Again, I do not speak English."

The costume shrugged, as costumes were wont to do.

"Ah well," his comrade said. "We have been 'press-ganged' as volunteers, but we can still 'have a blast', right? And next time, she can 'pick up the tab' inst -"

The costume caught sight of more customers.

"- oh, welcome! Would you like some Magi☆Mint Chips?"

@NaraK@DarkwolfX37

Road from the Supermarket

Shion was correct. The intensity of men's passion towards one another could not be understated. When two warriors recognised each other, none could stop the flaring of their burning Japanese man spirits, twisting and turning within their souls in a powerful desire to envelop one another. Bang had likely recognised this. Though he may not have known it, the intimate yearning within his warrior body must have sought a worthy opponent. And Shuuji had arrived to give him one.

"En garde, Bang Constantine!"

And when Shuuji moved, his technique became apparent.

Hung ga of the southern Shaolin styles.

And his opener as the distance between them closed was no less famous.

Shuuji's feet had become a flurry of movement, his legs lashing out with blinding speed at Bang.

"Show me you are worthy of my Shadowless Kick!"

Yes!" The Kanamin chirped, bounding up to the front of the line. Her color-coordinated companion was dragged along with her by his wrist, held in the hand not clutching her painstakingly replicated staff. Before the costume addressed them she had clearly been lecturing him about something, though the only bit that drifted to the costume's ears was a snippet of linguistic semantics about the link between Kanamin's name and her color scheme. The two were very much a bridge between two of her biggest interests, you see, and she had been really disappointed when there wasn't a Zeta reference of some kind in Integral.

It was enough to make you feel for the Irishman.

Still she refocused, once the costume spoke in a passable imitation of Kanamiin's voice. The voice was spot on, the voice changer was amazing. But the intonation was all wrong. That was on the speaker. She hoped whoever was inside the costume had studied the intonations of the right catch phrases at least as well as she had, or that would just be embarrassing.

"Two, please. And a pint for home." She silenced her companion's complaint before it ever really got started with a firm; "It's limited, Brennan, it must come home with us too. Justice demands it."

"Do you know any of her catch phrases?" She inquired of the costume, cocking her head. "How do they sound with the voice changer? Does it get hot in there? I bet it's roasting."

@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra

KANACON

Oh no not ag-



"I'm the Super Mobile Girl of Love and Justice, Magical Powered Kanamin! In the name of the Consolamentum, I will give you a brain-freeze!"

Despite his costume hailing from the super-deformed line of Kanamin paraphernalia, the Cathar-cosplaying comrade delivered the order in the same motion that the franchise's protagonist used when declaring her intent to combat her foes, and both the voice and intonations were almost perfect replications of Iguchi's acting. There was nothing in his distorted voice that revealed his recognition of his two customers, though one could take his choice of opening catchphrase as one. Because when 'life gave you lemons', he was supposed to 'make lemonade', yes? Finding a good way to 'wing it' was exactly what the Americans meant, right?

With stubby costumed hands, he handed over a box to Gandharva to diligently and elegantly (for any outburst from him would only expose himself to the Euroweeb) fill with the takeaway pint.

The world may slow down, but Touhama Shuuji refused to follow the world's momentum. In a split second, the man made the initiative, kicking forward- literally.

In front of Bang was a steamroller headed towards his way at the speed of a freight train.

Out of instinct, Bang raised his guard. Backing off from the first hit, he knew that it would be hard for him to simply dodge everything- especially when they were all kicks were connected to each other so fluently.

He's fast, Bang thought immediately. This man may not have thrown any punches yet, but his kicks were thrown in a manner that he had to respect them. Simply focusing his footwork to move away all the time was going to leave him no room to attack. After backing off from two other kicks, Bang finally threw a punch. A swift parry to deflect one of the kicks, giving him just a moment's worth of breathing room.

He then tilted his head ever so slightly, just barely letting one of the kicks graze past the side of his hair. This wasn't an average martial artist by no means- nobody average could throw out kicks of this caliber without practice, and the same could be said for any physical attack. His kicks were fast and almost wild, but coordinated for pinpointing offense.

While Bang knew much less of martial arts than he did boxing, he wasn't entirely oblivious to it. At the very least, he knew to respect an opponent who probably practiced a kick tens of thousands of times.

So he did just that.

He slipped again, and he shoulder rolled past another kick as he threw out a quick punch, deflecting one of the kicks, before slipping again. He had no time to use movements that could leave him wide open for too long, since this guy's kicks were basically like jabs on steroids. Committing to counter Shuuji's own footwork when he had only one arm available was asking to get a kick in the face. Bang's footwork steadily moved less back and moreso in getting past the blindingly fast kicks.

He may have been down an arm, but the rest of his body worked. That's all that mattered really-

Bang deflected another kick again, only to barely slip past one of the kicks as it grazed past the side of his head.

...Okay, having both arms did matter, admittedly. He did actually get occasionally get hit a couple times just right below the solar plexis as he dodged, and he might've not been able to block it even if he had no cast.

But he wasn't helpless, and he wasn't not used to getting hit.

What felt like a full minute's worth of throwing punches and deflecting kicks came to a brief end as Bang ducked under one of the shadowless kicks before deflecting a kick. As soon as he did, this time, he committed and threw out a fast right hook at Shuuji. He managed to finally land a punch, though he received a kick to the chest at that exact moment. Forced back, Bang quickly recovered as he raised his guard up again.

The martial art and its practitioner quickly became very interesting to Bang. But moreso than the martial art, the simple art of fighting was what made the fight all the more exhilarating. He felt alive- his spirit practically erupted into a bonfire! Not even the summer heat could match their blazing spirits, and he could feel it.

He may have wanted to be an author, but he couldn't deny this feeling was impressive.

"You're very fast," Bang spoke the obvious- a quick compliment for his opponent- as he kept his guard raised. Had Bang been any less experienced, Shuuji might've torn up more than just misconceptions. He also had to consider the possibility that Shuuji was going easy on him.

_{@Crimmy@DarkWolfX37}