Vincent was having second thoughts in trying to approach the child. It was too late now though, and he couldn't just let an abandoned child run around could he? Though there was off that he could clearly see. Those glowing blue eyes were not human at all. Was he a mutant too? "Hey it's alright kid, I'm a mutant too. I'm not gonna hurt you." Vincent kneeled down a little bit, trying to seem less tall and threatening.

---

Maksim wasn't having any of it. Despite the stranger's best efforts, Maks wouldn't fall for anything, he wouldn't let himself fall to the same fate his parents had.
Maks' stomach growled violently, but the boy tried to pay no mind to it, instead focusing on the man in front of him. Just by looking at the boy, Vincent would be able to tell how tense he was. Maks took another slight step back, one hand against the wall of the old building, guiding him back as he walked, and the other held readily at his side.

This man had followed him all the way from the park, he assumed, so simply dashing away wasn't going to be as easy. Most people paid no attention to Maks on a usual day, so why was it that this stranger was trying to hard to earn his trust, why?

---

This was going absolutely nowhere but without any kind of actual plan that was to be expected. Lyon was the tactician of their little group but it didn't hurt to try something for himself. "Listen, I know you don't trust me. And I don't really blame you after I kinda followed you... but I can't really leave a child out here by themself." That was when he heard the boys stomach growl. "Especially one that's this hungry." So that's why the kid was resorting to stealing. That didn't make it much better buy at least it gave the poor child some justification for his actions. Vincent could only imagine what the little one had gone through.

---

Something about what this stranger was saying made Maksim pause a little longer than he usually would have. Maks really hadn't experienced anyone attempting to show some form of compassion. Sure there was the stray person here and there that tried to approach him on the street, but those encounters never lasted as long as this one had.

For a split second, Vincent may have seen a lessened expression of fear, and a little more curious confusion than anything. But Maks stayed for but a few moments longer before his eyes glowed a stronger blue and the boy turned and ran. He immediately turned down the nearest alleyway, using a dumpster to jump and grab onto a low hanging roof-access ladder, before scurrying up it and disappearing to the building-tops.

---

What an unsurprising ending that interaction, Vincent thought. Still though he felt bad that he couldn't do anything for that child. He could've at least bought some food for him or something. Vincent didn't feel guilty for long, he did everything he could've to try and calm the boy down but to no avail. So rather than let it weigh on his mind any longer he started walking back to the festival and continue perusing the different stalls to see if he could get anymore free things.

---

Maybe the festival isn't so bad after all.

Immediately after having the door shut (and locked) on her, Aeira felt a deep desire to move. For as long as it took her to reach the festival grounds, Aeira ran, jumped, and flipped on just about everything she could find. This resulted in the annoyance of several passers-by, and possibly the dismantling of a booth or two, but she didn't care. The booths were outside of the festival grounds anyways, it's not like many people were planning to go there. She did care about the large crowd that formed around the festival. She jumped up on top of a nearby streetlight to act as a vantage point. If she didn't want to wait (which she didn't), then it would make sense for her to try to get through the crowd faster. Then, she began to plan. She saw that quite a few of the people in the crowds had larger heads. Simple enough, she thought.

Her use of the poor goomba-headed fools as stepping stones were to their dismay, but again, she did it without a care in the world. Being able to move felt so nice. To others, it would be a bit strange that her mood had shifted so easily, but that was just commonplace for Aeira and her childish nature. Noticing that she was causing a tiny bit of an uproar in the crowd, she started moving faster. Looking down, she could've sworn one of them tried to grab her foot and take her down. It didn't matter now-- she was too quick for people to do anything unless they were already expecting it. Favorably for her, nobody bothered to say 'Look out!' or anything, letting her get the upper-hand on everyone else in line. As she neared the festival grounds, she kicked off of her last victim's head and performed a corkscrew, giving the angry festival-goers a smug grin. A few of them pointing at her with angry faces made her eyes widen.

Running time, she supposed. Aeira ran through the festival grounds with urgency, while still being able to dodge the occasional tomatoes and rocks the big-heads were throwing at her with grace. It was to the point where she started putting it in the back of her mind, rather opting to look at her surroundings. There wasn't much to see, at least for her. She recognized that one plant lady, Rui talked about her a lot. Probably because the plant was the one to sell her alcohol. Thinking about it further, that did seem like quite the mutation. Aeira assumed that the plant was able to grow other plants, meaning she could grow her own food. Why was she living in the city, then? She could just go anywhere she wanted without necessarily needing society, right? Interesting. She kept her desire to talk to that lady more in mind, but then remembered she had an angry mob chasing her.

The small flash-mob was full of iiidiots though, so she was easily able to fake them out by making a quick turn over to the food tables. Watching them run straight ahead like a scene out of a bad children's cartoon made her laugh. She doubted they'd even think to come back for her. Standing up from her stealth-like kneeling position, she dusted herself off and looked to her side to see a girl by herself. With food. A lot of food. Was this girl really going to eat it all by herself? Ooh, her outfit looked really pretty as well! Where did she get those clothes from? Where was she from? How large must her appetite be to order all that food for herself? So many questions! So, so interesting. Aeira had to talk to her!

"Hi! Are you waiting for anyone?" She asked.

"K Nine" and "Setsuka"
Festival Grounds
Interactions: N/A

It wasn't long before another report came over the radio. This time though, the eyewitness accounts suggested that this might have involved a mutant. Though the incident was minor, the mob of people it had involved was cause for concern.

So after Setsuka heard it, she put her hand on her earpiece then said, "Lieutenant. We just heard. Were going to the site of the incident and conduct an investigation. Suspect maybe mutant."

"Understood", came the reply.

"K Nine here. Any word on our senior sir?"

"Nothing yet."

"Then we'll do this ourselves. Once we reach the area of the incident, we'll do our own patrol and keep an eye out for the suspect. Though we apologize if people at the festival get uncomfortable seeing M.S.U. members present", K Nine then said.

"Not a problem. In this case, I'm starting to understand why you may have been sent here to begin with. Keep us in the loop all the same."

"Yes sir", K Nine responded.

K Nine then put his Glock 22 into it's side hostler and slung the MP5 to his back with an attached strap. Setsuka did the same with hers and her Remington Semi-Auto. Taking a flashbang, both then departed from the SWAT van and headed into the festival grounds.

"...so what's our I.D.?", K Nine then asked as they walked.

"Based on witness accounts...a little girl with wings and matching white dress and cap. Dress has a red vest and red tie on her front. Red band and hankerchief on the cap. Back stockings and white shoes. Possible power is super speed but that's pending", Setsuka responded.

"Child mutant?...great...now we just hope she doesn't throw some tantrum", K Nine then said.

"Just be gentle if that is the case, K Nine", Setsuka responded.

"...woof...", K Nine simply said which made Setsuka shake her head slightly.

None in their right mind would take a moment to consider Nico a boy avoiding impulsive decisions. It was safe to say that only he knew what transpired within that head atop his shoulders. It would be no surprise then, when George's expression strung along a sense of displeasure when a small, doll-like mutant snuck about as if a thief through an ever-growing sea of attendants. The hoodie Nico wore obscured enough of his frame to draw him just another teenager in the crowd, sunglasses hiding those large eyes behind their shaded sheets. However, a keen eye would have been able to spot a pair of sparkly, clearly pink converse shoes at the end of ripped jeans. Equally so, matching gloves cut off at half a finger's length with buckles stretching up the boy's forearm was not what one would consider normal attire. "This is stupid," George stated plainly, three dogs held on leashes between strong digits.

"This is epic," Nico countered with a smirk quickly accompanied by a wink.

"Have you been planning this?" The muscular man continued, raising a brow as Nico slipped out of his hoodie. This left the boy in a tight, skin fitting vest, clearly, custom made for the pop star. The glimmer of diamonds rowed its seams, naturally following along the theme of a spectacle, as it should. Even for those robbed of sight, the bright, pink layer lighting up even a day of darkness would shine through. Indeed, while Nico enjoyed a more laid back scheme in his daily life, one could not say the same about passing the threshold of a stage.

"Babe," the boy's pearly white teeth revealed themselves beneath slender lips, "I never plan." Nico finished, both of his hands placed on the edge of the stage before he proceeded to pull himself onto its foundation. With George's help, one should add. Nico's height made it quite the impossible feat to manage barring aid from another.

Upon gracing the large, black stage with his presence, Nico laid eyes on the equipment which had already been prepared for bands who had performed throughout the day. A decent schedule allowed a moment's breath between acts, leaving the impressive stage empty in anticipation for the festival's last and final musician. Nico Devina. He was, without a doubt, the most well-known artist attending the festival. One could make the argument that management reasoned towards the best for last. This was, however, not a sense of vanity to which Nico subscribed.

Part of the boy's charm had been confirmed as a welcoming and playful nature. Despite his countless years in the business, he was yet to display the more stereotypical attributes related to fame. Word of the time where Nico witnessed a girl's birthday party at a restaurant and offered his verbal services was still making its rounds.

With dainty fingers lowering themselves to the microphone steadily held up by its stand, the artist saw how several people within the crowd had begun pointing with a bout of excitement. Indeed, joyful faces rowed the massive gathering of Azure Park, people taking time out of their day in pursuit of happiness.

They all shared a point of entertainment at this very moment, however, in the form of a small, pale mutant dressed flamboyantly enough that not even his nearly gray skin visible upon bare arms was enough to take away from the spectacle.

It was far from a one-sided exchange, as Nico's eyes, brimming with the boy's trademark mischief met those of a gathering crowd. "What's up, Azure City!?" Came a cheerful tune from the pop star, his microphone elevating the sound of his voice. At this point, he had earned the attention of every single visitor who cared to spare him a moment. "No, it's not five pm, yet, I'm just breaking the rules!" Nico continued punching his glittery pink fist into the air.

"Holy shit, kid..," came a heavy sigh from George as he stood amongst the crowd, rubbing his forehead. Not only was his charge causing a most spectacular scene, but he was aware that if he let go of Lucifer for but a moment, the dog would leap onto stage alongside his master.

"Don't tell the managers I'm here or they'll flip out," Nico continued, the microphone proceeding to raise his melodic tongue. "They paid for like, an hour, in an hour and a half from now!" There was no denying that Nico lived for this, his very presence on stage filling the boy with unquenchable fire. "But today, my boy George Town was like, I have a gift for you, Doll Face," Nico pointed down into the crowd, at George. A three hundred pound mound of black muscle was quite easy to make out. "And I was like, 'Wake me up inside!'" The artist placed both hands on the microphone, singing an excerpt from Amy Lee's song with the same name. "So I decided to treat all you babes to my shenanigans before I am legally obligated to sing for y'all." Nico unattached the microphone from its stand as he began to walk about the stage casually. "But I've been put in a position, right? I totally owe George Town for the gift he got me."

"No, no, no..," George tensed, his eyes widening.

"So while rolling pure 20s on stealth while getting here, I was trying to come up with something to sing for my bodyguard." Considering the emphasis Nico placed on that word, bodyguard, George could clearly tell what was going to happen.

"Please God, no." The man took a deep breath. More eyes than he would have possibly wanted were on him.

"Whitney, babe, rest in peace." Nico finished, fist bumping the sky, before he finally started to sing on a verse from her most popular set. "And I!" The boy dragged out the word, as one should in a melodic string, "will always..," he sang, "love you!" Despite his small size, none could deny displayed strength of the boy's lungs. "I'll sing the rest of the song if you buy me cake."

"God, kill me now." The poor man whispered to himself, entirely engulfed by embarrassment.

"There are so many of you here, today!" Nico approached the edge of the stage, looking down at a growing crowd, many of whom were cheering excitedly. Most, in fact. "This is the best part of screaming into a microphone and getting downloaded illegally through YouTube converters." No matter what he said, Nico's voice remained at peak mischief. "Meeting all you weirdos in person, right? Always looking forward to this when I'm not being an anime character in music videos and starring in fanfictions with Naruto." A wide grin made itself visible on the boy's lips, "I've read some of them and I just have to say, I'm not that afraid of taking charge, Kay?" The boy proceeded to lean back somewhat as he spoke, this venue an obviously casual state of mind for him. "And whoever drew me riding naked on a unicorn on Etsy, thank you. I have a mural of that in George's room."

"I am burning down the house..," came a defeated sigh from the bodyguard.

The plant woman listened intently as he spoke. She let out a small giggle as he mentioned her brand of weird becoming the norm. "Well, I still have all the normal staples, but these are new and interesting. I especially like the grapes since they are far easier to prepare than a kiwi and raspberries." She saw him eyeing some red wine. "Ah, cooking wine. Well, that depends upon what type of meat, whether the wine will be served with the meat only or in a pasta, and what specific flavor notes you want. I assume you know how tannic red wine is and thus can handle reducing it well. If you plan fatty meats, try a Cabernet for a dry and full body to the flavor. However, for general purpose red wines, Merlot is good for being less tannic, thus more tolerant of more reducing, and for having a fruity and soft flavor. Sauvignon Blanc is a great whiter wine for general use as well and goes well in pasta dishes. Are you also looking for table wine for serving with the meals? So, what specific types of meals do you plan?"

If her enthusiasm and thoroughness wasn't enough to show she was serious about quality of her products, the sheer volume of her wine range was. It ranged just about every variety of wine currently known. Though not old vintages, they were specifically suited for cooking and drinking, so she sold them for very affordable prices. You could buy top shelf wine for a middle to low shelf price. She leaned in closer to Sheffield, her gaze becoming sharper. She was massively into this since talking food and cooking was one of her favorite pastimes.

Interaction: @Lotrix Molick
Mention: @Shard

---

Sheffield was an amateur compared to the many master chefs around the world, especially in knowledge about food; his question about wine was proof of that. It wasn't frustrating though. After all, his passion for cooking stemmed from a simple curiosity, a need born from being independent, and quitting his first job that took up much of his time, even if people say otherwise.

But up close, the young human saw quite a fire in Nari's eyes (for a plant, not that it was funny). She definitely had the better know-how around wines, and Sheffield was going to match that enthusiasm with his want to know. That want was enough to drown out the noise behind him, followed by some crackling that would have come from electronic speakers.

"A nightly dinner for two," he started. "Or at least that was a scene I saw on TV last night. I was thinking of recreating it, but I don't think myself as that good, so I want to try something... basic. Beef and vegetables, I think."

He looked at all the liquids, guessing that their prices combined could buy out several apartment rooms. Or was it whole lands? Didn't the average high quality ones price at around $200? And that was without mutant involvement. He was starting to see why Nari Sol was popular.

"Merlot red should do, and Blanc I'll save for later, along with table wine too. I wonder if pairing wine-cooked dinners with drinking wine will go well... I'll take your recommendations if you got any though, and I'll have fruits, vegetables, starting with those -- man, I'll have to ask for a bag..."

Sheffield babbled on, listening to whatever Nari had to say. He was still aware of the noise behind, along with that quirky voice, but he was focused on his shopping. It might just be a band he could see later.

Nico could clearly recall his first day on stage, the feeling of anxiousness intermixed with absolute awe. No more than a handful of spectators laying eyes on the doll like creature, Nico had little issue in pinpointing the start of his ever spanning career. There was one word which encompassed the emotional surplus once considered a stinging anxiety in the boy's stomach. An anxiety which developed into bliss. Whether this gesture was an attempt at attention, a pursuit of love most shallow, or grasping onto fame with fierce zeal, there was more to Nico than the glamour displayed for others to see.

Interviews had christened it eternal youth, a never fading beauty. However, few appeared to equal Nico's most peculiar inability with Solitude. Considering the boy's frozen state, his never shifting position, perhaps the bombastic nature of his chosen path in life made more sense. No matter how many winters passed him by, as long as he kept with the times, someone would always appreciate him. Even when he consistently outlived fans and loved ones alike.

Nico would claim that maintaining a distance from others was a myth, the disposition so many assumed was true. Losing those close to him on a consistent basis had not chilled the mutant's heart. No, it had taught him to appreciate what he had, in the moment. It had taught him to take one day at a time and manage everything as it came.

Perhaps that was the true reason behind the wide smile prevelant on Nico's lips. A sense of serenity where, after nearly a century, the boy had found peace within himself. "So, yesterday, I was preforming with a certain woman some of you might know," the pop star explained, his small, weightless feet bringing him from one end of the stage to the other in a slow, casual stride. "T'was Christina of house Aguilera," he revealed in a mock, medieval accent. "We went back to the nineties, and her primary gay boy wasn't available so I had to take Ricky Martin's place."

The star ran his slender fingers through the fluffy shape of his hair. "We were all like 'Nobody wants to be lonely!" Nico sang, imitating the song from an age now passed. "And George cried, no joke," the artist pointed at his bodyguard. "So to cheer him up we went to 'the car wash!'" Nico continued, singing the line of another song from the same singer. "Where, we met fish Will Smith, true story." The boy placed a hand atop his chest. "And we all danced on whale tongues. Wild ride."

"This is insane," George muttered to himself.

"A common question I get asked by everyone on scripted interviews where nothing is pre-planned, is if I've met this artist or the other," Nico shared, his large eyes streaking across the massive crowd. "Most recently, they were like, have you met Justin Bieber?" A common question indeed, Nico had been part of the artist's forum longer than most. "Because I come off as someone who hangs out with 'Baby, baby, oh babies!'" Nico had never censored his opinion on other artists, which media tended to love. "I have, however, met Michael Jackson." Nico raised a finger, explaining, "after he went full mutant."

"Enjoying this a bit too much, Nico.., reel it back." George continued to mumble, rubbing his face.

"And I loved it. Dude was the sweetest alleged lover of mini carrots I've ever met, but when you happen to age at the rate of conserved sugar, you have to stick to the present."

Nico paused, before smirking slightly. "Do we have any Disney lovers, here? I've never met Walt but he sure managed to bring people together. And now that we're all here, 'Let's get down to business! To defeat, the huns!" Nico placed both hands on the microphone as he started singing on an iconic song from the movie, Mulan.

"'Did they send me daughters.., when I asked, for s-..,'" Nico halted, "whoops, almost did a sexism there." The boy tapped his chin. "That's not acceptable, today." He considered the lyrics for a moment, before starting again. "I guess we could 'ask the bobcat, why he grins?'" Nico continued to Pocahontas. "No? Alright fine, I know a song made for Azure C-" The artist wrapped his fingers around a guitar resting against the drum set, "I'm gonna' borrow this!" Nico exclaimed to whoever stood in the crowd, with a mangement position, and attached the microphone to its stand. "Alright, everyone. I've killed enough time, let's get started, yeah?" Dainty fingers ran their way down the strings of Nico's guitar. "What's our beautiful city known for, huh? They're in every toy store, on every screen..," Nico began, his fingers plucking the strings of his guitar in a fluid motion. "On the ground, in the sky, they're your neighbors and even your siblings." The soft smile crossing the boy's lips would manage to convey a most sincere nature. "I'm pretty certain there are some of you here in the crowd, so let's go ahead and ask one undying question." Building up towards the song, Nico finally began. "Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the Gods..?" 

Location: Festival Grounds
Interactions: N/A

As soon as Elyssia decided where to sit, she sauntered herself over to the closest one she could see. From there, she plopped her pizza on the table, got herself into a comfortable position and ate her pizza. Like usual, the pizza was the good ole 12”, and it instantly took her back to when she tried to crack her cases. On the computer, her lights being off, always looking out at the city lights which was always absolutely gorgeous. Place on pretty music and then it just sets the scene completely.

Elyssia then hears a male voice, and it completely stops her train of thought. She looks up to see that it was someone who looked like a kid.

“Kid looks familiar…” Elyssia mumbled before sighing and then garbled down her last bit of pizza. “Then again, I always see millions upon millions of faces… It wouldn’t surprise me if I spotted him at one point… He doesn’t look like anyone significant though, not from my cases anyway.”

Elyssia then stood up and looked to someone who was beside her, making sure to show off her gentle smile before she then rubbed her face.

“Jesus christ, the kid is nuts.” Elyssia commented to herself quietly before crossing her arms. No matter what he said, it just didn’t come out right! “Welp, my interest is officially piqued”

The silver-haired woman almost choked on her fries when she noticed someone not only looking at her but approaching her, for a moment she thought this was it some sort of fan who had recognized her and was about to bother her, and she was already brainstorming how she would deal with such a situation. However, to her surprise, that was not the case. Despite the eager look, she asked a simple question.

"Hi! Are you waiting for anyone?"

This made Asuka even more confused, but relieved, she finished to chew and swallow her fries before addressing the stranger.

"Huh…? Uhm… Not really! Was it rude that I took this table all for myself?”

"Oh my gosh," the head stomper gasped, "You really were going to eat it by yourself!" Bursting with innocence and excitement and completely unaware of if she sounded rude or not, she continued. "No, it's not rude! It's so cool!" She exclaimed, looking like she'd just hit the jackpot. Not taking the precaution of asking if she could sit down, she took the seat across from the woman.

"What's your name?"

Asuka was one to be easily embarrassed by many things, but she was not shy about her mutant powers, so she nodded with a soft smile at the statement, glad the girl had found it to be cool. She blinked rapidly when the stranger took a chair but did not say anything, after all, she seemed interested and Asuka was hogging a lot of space.

"My name is Asuka,” she said, picking up her hotdog. "What is yours?”

“A-su-ka,” she sounded out, turning around and looking at the other girl upside-down, “That’s... Japanese, isn’t it? I’m Aeira!” She placed her hand on her chest for emphasis.

“Are you Japanese?” Pointing at Asuka, her mouth was wide open in shock. It definitely wasn’t everyday for her that she potentially found someone from the same country as her (adoptive) mother. Then again, it also wasn’t everyday that she went outside during the day.

“Yes, I am from Japan, in fact, I have only been in America for a few months,” Asuka answered, her head tilting as much as she could to follow the upside-down Aeira, her expression even showing a side-smile despite its tendency to default to a blank stare.

“Really? My mom is from there! She’s so cool, just like you! Anyways,” Aeira said, her expression turning the slightest bit more solemn, “She always told me if you wanted to know a city, you have to ask the rats. But,” her face turned back to the friendly one that it was before, “if you don’t want to ask some scary looking people, you could always ask me. I’m a rat!” She exclaimed. She looked incredibly enthusiastic to call herself such a thing, but it was a title she wore with pride.

“You smiled!” If she didn’t look incredibly proud of herself already, she definitely did now.

Asuka nodded and then smiled a bit more widely. “I guess I did. It is a beautiful city but many seem to always be a bit down… I guess that is common to all metropolises, actually. So it impresses me to find someone so energetic.” by the time she finished the phrase, it had to be noticed that the whole table had been emptied. “So, miss… rat? Would you like something? There are still some stalls with food that is of my interest, I could get something for you as well. Perhaps, in exchange, you could tell me Azure’s secrets.” she told in a straightfaced tease.

“I know. Everyone’s so boring.” Aeira sighed, but both her mood and her wings perked up when she heard mentions of food. She hoped that nobody noticed them.

“Yeah! I’ll eat anything.” She approved, jumping out of her seat and behind Asuka. “But first, what part of the city do you want to know about?”

Asuka led the way, getting food from the stalls she missed on the first run. Fried chicken, tacos, a variety of fruits, milkshake… unfortunately some stalls were too crowded so she had to skip on them. “Hmm. What part of the city… Any area you would consider to be unwise to visit should you not be looking for trouble? The local media says it's all safe, but I don't quite buy that.” it was clear she was not talking about avoiding at all.

She got an extra serving of cake for Aeira when all of the sudden there was a commotion, some celebrity had started to make ruckus, but Asuka was too busy juggling plates to pay attention, instead just going to her table.

Aeira was constantly spinning and skipping behind Asuka, only stopping to occasionally admire the food. "Rule number 1 of Azure City; I never lie. Rule number 2; everybody’s a liar," she said, her voice turning more serious than before, "which means you probably are looking for trouble. But it doesn't necessarily mean that the local media wasn't telling the truth. Azure City is a big place, though. Crimes are committed everywhere, even in places you don't expect. The reason why the city is, unfortunately, not a place where everyone just does what they want is because the police is pretty good at stopping it. If the police can't handle the criminal because of a mutation, the MSU does. Which means it's pretty hard to find trouble. But..." she stopped to think for a second. "Certain individuals take it upon themselves to seek out evildoers and take them down in the name of justice. They're a pretty big help to the police, as you can imagine. Most of them are mutants themselves, and many of them target other mutants. They also help keep the people's spirits up. Heroes are idolized here. They help distract the citizens from all the evil. Without the Batmen and the Robins of America, I think this place would be a whole lot more depressing." She stopped spinning, and instead put her hands behind her head.

"The reason why I told you that last part is to make sure you knew that the city is as safe as you make it. If you want to live a life of safety and security, you can. If you want to find trouble, you can. It might be in the slums. Could be in your neighborhood. Or it could be in plain sight, making and executing plans right beneath our noses. It's everywhere, but it can feel like it's nowhere." Like before, Aeira's serious expression turned right back into a silly one. "But if you're me, you could just piss everyone off and make angry men come running at you." She finished talking when Asuka got her some cake. She was curious about that voice. It sounded so familiar, yet she wasn't able to put her finger on it since it was so far away.

Sitting down on the table and spreading the second round of meals across, this time taking into consideration the space Aeira would need for herself, Asuka digested all the information that had been given for her. “Idolization of heroes really has its role, albeit it helps to give people hope, it can be quite stressful to live under the shadow of people who appear to lack the failings of mortal life. I guess this is where the idolization of villainy enters, the big bad, the one who makes you think ‘well, I might be bad, but at least I am not this bad’. This is very common in other cities, with every minor mutant criminal being somewhat, uhm… hyped? But in Azure, it is not so common. I wonder why.” she spoke, the bit about villainy being somewhat personal to her, despite it just being her role on a TV show, albeit she recognized her explanation of that fascination was truly too optimistic, she guessed there was also a side of frustration against society or just a desire to see things burn.

“But ah, let’s leave this topic behind. I guess it is just me itching to let my power flow a bit, it has been a year or so since I last used it for anything, it starts to become somewhat uncomfortable. To you… it would be like having to stay still all day, for a year.” she had deduced she was speaking to a mutant, and even more, that the talk she heard while buying the second serving, about some ‘mutant delinquent’ jumping over people’s head, was likely related to this person.

“I don’t even stay still when I sleep,” Aeira laughed, “but I’d always be moving, even if I was just a human. What is your power?” She asked, looking even more interested in Asuka than she was before.

“I guessed the, uh, theme of yours from the way you act, the mutation, in my experience, can be a bit addictive, leading to some personality quirks and compulsions.” she tilted her head slightly. “With that said, can you guess mine?"

Aeira looked to be in deep thought. Looking at the food on the table, she found her answer. “Oh! You eat a lot of stuff, so maybe you draw power from taking in stuff? But if you eat like that you should look like thiiiis,” she spread her arms apart as far as they could go, “But you don’t! So you can release it somehow?”
She smiles at her simulating what shape she should have and nods approvingly. “Very clever. Yeah, I can, uh, consume things and then use them to enhance my body… like, uh, I can eat metal and make my skin feel like armor for a while... It isn’t eating like I am doing right now, though it does affect how much I need to eat and how efficient I am in burning calories. It… is a bit hard on my bills, but it cannot be helped.”

Aeira froze, the gears turning in her head. “Wait… you can do that? Huh? How?”

It was just too good of an opportunity not to play the old joke. “Why? Maybe I should showcase it right here? I could use… you!” she made a silly face and rose her hands and then couldn’t help but to laugh. “Just joking! Can’t do it to people, just materials… Ugh… I wish I could show you, but its a quite noisy and area affecting power, I would end the festival here and now and I would be the one with an angry crowd after me. So here, this is my number, call me later and we can set up something, find a better place for me to use it… Oh! And speaking of angry crowds…” discretely, she pointed to the nearby stalls, on the walkway behind them an angry crowd was approaching, delayed by the mess the singer was causing, but clearly about to enter the area.

“Are you fucking serious?” She sighed. “Well, whatever.” She stood up from her seat and stretched before slowly walking in the opposite direction of the crowd. “I’ll text you later, metal-eater!” She said. Her walking-and-waving quickly turned into a full blow run when the crowd got closer. Aeira wondered where she would go. Maybe Nico was here already?

The soft shuffle of feet sliding into a pair of slippers was the first sound that permeated Sir Booke's room as he sat upon the edge of the bed. The older gentleman plucked a pair of rounded spectacles from his night stand, before unfolding them and placing them upon his face. He stood from his comfy perch, stretching out his limbs slowly as he shuffled towards his wardrobe, an exhale of relief escaping him. He gently pushed a sliding-switch about half an inch upwards as he passed by it, the lights in the room slowly becoming less dim, though not fully lighting the room.

He ran a finger across the face of a calendar he kept next to his wardrobe as he began to unbutton his sleep-gown. "Ah. This is the day of the festival." he said to himself as he pulled a pen from his nearby desk, before planting an "X" on the current date. "Well...I suppose I should attend, shouldn't I?"

There were a series of muffled chirps.

Booke turned to his desk, stepping over to it before placing his hand on a round-top cylinder-shaped piece of cloth. He pulled the cloth away to reveal a bronze cage - within it, several cockatiels. "What do you dears think, hmm?" he inquired as he opened the cage with a soft smile, rubbing each of the three under the chin, in turn. They emitted soft, pleasured coos as their owner did so.

He closed the cage softly once more, moving back to his wardrobe as he got dressed.

After he was finished, he took the cage by the top and moved it with him as he left his bedroom. He moved it to the dining counter, opening the cage door once more for the birds to come and go as they pleased, before he strolled over to the window, pulling the curtains to the side before slowly shifting the blinds to the open position. "There you are, lovelies."

Booke soon retrieved his wallet from the bedroom, as well as a lightweight, light-brown longcoat - one of his favorites - along with a darker Trilby hat. He donned both the pieces of clothing, concealing the wallet in an inward chest-pocket, before proceeding to his apartment door. He snatched his cane from the corner nearby before closing the door behind him, the jangle of his keys signaling his departure as he locked the door.



Whump!

Beep-Beep.

Booke stood beside the passenger-side door of his self-driving Sedan as he tucked his keys back into his chest coat-pocket with a gloved hand. He turned around and took in the air around him. Even from several blocks away (where even then, his car had a tough time finding a parking spot), one could smell the environment of the festival in the air. Tons of people, food, festivities - all awaiting those social enough to find their way there.

The older man made his way closer to the festival at a stroll's pace, greeting friendly faces along the way - various people going to and from the festival carrying bags of food and the like. People are always so friendly this time of year. It's quite soothing. he thought with a smile.

A fresh breeze brushed over him, carrying the many scents that told him - he was there.

The drone of the people was the most prominent sound one could hear when they came to the festival every year; the bargains, purchases, stories shared - they all contributed to the common noise that was, in itself, a part of the spectacle. Sometimes, even the events that took place on stage were drowned out by the people that surrounded it - if you weren't particularly interested, that is. However, there was one thing that was never drowned out. Nico Devina.

Even having just recently arrived only minutes ago, Booke had heard Nico's commotion from some ways away. And the crowd that surrounded the stage was a testament that many others had as well. While Booke had never been a fan of Nico's modern genre, he had to admit that the 'young' talent had a certain charisma to him. He definitely turned heads.

But for now, Booke would forego the artist's rambling, in favor of fetching himself some sort of meal, or drink. He explored the festival grounds at a leisurely pace, searching for something to indulge his palette.



Booke wasn't unaware of the MSU's presence at the festival. It was common for them to at least surveil the event. There was a lot of people present, and a lot of mutants. And a lot of potential for accidents.

But today was his day off. The MSU could last a couple days without him - he was sure.

Nari could tell the man was inexperienced. After all, he talked about Blanc as a drink close to a red meat dinner. "If you plan to use the Blanc, make sure it is at least long enough after dinner for the palates to be cleared up. For table wine, I highly recommend Cabernet Sauvignon as it pairs well with red meats, assuming you are doing beef steaks of course. The Merlot will be great for sauce. Blanc can be a very good comfort drink, but it does not pair overly well with the meal, so be very careful on that." Feeling satisfied with that, she motioned to her produce. Some vines lifted a few bags, ready for filling. "As far as produce is concerned, take your pick. It's free for the taking and enjoyment. The wines will cost you $40 a bottle."

For anyone in the know, her prices for the wine were beyond fair. The rating her wines received would make them equivalent to $140 a bottle for red and $130 a bottle for white wines. She didn't need that much profit, so she cut it down enough to comfortably sell and to allow the average consumer to afford high quality wine. Her produce, when not free, followed a similar pattern. Though she may undercut most of the larger corporations, she kept her operation intentionally small to prevent making waves to the point of dealing with the corporate politics.

Azure City, The Festival

Moving to a new home is never an easy experience, and it's even worse when it involves traveling to a whole new part of the country. However, in Alan's opinion, anything was easier than watching his Mom slowly dying of a brain tumor. He sometimes wondered what might've been if that had never happened. Would he have been as driven to find a way to save her as he did? Driven enough to use himself as a lab rat? Regardless, it was over and done with and all that was left was to focus on the present.

His time since arriving here had been a mix of getting settled, training with his powers some more, and going out on nightly patrols for any sorts of evildoers or troublemakers. All that was mixed in with constantly worrying about his Mom's health and if her tumor would suddenly return.

Finally, she had enough, set him down and told him that she was touched he cared so much but he needed to lighten up and stop acting like he was carrying the weight of the whole world on his back. "There's a festival going on in a few days. I'll do some baking, you make some jewelry, and then you go set up a booth down there and enjoy yourself. I'm not taking No for an answer either."

Alan did as he told, and now here he found himself, setting up a table and laying out a mix of the jewelry alongside some baked goods with a small platter of brownies set aside for himself. He kicked back in his chair with an Archie Comic and proceeded to do some light reading as he waited for visitors.

Location: Festival Grounds
Interactions: @GamerXZ

Elyssia bit her lower lip and shook her head, that guy really did know what he wanted, at the same time though. He was such a bloody mystery. Who wasn’t a mystery nowadays though? Everyone is at least hiding one or two dirty little secrets that they don’t want anyone knowing. More commonly than not though, it was a mutant. Not that Elyssia minded, but yeah, it was related to her point.

Deciding to walk around, the girl slowly stumbled onto a booth full of pretty jewellery and whatnot. She was taken to the lands of her mind for a moment and imagined herself cracking a case involving an innocent child, and then giving them a piece of jewellery to keep them happy and rather content with themselves.

Walking towards the stall, she noticed the stall person was reading a comic, but she didn’t mind. It would give her time to decide what she wanted. She couldn’t wait. Maybe she could have a few of them… she was packed with cash, after all, it was amazing how much she earns as a private detective.

Glancing over to the the jewlery, the girl gasps happily before she picked one up from the stall and glanced at it with her curious eyes. Nothing quite like what she was seeing right now after all. It was simply gorgeous!

“Excuse me.” The girl said in an attempt to try and gain the person’s attention. “This piece of jewellery is gorgeous. How much is it, might I ask??” She then queried. “Just because I don’t think I can part with it personally.”

She made sure to try and at least show it to the stall person with a nice smile on her face, that is if they were looking anyway. They had to know what she was inquiring about, after all.

Azure City, The Festival
Interactions: @Salrynn

Alan chuckled and shook his head at what he was reading, "Oh, Archie...even after all these years you still can't make up your mind which girl you love more...well, I suppose some things never change..."

All of a sudden, in the back of his mind there was the sound of someone, or something, clearing its throat, "Partner I apologize for interrupting your oh-so-precious "me time" but you have a customer."

"Huh?" Alan glanced up to see a lady before him fiddling with a particular piece of jewelry, causing him to yelp and fall over backwards. Despite his groaning, the voice in his head only chuckled mischievously, "Gee, thanks," The lad decided to leave his partner alone for the minute and address the lady, "H-Hey...sorry you had to see that. I wasn't entirely sure people were gonna take notice of my stall,"

He got his chair back up and resumed sitting in it, "Now, let's see..." He eyed the jewelry she was inspecting. It was an emerald cut in the shape of a diamond with a gold lining and a ring of pearls acting as a necklace, "Ahh, you got a good eye there, miss. It actually took me a fair bit of time and effort to get this one just right," He wasn't lying either. Transmuting the actual material was easy, but getting it to assume such an exact shape required real finesse.

"I'll gladly sell it to you for ten dollars."

One man's past, one boy's actions, they could accumulate in a disastrous climax, many years down the line. A decision many would likely deem a mistake, an arrogant disposition overlooking details which drew a clear line between the living and the dead. It was this haunting presence which trickled down Nico's spine, at the final lyric of a Bonnie Tyler's Holding out for a hero.

An artist could see much from the stage, the elevation offering view of what Azure Park displayed, as if an endless, flowing dance along grass and trees. Only those robbed of sense would be forgiven for viewing the scene and leave without an understanding of joy emanating from the central and most flowery venue of Azure City. Indeed, Azure Park had hosted countless events upon its fields, blankets strewn across the grass with picnic baskets containing sandwiches wrapped in plastic.

Some would call it the jewel of Azure, a most beautiful fairy tale display of vegetation and care. Though applause filled the air at the end of Nico's performance, cheers whistles and hands clapping together, the mutant could scarcely hear them. His attention had been stolen, it had been fully and entirely confiscated by a sound echoing throughout the park. Louder than any cheer, more aggressive than any scream, the unforgiving presence of a bullet launched through a muzzle made its entrance with ear piercing precision.

Nico's eyes widened at the display, a handful of individuals forcing a path through the eastern entrance. Armed with highly illegal gear, rifles and body armor, they wore the face of death. Black like the deepest night, their outfits masked the creatures beneath. Tactical gear offered only the government's own, each pull of the trigger, as fully automatic rifles left a trail of dead, indicated their acquisition.

Soon, cheers were replaced by screams, following explosions strategically positioned throughout the park. With splintering bursts of bombs adding to the massacre, Nico was able to see more troops entering the park through both the northern and western entrance. This was only moments before another explosive cackle rung through the boy's ears, a shockwave plummeting him to the stage floor.

A deafening clang remained between the boy's ears, his equilibrium knocked from its feet, and his state one of dazed confusion.

There had been a terrorist attack. Azure Park, amidst the joyous nature of annual festivities, had been invaded. Assault rifles screamed with every shot, their battle cries echoing as they drowned out frightful shrieks.

They fired indiscriminately, randomly shooting every person taking the shape of a target. Panic had managed to blanket Azure Park in absolute desperation. The animalistic desire to live had taken full control, participants of the Azure festival trampling one another in an attempt to escape the rain of devastation. "Nico!" George ran towards the stairs connecting the stage to the grass-covered field.

Slowly ascending to his knees, Nico felt pain coursing through his body from the force which had pushed him to the floor. As he began to regain his composure, eyesight which had previously suffered a shock returned to reveal the absolute massacre of Azure Park running red with blood. "Nico!" The boy's name was repeated, before he was helped to his feet by George.

"Get the dogs out of here..," Nico spoke, clenching his teeth as he saw the fear washing over his canines where they trembled at the end of their leash. This tactic, this ruthless sacrifice of countless civilians, it was not a mere act of terrorism. It was a statement, and Nico might have known who was making it.

"What!?" George returned, holding onto the dogs who were tugging at their leashes in an attempt to vacate the area. "You're coming with us!"

"She'll kill the boys if I'm escaping with you." Nico continued, lowering himself to a knee before his presence managed enough to calm the canines, if only a little.

"This is them!?" George exclaimed, well aware of who the smaller mutant meant. This level of equipment and chaotic approach had only been displayed by a mere few enemies they faced in the past, and only one of them was run by a woman. "But you shredded her!"

"Stop talking," the boy demanded, "she's coming. Leave, now." Was this truly the same boy who had sung on stage, only moments earlier? His voice, his tone, and his demeanor were vastly different. He was not struck by fear, despite the chaos, but rather a sense of anger.

George needed only turn to see the slow approach of a tall, slender woman walking towards the stage, before giving into the boy's demands. Though reluctantly, he leaped down from the stage and ran toward the southern exit with Nico's beloved dogs.

This left the boy by himself on that stage, the stride of a woman walking through a massacre brimming like a flame in the picture which was being painted.

Nico recalled her long, silver hair, her confident walk and that aura of supremacy surrounding the once beautiful woman as each step of her high heels brought her closer. Once they clicked against the stairs, a soft smirk made its way to the woman's pale lips, her ghostly blue eyes fixed on the boy before her. One would observe that she halted in her step mere inches from Nico. "Charmed, I'm sure." She spoke, her sharp voice cutting through the gathering of pain and anguish surrounding them.

"Amavell," came a response from the boy who motioned toward the park. "Throwing a tantrum?"

With a small chuckle, the woman now revealed to possess the name Amavell tilted her head, a truly astounding face hidden beyond the devastating scar acting like a tear in silk. "A gift, for you."

"My gift didn't seem to take. Death too convenient, for you?" One could claim that Nico's calm demeanor, despite what was happening, revealed a far darker side to him. "You kept that, though," he gently motioned toward the woman's visage.

"How I have missed you, Rayne." Amavell commented, "does it kill you inside, robbed of the opportunity to strike? A secret identity must remain secret."

"Mainly trying to figure out who stitched you back together." A slight frown bridged it's way across Nico's lips.

"A story for another time, my lovely," Amavell returned. "Both of us will walk away this day," her calm steps brought her behind the boy as she placed her hands on his slender shoulders. "Today, I wanted to show you, that this blood has been spilled in your honor." A whisper trickled into Nico's ear, tension spreading throughout his body. "A love song for you, my dear. Rayne will come back, and we will dance together, again." Nico heard the cocking of a gun, before it was pressed against his shoulder. "I've missed you, my angel." An incredibly sharp pain shot through Nico's shoulder, following a pushed path off the stage, darkness claiming each sense with a thud marking impact.

Elyssia gasped lightly as she then glanced over to the guy before smiling softly. She couldn’t believe that was how much it even was! It seemed like it was a rather decent bargain at that. She knew if she tried to buy something similar from an actual jeweller, she would probably have to pay so much more. It was a nice snatch!

“Oh! That much?!” The girl queried before trying to reach into her trenchcoat for some of her cash. Placing the lovely piece of jewellery on the stall, she reached out of the very same trenchcoat a lovely looking purse, with beige decorations and embedded with butterflies. Elyssia was a big fan of butterflies, and she wouldn’t change her purse for the world.

Opening the purse, the girl then unzipped it and picked out a dollar note. That was before everything changed completely, and that was for the worse.

Strange noises started to emanate from the whole bloody venue, and this caused Elyssia to panic. What was worse was the fact that there were so many, and everything was unstable. There was one that even blew up right near the two of them and Elyssia had no other choice but to kick in her detective instinct.

“Get the fuck down!!” She exclaimed.

---

“Surprised, huh?” Alan quipped with a small smirk before moving to package her order, “Yeah, I don’t like to toot my own horn, but other jewelry stores would charge you an arm and a leg for such things. I, however, am just very good with my hands and don’t really see much need for money,” Again, this wasn’t a lie, especially since he covered his and his Mom’s expenses by transmuting some lead into gold.

“By the way, can I interest you in some freshly-baked goods? I highly recommend the fudge brow-” However, he never got the chance to finish as next thing he knew a loud explosion shook the park, causing the young man to lose his balance and fall over, “WHAT THE??!”

He risked a peek and saw a group of men armed and gearing for a fight as civilians fled from their presence. Gnarling his teeth, Alan did as instructed by the lady and decided to go one step further, “Get under the table!”

---

Elyssia immediately did as was instructed. She quickly went under the table, and do make sure it was done in a fast motion, she pulled the poor guy underneath the table too. There was no way to do anything much now. Especially since everything went complete bonkers.

“It’s time to defend each other.” Elyssia mumbled to herself before she took off her own trench coat, revealing that she had some pretty neat armaments on herself. She wasn’t afraid to show off what she had, clearly. She was shown to have at least a shotgun and a grenade launcher. It seemed she also had nunchucks strapped to herself.

“In my trenchcoat, I have plasters. We can use multiple ones if we get too much of a wound. You have no idea what the hell will happen now.”

Elyssia was of course, worried. She was probably going to be assigned to this personally because she was there when it happened. What was worse though, was that she heard shooting come closer and closer…

“I think there’s some down here!” She heard.

“Ooooh fiddlesticks.”

---

Alan could only stare in shock as this lady began to unload all sorts of weapons, “Ok, if we get out of this alive, remind me not to piss you off…” This was a fine example of how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

However, the pair’s attempt to hide had gone poorly as it seemed they had already been discovered. Alan frowned as he considered what to do...and then he slapped himself, bringing him back to his senses, What am I thinking? There’s no choice here…

“Alright, whoever’s under there come out with your hands up!” ordered one of the voices on the outside.

Alan made a shushing motion to the lady and whispered, “Stay under here...and don’t worry...you’re not the only one with tricks up their sleeve...,” The young man smiled and gave her a thumbs up before letting his facial features begin to rearrage themselves as he moved to swiftly shoot out to where he had been sitting and, with a graceful flourish, had turned into his superhero identity:

The rather fabulous Nexus...who totally wasn’t a clone of Nights.

Before the men had any idea what was going on, Nexus snapped their glove-clad fingers and swung an arm out, causing a wave of psychic energy to erupt forth, turning the men’s weapons into sand, “What the?!!” The men were too shocked to quickly react and thus Nexus bounded over the table while turning his foot into solid steel, kicking one guy hard enough to send him flying.

He whirled about and slammed his palms into the armor-plated stomachs of two others, causing their entire outfits to turn into solid concrete though Nexus at least had the courtesy to not petrify their helmets so they could at least breathe.

---

“Hollllyyyyyy shit…”

Of course, the guy was a bloody mutant! Sometimes it’s not obvious, sometimes it is. In fact, why is she even surprised?!?!

“Welp, here's hoping nobody needs evidence on who were the mutants.”

Elyssia knew that if she reacted, there may be a few problems. She knew that this person wanted to keep both of them, and the rest of the city, safe. It wasn’t going to go down well, however. Elyssia knew she would have to report this if she was assigned to the case. In fact, it was probably best if she was going to collect the evidence right now. It was probably a much much safer situation.

Finally, Elyssia got out from under the table and walked towards the one who just transformed so suddenly. She was wearing her trenchcoat again, but she had out her grenade launcher. Oh, and she was reloading it at the same time.

“Heck, I didn’t expect that from you whatsoever.” Elyssia admitted before she sighed softly. “I am gonna warn you now. We should probably search for survivors. I got your back so don’t worry… Oh, and if anyone tries to get us again, let me do the shooting. You will probably have more strength than me to help the survivors after all.”

Elyssia looked around before she shook her head.

“Cleanup on aisle four.”

---

Nexus glanced back and saw that the detective girl was doing fine, “Yeah, well, I did say you weren’t the only one with tricks up their sleeve…” Their smile stiffened a little as they then decided it was time to focus on the situation and turned to eye the destruction.

“...Yeah. Let’s go find those survivors...and maybe crack the skull of whoever decided it was a good day for a massacre…” The hero cracked his knuckles before walking off, “Don’t think we got to introduce ourselves. I’m Alan, but as this, you can call me Nexus,” He cast a glance at the grenade launcher, “And don’t worry if you get low on ammo. Just give me a holler and I’ll get you restocked.”

---

The girl smugly tilted her head before she looked around. The guy cracked his knuckles before he walked off. That was when he introduced himself as Alan, but also as Nexus.

“My name is Elyssia Bailey, and I am a private detective.” She introduced herself before bowing down. “I will let you know if I need them restocked!”

The girl then turned around and then looked behind her before she walked off herself. She needed to find survivors, and she was going to try to get some snippets out of them. What else was she gonna do?? What if more of them nasty explosions was coming??

Location: Festival Grounds (Near Western Entrance)
Interactions: Anyone can join in if you wish. Mind the western location though.

For K Nine and Setsuka, it just seemed like you minor incident. They were still looking for that little mutant girl but were coming up short. There was another incident reported. She was spotted again by an angry mob still trying to catch her but she had quickly ran off again.

But that's when everything went to hell when they were on the western side during one of their patrol routes.

"Emergency! Hostiles at the eastern-"

But the radio call on both of their headsets was cut off immedately when gunfire rang out. Then followed by explosions that seemed to be coming from a distance but from around the park it seemed.

"The hell?!", K Nine said.

"Lieutenant! Sit Rep!", Setsuka called.

"We got multiple hostiles charging in east side. Body armor and well-armed!", came his response.

K Nine, drawing his Glock 22 and combat knife and Setsuka drawing her MP5, Setsuka responed, "Roger! Were on the west side! Moving to regroup-"

But she was interrupted when an explosion close to them went off...and those same terrorist started charging though the west entrance.

"CONTACT!", K Nine yelled as he and Setsuka opened fire on the hostile targets.

The terrorists immedately stopped and retreated when they saw the two supposed SWAT members stopping their progress from the west side. Gunfire was traded. Both K Nine and Setsuka had found an abandoned booth to take cover in. Pushing over the table for cover, both ducked behind it.

Then, that's when K Nine's eyes went yellow...and heard it...rushing footstep coming right at them of all things. Almost like a blur, K Nine popped up and quickly fired two shot, both finding their mark on the rushing terrorists head. Then, he saw the grenade fall out of his hands. Thankfully, it exploded far enough away that the booth covering the two MSU agents wasn't effected much as K Nine retook cover.

Showing off her sharpshooting skills even with a MP5, Setsuka immedately popped a three round burst into a terrorist further behind the western side. Said terrorist immedately went down behind the car that was being used for cover.

"Jesus! Who are these two?!", one called out.

Then one swore and said, "I saw their uniform! They're MSU!"

"Ok! Don't rush them! Hold them here and let the others come in from the east and north!"

"...they're trying to flank us. Heard em say they had other teams east and north", K Nine said.

"Lieutenant! More hostiles North and West! We got the west ones pinned down but north and east needs assistance!", Setsuka said.

"I'm at north with a squad! East sounds compromised! I need units over there! F***! We need backup here at Festival grounds! All units report!"

And that's how it was for the moment as, in perhaps the blink of an eye, the festival turned into a war zone...

Interactions: @Lotrix Molick
Mentions: @Shard, @Salrynn and @GamerXZ.

---

Sheffield took hold of a wine bottle and smashed it across a surprised shooter's visor, blinding him with sticky black juice.

Before his partner could register the sound of glass breaking, the young man shoved a taser under his exposed armpit. Electricity forced the enemy to dance for a second. As soon as the shooter dropped to one knee, Sheffield took this chance to strip him off his helmet and slam it on his temple. This one slumped to the ground, eyes rolled up.

The other shooters that had been sent Nari's way were being taken care of by the mutant herself. Five were having trouble with vines entangling their feet and creeping up and through their clothes. Two were swaying on their feet and hugging their rifles. Three were being handled by Nari herself, kicking, jabbing, snaking around like creeping ivy.

She was laughing. Laughing as she pulled one man into another, knocking them to the ground as more vines surged to tie them up. Grinning as she slapped a handgun away just as it aimed at her, sending a loud bullet into the air. Cursing when a grenade exploded right next to her. Upset as she teased part of the thrower's mask away and blew some sort of purple dust into the man's mouth.

As that enemy started to faint, Sheffield threw the helmet at another one of the black-garbed that had been carefully aiming at the mutant dancing through his allies. He went down on his bum as the helmet went clunk! on his own brain-protective gear, alerting Nari to him and replying with pollen. He tugged at his balaclava, only to inhale more of the pollen and choking loudly.

Not seeing anymore reinforcements nearby, Sheffield turned to address another problem. The man that was blinded from the juice earlier had finally wiped it off and saw a spiky green ball coming at him. He ducked--

Into another durian, which went into his jaw. He staggered before feeling his left leg give out under him. He grunted again when the durian rained down on his helmet and felt it ripped off. Then he stared into a young man's eyes. They were shadowed over a little by brown hair with red highlights, but the gunman could still see the anger in them.

Sheffield was feeling surprised, but more importantly outraged. It was only minutes ago that the festival was underway, where he had just come back to get Nari bounties of the earth when they heard the explosions. The tree mutant had flicked away a grenade in time with a vine just as Sheffield wrestled down a person dressed like the military, who expected a civilian instead of a veteran at combat.

Nari was getting most of the takedowns though. As usual, unlike a human like Sheffield, most mutants were capable of taking down ordinary people in most situations, depending on their power. For Nari, who controlled nature, an open park with so much grass and trees and sunlight was a clear advantage for her plants to sprout anywhere on the ground. Sheffield wasn't sure if creating huge vines was something she was incapable of, but she hadn't done such a thing, which could explain all those martial arts she pulled off.

Limitations. Sheffield was well aware of his own, and so he hadn't rushed off to fight more armed bad guys without his usual range of equipment. Instead, he delivered a fist straight into the man's eye.

He yelped in pain as his eye turned black, writhing in Sheffield's grip. He was pretty heavy, threatening to pull Sheffield down with him, but the young man stood his ground.

"Where's your leader?" Sheffield had a note of menace in his voice. "Point me."

"I won't--"

The man got a slap to the face. It was very hard. "I wasn't asking. Where."

"You won't get it out of me--!"

Sheffield threw him to the ground and jabbed at his face. Once the man got to holding his nose in pain, the human shouted, "Nari! I don't see any more bad guys so come here already!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" she shouted, jogging over once she made sure the men were tied up. Her breathing was loud, but her eyes were wide with excitement.

Sheffield gestured to the man holding his head. "I was hoping to get something out of this one, like who was in charge of all... this."

It was only then did the two take in the ruined festival. Azure Park was a graveyard at this point, where humans were dying or dead, gunfire and explosions replaced laughter and loudspeakers, and mutants of varying sizes and shapes held out, but not always for long.

Sheffield flinched when he heard a scream. Nari was balling up her fists.

"You did really good," she told Sheffield. "I would've been blindsided maybe a couple of times."

Sheffield had counted fourteen military-looking people they handled in total, including the one on the ground. Eleven were very clearly thanks to Nari, someone they did not expect to come with... pollen, or what it looked like to Sheffield.

He nodded at the praise anyway, noting how absurd they were, having a chat in a warzone. "You had the most takedowns. But can we talk later... uh..."

"Interrogation. Right."

She stomped over to the man, shoulders tense and replacing her frown with a smile. Then she opened her mouth and blew a purple mist.

It washed over the wary shooter, whose eyes flitted and voice slowed to moans, like it was suddenly bedtime for him. In this stupor, Nari, very sweetly, asked, "Where is your boss?"

"Th-That way..." The man pointed in the direction where a stage had been erected. The platform was for musical bands to perform on; now it was smoking. And on it were a few figures...

"Good. Now go to sleep."

The man dropped onto his back.

"Oh, right. I forgot to ask for their ringleader's name."

Sheffield shrugged. "Shame. But I think we got bigger company."

A person dressed in black was walking towards them. A mutant that had been defending himself came from behind--he was thrice taller, and quadraple the girth--and swung his arms down on the new combatant.

They punched back. A loud boom they could hear escaped from the contact as the larger mutant went sailing into the air, crashing into a stall. Wooden planks flew into the air as this black-clad person walked towards Sheffield and Nari without a second look.

"A mutant with something like super-strength," Nari observed. "Leave this one to me."

"No, we're taking this one together." Sheffield stepped forward, drawing forth his wrapped thing that had been hanging onto his belt. While they were talking, he had swiped a few flashbangs from the downed shooters and put a few in his apron. "I was a vigilante. I can help."

Nari opened her mouth and closed it, eyes narrowed with incredulity, then opened for whatever reason Sheffield wouldn't know.

Because by then, the mutant with fists to talk of was in the air.

---

At this point in time, these two were in the northern sector of the park. Further north were a few watchers...

Under the cacophony of screams and bullets, a group of people, a mix of strangers, friends, and families, ran through the park in search of help, of escape, of anything. They found the opposite of that, ominous armed figures, smoke still rising from their rifles indicating recent use, no doubt having claimed the life of innocents. They were reloading and setting up other weapons, a crate of ammunition on their feet, but as soon as they saw the civilians they rushed to get their weapons ready, and in moments, the first bullet had been fired.

It never landed, more followed, but all took a stray path, at first, with so much chaos around them, it was hard to listen to the sound, but there was something close to a vortex of wind near them, a sound like that of a vacuum cleaner or hair drier. The attention diverted from the civilian targets and was now on the direction of the weird sound, though the source was hidden by rustling bushes.

Then all of the sudden came Asuka, a ‘black hole’ like thing right between her extended arms, the terrorists panicked, but now the pull of the void was even more intense, bullets as fast as they were could not outrun the absorption. As she stepped closer, the attackers had to hold their weapons tightly, having to watch as the crate of ammunition started making scratching noises, being dragged closer to Asuka until it opened, its contents spilled and consumed. The rifles were next, and not knowing the woman, the terrorists feared they could soon meet the same fate.

But that was not what happened, instead, the silver-haired mutant closed the vortex. Immediately her body produced a strong blinding flash, when the attackers recovered their sight, the woman, now with cloud-white hair and a slight blue-tint to her skin, was upon them. She rose her feet up and stomped, creating a strong wind blast right in the middle of the group of terrorists, sending all of them flying into nearby trees and structures.

“You!” she said, staring at the civilians who had witnessed the event. “Run! To that direction! I will make sure you are safe!” with that she jumped high into the air. She did not expect this day to turn like this, it was once pleasant, but her second feast had been interrupted by the worst atrocity she had ever witnessed. Her mind had a lot to process, but seeing unarmed civilians being killed had triggered some sort of instinct in her, first, she would save others, then she would think about what she had witnessed.

The terrorists were aiming for total carnage, they moved in small groups such as the one she fought and shot at random unless there was a huge crowd of ‘targets’ for them to deal with. Asuka spotted a group in the route the civilians she saved were taking, she needed to act fast. Quickly she burned out the air matter she had absorbed and as she started to fall, her hair turned platinum and her skin gained a grey overtone. It was time to put those bullets and weapons she absorbed to good use.

The terrorists were caught by surprised as from nowhere something heavy and metallic crashed against their equipment stash, a cloud of dust rising from the spot. Before their instinct to shoot could kick in, the first of three was hit by what was clearly the shape of a woman, yet the impact was as strong as that of a car crashing against someone. “Surrender quickly. Avoid further pain.”

Despite her clear instructions, they decided to shoot. The random bullets made it past the cotton clothing but ricocheted against the metallic armor beneath as it grew from the very skin of the mutant. No further words would be said, she launched her hand forward and grabbed the rifle of the second terrorist, the man fought to get it back and achieved what he desired, as the weapon returned to him at a high speed, hitting him on the head.

The third had been shooting during all the time, and seeing his two accomplices down made it clear to him it was not working well. He grabbed his knife and tried to hit the mutant on what seemed to be one of her less armored spots, but before his blade could land she would react with a hug. Naturally his body forgot about stabbing and instead tried to struggle, all logic giving away to a desire to stop the pain, but nothing seemed to stop the mechanical strength of the tightening hug, and soon the cracking sounds had started. Asuka would feel bad if she had allowed the man to die without facing his terrible actions in a proper manner, but she felt no personal responsibility for his ability to continue walking. When the pain had knocked out the final attacker, she dropped him, stomping their weaponry, and moving to the aid of the fleeing civilians.

“This direction. Come. I will open a gate in the iron fence.” she told, as they were approaching the borders of the park. Still enhanced by the absorbed metal, she made one last effort to bend the iron bars of the tall fence until the civilians had a route out. Her skin turned back into normal flesh, and she looked at that exit she had made… and turned around, back into the carnage.

She ran below a bridge and saw a logo she had become very familiar while doing the paperwork when moving from Japan to the US. They were on the clothes of two figures hiding within a booth, it was clear they were hiding from an attacker and Asuka decided to help. “MSU!” she yelled. “Asuka Ehime, 825220-17, Mutation Protocol Type MB-3, Enhanced D-S-V.” she recited what was in her identity card, many words she did not know the exact meaning. She had waged her life on this little play, thankfully, she opened the vortex right as the bullets arrived. It would not be enough to get a metal form, but she was not aiming for that, instead, she was taking note of sources of fire and at the same time, absorbing some of the loose bricks of the old decorative bridge’s walls.

This obviously started to cause bits of the bridge to collapse, a large chunk falling over Asuka, who closed the vortex, shone bright and absorbed the earth matter. Hair a sandy-beige, she sent the fallen bridge chunk flying across the open field in front of her, in the direction of the tree where shots had come from. Curses were followed by a large crash, she would not try to inspect further to see if she had hit the terrorist. Earth power burnt out, she took wind and burned it fast to enhance her speed as she skated from the bridge to the booth, taking cover with the two within.

“I have engaged assailants in self-defense. Requesting right to aid law enforcement during a crisis situation.” She really did not know what else to say except the protocol, her mind was in a battle lockdown.

It was supposed to be her day off. Raisa had been standing at the window of her tiny 3rd story one-bedroom apartment when a trio of black vans with tinted windows came tearing down the street towards the festival grounds. Frowning Raisa grabs her cell and calls the festival security.

{Festival security. How can I help?}

{This is Raisa Chau, call-sign Lightning, off duty security. I just a trio unmarked black vans racing towa~}

Raisa found herself stopped mid-sentence as the first echos of explosions made it to her apartment. "Fuck." The mutant utters with a growl as she hangs up. Changing into her armor with painful haste, Raisa pauses to throw an old MSU patch onto her plate carrier and set up her earpiece. With a hard push, she throws her window open and summons a bike-like construct just outside. Hopping on, she zips towards the festival grounds, quickly connecting into the festival security's radio frequency.

"Lieutenant! More hostiles North and West! We got the west ones pinned down but north and east needs assistance!", Setsuka said.

"I'm at north with a squad! East sounds compromised! I need units over there! F***! We need backup here at Festival grounds! All units report!"

{Lightning here. Hitting the east entrance momentarily. What the hell happened?}

Swinging around the corner of an office building, Raisa zips out over the east edge of Azure Park, getting a bird's eye view of the carnage. A field of corpses pockmarked by bomb and grenade blasts, the entire park covered in light haze smoke. "Bloody hell..." Shaking off the shock, she gives her 'bike' a mental push and goes diving towards the east entrance.