Her plan had worked in its entirety for once; a prisoner was impaled instead of her, the blood mage was disabled but not dead. Jacqueline was even able to get a hit in on her with her weapon, and disrupt the salt circle as she charged through it. The blood mage was injured, dazed, and not dead. She was slowly dying, sure, but there was time enough to patch her up.

As the blood mage’s spell had been disrupted, the rest of the inmates were shaken out of their frenzy as well. They were confused, but willing to stand back, which was all that mattered.

Rottweiler was still going strong, though, and was at mutual gun-point with Breacher. “I take it your physical defenses aren’t that great,” she commented towards her worker.

When Rottweiler turned to her, she shrugged mildly. “So, you want some kind of deal or insurance? I can ask the boss.”

Jacqueline promptly did so, contacting Veronica via comms. “Hey, doctor, Rottweiler is asking for safety and better conditions for himself and the blood mage. Uh…Breacher’s head might be at stake, kind of. Oh, and we’ll need some medics for the blood mage if we want to keep her alive,” she reported.

---

---

Of course they could risk that. What sort of gang leader would actually have that sort of death before surrender mindset? This was more likely a bluff than anything else, preying on the fact that GEMINI had rules to follow as government-sanctioned Espers. It was all bullshit, really. A desperate gamble for a desperate man. Piece of shit.

Those were the thoughts that Klava may have had, if she wasn’t in so much fucking pain. Those were the thoughts that may have informed her thoughts more clearly, if she didn’t have burns on most of her body. Those were the thoughts that would have guided her…to the same actions that her immediate instincts did as well.

As Protector bowed their head, Klava wove her melody, cracked lips spelling out profane words as she tightened her grip on her frosted blade. Cobra had his eyes on everyone, but not in the back of his head. The melody continued to bloom, a snowflake manifesting behind the slowly-retreating gang leader as he continued to present his threat, until…

…Klava’s form disappeared, and Cobra found his back bump against something. Something pliable, yet something crackling. The smell of roasted flesh seeped into his nostrils, a nauseous stench that, for a moment, distracted from the sensation in his unfrozen arm.

Pop. Pop. Snap.

Not the sound of fireworks, not the sound of gunshots, but the sound of the tendons in his forearm snapping as an unnaturally cold dagger was driven into it.

---

Lilliah initially felt glad to be out of the strange, yellow, gaseous mist...fog...something or other. However, the flight was not something that had been very pleasant. It had been a leap of faith, and all the effort in the world to get to the destination despite the sheer weight on her back from carrying another esper and zooming through the air like a half-baked rocket. The enemy grenade fell uselessly underneath them, the sound of shots rang in the simian esper's ears, and she could see bodies drop out of the corner of her eye. All good things, but her gaze locked onto the nearest target entrance that didn't involve crashing into a wall: And open window. So straight into the Commissioner's Office she landed, barely landing somewhat on her feet, before falling over after Valkyrie suddenly leapt immediately at the first opportune moment.

Her compatriot's push to get off her back, whilst tactical, sent the poor monkey careening forward. Still reeling a little from the impacts and fog, the dizzy damsel's feet slipped and left her falling flat onto her butt on the floor as she slid forward. By the time Lilliah very lightly bumped into the drilled safe to stop, her hands and feet were positioned simply to stabilize herself. Yet as she finally stopped, the esper let out a quiet sigh of relief before looking back where they'd come in from.

Her body shot into survival mode as she saw Viper standing there, yellow orb that likely was the fog source in hand, looking over at them as clear as day. Yet before Lilliah could scramble to her feet or to find some nearby cover-

”There’s no reason to fight after the contract’s been voided.”

"There’s a green gift box inside wrapped with a gold and red bow. If you can get that for me, I’ll meet you at The Great Escape at noon tomorrow for a trade.”

-...it clicked in the female esper's mind.

A Freelancer. One who apparently hadn't been hired to take on two espers at once, which made the woman's words back in the apartment make a bit more sense in hindsight. Lucky for herself and Valkyrie? Maybe...ok not really. The woman had tried to kill them! Even if it was part of the job that wasn't going to be a pleasant experience to say the least.

So when Valkyrie simply opened fire without a word, Lilliah didn't bother to comment or protest or the like. For the moment they were alone in this room, had dealt a blow to the enemy, and had to get moving. Even still, for a moment a sense of curiosity began to climb into her mind. A monkey's curiosity, or perhaps it was more like the curiosity of an adventurer in some dungeon filled with riches. Whatever the case she tried to fight it at first, not wanting to get too distracted, but at the same time if the criminals had been after anything in the safe....there was legitimate reason to look, right? Right. They had to know what was going on if anything from that safe could prove dangerous. Yeah!

Thus in the end, she let out a sigh and turned to the drilled safe next to her to check it for anything, moving to see if anything was left within there and all. She kept her ears and the corners of her eyes peeled for anything suspicious, but otherwise she was involved in searching the safe (if it had been actually drilled open completely that was).

Were for some obtuse reason the safe not open, she would attempt to see if there was some way to potentially get it open. Nothing too exhaustive in that case, but quickly enough to be able to turn her attention more fully back to the rest of the room.

@BrokenPromise@Izurich

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

Silmaria didn’t wait to act. She took aim and fired at the masked woman as soon as she was able. The first round slammed into Viper's hip, which shredded her pants clean off. She seemed to be wearing some skin tight short-shorts underneath her armored pants. She hadn't recovered before another bullet struck her in the head, disintegrating her bandana. Nearly every article of mundane clothing had been blown off of her body, save for her esper uniform.

”Oh well.” She said before snapping her fingers. In that instant, her body turned into a yellow cloud. Any extra shots Silmaria had fired would not find purchase in Viper's flesh.

Meanwhile, Liliah examined the safe. It had seen its share of abuse, but was still holding shut. Though there was no reason it wouldn’t open up when struck by an arcane melody or even a potent enough instrument. That was provided Liliah wanted to get inside. Who knew what sort of thoughts tumbled around the head of a monkey? Only Luna and Marrie knew.

---

_{@SilverPaw@TheGMbby}

Jacqueline asked Su about her resistance to physical attacks. ”I hurt, but I survive.” Su may be resistant, but surviving a pistol shot at point blank range was tough on any esper. Regardless, she remained calm despite looking down the barrel of her opponent’s weapon.

”Taking pity on me, huh?” Rottweiler regarded Jaqueline with a tip of his head, as she had offered to contact her boss. ”Can’t say I was expecting that.”

Fritzi responded to the summon immediately. “I didn’t want a hostage situation.”

Su pressed her ear against her own shoulder to activate her com. ”I fine! We under control!”

“Good, because the government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. Well, save from a few times during the Iraq war, but that’s not a mistake I plan on repeating.”

”Now really time for this?”

There was a short pause over coms. “If he surrenders, we may be able to work out better arrangements for him and the blood mage. I'm not the law, but I'll be responsible for all paranormal related incidents once this operation concludes. Making the blood mage's life more comfortable is well within my power. But I can’t send in any medics until the area is secure. So it's really up to Rottweiler. My hands are tied. I could try discussing things with the top brass, but experience tells me they aren't going to give him a better bargain.”

Su squinted at Rottweiler. ”You hear that?”

Rottweiler shrugged. ”Sounds like Lada’s best chance is if I surrender now.”

”It is.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, he pulled his gun away from Su and shifted it in his hand. He presented it to Jacqueline. ”I guess we’re all done here then.”

Su looked at the inmates that were walking all over the place.”Back in your cells!”

There weren’t too many complaints. As ridiculous as Su might have looked, she did have a very real looking gun, which wasn’t to say Jacqueline’s warpick was any less intimidating. It wasn’t like they could escape.

Lada let out a noisy cough. She might just survive.

---

_{@FamishedPants@mantou@ERode@OwO}

It was a troublesome scene to be sure. With Cobra’s thumb resting directly on the button, there were few things the freelancers and Silhouette could do that wouldn't trigger an explotion. But none of the espers present were willing to just let him walk out.

Fortunately, the hallway filled with espers was perfect cover for Klava to prepare her melody. Cobra was too distracted to focus on someone he had partial visibility of. He also couldn't see her melody spawning in. So she was able to get the drop on the snake. Her knife bit into his shoulder, which weakened his grip just enough for Protector’s melody to pull the detonator out of his hand. They would spend the next few seconds fumbling with the detonator to ensure it didn’t go off.

Meanwhile, Klava was about to discover that the rocket launcher and the detonator were not King Cobra’s only weapons. With a hiss, he turned around and opened his mouth. He bared fangs, not that of a cobra, but of a vampire. His teeth were about to sink into Klava’s wrist when shadow magic took over his body. His entire head passed through her arm without inflicting a single wound. The reason for this was Silhouette. His sword had a sinister glow to it, and that glow coiled around Cobra when he touched him.

The snake had a moment of intangibility, and was prepared to use it to make a swift escape. But there was more to Samuel’s tactic as his allies would soon see. Silhouette tossed his sword forward causing it to intersect with Cobra’s location as his intangible melody wore off. The sword was now piercing Cobra’s chest much deeper than it would have had Samuel thrown the sword at him normally. The vampire shivered when the sword appeared in its flesh, and sank to his knees.

”This is bullshit!”

Samuel grabbed his sword and wrenched it out of Cobra’s back, slicing the vampire open from their shoulder to their heart. Then with a kick, Cobra fell onto his chest. His body managed to hold together, but the growing pool of blood under his body let everyone know he wasn't getting back up. Cobra attempted to gurgle something into his radio, but wasn't able to get anything comprehensible out. He did get a message back.

”Quit fooling around King! ...King? King!? KIIIIIIIIING!?!?!?” With news of Cobra’s death spreading to the other gang members, it was likely that the few who remained would either flee or surrender.

Showing up a bit late to the scene was Apollo, who was holding a really sweet piece. Something gold plated that probably didn’t do anything for the weapon’s accuracy. But it sure made him look cool!

The operation had been a success. None of the agents died, the police station was still standing, and they managed to avoid a hostage situation. That was even including the surprise appearance of hostile espers and a blood mage.

While Cobra’s body remained unmoving, it was hard not to miss the two perfectly round scars on the back of his neck...

---

_{@The World}

A blast of light and sound, and from there, Marrie was free once more, her singular Melody’s trajectory masked by the barrage of projectiles sent from Tetrad’s direction. Bound further by honeyed restraints that seemed to persist even upon its caster’s demise, Tetrad collapsed against the jelly-belly of the construction worker, watching as the freelancer’s form disappeared in the blink of an eye…

And reappeared right in the cockpit of the demolition crane. Her actions were precise, controlled, even as her conscience grappled with the murders that she had committed. Apex Predator punched through leather and foam, scraping into the metal underneath as Marrie spat out her order, moments before twisting her body away to vomit out what remained of her breakfast. She hardly had a chance to glimpse at who exactly was sitting behind the controls. She hardly had a chance to think, so caught up as she was in her own guilt and self-pity.

But there was no human in front of her. No flesh-and-blood being, no cultist, no furry.

Only a corpse-puppet, the top half of their head sliced off to reveal a cluster of arcane machinery, their drooling mouth affixed into a permanent smile. Marrie’s mercy, informed by her own desires and her morality, had caused her to miss the mark at the very last second.

The crane smashed into the support pillar.

The roof of the warehouse gave out a long and tortured shriek.

And then, darkness, violent and oppressive, took over.

…

…

…

And then, a beam of light!

Marrie could hear the sound of the sheet metal panels being dragged and cast aside. More and more light shined through the rubble before Marrie’s eyes were overwhelmed by the high beams on an old Cadillac. It wasn’t long before she heard Billy’s voice.

”I say, I say! If it ain’t the little esper who could!” As her eyes adjusted to the light source, she could see the silhouette of a massive hand reach out for hers. ”Glad you stuck with it, kid! Unfortunate we had one of our own run off. Just means you get part of her take. But who’da thought there would have been an illusion spell cast on the entrance to the place?” With a chuckle, he swung his finger towards the manhole ”Anyway, Operation ain’t over yet, kid. Ya need to get inside first.”

And as Marrie pushed herself away from the unmoving corpse-puppet, she could see it. Though it had been imperfect, Tetrad and her own actions had resulted in only half the warehouse collapsing, with the motley collection of shipping containers that had been hurled about and the bulldozers that had been crashed and commandeered culminating into a miniature array of ‘secondary’ support pillars, strong enough that any extensive rubble was held up.

As for the manhole itself?

It laid unblocked and pristine, the entrance way to Bastion beckoning forth the champions of this battle royale.

---

_{@Majoras End}

Fable was already a swift esper. But under the effect of his melody, he was even faster.

This was a situation where he had to make every second count. The crabs were not fast, but it seemed like a few hundred showed up every second. They were starting to show up faster than they could move.

The blue crab strummed its ukulele as Fable drew closer. It was impossible to read the crab’s emotions, but its capsule shaped eyes were focused straight on the approaching esper. His arrival was noticed. But rather than fleeing, the crab charged forth.

The crabs in the street surged under its body, elevating it as the scattered crabs came together to form a pyramid with their leader on top. The construct elevated the crab leader up to Fable’s level. Now it did not hold its ukulele like an instrument, but like a giant club. Things were moving so fast that Fable didn’t have time to react, but he didn’t have to. He just needed to make sure his thrust hit his target.

And a decisive blow happened in an instant.

The sound of metal scraping across metal brought everyone’s attention to the blow. A ukulele slathered in amber oil fell out of the sky and clattered against the ground. But when they cast their eyes to the other end of the street, they could see Fable. His shoulder was dripping with oil, but his one good arm gripped a rapier that had been thrust through the heart of the behemoth. The blue crab flicked its legs about before ceasing all movement. The remaining crabs retreated in a matter of seconds, and the slain ones seemed to turn into dust. The street lamps revealed no more crabs that night.

”Seems you hit its weak point for maximum damage.” With a sigh, Binky’s Esper state ended. The now much shorter girl ran a hand through her hair before pulling a stop watch out of her shirt. ”And with just seconds to spare.”

“You alright, gear boy?” Elroy hurried over to Fable. He may be a clockwork soldier, but his body was still much like a humans. If it lost too much oil, he would seize up and die like a human running low on blood would. “Looks like he cracked you a bit, but you showed him, didn’t ya?” The esper laughed. “Doesn’t look too serious, have a heal on the house!” His hand lit up with flames, but when he touched Fable, the wound on his shoulder closed. He could feel the gears in his arm were turning normally again.

”This should be a decent pay out for you guys, let’s take a look.” Binky looked at her tablet. ”Pac-A-Fist handled evacuations, and I’ve got Immortal Volcano and Cthulhya on extermination.” She looked at Fable. ”Did you forget to sign yourself up for the operation?”

“Hah!” Elroy gave Fable a light punch with his gauntlet. “You were white knighting green doc huh? Gotta remember to accept the bounty if ya wanna get paid.” He shrugged. “Give gear boy my cut. He did more of the work.”

”That won't be necessary, I can make a few edits.”

Cthulhya, or Mary as ze had introduced zirself, stood off to the side twiddling zir thumbs. “Elroy?” Ze continued to avert her eyes. “Do you have time now?”

“Right!” He laughed before nudging Fable. “We were discussing something, and then we got word that the Crab Rave was here.” Mary’s eyebrow twitched when Elroy brought Fable into the discussion, but did little else. “I’m sure we can all help out. So! What happened?”

“The white princess, you took her place on stage?”

“Violin girl!” Elroy laughed. “Did she get stage fright?” Mary opened zir mouth to speak, but zir face only scrunched up in response. Tears ran down zir cheeks before Elroy placed a hand on zir shoulder. “...What happened?”

Mary struggled to calm down and explain what happened next.

---

Betty looked through the gap in her stall door to see if all the men in the restroom had left. Nope, they were still there. At this point she was wondering if she could make up some story about being a babysitter. Yes! She just left some baby wipes in the stall and needed to go back to get them. If only she had something on her that could pass as baby wipes. Perhaps she just came in to grab some toilet paper? But if that was the case, why did she come into the boys room? It didn’t look like she could lie her way out of this one. But she really didn’t want to leave Elroy up there for too long. It was bad enough he had to take over at all. Perhaps she should march out there and get it over with. But when Betty unlatched the stall door, someone else pulled it open.

”Yipe!“ Betty stumbled backwards and fell onto the toilet seat. She was still holding her cup of joe in one hand. ”I um, I was in here because! I got confused!“

Obstructing her way was a blond German wearing a regal looking suit. The cape looked a little tacky, but a lot of these “friends” that walked around here dressed like it was Halloween. His eyes were also closed, which was slightly unnerving. Was he blind? ”Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you. But you identify as your birth gender?”

”Yes!“ Betty lowered her head. ”I was having a panic attack, I must have entered the wrong restroom.“ That must have been what happened. Wew, that was easy. She needed to relax so that she could think about situations like this in the future.

The man let out a heartfelt chuckle. ”That is fine, so long as you realize I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy.” His lips curled into a smile before he extended his hand. ”I’m Justin, by the way. And if I do say so myself, you are an amazing violin player. The others don’t know what they are missing out on.”

”Really?“ Betty smiled back. ”I’m usually much better than that, but I’m glad you liked it. Wait until you see the rest of my set!“She reached out and took Justin’s hand, and allowed him to pull her onto her feet.

”I actually don’t think that’s going to happen.”

When Justin opened his eyes, Betty opened her mouth. But nothing came out. She just froze with a look of shock on her face. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, but she couldn’t move her limbs. Over time, even the desire to move didn’t register. Her arms relaxed, and her cup fell to the floor, splashing her legs and dress in warm coffee. She was aware of her surroundings, but her mind was in a fog. It was as if her emotional responses had been disconnected from what she was experiencing. Once the tinge of fear subsided, she had no desire to do anything. Her inner monolog had shut down, and she could only process what was going on around her. Betty was cornered in a bath stall, but it was impossible for her to decide how she should feel because of how hazy the past few minutes had been. She couldn't remember anything, and she had no desire to dig through her mind to find it.

”What did I just see?“

”You know Betty, I don’t ask for permission anymore.” He stroked the side of her arm with his gloved fingers. ”If I want something, I take it. If I want someone to do something, I make them do it.” He traced his finger up to one of her shoulder straps and slid it off the edge of her shoulder. ”I know everyone likes a tan complexion these days, but I still like a pale princess.” He traced a finger along the top of her bare shoulder, and stopped right at the base of her neck. ”I’m just a bit surprised I found something like you here. You deserve so much better than this, Betty.” His hand slid around the back of her head. ”You’re going to be mine now.” Justin lowered his mouth over her flesh.

Betty could feel his hot breath before the kiss of his tongue caressed her flesh. But what got her to wince was the hot pain in her neck. The sensation was similar to catching her skin on a thorny bush. But even with this unknown sensation coursing through her body, she was unsure how to react, and it was about to get much harder. Her consciousness was fading. But she would not drift into a dreamless slumber. Rather, the world started to feel less real. Betty was no longer the one controlling her body at all. Now it merely did anything this strange man desired of it. She found her self reciprocating the painful kiss with a hug, and didn't let go until he was done.

”You taste wonderful, Betty.” Justin pulled a small handkerchief from his breast pocket to dab his lips. ”I'm going to have to exercise a lot of restraint to not just drain you in a single sitting.” After tucking away the handkerchief, he took Betty by the hand. ”Now, how about we go home?”

---

Mary had zir eyes closed. “...So after I told him where she was, he walked into the boy’s room. Then later, he came out with her.” Ze sniffed. “I wanted his phone number, but he was really rude to me! He said I was ‘as wrong as my parents were when they made me’ when I said it would be cool to trade phone numbers. And she was being kind of mean too! But, but....”

Elroy snorted. “What? What!?”

“She um.” Mary pouted. “She had bite marks on her neck, like a vampire.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier!?”

“I-I don’t know!” Mary stammered. “She was mean to me, and the Crab Bounty was time sensitive!”

“Hngh! Never mind!” Elroy ran back towards The Great Escape. “I’ll see if I can find any clues.”

Meanwhile, Binky approached Fable. ”A vampire named Justin? I wonder if that was Justin von Carnage. If it was, it’s just a matter of time before we run an operation to execute him. Shame about the girl though.” She pulled out a tablet device. ”Thank you for the assistance earlier. Just tell me your handle on Shimr and I’ll transfer the funds.”

"..." So focused Valkyrie was at trying to take Viper's life, she only relaxed after the other esper flew out of sight. Yes, which meant Merry was still firing when Viper turned into mist even though it had no effect. It was a wise move on the well-endowed esper's part as twas' only a matter of time before Merry got the idea to fire a lightning bolt melody instead, which wouldn't pass so harmlessly through Viper's gaseous form. "Haa..." The brunette inhaled sharply, taking in much-needed oxygen after holding her breaths to steady her aim, perhaps that's something she should work on, that something being the ability to continue breathing calmly when aiming so she could neutralize tangos more effectively of course.

Now that the immediate threat was dealt with, the sniper esper could spare the attention to scan her vicinity, see if there was anymore funny business. With the knife wound on her chest, she couldn't move as swiftly, but fortunately it wasn't necessary at the moment. The commissioner's office and this floor as a whole seemed clear and judging from the radio chatter of the squad, they had gotten things under control at the lower floors and basement as well. So far, the prospects looked good, operation... success? However, there's a term called 'premature celebration' for a reason after all. She wouldn't let her guard down until they were safely back at HQ.

"Valkyrie reporting. All clear on the fourth floor, over."

After making her report, Merry's orange eyes noticed Wukong's particular attention at the office's safe. Of course, having no intention to tolerate Viper's existence, let alone listening to her, led to the sniper being completely unaware that whatever was inside the safe had a connection to the snake bitc and even if she had, would she even care? As such, her mind chalked it up as something that belonged to the police department, breaking it open would make them just the same as these gangsters, buuuuuut... she wouldn't particularly care should Liliah decide to bust it open.

"Wukong, I'm going downstairs to join the others." She informed her fellow esper, about to take her steps toward the exit when she paused for a moment, "And oh, uh... great job out there, thank you." She sincerely meant that, but even that was arguably an understatement as Wukong had saved her life twice in quick succession. With a final smile, the brunette stepped out of the office, into the hallway, and toward the stairs.

Who knew who or what she'd encounter on the way, perhaps an incapacitated Sofron? Perhaps the late Beuford's friend, the machine gunner? Gee, she sure hoped none of them would do anything stupid now that Gemini had cut off the head of the snake.

---

Darkness. There was enough of it to spawn a Kingdom Hearts villain and Marrie sure as shit felt like a heartless nobody to go along with it. First, she had killed not one, but two... humans? People. Two people. Two thinking, presumably sentient beings. Yes, one had tried to kill her, and the other would have had no problems doing the same. But nonetheless, they were people. Was it right for her to end them like that? Was self-defense really even an excuse, when she had gone there with the intent of possible violence to earn money? Her head was ringing when the light broke through. She shook her head as much as she could.

Rationalize later.

She looked to her side and saw the corpse automaton that she had threatened, feeling bile rise in her throat before retching again next to it. She didn't know who this person was, and with half her head missing it would be hard to find out, but she was terrified by the image it burned into her mind.

Rationalize later.

She stood up. She began limping toward the manhole, the holy grail they had been fighting for. It was totally fine, surprisingly. She went to open it, trying with one hand to keep Apex Predator in her other as she lifted. She'd only use both hands if absolutely necessary.

---

The ever-grinning face of Samuel's Esper form turned its attention towards the corpse of the felled snake, giving in to the urge to wipe the splat of blood that landed on his face when he plunged his blade into the said man's neck with his knuckles. He also chose to give a quick flick of his blade to rid its blade of any excess on it before studying the body with a bit more intensity, but only after glancing around to make doubly sure he wasn't going to get shot for doing so.

"Are those... bite marks?" he wondered aloud, examining it closely, but quite obviously avoiding touching the deceased being like it was tainted.

If he didn't think it was prudent to do so, Samuel would prefer to avoid inspecting this man's corpse in any detail. He could calm his heart and mind for these fights, but his stomach for this sort of stuff was never the best. G.E.M.I.N.I training videos did ensure that he saw these things closely before having to interact with him, and it wasn't like today was the first time he'd taken a life, but it wasn't something he warmed up to, either.

Samuel would stand up straight, scrutinizing the group of Freelancers with what would've been an approving look had he the ability to convey more than a creepy smile. He did not have such an ability in Esper form, sadly. "Wonderful," he commented. "We certainly have not finished the mission yet, but I imagine with this man's departure, we've crossed the toughest hurdle." Samuel glances at the radio buzzing with the anxious worry of the thug's allies. "Their response leads me to believe we have routed the enemy. And, assuming our shirtless companion has not fallen, with zero casualties." Beneath the eery echoes, one could just make out his satisfaction in his voice.

Except the building, Samuel avoided adding, although if that bomb threat was genuine, the fact that they got away with a burned hall or two and an explosion wasn't too shabby. The building was fairly intact, so Sam doubted it would be considered a failure by any real means, so long as there weren't surprises in the cleanup. But before that, Samuel wanted to check up on the status of these Freelancers...

Thus, the tense feeling one might get when a devil was watching them was fleeting for most of the group, but the ice-favored Freelancer, Klava, was not so lucky. Samuel eyed the girl unabashedly, her charred form prompting his next line. "How so very capable you remain even in such terrible condition," he nods, then glances at his own injured arm. "I must admit I couldn't see myself doing half as well in the same situation. Splendid." It was now that Apollo showed up, flaunting a gun that was flamboyant enough to be called 'fitting' when wielded by him. It seemed he came out victorious. As thanks for his help, Samuel immediately pointed out a job he could be doing. Lucky him.

Once it became clear that Apollo was tending to Klava, he moved on to the Protector. He eyed the detonator in their hands with caution. "It is a shame he had that, otherwise we might have been able to take him alive, possibly. But we'll have to settle for an identifiable corpse instead." Unless the Freelancer was against it, Samuel would hold onto the detonator from that point on. He did not seem to want to linger for very long, clearly preferring the idea of a clean, fully-swept building to one with potential hostile surprises popping up later.

It would not take long for he and the rest to wind up crossing paths with the railgun-toting G.E.M.I.N.I agent, Valkyrie, which for a zeptosecond, caused him confusion. The sound of her rifle was hard to mistake so it's not like he was oblivious entirely, but he was unaware that she wasn't just firing from afar like earlier. She had quite obviously seen better days, so ignoring all else, he hastened to reach her and confirm her status. Of course, at the end of the day, he was cursed with abilities better suited towards killing and maiming instead of healing and supporting. Realizing as much, he would opt to escort her down to the lowest floor (particularly helping navigate a certain hole on the way) if she requested it. Even if they weren't too familiar with each other, Samuel did not seem to mind at all if he had come off weird, almost doting. He would, naturally, respect any wishes they had, though.

Samuel would not rest until each and every nook and cranny of the place had been cleansed of the thug taint. On cleanup, if anyone there managed to use their heads and surrender, then he wasn't going to mercilessly execute them and instead have them be apprehended while they eliminated anyone that still posed a threat without batting an eye. This cleanup seemed to prompt a more aggressive behavior from Samuel, likely intending on making up for being so reliant on the Freelancers as he had been. Or, so one might guess was the reason for his sudden lapse into proactivity. But with what the entirety of his group (and the others) had to have dealt with today, perhaps they might view his yearning for the action as a positive thing.

Once everything had been entirely cleared and the mission came to a complete close, he personally thanked each of the members who worked with him, including Apollo, once again and bid them well.

_{@The World@ERode}

”Oh good, she’s safe! I should ask her for her name later.”

The honey dipped, blue powdered, vomited on, stinky sock scented esper breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like in the end, everything more or less worked out in their favor. Her mana reserves were lower than she would have liked, but it was understandable if one were to realize what they had gone through. They fought against ape men, bee cultists, and contractors. It was one of those encounters you told people about and they’d think you were high off something.

It probably wasn’t the best idea to let the mist girl handle the drain cover by herself, but if she felt like doing it, Luna wasn’t going to stop her. She was a delicate flower, covered in a host of substances. She could break a nail or damage her fair hands trying to lug something like that around. Then there was the fact that she was bleeding out of a wound in her back and didn’t have the mana available to heal it. She’d just have to tough it out until she found a safe place to detransform. Billy was here now, and the queen bee had been defeated. They should be safe so long as there weren’t any other magi around.

Oh, and there was the portly middle aged man who was being held at gunpoint. What to do with him.

”Welp, I guess you can go home to your family. Hopefully you’ll go home, have a drink, and realize this was all a dream.” Luna was never sure how mundane people dealt with memories of her after she was gone. She knew if she experienced a night like this she’s question if it actually happened. ”So um, you can go home now.” Tetrad pulled the keys out of the dozer and pocketed them. It probably wasn’t going anywhere, but she was a little shaken up by all this. ”You have two sons, you said? You’d better go see them.”

Kind of sucked that the only men here were either the cultists rolled up under the bulldozer or that one guy in a hard hat. Oh and there was Billy too, but he really didn’t count. It seemed like it was going to be a girl’s night out tonight. The crane driver turned out to be a puppet, and the other bulldozer operator.

”Oh! Shoot! Is he alive? Or even a person?” Before joining the others, Luna decided to take a look at the second bulldozer operator. He could be dead, he could be a corpse puppet, he could be a balding fifty year old man, or he could be a cute guy who knew where the best beer and pizza was. Either way, she wanted to find out.

The detonator was taken. The King was slain. The Gang had surrendered or was taken care of.

Honestly, Klava hadn’t even realized that Cobra had tried to bite her in the last moments of the fight; it was all she could to keep herself focused on not immediately snapping back to her normal form. God fucking damn did a Damage X note hurt like balls. But, well, even in pain, Klava had her reputation to keep up, so she didn’t even so much as gesture towards Apollo when the skinsuit-wearing machoman showed up with a golden gun and not much else.

And then, she reached the limits of her tolerance.

Her form glowed a blinding white, then shed off the injured shell of her Esper form to reveal the white-haired twenty-something underneath, her face still scrunched up from the pain as if suffering from some intense constipation. Whatever agony she had dealt with before was gone with the disappearance of her enhanced physical and magical abilities, however, and she stuck her aquamarine hairpin back in, letting out a long, long sigh. “Yeah,” Klava said, her chin tilting up slightly towards Samuel, “I’m sorta a badass. And the train’s left the station, Apollo. Gonna grab my complimentary meal now.”

That was exactly what she went to do, ducking through the doorway of the police station and looking for the donuts that Veronica had promised them. After all, she was a Freelancer. Her work was taking over the police station; the clean up was for the salaried Espers.

Maybe she'd have to retool her Grimoire after this too.

“Life's full of surprises sometimes, huh?” was all Jacqueline said when Rottweiler interpreted her actions as motivated by pity. Honestly, she was just tired. That, and, well, she honestly would rather not risk Breacher’s death if it wasn’t necessary. Would it weight on her conscience if she’d decided to attack Rottweiler and he managed to snuff out Su before she disabled him? Some, yeah.

But there were also some other factors involved, such as: it may earn her a reputation for leaving her co-workers to die when she could have done something about it; the boss might look on her unfavorably if she thought Jacqueline had ‘let’ Breacher get killed; if she was going to get in trouble for something regardless, she’d rather it be throwing a bone to Rottweiler than bungling a hostage situation by getting the hostage killed via her actions.

So, when the boss complained about there being a hostage, Jacqueline immediately replied, “Yeah, neither did we, but it happened.” The implied ‘so you deal with it’ might not have been expressed, but could be heard clearly nonetheless. When Su claimed it was all fine, Jacqueline looked at her dubiously. She wasn’t convinced but if Breacher said she was alright risking this, then she’d go along with the attack after all.

However, Veronica changed her mind in the end. Somehow. For someone whose first words were basically ‘we don’t negotiate’ it sure was a quick change of tune, so Jacqueline was a bit mystified. Maybe it was a bluff to get Rottweiler to go peacefully? That seemed the most likely option to her; she might have done the same in the Doctor’s position. Make false promises to deescalate, save your employee, and get a chance to deal with both prisoners however you wanted later on. Win-win.

“Yup, done,” she casually affirmed as she accepted Rottweiler’s handgun.

Afterwards, Jacqueline helped Breacher herd the prisoners in their cells, and make final checks in the basement and first floor, which they’d been responsible for. There was a lot of bodies and injured all around, but the Gemini agents and hirees had come up on top. All was as it should be…for now.

"There's no rest for the wicked."
Current Location: Richter Street

The instigator anticipated his last resort. He didn't care. It's swarm speed forward to support the ukulele-playing annoyance. He didn't care. All that mattered to the Timekeeper there and then, was to deliver the final blow. Cause honestly? The thing was starting to piss him off. Swiftly, makeshift club clashed against rapier, but only one had prevailed. Fable had suffered a blow to his shoulder. Amber-colored oil; his blood, seeped through the cracks, revealing hints of copper alloy accented with slivers of silvers and gold. But this was a mere scratch in comparison.

In Fable's free hand rested Aeterna. And skewered on Aeterna was the corpse of the blue behemoth. Struck dead in the heart, as precise as the boy liked. His face scrunched up slightly as he shook the dead crab off, allowing it to turn to dust like the rest of it's friends. He turned back to the other three, but only managed a couple of steps forward before he felt lightheaded. Did he have enough energy left to heal himself? Luckly, he didn't need to bother. Elroy had stepped over to help him. The nickname did confuse him for a second though. "'Gear boy'? What are you- ...Oh, right." Fable's head turned toward the smaller gears that acted as his joints. The damages to his shoulder gear essentially paralyzed his arm. So when the rockstar healed his shoulder, the smaller boy took a moment to shake it back awake. "Thanks for the help, Firecracker." He nodded to Elroy with a smirk.

“No problem, gear boy!”

The Timekeeper's attention went to the doctor lady, Binky, as she listed off everyone who took part of the extermination. Apparently someone named Pac-A-Fist took care of evacuations, while Immortal Volcano and Cthulhya (Which he assumed was Elroy and Mary, as obvious as it was at that point.) were accounted for in the Crab Rave's execution. The boy tilted his head when asked if he forgot to sign up. He had to sign up?? Fable opened his mouth to explain himself, but the rockstar giving him a light punch caught him off guard.

"I-I didn't have time to sign up, I just ran into Doc soloing that thing and felt like she could use the help! Not to mention it trapped me between a rock and a hard place and if I tried to ran I'd probably be screwed, eheh..." He nervously stammered, explaning how he ended up getting involved. The meek boy he usually is pushing through for a moment. Then Elroy offered to give his half of the pay to Fable, making him more flustered. "Eh?! N-Now that isn't necessary, I don't need the money! Honest!" He tries to protest. Especially since he was planning on giving his half of the pay to Mary, as thanks and an apology. But the fact that he had to sign up to get paid slipped out of his mind.

Speaking of Mary, ze finally spoke up, looking as nervous as Fable usually was. Apparently the two were talking when the bounty was posted. A part of him didn't want to know what, but he could see the annoyance in zir eyes when Elroy dragged him into their conversation, to which the mechanical boy only replied with a confused shrug. When Mary started to tear up, his eyes widened in worry. The hell happened while he was busy?

Then ze explained what happened. Or really, what happened to Betty. And the Timekeeper could feel his "blood" run cold. How Mary described what happened, how ze just let this stranger manipulate zir and basically kidnap Betty for God-knows-what, the mix of emotions made him sick to his stomach. Elroy already ran off to search the Diner, so that left Fable's attention to Binky. Apparently she, or GEMINI in fact already knew who they were dealing with. A monster. One of the more humanoid ones. Vampire. But the way she talked about what happened to Betty as if it was just a slight inconvenience cause the boy to shudder. He was no mind reader. The doctor probably had high faith for her squadron to eliminate Justin easily, but how the hell could she act like that over a life at stake??

When she thanked him for the help, he took a deep breath to regained control of his emotions, and defaulted them into indifference. "The Timekeeper." He told her his handle on Shimr, furrowing his brows. "Inform me when that operation is ongoing, the earlier, the better. I dread to think of that bastard wanted with Betty." He bluntly told her, shuddering once more at the last sentence.

Binky shrugged. ”If the government decides to hire freelancers, you'll be the first one to know about the operation.”

Then he looked towards Mary. As much as he wanted to put some blame on zir, he couldn't. Ze was just a kid.

...They were both just kids.

"I assume you'll be helping out too? Behavioural changes are common in cases of mind control. If we're to rescue Betty from that thing, I don't think she'll listen to us easily. We'll have to find a way to break the curse. You can leave the fanged freak to me." He remained stern as he told zir his hypothesis, even if it was only bones at the moment. His expression broke into a confused, empathic frown. "I won't blame you for letting this happen, Vampires usually have an air of charm to them, but he'll be a nusance to kill head on if we don't figure out how his mind control works. Was there anything abnormal about him?" He asked.

Mary was still wallowing in self pity when Fable approached zir. “Well, actually, yes.” Zi used Danny to wipe zir tears away. “I don't remember what his eyes looked like. I think he kept them closed the entire time. but if he did look at me, I didn't see it.”

With a huff, Binky lowered her tablet. ”I'm probably not suppose to share this with you, but if you're hunting Justin, I hardly see the harm in sharing it.” She adjusted her tie. ”Vampires aren't exactly like the ones you read about and see on TV. Monsters have similar attributes but can be different in a lot of ways. You don't need to invite them into your home, they won't stick around to pick up granes of salt, and holy symbols have no effects on them. One fortunate difference is that they cannot easy make more vampires. Instead, they make thralls.” She folded her arms. ”A vampire's infected blood is enough to turn a human into a thrall. An esper can resist the effects, but a human stands no chance. They can inject their infected blood into their target, which enthralls their will and makes them puppets of the vampire. They become their servants, doing their bidding. That can mean anything from attacking humans, cleaning their house...” Binky closed her eyes. ”...or allowing the vampire to drink all of their blood at a later date.”

Mary pressed zir hands together, or at least placed a hand in Danny's mouth. “Then we have to act quickly!”

”What happened is tragic, but even if you find out where he's gone, it would be foolish to fight him yourselves. Though if anything turns up, do contact us on Shimr.” Binky turned to look at Fable. ”I'm not sure why you were running down the street, but I do think I would be in worse shape had you not shown up. So thank you for that.” She walked back towards the police station. ”Veronica, you'd better not have eaten all the donuts.”

Mary remained stationary. “If you had stayed in the diner, does that mean that the white princess would have been safe, but that green haired girl would have gotten hurt?” Ze looked into Fable's eyes for an answer.

At Mary's question, Fable detransformed back to his normal self, amber colored eyes returning to their humble brown. His grimore clicked back closed. "Frankly this felt like some stupid domino effect. But seeing as Doc was on a time limit? ...I'll be honest, there would not be that well of an outcome from either opposite side." He sighed, looking to Mary with a remorseful frown once more. "I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I will give you my thanks for assisting me, despite...yeah." He sheepishly glanced away.

“Well, hngh...” Mary fidgetted with zir hands before Danny shot up in the air. When this happened, Mary cast zir gaze to the side.

"What Mary is trying to say is that zi's sorry too! She was just having a bad day, and feels personally responsible for what happened to the violinist!" Mary walked closer to Fable so that Danny could rest on his shouler. "We won't rest untill she's back safe and sound!" He patted the back of Fable's head. "But all that said, throwing coffee is totally uncool!" The puppet pounded it's soft fists into the back of Fable's head. It felt more like a massage than a series of furious blows. "You've gotta take my mastress on a date or something now!"

To be honest, he didn't really react much to the puppet's blows. "Can't you even blame me though, you've led me to assume you'd kidnap me or some crap!" He shot the two an unamused look, before snapping his head back to Denny when the puppet suggested making it up with a date. "Wait what-"

Mary coughed, and Danny went limp. “I'm, ah, also glad you didn't let that whole thing bother you too much. Thank you for assisting with the opperation.” Zi looked back at Fable. “We should catch up with Elroy, hmm?”

The boy nodded when Mary thanked him. "It's no problem at all. Let's move."

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

While Lilliah eyed up the safe, Silmeria explored the rest of the building. depending on how thorough her search was, she might find plastic explosives rigged up near the station's supporting walls. but her sweep of the fourth and third walls would reveal that what remained of the Cobra Gang had departed. If not from the fire escape, then from the rappels.

Going much lower than that was dangerous, as the second floor was turning into a mixture of tear and mustard gas. So searching that floor would have to wait. Though later when they investigated, they would find no trace of Sofron. The only hint that they had was that there was a charred ring on the floor, as if someone had burned a circle into it. Otherwise, no one saw him escape the police station.

---

_{@OwO@FamishedPants@mantou@ERode}

After Klava snubbed Apollo, and the proper exchanges were made between Samuel and the rest of the espers, the freelancers moved outside to see what the food trucks had. Only Aria had been a little premature with her observation, as the trucks were all contained specialized personnel like medics and a bomb disposal crew. Among them was Binky, who looked exhausted, but alright.

”Another successful operation? Fritzi should have your funds transferred over to your account already." Though Binky could see by Klava's determined stare that she wanted something else. ”Oh, the coffee and snacks?" Binky pointed at the fourth floor. ”Didn't she say that in reference to the commissioner's office being right next to a kitchen?"

All eyes turned back to the building. All the gasses were starting to spill out of the second story windows. Just how bad did they want their snacks?

---

Fritzi poured herself a hot cup of coffee before walking towards the fridge. Just as she had anticipated, there were tons of snacks up here. Crackers, candy, donuts, even someone's birthday cake. The police wouldn't miss a few items. It could be written off as vandalism by the Cobra Gang, if the paper pushers were worried about it. Driving off mundane criminals wasn't really what they were set up for. Who was going to miss a donut?

She took a seat by the window and looked out at the espers standing outside. Hmm, maybe she should bring something down for them? Eh, they were all paid. If they were that hungry they could come up to her, or order out.

It appeared that the assault squad had been quite thorough and what scattered remnants of the Cobra Gang were sensible enough to escape when they had the chance, a conclusion backed up by the fact that Silmeria couldn't find any hostiles left, ones that weren't stone cold dead of course. She did find remote-trigger plastic explosives along the supporting walls and pillars though, but those were information she already knew via the team comms. Too bad that she didn't have the expertise to defuse these things, gotta wait for the ordnance control squad she guessed, oh well.

Then, even before she had visual confirmation of the mess that was the 2nd floor, Merry could already smell that stinking, foul mustard gas. Right, obviously that section's off-limits. Which would skip her tour toward the first floor of this magical theme park, it was there that she saw a couple of allied espers, both Gemini and Freelancers. One of them approached her, the esper with the most unsettling Style, seconded only by that literal-skinsuit prick Apollo. It was a good thing that Silhouette and her were co-workers, one could get used to his esper form after a while. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the unmoving body of King Cobra, good riddance, serve that asshole right.

"Oh, hey, Silhouette..." The brunette greeted the 'demon', "I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound-... nnngh, really, I'm fine." She groaned a bit as the other esper checked up on her, while she seemed annoyed, it was honestly quite hard to be genuinely so since there was a certain hilarity in Silhouette's doting attitude contrasting with his unnerving appearance, Merry's cheeks even slightly blushed at the attention. In the end tho, she'd accept his offer to tag along, checking down the basement jail together, "Eh...?" but not before noticing a strange black-haired Japanese woman on the lobby. Just... who was she? A stray civilian? One of the hostages? Either one of those, Merry bet.

Down at the basement, they met up with Leroux and Breacher, also Rottweiler, the blood mage, and miscellaneous inmates. Well, everything looked under control here so... "I'll see you all back at the car." With a nod, Merry made her way back up to the lobby, out of the damaged building, and entered the same APC that carried her here. She took a seat, then closed her eyes with a sigh, and at the same time, her rifle and jacket vanished into orange sparks as she disengaged her esper form, leaving Silmeria in her one-piece black dress, dark opaque stockings, and brown sneakers.

"Aaaaaah..." A long, tired groan vibrated from her throat as she laid her head back, eyes fully closed and lips slightly ajar. Another day, another job well done.

---

---

---

Shortly after the precinct recovery operation, the area immediately got better. It would be weeks before the police building had been fully restored, but it was at least back in operation. More than that, espers of all walks of life were now on the scene to start cleaning up the area. It would be a long time before the crime was back to tolerable levels, and the concentration of mana in the area would always draw in more monsters. But at least for now, the situation was bearable.

Even government espers needed cover identities to more easily blend into their surroundings. They had been provided with accommodations that they could afford and maintain. Su was given a small suburban home not thirty minutes from Gemini HQ. And by golly, she was going to drive there in style.

Su’s ride of choice was the most stereotypical vehicle a soccer mom could possibly own. A minivan with a weird beige paint color. It was well maintained, but if you stood closer than ten feet it wasn’t hard to spot the paint peeling. There were no less than four bumper stickers declaring how proud the van owner was of their child, and the inside reflected this as well. The back seat was loaded with crayons and coloring books, as well as a tote filled with toys. It probably needed a cleaning, but that was just evidence that Su used this to cart around her child.

Su was humming to herself as she rode towards her new home. But she wasn’t alone. Sitting beside her was Jacqueline, who Su had made arrangements to hang with this evening.

“My house nice!” She said as they approached their destination. “Loaded fridge, good neighborhood, good school nearby, nice!”

Jacqueline had never thought that she’d ever be willingly being driven around in a family van, of all things. But after that last mission, she and Su had got to chatting; Jacqueline had asked her about the hostage thing, may or may not have politely complimented her guts, and the rest was history. Now, she was in the front seat, slightly bored. Not because of Su’s company or anything, but rather because the ride was clunky, slow, and unfashionable, and Su’s driving mind-numbingly comfortable. All in all, it was like being on a bus, or something. Definitely not her style. Still, she was grateful that at least no kid was in the van with them. That’d be the true nightmare scenario.

Su’s words got her mind in higher gear as it were, and Jacqueline turned towards her with a lazy “Hmm?” Then, she directed her gaze out of the window once more, though this time she actually looked where they were going. The house was about what one would expect. A home meant for a family, with that cozy vibe apparent from afar. “Yeah, it’s nice,” she agreed, though unlike Su, she wasn’t at all enthused about it.

“Better than my place,” she admitted neutrally. What she didn’t say was that she wouldn’t trade it for anything. She’d moved to an apartment in Pax recently, and it’d been somewhat of an upgrade compared to where she’d been previously. Actually, her time before they’d arranged this day to meet up had been nearly all spent getting her stuff relocated and set up. It’d been exhausting, but worth it in the end. She was now closer to her work and had a bit more room, though the neighbourhood wasn’t that much better. Not that Jacqueline cared much for such things. As long as she could live in it, it was fine. Admittedly, her flat was already accumulating clutter, but since she was on her own, it didn’t matter.

“Oh, yeah, you gotta cook for yourself and, uh,” she pointed at the backseat. Honestly, Jacqueline was not entirely sure whether Su had one kid or two. It hadn’t been an important detail to remember; all she knew was that her coworker was a mother. “I often get takeout, but then again, I can afford to be lazy like that,” she admitted with a shrug. She could make something decent if she put her mind to it, but she didn’t enjoy it at all. Even if what she got ready-made wasn’t always as ‘healthy’ as it might have been, she burned off enough calories due to her workout routine anyway, so she wasn’t worried about it.

“Mika is work.” Su confessed, nodding along with everything her coworker had said. “I esper or I mom, all the time, no breaks.” The corner of her lips curled into a smile. “This life not for everyone, but my life is my life.” When she pulled into the driveway, she parked the car and turned to look at Jacqueline. “But cook? I cook good!” she giggled. “I cook real good!” With a snort, Su scowled. “Mika too picky though. She spoiled. How orphan girl be spoiled?” The question must have been rhetorical, as she turned the van off without really waiting for a response. She swung open her door before flashing Jacqueline a warm smile. “Let’s look inside!”

If Jacqueline felt kinship to Su for one thing, it was the ‘this is my life’ comment. Being an esper or a Gemini agent alone wasn’t for everyone, so she could relate. But otherwise, she just wasn’t into the family thing. So the idea of directing so much energy, time, money, and who knows what else for the sake of another person was rather foreign for her. There was a reason she preferred casual hookups rather than committed relationships, after all. “I’m looking forward to some of your food then,” Jacqueline said jokingly, laughing briefly. At Su’s mock complaint about Mika being spoiled, she shrugged. “Hey, who knows, kids are weird, right?” she also answered rhetorically as they exited the car. Upon Su’s invitation, Jacqueline followed inside.

As nice as the house looked on the outside, it looked exactly like the homes on either side of it. Which in turn looked like the homes on either side of that. Regardless of how off putting that might have been to some, Su’s joy was visible with every step. She practically skipped to the door and swung it open. “Come in!”

The single story house opened up to a muck room where everyone’s shoes were kept. There were enough shoes for an entire family, maybe two. There were boxes here and there, which let Jacqueline know that she too was still moving in. The muck room opened up into the kitchen, which had a storage closet or pantry. Hard to tell without personally looking. There was a large archway that led into a living room, or maybe it was a dining room. Hard to tell with all the boxes. The kitchen was fully loaded, complete with a stove, some doodles affixed to the fridge, and a stainless steel table, but everything else was boxed up.

Upon entering, Jacqueline dutifully removed her shoes, and searched for a pair of slippers her size. Doing so wasn’t foreign to her at all, despite having lived in America for a while. She herself also didn’t walk around her flat in her shoes as a rule, a part of her European uprising she’d kept. She then unzipped her leather jacket and hung it up on one of the hooks. Afterwards, she went after Su further inside, curiously looking all around the place. “Moving’s a hassle, huh? I still have some boxes here and there, too, though I had less to unpack than you,” she commented.

“It hard, yes. Not much time for it.” She eyed a pile of boxes. “But I put mover in charge of putting away things.” She sighed. “Mika! You playing game again?” She guided Jacqueline deeper into her home while she called for her daughter.

It wasn’t until they moved towards a particularly large cardboard box that they started to hear a scrambling sound. The box tipped over and fell onto its side. The flaps shot open as something darted out and took hold of Su’s ankle. But her reaction to the hostile action was to laugh. What had reached out and grabbed her was her daughter.

Jacqueline would be forgiven for thinking Mika was a child based on her drawings. But Mika appeared to be half way through her teenage years. She rolled her head back so that she could look at her mother. "Hi, mommy!"

“Mika, that fun, but no surprise greetings when guest here!” She extended a hand to help Mika to her feet before turning to the mentioned guest. “Mika, this Jacqueline. She someone from work.” For obvious reasons, Su chose to say as little about her job as possible. Even to her own family.

"Hi Jack-O-Line!" Mika extended her hand with a stupid grin.

When there was some movement from a cardboard box, Jacqueline’s first thought was A pet? but she realized almost immediately after that it was the kid. Who it turned out was actually a teenager, though she wasn’t good enough at judging ages to tell how old or young Mika was. “I don’t mind,” she informed Su, when the mother mildly scolded the daughter. The daughter in question didn’t seem to be deterred by the scolding either, and as soon as Jacqueline was introduced to her, rushed closer, beaming happily.

Still, Jacqueline couldn’t help but grimace somewhat at the horrible mangling of her name. “Just…call me Jay, ok?” she asked lightly, though she was still internally pained by Mika’s pronunciation. She didn’t blame the kid for getting it wrong, but it did sound awful. That’s why she offered the nickname that some of her American buddies from her time in college came up with. Then, she crouched a bit awkwardly, and extended her own hand, shaking politely.

Mika continued to beam as Jacqueline shook her hand. "I get to call you by your nickname already?" This seemed to make her even more pleased. "My name is too short, so I don’t have one. But you are very pretty, and you have soft hands."

“Yeah, you get to,” Jacqueline smiled wryly. “Hmm, sometimes simple names are the best,” she commented. At the compliment, she raised a bemused eyebrow, but said “Thank you,” with the slighted drawl.

Su was wearing one of those smiles that practically screamed “I’m feeling second hand embarrassment right now.” With a chuckle, she moved to Mika’s side and grabbed her shoulder. Mika released Jacqueline’s hand. “Mika quite charming, no? But you do schoolwork?”

She hopped over to a box and picked up some notebooks and textbooks that were related to her curriculum. "Yup!"

“Trash taken out?”

"Yup!"

“Then you put away boxes, or you play games, Mika?”

The teenager looked sheepish for a moment, twiddling her thumbs while her mother’s mood seemed to sour before her eyes. But then she gave one of the boxes a poke, and it rocked back and forth. "They’re empty! I made myself a box fort." She pointed back into the kitchen. "Except for the big ones in there. They were too heavy."

Su turned to look at Jacqueline. “See? I tell you she spoiled!” She waved Mika on. “Dinner ready?”

"Uh, I think it’ll be ready soon!" Mika ran into the kitchen and pulled some hot mats out of a drawer near the sink.

With a chuckle, Su turned to look at Jacqueline again “I make dinner in morning so it ready now. Hope you hungry.” Her eyes went back onto Mika, who was opening up the oven. “Maybe not my place to ask, but you close to family?”

Jacqueline observed the byplay between mother and daughter without further input. She had no idea if Mika was actually as spoiled as Su claimed; all the kid seemed to be was childish, to be honest. That, or playful and active. A bit abrupt, too. Once Mika departed, Jacqueline said, “She’s an interesting one, that’s for sure.” Her tone was neutral, but her expression conveyed that she didn’t really know what to make of the teenager. She didn’t dislike her yet, which was as good as it’d probably get.

At Su’s explanation about dinner, she nodded. “Makes sense.” When Su had initially asked Mika about dinner, Jacqueline had admittedly thought that maybe the daughter cooked as well, and was a bit wary at what would be on offer. So, finding out that the dinner would be from Su after all, who was a self-proclaimed good cook, was a relief. “And I am hungry,” she replied, directing a brief wolfish grin at her coworker.

At the question about her family, Jacqueline hummed inquisitively, tilting her head to the side in mild surprise as she considered how to answer. “Well, I don’t mind you asking, though I have no idea why you’d like to know,” she confessed. “But…hm. Well, we mostly each have our own lives to be honest, so I’m not really that close to my parents. I call or message them here and there, and try to visit them every year or so. They’re glad to know I’m doing well at my job, though talking about work without revealing any confidential information can be awkward. They know it’s government related, so they understand I can’t tell them much. That’s pretty much it.” It wasn’t, but Jacqueline didn’t see the point about bringing up further details.

“Many people find my question strange.” Su confessed. “In China, family very important.” She sighed. “Marriage, also. They want me to marry wealthy man. They warn me if I get older, baby will be retarded.” With a giggle she added. “I not tell them about Mika. I do miss them though. We not talk much now, everyone back in China. Not see them for a long time.”

“Oh, I see,” Jacqueline nodded in acceptance. She did snort as Su mentioned how her parents expected her to marry. “No need to go along with that tradition since you’re here,” she commented. When she revealed keeping her adoption a secret, Jacqueline chuckled. “Ha! What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em.” She merely hummed to the rest of it, but thought Su’s relationship seemed complicated - wanting to be close to yet not really being understood by her parents.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to a thumping sound as Mika lowered the corningware dish onto the table. Silverware and plates had been set out for the three of them. They just needed to seat themselves.

Mika peeled back the tin foil covering the corningware dish. A ball of hot steam rose into the air, revealing dinner. It was a bed of yellow rice covered in sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, and large shrimp. Going by the smell, there was a fair bit of garlic mixed in there too.

“Rice and shrimp casserole. Not much, but it nice recipe to make during week.” She took a seat at the table alongside Mika.

As the food was readied, Jacqueline took a free seat, and when her turn to do so came, also ladled some of the food on her plate. “No need to be modest, this looks great,” she said honestly, a pleased and eager gleam in her eyes as she got a portion for herself. While the food was still cooling down, she was careful when she ate, but as the temperature lowered, she finished the rest fairly swiftly. Though she did restrain herself just enough not to get food stuck in her throat. She once again slowed for the last few bites, as she was full, and just enjoying the remaining meal. “Ahhh, homemade food is the best,” she sighed, pleased.

---

Every once in a while Mika would ask Jacqueline a question about her job that she would have to deflect. Sometimes Su would ask specifics about how Jacqueline’s move was going. But mostly everyone just ate. Su did know how to cook as it turned out.

“Ready to go?” Su walked to the front door with Jacqueline. “I drive you back home!”

Mika ran over to Jacqueline and gave her a hug. "Thanks for coming over!"

Jacqueline barely grunted as Mika barreled into her, since she’d thankfully seen her coming soon enough. It was still basically like being tackled, just without the intent to be felled. She laughed, but returned the hug, though she was bewildered as hell as to why or how the teenager had apparently grown so quickly attached to her. Well, maybe she was just a touchy-feely person. In either case, it didn’t bother her.

Su raised her finger to interject, but stopped herself. Perhaps she could sense that Jacqueline wasn’t bothered by her daughter’s antics. “Okay Mika, we go now! I be back soon!”

"She doesn’t have to go, right?" Mika looked Su dead in the eye as she said this. She hadn’t released Jacqueline yet. "You guys really enjoyed your date, right?"

At that insinuation, Jacqueline spluttered, then laughed, and eventually shook her head in the negative. She let Su explain the situation, though.

“Ah…” Su ran her hand through her hair. “Not really a date.”

"Of course it was!" Mika said very as-a-matter-of-factly. "You picked her up in your car, drove her here, talked, had something to eat, and now you’re dropping her off!"

“...Yes?” Su confessed. Her cheeks were starting to change color. “Not always date when that happen.”

"But it was this time!" Mika looked at Jacqueline now. Her eyes were bubbling over with joy. Sparking with the hopes and dreams of youth that most teenagers lose well before their teen years. Maybe it was their close proximity, but Jacqueline couldn’t remember the last time she saw eyes filled with so much hope and life. "Are you going to be my second mommy?"

“Nah, not a romantic date,” Jacqueline shook her head, feeling strangely fond now that she’d gotten over being taken aback. “Su’s just a friend and a coworker,” she shrugged lightly. She really didn’t expect that last question though, and cough-laughed in such a way that made her surprise clear. “Mika…don’t take this the wrong way, but I am not a family person. Or even a romantic one, really.” Somewhat helplessly, she patted Mika’s head gently, as if in consolation, then extracted from the hug carefully.

Mika kept her arms wrapped around Jacqueline, but as she stepped backwards, Mika slid further down her legs until her arms were wrapped around her ankles. "It’s not nice to lie." She hadn’t stopped looking at her since they hugged.

“Mika.”

"Fiiiiiiiine." She let go of Jacqueline and sat with her back against the wall. "See you next time!"

Su placed a hand on her head before sighing. “Only if you behave.” She stepped past her adoptive daughter and let Jacqueline step past her. Mika watched her new acquaintance through the opening in the door before Su pulled it closed.

---

After Bastion was reclaimed by Maverick Alternative, it was swiftly transformed from a honey cult hangout to a place where the Mavericks could conduct their business. All of the cultist related paraphernalia was ditched for neon signs, swag lights, and old furniture. The entire place felt like a giant man cave, only Billy was the only thing close to a man that walked the corridors of Bastion. The sound of cars and motorcycles racing could be heard overhead, but it was of little concern to the two hiding out in a former store room.

Two couches were positioned around a small table, with a box of pizza and drinks set out for them to enjoy. The only light in the room came from a neon “open” sign and a swag light that hung overhead. Tetrad was in her esper form, and sat on one side. Marrie was in her true form,

”Mmmmph! I wouldn’t expect to get food this good in a dump like Pax Septimus! This is going to be a way better hide out than I thought! We can surface almost anywhere!” Tetrad chuckled. ”I probably shouldn’t be telling an outsider that, but you helped us claim it, so I don’t think anyone can get mad if I do.” She dipped what was left of her crust in a cup of ranch. ”So good! There’s still some of that diluted honey left if you want to try dipping your crust in it.” She managed between bites of her pizza.

”Oh, uh… No thanks. I’m ready to swear off honey for life after all that.” Marrie replied before finally picking up a slice of pizza with her good hand, since her left was still numb from breaking the elbow, and taking a bite. ‘Wait until the other person has had some before starting, that avoids scenarios where you eat too much and the other person wants more food than is left.’ At least, that was her logic. It was good pizza, too.

”I hear that! But I could never swear off honey. It tastes too good, and it’s good for your complexion I hear!” With a sigh, she looked at Marrie’s lame arm. ”Wish I had more mana left over after the operation. Esper forms heal really fast, but even with healing magic, the best we can do is shrink months of healing down to a few weeks. At least the scarring should be pretty minimal, and you should make a full recovery.” Tetrad was about to take another bite out of her pizza when she stopped herself. ”Hey um, you did great during the operation, but I get the impression you’re kind of new to this?” She set her slice down on a paper plate.

”Yeah. New to being an esper, new to the city…” she sighed and took another bite of pizza. ”I didn’t expect things to be quite so… violent, when I found out I could fly and shoot magic at things.” she said after she finished chewing.

”Not quite like sailor moon, is it?” Tetrad sighed. ”I’m new to the city too, wish I could say that last encounter was a special case, but I have no idea.” She folded one leg over the other. ”The upshot is that I can give you some advice on being an esper at least. Rule number uno, protect your identity.” She waved a hand over her outfit. ”I wish I could say I fully trust you, or anyone really, but your true identity is extremely valuable to your enemies. If you’re going to meet up with other espers, you’ll want to make sure you have your true identity hidden. Gemini doesn’t like us, and we don’t like them. If someone decides to hold a grudge against you, you’ll sleep a lot better at night if they don’t know who you are out of esper state.” Tetrad picked up a soda. ”It’s my least favorite part of the job. I’d love to go clubbing with you somewhere. But this is the world we live in. Gotta watch your back.” She was about to sip when she eyed up Marrie again. ”But you did good on that last operation. I hope you’re not thinking about quitting.”

Marrie paused. ”I guess… I guess I’m not. I just hope that things’ll go better than that in the future. The biggest thing I’d ever killed as a spider, and now… Now I’m a murderer. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep for quite a while, no matter how I try to justify it.” She closed her eyes. ”But I see your point about the identity thing. But I don’t think it’s worth risking your life to avoid transforming; I think doing that is why I was able to survive earlier. I had assumed that there might be some kind of ceasefire for when people aren’t transformed, but I guess that manga-like things like that don’t happen.” Marrie opened her eyes again and took a drink.

Tetrad looked up in the air and placed a hand on her chin. ”I mean, yea, that makes sense.” She looked at Marrie. ”Though like right now? You’re playing with your life. I mean, I’m glad you trust me this much, but it really isn’t like some comic book. Though if you’re new enough nobody will likely care what you do, for now anyway.” Tetrad took a swig of her drink. ”Ahh! Oh! But um, I don’t want to put you under too much pressure, but if you really need help, I’ve got a proposition.” She set down her can and folded her hands under her chin. ”If you’re really new, you might want to consider signing on with us. I get it, freelance work gives you a lot of freedom, but joining up with Maverick gives you security. At the end of the day, freelancers are just espers that want to get paid. We have camaraderie and friendship! If you don’t like killing things, we’re more about preserving lives than ending them. That’s not to say some wild furries or bee people won’t come out of the woodwork, but we’re more about keeping the peace between monsters and humans. And if you’re with us, I can really show you the ropes.” She flicked one of her hands off to the side. ”Open invitation of course, no need to join or decline right now. But the offer is there.”

Marrie took another piece of pizza and began eating it in silence. After a few moments she felt ready to answer. ”I really appreciate the offer, but I don’t know if I can do that. I would rather join you guys than G.E.M.I.N.I., honestly, but I want to prevent as much suffering as I can, and from what I’ve heard Maverick is willing to let some people suffer if it means helping even more people. Which is admirable, but I don’t think I can sign on with that. There’s gotta be a way to help everyone.” She sighed again. ”But I suppose that’s probably too idealistic as well. I don’t want to give a yes or no without giving it a lot of thought, so I’ll think it over and get back to you, if that’s okay.”

”That’s okay, sorry if I made things awkward.” She held out her can, hoping Marrie would do the same. ”Just pizza buddies for now then.” Once their cans clicked, she knocked back her drink and downed the entire thing in one go. After that, she crushed the can against her forehead and placed it on the table.

Marrie held out her drink as Tetrad implied, then took a much smaller drink than she did after the toast.

”So as a freelancer, you’ve probably heard of the rumors, right?” Tetrad uncrossed her legs, only to cross them the other way. ”Apparently there’s a vampire around. Lots of requests turning up for their extermination. Only nobody can find where they are.” she shrugged her shoulders. ”Well, people are finding them, but none of them started as vampires. They call those thralls, when it was a vampire created by another vampire.”

”I wasn’t sure whether to believe that vampires are even real. Is there no other way to deal with them than killing it? And what happens to these ‘thralls’ when it goes away? Isn’t there some version of vampire myth that says they’ll die too?”

”It’s important to remember that most monsters are named after things they kind of represent. So a vampire isn’t going to be just like the ones you read about. They can turn people by biting them, but they do not become true vampires. They avoid sunlight, but that’s just because they prefer to hunt at night. Beyond that, I don’t know that much about it.” She chuckled. ”I could probably ask Billy later. I mean, he is a monster himself.”

That was when Billy leaned his head into the room. ”Speak and he shall appear!”

Luna shifted in her seat. ”H-how long have you been there?”

”This mask ain’t enough to stop my sniffer from pickin’ up the scent of pizza!” He reached into the room and picked up a single slice of pizza with a hand big enough to make Shaquille O'Neal shutter.”Vampires drink human blood, end of story. As for the thralls? There might be some salvation for ‘em if ya can break the vampire’s spell. It’s pretty strong- I say it’s pretty strong stuff though. Gettin’ rid of the vampire might help though.” He lifted up his mask just long enough to chuck a pizza slice into his mouth. ”In a perfect world we could convince the vampire to drink blood packets and stop turnin’ people ta thralls. Ain’t sure if that’s gunna work this time though. I’d have to meet ‘em first.”

Marrie nodded. ”That would be ideal, I’d think, but what would happen to the thralls if the vampire started doing that? And what’s even happened to them in the first place by becoming one? Are they just vampires by a different name?”

”That’s right, you’re new ‘aincha?” Billy laughed. ”Vampires are one of many monsters that can grant humans dark blessin’s”

”Right, I know what that is.” Tetrad folded her arms in her lap. ”That’s when a monster gives powers to a human, right?”

”Power, and often at a cost.” Billy’s voice became more stern. ”Most dark blessin’s are accepted willingly by a human, but vampires can force them onto others by injecting their own corrupted blood into ‘em.Aside from bein’ weaker and totally under the vampire’s control, there ain’t much difference between a thrall and a vampire. But any spell can be broken, so a thrall can be freed by the vampire if they so choose. A vampire is one for life, ain’t no changin’ that!”

”So someone’s just got to find them and convince them to let them go and change to a more humane food source, right? That’s good, at least they don’t have to die because of what might have been a mistake. Though if vampires can only make thralls, where do vampires come from?”

”Nobody really knows,” This time it was Tetrad who spoke up. ”All monsters come from another plane of existence known as the elemental chaos. But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s not impossible that they can have children much like humans do. But that’s just a guess. Well, to me anyway.” She looked at Billy.

”Elemental chaos ain’t really my home, ya know. I left my world one day, traversed the chaos, and ended up here.” Billy looked between the two girls. ”Vampires are a reclusive bunch. Don’t know much more than what I’ve already shared. I know they ain’t dead, but they’re tough enough they might as well be.” Someone screamed Billy's name, and he looked over his shoulder. ”Woops! Gotta race to win! Have fun girls!”

”Bye!” Tetrad fell back into her chair.. ”Well I ate too much.”

Marrie looked downcast until Tetrad mentioned eating too much, at which she laughed slightly. ”I’ve never had that happen to me, so I don’t know what that feels like. I wonder if monsters can eat too much or if that’s a human thing?”

”Suppose that depends on what their diet is.” She eyed the pizza box. ”You can take that home with you if you’d like. I can find more later if I get hungry.”

Marrie smiled. ”Alright. But I do have one last question.” She blanched at the thought. ”What was that thing driving the wrecking ball? I think I’m going to have nightmares of it as much as everything else.”

Tetrad threw her head back. ”Well now I’m really done eating pizza.” With a sigh, she threw her hand over her head. ”Some manner of corpse puppet? I didn’t look at it too closely. I just know that whatever it was, it can’t hurt us now.” She looked at Marrie and forced a smile. ”This is all going to start feeling normal to you before you know it. But having said that, it is kind of refreshing to have someone like you around..” She closed her eyes, but her smile persisted. ”Having compassion, and humanity. Those aren’t bad things, you know?”

Though when Tetrad opened her eyes again, Marrie had already departed. With a shrug, a smile crept across her face. ”You’re not a murderer, okay?”

Within one of Pax Septimus' urban residential areas, there was an apartment tower, not too fancy yet not exactly a shithole either, which was quite something considering the state of this city as a whole. Then, within that tower, behind one of its many doors lied a studio apartment, a dwelling designed to be occupied by one, two tenants at most. A bedroom, a kitchen - dining room combo, and a shower, a most efficient design to make use of limited space.

The chatter of a news channel reporting recent events with curated public-sensitive information from the television speakers served as background noise while the electric stove heated a pot to boil its contents, lapskaus, a staple of hearty Norwegian food, the nordic's country rendition of the world-famous beef and vegetable stew. Then right beside it, seated on one of the dining chairs was a young woman with long dark brown hair, clad in a pair of black tanktops and matching shorts, the blue light of a smartphone's screen reflected in her orange irises. A digital picture of two young girls could be seen in said screen, and judging from their looks, it could be surmised that they were closely related.

Then the picture suddenly shifted away as the phone displayed that it was receiving a call. It didn't even manage to vibrate more than once before a slim finger swiped the green circle, answering it, "Hei, mamma. Ja, jeg har det bra." Silmeria paused for a moment, "How's dad? Oh, that's good. Me? Well, just you know... busy with work, making the world a better place and all that. Ah, not right now though, I'm just cooking. Mmm, lapskaus, just like you taught me, ehehe~" She stood up, leaving the phone in speaker mode on the table as she checked her stew, "Mmm, yeah, felt like treating myself a bit. Cake? Psssh, nah, no one's to celebrate with anyway, e... eeeh fiiiine, I'll buy a muffin or something. Ahaha, yeah, I love you too, Mamma." With that, the call ended.

Now she allowed herself to sigh, a long deep one that anyone swore it could sap the mood of an entire party,

"Happy birthday, Silmeria..."

---

"Investigator-in-Training! ...With Pals!"
Current Location: Searching the Great Escape with Mary and Elroy (Post Behemoth Fight)
It had not been long since Fable had slain the crab rave. But there was no rest for the wicked, and less so for those that would thwart them. They needed to return to The Great Escape and learn what they could before it was too late.

But what do they look for? Elroy had just come out of the men's room when Fable arived. ”No sign of violin girl here.” He walked off to look at the rest of the diner.

"Nnngh!" Mary had arrived right behind Fable. "I think they went this way!" Zi ran off to check by an alternate entrance to the establishment.

The owner was also there, bushy mustache and all. But he looked more tired than anything, and didn't ask why people were examining his establishment.

He hadn't even realized how late it was, his eyes focused on the time until he approached Elroy. Nothing huh? Fable furrowed his eyebrows. Home will have to wait a bit longer. He was going to suggested they look for any witnesses when Mary ran off to pursue. The boy simply blinked. Then sighed. He caught notice of the equally tired owner, and decided to ask him:

"Forgive me, but have you seen some weird closed-eyed guy leave with a pale girl. Green eyes? Acting weird? Bites on her neck?? I need a description of the male."

As tired as the man was, Fable's discription made him smile. "Bites? like a vampire? Halloween is still a few months off I'm afraid."

Buddy, you have no idea... The boy thought. But he remained quiet.

He tapped the side of his head. "Though you'd be forgiven if you based that guess based on how everyone else around here was dressed today. Those 'espers' are something else. That gentleman with the red hair can really play."

Fable chuckled a bit. "I'd think so. Unfortunate that I don't do well with loud noises. Buuut perhaps I can look into some of his songs later." One of the corners of his lips quirked up to a smile.

He held his chin in thought. "The only pale girl I know of is Betty Barton. She was playing the violin earlier. I was asked about her by another man who I suspected was blind. He kept his eyes closed, quite handsome. HE was interested in her so that might be who you are looking for."

He nodded when the pale girl was assumed to be Betty Barton, and his eyes widened when a blind guy was mentioned. He quickly nodded scrambled to get a pad and pencil out of his pockets.

"Can you describe him to me??" The notepad was a bit worn and the pencil was sharpened to the midway point, slightly nibbled on as if in thought. It really did look old. Regardless, he scribbled down the description.

He looked up into the air. "He was blond, narrow chin, no scars or blemishes to speak of. I can't quite remember, but I want to say his hair came down to his shoulders. And his outfit was exactly what I would expect a vampire to wear."

Once the boy was certain he got all the details down, he nodded to the owner with a determined grin. "This will help alot, thank you!" With a ten dollar tip left on the counter, Fable signaled to Elroy that he was following Mary, then hurrried off.

The owner looked at the money. "I didn't do anything illegal, did I?" No one answered him, so he just slid the dollar off the table and into the resgister.

Mary did not look like zi was having much luck. They were on their hands and knees searching for anything they could find, but sighed in resignation before rolling onto zir back. "Yes?" Zi asked Fable as he drew closer.

"Firecracker wasn't having any luck back at the diner, but I got some details on Justin's appearance, if that helps!" Fable said, waiving his notebook out then passing it to Mary.

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Yea? He talked to me. I know what he looks like."

At that moment, Fable's face comically blanked out. He was silent. For a moment. Before he gracefully stepped to the side...

And dropkicked his notebook away.

"USELESS." He said no less.

"Yea, that was pretty white of you. But! Kinda cute, I guess."

Fable's jaw playfully dropped at Mary's jab, before turning to a pout. "Hmph! And here I was thinking you wanted a date! _{...But what does me being pale have to do with it. I know I'm half-irish but-}"

"Wah?!" Mary's eyes shrunk into dots. "I-I never said anything about-" zi looked to zir puppet.

Right on cue, Danny picked his head up off the floor. "If the owner saw him, that means that other people probably did too! Or maybe even... something saw him! We just aren't looking in the right place!"

His eyebrows rose at Danny's suggestion. "What, you mean a non-hostile monster? Where are we gonna find one?" He quickly went to get his notebook off the ground just in case.

Danny chuckled. "I was thinking more like, a security camera. I noticed there were a few of thsoe around."

The boy blinked. "...Oh, right." He dusted off the notebook and set it back in his hoodie pocket.

"Well I for one refuse to talk to that privlaged cis white male entrapenure type! So if someone's going to get footage of Justin, it's going to be you!" Ze pointed at Fable from zir spot on the floor.

A sweatdrop fell to the side of the boy's face. "For real...?? I already paid the guy for the info, going any further and he'd start assuming things!" He explained to zir.

"If he took your bribe, he's already been implemented! That's just another reason why you should see what you can do!" Ze hopped to zir feet.

"Yea! In the eye of the law, he's almost as guilty as you are! But it is his establishment, and the law states that you are allowed to videotape people in public spaces. So there's no issue with sharing the footage with a third party." Danny bobbed in place. "I think that's how the law works. Anywho! You're our only hope, Obi-wan!"

Fable stood there for a moment. Then quietly groaned. "Fine. Wish me luck." He pointed between puppet and puppeteer with narrowed eyes, then stepped back into the diner. Once he caught glimpse of the owner, he hurried back over. he would be observed from a distance by his new friend(s).

"Pardon me! I know I've already asked you much, but we may need a quick glimpse at your security cameras. ...That man, the blonde one. He's bad news, and Miss Barton's life might be at stake if we can't figure out where he went. And before you ask, he isn't an esper. Far from it." Fable explained, slightly bluntly. He was probably due for an explanation anyways.

"Whoa! Slow down there, boy!" The man brought up his hands. "Espers? That was the group that left earlier right? And the blond man was not with them." He sighed. "You're implying that he abducted her? That would explain why she never returned..."

Fable nodded. "In a way, yes! Look, it's hard to get into the finer details but I might as well get what clues I can before he fades from the public eye. I-If you'll let me, of course." he explained. "Can add to the tip too, if it takes too much of your time."

"It's fine, lad. Buisness has been very good today." He excused himself from the counter. "Let me get someone to watch the counter. We'll see if the tapes picked up anything."

"I wanna see the tapes too!" Mary added.

"Me three!" her puppet chirped.

Elroy just wordlessly aproached and waved to the owner, who only sighed.

"Why not?"

---

The three espers and a puppet could just barely fit in the great escape's back office. They were all standing a few feet away from a small monitor while the diner's owner looked over the camera's controlls.

"Let's start here."

The footage showed Betty just before her breakdown. Elroy hopped up on stage, started to play, and after the first song or so, Betty excused herself from the stage to get something to drink.

Mary looked at the others. "I don't see him."

"Let's take a quick peak through all the cameras then." The images cycled through each of the cameras avalable, but there was no sign of him.

Mary groaned. "Any ideas?"

Fable's eyes widened when he realized something, then he facepalmed. "Right, his ilk wouldn't show up on cameras, or mirrors. Too obvious." He shook his head, stepping away from the monitors with a frown. A frown that, for some reason, showed itself in seeing Betty's breakdown.

"Well... I've nothing else." With a tired sigh, he shrugged.

”Hey now, let's not give up so easily.” Elroy patted Fable on the back. ”Maybe he's in one of the restrooms, or just out of range. At the very least, we should be able to see if vampire guy shows up on cameras if we keep watching.”

The Owner sighed. "You're not pulling my leg, right?"

"Just continue!" Mary practically growled the words.

And so the tape continued to roll. Betty sat down across from Fable and they talked for a bit. It wasn't much later before Mary walked up behind Betty's seat and portaled her away.

"Did the film get damaged? What happened there?"

Mary hid zir head. "I think she said she needed to go to the bathroom and pushed right past me. Not sure why it made those strange artifacts, hahahah!"

Elroy did not look as amused as Mary did, and she looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

Fable placed a hand on Mary's shoulder to calm zir down. "She just excused herself for a moment when you asked to sit with us." He fibbed as easy as he breathed. Though as he realized what was about to come next, his face cringed up, and he slowly slid his hood over his face.

Elroy and the owner looked at Fable, but didn't say anything. But they did take interest in the monitor, which clearly displayed the back of Fable's head as Mary walked closer to him. Untill the moment he was dreading finally came. The owner practically jumped backwards as Fable from the past splashed Mary in the face with his coffee and darted outside.

"Boy!"

”Gear boy!”

"It was just some roleplay!" Mary was still fake laughing from earlier.

The boy refused to look up. The fist that kept his hood low, was it...trembling?

Elroy shook his head. ”Whatever! Where's vampire guy?”

The owner cycled through the cameras. "Ah! is that him?"

Sure enough, there was a blond man with his eyes closed up on screen. Mary had described the man to Fable, but this would be the first time he could see what he looked like with his own eyes. Mary ceased her alkward laughing and fret her brow.

"There he is, that's him."

A frown of mixed emotions revealed itself when Fable decided to look back at the monitor, yet it all reorganized when he caught eye on his target. His eyes widened, like a lion eyeing it's prey. "Bingo. I'm gonna need a clear screenshot of this guy, possibly send a copy of this to GEMINI as intel." He said, paying close attention to the screen now.

Elroy folded his arms. ”Not so sure they have a reason to take interest in this yet. But a picture of him would be a good idea.”

"Wouldn't we call the police?" The owner gestured towards the screen. "But we don't have proof he did anything yet."

Mary inhaled deeply. "Just keep watching."

Sure enough, Justin made his way towards Mary. They briefly talked, after which he looked towards the men's room. He walked inside and then, nothing. Mary was pacing back and forth, She was practically jumping with excitement. But when Justin came out, he had Betty with him. There was definetly something wrong with her. Even in the videos, she looked like she had been drugged. This was not the lively girl that had dissapeared from view earlier. Mary and Justin talked. It was evident it was getting quite heated, But before it could go much further, Betty threw herself between Justin and Mary and started to scold her. There was no audio of course, but the way she shook her finger and bared her teeth it was aparent she was mad about something. Mary back down, and then she Joined Justin's side and they walked outside. Elroy would show up shortly, but no one was watching the screen anymore.

"Was she drugged or something?" No one answered the owner's question. "I'll definetly be calling the police with this. If you have a USB or something I can give you a copy if you want to show your friends."

”That would be helpful.” Elroy turned to look at the other espers. ”Pac-A-Fist was evacuating everyone as soon as news of the Crab Rave came though. I don't know if anyone outside is going to remember seeing them or not.”

"Doubt it. Then again, The thing targeted at me for some reason so I didn't have time to check." Fable said to Elroy. "Within the chaos It'd be easy for them to slip by unnoticed."

”Well I've got nothing better to do. I'll snoop around.” Elroy headed towards the door. ”You kids coming along?”

Mary looked away. "My parents are going to worry about me before long. They know I went out to eat, but I don't want to worry them too much. Certainly not after my first official Gemini mission!"

”Understandable, I guess.” Elroy looked to Fable. ”And you?”

The boy checked his phone for the time. He silently furrowed his brows. "Yeah, gotta head back before my family notices I've been out all day. I doubt it, but I can't afford the risk." he said.

”Kids and their double lives.” Elroy chuckled to himself. ”See you later I guess”

Mary dropped through a portal in the floor without saying anything. The owner blinked. "Did anyone just see that?"

”No? Anyway, thanks guy, I'll be in for breakfast tommorow.” Elroy stepped out of the office, leaving just Fable and the owner.

"Well then. I thank you for your help, really. Maybe I'll swing by some time to perform on stage, who knows?" The boy nodded to the owner, then walked away.

Out on the field, Binky was little more than a backup esper to enable operations to continue smoothly when unexpected things happened. Sometimes this was stalling a crab rave long enough for freelancers to arrive, other times it was laying down suppressing fire to finish a fight. But at base, she was responsible for maintaining and testing Gemini’s espers.

”Guess that’ll do on short notice.”

The new lab in Pax Septimus had been out of operation for years. Partially because they were expanding elsewhere, and partially because the Iron Queen’s rule prevented the government from doing much. Though she had been dealt with or fled, and that meant it was time to get the facilities back in operation. As luck would have it, the training room was already operational.

The training room was large enough for several espers to train at once, but it was presently set up as an obstacle course. There was a clear path that ran up vertical walls, along narrow catwalks, several barriers to maneuver around, with a clear finish line at the end. But that was just what was visible. Binky had set up several pop up targets, and there was a hologram machine set up to generate any sort of flashy visuals she wanted.

Binky just needed to test it. And for that they needed someone to test.

...

This was it, Ashley reflected. Everything she had gone through these past few months had led her here, to Pax Septimus, to her first assignment as an agent of Gemini. Even though she had been a member of the organization for only a short time, Ashley had still heard no small number of stories about the brilliant Dr. Fritzi Moller, and the thought of working under her direct command was both thrilling, and a little intimidating. Ashley only hoped she would make a good first impression…

As it transpired, however, the novice agent would not be meeting the good doctor right away. First, she apparently needed to participate in a training exercise, under the supervision of someone named Binky. It was an odd name, to be sure, but it was probably just a code name, although what it signified, the young Esper couldn’t even begin to guess. She only hoped her instructor would be a nice, encouraging sort. Ashley firmly believed that positive reinforcement generated far better results than disparaging remarks, and the various successful tutoring sessions she’d conducted for her classmates back in high school provided ample proof of that.

Of course, the disposition of her instructor wasn’t the only thing on Ashley’s mind as she made her way to the training room. There was also the training exercise itself. Although never one to doubt the effectiveness of constant practice, the young Esper couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned, as if this exercise was a way of testing whether or not she was worthy of serving under such a highly esteemed member of Gemini. Indeed, Ashley couldn’t help but imagine that someone of Dr. Moller’s reputation would only wish to command the very best agents Gemini had to offer, and if that was the case, Ashley only hoped that she would be strong enough to join such an elite team.

But no, hope wasn’t the right word. She knew this was where she was meant to be, had felt it in the depths of her being from the very moment she had received this assignment. There could be no wishful thinking here. She needed to be confident that she could pass any test laid before her. It was the only way the bright future she had seen when she’d first transformed would become a reality. And so, with renewed determination, Ashley Avenir, the Knight of Tomorrow, confidently strode into the training room.

“Agent Avenir, reporting as instructed!” she announced, standing at attention, and doing her best not to look the least bit nervous.

Unlike Ashley, Binky was not transformed. She glanced between Ashley and her tablet. ”Yea, Fritzi wanted to talk to you about that. It’s not unheard of for agents to use their last name as a call sign, but we suggest against it. The harder it is to tie your real identity to your esper form, the better.” Binky swiped through some pages on her tablet. ”There are a few names she was thinking of. We thought ‘Asimov’ had a nice ring to it, but she doesn’t really like robots too much. Not as agents, anyway,” Binky shrugged her shoulders. ”Regardless, she’s probably going to be addressing you as ‘Orion’ out in the field. Hopefully you like the name, because she doesn’t change her mind easily.” Binky lowered the tablet at her side and looked out over the course.

Thankfully for Ashley, Binky turned out to be rather personable, perhaps one might even say somewhat adorkable. The novice agent listened intently as Binky noted that Dr. Moller wanted to give her a codename, and had ultimately decided upon “Orion”. It was a good choice, all things considered. Orion was a hunter, and Ashley’s primary task as an agent would be to hunt monsters, after all. Still, Ashley couldn’t help but frown slightly. As it happened, she had already thought of a possible codename for herself and had, in fact, grown rather fond of it. Upon further reflection, however, the young esper was forced to reluctantly concede that “Knight of Tomorrow” was a bit long, and if Dr. Moller had made up her mind, who was Ashley to dispute her? Maybe I can introduce myself as “Orion, the Knight of Tomorrow”? she mused.

”This is pretty much an all in one test. A hyper realistic hologram is going to cover the area, and I’ll act as your operator during the whole thing. It’s less an obstacle course and more a practice mission.” She placed a hand on her hip before looking back at Ashley. ”Your mission is to find the… we didn’t have any image files on hand, so you need to find and defend Ronald McDonald from approaching monsters. After you have secured him, you need to carry him to the extraction point. For the sake of this exercise, we’ll say he’s been frozen. Or hit by a spell that makes him feel like a bundle of wood?” With a snort, Binky scratched her back. ”This is just as much a test for you as it is for the course. Any questions?”

It seemed like a fairly basic exercise- locate a person of interest and take them to the extraction point, all while keeping them safe from monsters. From what Ashley could tell, finding “Ronald” in a timely manner would be the hardest part. Once she’d done that, her powerset placed enough emphasis on healing and protective melodies that Ashley felt confident that she could get him safely to the evac point without much trouble. When asked if she had any questions, Ashley raised her hand.

“Um, do we at least have a rough estimate of where, uh, ‘Ronald’ is going to be? Also, when fighting the ‘monsters’, is it okay to use full strength melodies in here? I mean, I don’t want to damage anything…”

”The course is fairly linear. Not at all like a real operation, but if you follow my instructions you should find the red haired clown. Just be prepared for-” Binky stopped herself. ”Actually, every operation has its share of surprises. As for the strength of your melodies, this is just as much a test for you as it is for the course.” She repeated. ”Aside from the hologram generator, everything in this course is relatively inexpensive and designed to be replaced if destroyed. It’s all part of the cost of maintaining espers. This is part of the reason why the government allows freelance espers to exist. ”

As she listened to Binky’s response, Ashley felt decidedly more confident in her chances of success, even with the mention of potential “surprises”. It was also good to know that she didn’t need to hold back with her melodies, although she was still somewhat curious as to what, exactly, she would be going up against.

A closer look at the course would reveal that while it did have space age white walls and a crisp appearance, most of the props looked like they had been pulled out of a junk yard. Piles of twisted metal and old tires could be seen further down the course, with the more expensive looking items were hidden away.

Though Ashley wouldn’t have long to observe everything, as a static haze set over everything in sight. piles of garbage turned into twisting trees. Hanging ropes turned into vines. Even Binky’s attire seemed to change, and she now looked like she was wearing a leopard skin leotard, while her hair was tied up in a bun and held together with a bone. The training room had been transformed into a lush forest.

”I really need to talk to Fritzi about playing around with my avatar. She could have at least made me an amazon.” With a sigh, Binky stepped back towards the tree line. There was a clear path ahead of Ashley. ”If you’re satisfied, you can start running.”

“Right,” Ashley confirmed with a quick nod when Binky said she could begin. Moving at a pace that attempted to reach a balance between speed and caution, the young esper made her way down the jungle path. At the same time, she would be attentive to any instructions Binky chose to provide over her earpiece. With any luck, she would find Ronald before the monsters did. Or before they found her…

Binky’s voice was now being transmitted to Ashley via a com link located on her uniform. ”The target is up ahead. Ronald has presently been wrapped up by some-” Binky paused as if reading a script. ”Some spiders, I guess. They wrap people up in cheese, so you’ll need to remove the cheese in order to gain access to the target.”

Cheese? Ashley thought to herself, after Binky’s first update sounded over her comlink. It was certainly strange, but from what she had learned during her first few months of training, real monsters could be pretty bizarre, so perhaps this wasn’t outside the realm of possibility? In any event, there would be time to consider such things later. Right now, there was a more pressing obstacle to deal with.

Quite literally, in this case. As Ashley moved along, she came up to her first obstacle. It was a stone slab that was roughly fifteen feet tall and had no imperfections that one might use to scale it. Either side of the structure was covered in thorny foliage. It seemed less natural and more the sort of thing a game developer might include to railroad a player into facing an obstacle.

Even with the enhanced physical attributes of her esper form, Ashley knew there was no way she could leap over the wall which barred her path, and her Genre didn’t currently include any mobility enhancement notes. Sighing, the Knight of Tomorrow swiftly came to the realization that if she couldn’t go around the barrier, she would just have to blast through it.

Time was of the essence, so Ashley prepared a melody that she hoped would be strong enough to penetrate the barrier in one shot. Raising her wand to point directly at the center of the obstruction, the ultra-tech instrument glowed a bright green, while a rising hum filled the air as particles of arcane energy gathered around its twin prongs, and the rapidly spinning sphere, which hovered between them. The swirling emerald motes soon coalesced into a diamond-shaped bolt of pure energy, which glowed with brilliant light.

Ashley took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing…

[Silver Projectile][Powerful][Piercing][Damage X] = -168 mana

As Ashley’s weapon powered up, her com crackled to life again. ”I find some humor in how you chose to blow down the first obstacle you see. Especially given your concern for the course. Though a question for you, if I may.” Binky cleared their throat. ”When that burning ball of energy blows that slab apart, how are you going to make sure it doesn’t fry our dear clown as well?”

Ashley’s eyes widened at the sound of Binky’s question.

“W-What?!” she stammered. “Y-You mean he’s right on the other side of this wall?!”

Admittedly, she hadn’t anticipated that, but the novice agent quickly set to work rectifying the situation as best she could. With her melody just about fully powered up, Ashley shifted her aim to the far right side of the obstruction and repositioned herself so that her melody would strike at an angle, thus hopefully keeping Ronald well clear of the blast.

Of course, what looked like a digitally rendered rock was nothing more than some old wooden pallets nailed together to form a wall. They blew apart in spectacular fashion, throwing “stone chips” in every direction. The projectile was hardly satisfied with that and continued destroying everything in its way before slamming into a metal barrier. At least it sounded metal, but it looked like the projectile hit the trunk of a large tree. Only scorched earth remained in its wake.

”No, I was just curious. It’s important to think about these kinds of things when you don’t know where the hostages are in a rescue mission.” With a creek, what remained of the stone slab fell to the side.

Though it did seem like Ronald might be close by. Just ahead were several piles of cheese wedges, with the aforementioned spiders crawling around them. Only the spiders had a very unconventional shape. They appeared to be giant burgers with plastic straws for legs. The smaller ones were still running away from the destruction Ashley’s weapon wrought. But there were five that were large enough to eat a man, and they didn’t appear to be deterred by Ashley’s firepower.

”For the big cheese!” one cried out, and charged ahead. His buddies flanked him on either side, but it would be a bit before they were on top of her.

With the barrier removed, Ashley was free to continue her search for Ronald. However, it wasn’t long before she was faced with a new problem- several hamburger spiders. Despite the monsters’ ridiculous appearance, the Knight of Tomorrow knew that it would be foolish to disregard the threat they posed. She also knew that she couldn’t waste time dealing with them in a prolonged engagement. She needed to get past them, and then find Ronald. Not wasting a moment, the high-tech heroine sprinted towards the lead spiderburger, her energy shield flashing to life to cover her torso, while her wand snapped off a few quick bolts of arcane power. These probably wouldn’t harm the whimsical monster too severely, but perhaps they would be enough to momentarily suppress it.

[Silver Self][Shield][Reflect] = -120 mana

Ashley’s attacks peppered the front of the hamburger spider. While the massive body could take a few shots, its little straw legs were not up to the task of resisting an attack like that. The burger fell to the earth, momentarily unmoving. She attempted to leap over the creature, curling up her body so that her shield, which she had positioned directly below her, would completely block any potential attacks from that direction.

But jumping over the spider would prove to be tricky. It was difficult to judge just how big they were at first, but their large, tasty bodies were taller than Ashley’s own. She wouldn’t be able to jump over them, but managed to hop onto it and pull herself up.

Before she could resume running to the clown’s location, the burger spun in place. Ashley fell onto her back and needed to do everything in her power to prevent from falling off the giant patty. But she couldn’t just stay there, as his buddies were closing in to assist.

The young esper knew she didn’t have much time in which to act, but thankfully, a new plan had begun forming as soon as she’d landed atop the lead spiderburger. Ashley knew that she was smaller than her arachnid opponents, and she was pretty sure she had them beat in agility as well. If she moved quickly, and avoided their attacks, she could use the strange creatures’ flat bodies as makeshift stepping stones. In addition, such a move also afforded the possibility that the creatures might accidentally entangle themselves in their own cheesy webs. With luck, that would allow her to reach Ronald, who appeared to be fairly close by, albeit almost completely encased in cheese…

Meanwhile, one of the nearby spiderburgers was clearly preparing to shoot a glob of webbing in her direction. Thinking fast, and not helped in the slightest by her rising dizziness, the Knight of Tomorrow decided upon a desperate, last-ditch strategy. If she could time things just right, she might, just might, be able to use the momentum generated by the lead spiderburger’s rapid movements to her advantage…

Right before the nearby spiderburger launched its cheesy webbing, Ashley sprung into action. Raising her energy shield in an attempt to block the webbing, in the event she wasn’t quick enough to avoid it, the high-tech heroine released her hold on the lead spiderburger, just as it gave its mightiest thrust yet. Propelled by the creature’s unintended push, the Knight of Tomorrow would attempt to leap atop the spiderburger in the direction closest to Ronald, while firing a few bolts from her wand at the cheese securing the captured clown to the floor. Assuming she was successful in both avoiding the spiderburgers’ webs and freeing the encased Ronald, Ashley would continue leaping from spiderburger to spiderburger until she was close enough to grab the mascot and flee from the whimsical arachnids as fast as her legs could carry her.

Before Ashley could take her next hop, the spider she was going to hop onto spotted her and opened its mouth. If she wasn’t careful, she would land between a soft bun and some warm cheese!

Seeing the spiderburger’s maw opening wide before her, Ashley quickly prepared a melody and fired it down the creature’s “throat”.

“Eat this!”

[Silver Projectile][Damage X] = -90 mana

Simultaneously, she positioned her shield between herself and the hungry monster, both to protect herself from any webbing it might choose to shoot, as well as any spray from what she hoped would be its imminent, messy demise.

The projectile struck true, and the burst briefly distorted the hologram. For just a moment, the burger spider looked like a wooden crate with an open lid. But it didn’t take the simulation long to correct the error to an overcooked burger laying on its side.

”You’re making good time, Orion.” Binky’s voice cut in again. ”I’ll just get a chopper at the extraction point, just keep heading north.”

Roger, Ashley acknowledged.

Ashley was free to close the distance between herself and Ronald. All she had to do was pull aside a single slice of cheese to uncover him. And she did so

In more ways than one.

Under the slice of cheese was indeed one clown. His cheeks, nose, and hair were all the same shade as ketchup, and his face as white as chaulk. What Ashley might not have been expecting was that his clothes seemed to be missing. He was wearing white boxer shorts with little yellow M’s all over them, and nothing else. His arms were crossed over his chiseled abs, and he was smiling at her. ”Thanks for the save, my little nuggie!” He winked.

Ashley’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t help but blush at Ronald’s state of… undress… Somebody clearly had some very strange tastes… The mascot then proceeded to thank her for the rescue, in response to which the high-tech heroine stammered, “O-Oh, um, y-you’re very welcome,” while doing her best to give an appreciative smile. “Come on, let’s get you to…” the young esper’s voice trailed off as Ronald was promptly snatched up by a man with a yellow scarf and a black and white jumpsuit..

”Drats! The king must have hired the Cheeseburgler!”

And MAN was the cheeseburgler fast. He ran away from the spider burger nest as fast as his legs could carry him, with Ronald tucked under his arm.

”I should have known the burger king would interfere with our mission!” Binky sighed, though it was unclear if she was in character or just found the simulation too absurd to handle. ”You know what to do, and don’t hurt Ronald!”

After blinking a few times to confirm that, yes, that really did just happen, Ashley raced off in pursuit, the spiderburgers not far behind. In the event she could get a clean shot off, she’d fire a bolt from her wand at the fleeing cheesburgler, but she didn’t want to accidentally hit Ronald. It also didn’t help that her powerset was currently rather useless in situations like this, and without an ally to assist her, the high-tech heroine knew she faced quite the challenge.

”You’re too slow to catch up to him.” Binky cautioned her. ”You’ll need to inconvenience them without hurting the VIP.”

Ashley’s chance might have been right ahead. After making her way through some rough obstacles, the course opened up to a pond. There was no way across, less you wanted to swim or swing on vines. The cheese burglar decided to swing.

”The secret recipe will be mine!” He cried out before grabbing onto a vine. The way the cheeseburgler moved was like a monkey. They had a lot of control over their momentum and didn’t have a problem swinging from vine to vine with just one hand. Ronald cried out in a panic.

”Big cheese! Big cheese!” The spiders cried out in a mantra as they closed in on Ashley’s position.

Ashley knew she needed to act fast. She had been presented with a small window of opportunity, but it was closing by the second. The spiderburgers had almost reached her position at the edge of the lake, and with the frankly astonishing speed with which the cheeseburgler was moving from vine to vine, the young esper didn’t have time to attempt to hit the rival mascot’s hand. Instead, she opted for a different solution. Preparing a melody, Ashley aimed her wand at the cluster of vines in front of the cheeseburgler’s path. Being mindful to ensure she was constantly adjusting her aim so that it remained a short distance ahead of the fast-swinging mascot’s current position, she fired.

[Bronze Projectile][AoE][Damage X] = -96 mana

With luck, the ensuing burst of neon green energy would succeed in slicing through all the vines in front of the cheeseburgler, and at the speed he was going, Ashley was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to stop himself in time, before he plunged into the water below. In any event, the Knight of Tomorrow wouldn’t remain idle. The spiderburgers were nearly upon her, and so, a moment after she fired her melody, the high-tech heroine dove into the water and began swimming towards where the two mascots had hopefully landed.

The cheeseburgler fell into the pond, and Ashley dove in after him before long. The remaining spider burgers came to the edge of the pond but went no further.

”No no no soggy buns bad! They muttered to each other. It seemed the chase was over for them.

As fast as the cheeseburgler was swinging, his strength meant little in the water. He was carrying a man under his arm and had a single arm to paddle with.

”You’ve almost caught up, but don’t get overconfident, We have no idea what the enemy esper is capable of.”

Ashley was getting closer, but it wouldn’t be long before the cheeseburgler got to land. CShe needed to do something before he got to land.

So, the cheeseburgler was an esper, was he? That figured. Although, aside from his superhuman speed, he hadn’t exhibited any other abilities, something that was sure to change once he reached dry land. If there was any positive aspect about the situation, it was that, when it came to swimming, Ashley appeared to be the faster of the two. But was she fast enough? The novice agent wracked her brain for a way to possibly slow the mascot down further. Her repertoire of notes didn’t include any means of restraining a target, or boosting her own speed, but perhaps…

Propelling herself with only her legs, Ashley unclipped her wand from her belt, pointed it at the fleeing cheeseburgler, and fired off a melody.

[Bronze Projectile][AoE][Damage] = -48 mana

With any luck, the melody’s AoE aspect would defuse the Damage note just enough to stun the captor, while leaving the captive relatively unharmed. Even if the pair began to sink, the high-tech heroine trusted that she would be fast enough to reach Ronald and pull him back up to the surface.

Boof!

Both Ronald and the cheeseburgler yelped. The spell resistant esper took less damage than Romald did, but it was enough to get him to drop the clown. Before he could pick them back up again, the cheeseburgler noticed Ashley approaching and left him, choosing to swim ashore instead.

”Thanks my little nuggie. Ronald said as Ashley drew closer.

”The extraction point should be just ahead. Keep an eye out for any hostiles. The Cheeseburgler hasn’t been neutralized yet.”

The burger thief slapped his hand against the ground, and a giant wall of meat rose up, creating a barrier. It didn’t stretch all the way around the pond, but it did prevent them from seeing each other.

Things were finally starting to look up. The cheeseburgler had been forced to relinquish his captive, and Ashley had Ronald safe in her grasp. Now all she had to do was get him to the evac point. Of course, there was the slight problem of a meat wall blocking her path, but it also blocked her enemy’s line of sight, which gave her an advantage.

“Take a deep breath, Ronald,” the young esper instructed, keeping her voice low so that the cheeseburler wouldn’t overhear. “We’re gonna be going underwater for a bit.”

”I trust your judgement, little nuggie.

Holding tightly onto the mascot, Ashley submerged herself beneath the water and began swimming towards the reeds near the shoreline a short distance away. Since the meat wall was blocking the path, she and Ronald would just swim to the edge of the jungle. By employing the dense foliage for cover, the high-tech heroine should hopefully be able to plan her next move in relative safety, skirt around the barrier, and maybe even launch a surprise attack on an unsuspecting cheeseburgler…

While Ashley was under water, a spray of fries ripped through the meet wall. It seemed that the cheeseburglar was covering themselves in preparation for a hidden attack. But Ashley was out of sight for the moment, and it was likely that the cheeseburgler wouldn’t know exactly where to look. The cheeseburgler had their finger pointed like a gun, surveying the area for an esper and a clown who’s outfit was lost to some hamburger spiders.

Thankfully, the dense reeds provided enough cover for Ashley and Ronald to sneak out of the water and into the lush jungle foliage beyond. Watching the cheeseburgler from her place of concealment, the young esper aimed her wand at the rival mascot’s arm and fired off a melody.

[Silver Projectile][Damage X] = -90

While Ashley was normally against killing humans (or at least rough approximations of them) if she could help it, she really didn’t want to get involved in a prolonged combat, especially when she was so close to the evac point. And so, to ensure the cheesburgler would be unable to hinder them further, she would attempt to disarm the rival mascot (in this case, quite literally).

Perhaps if her attack was silent and didn’t glow so vibrantly it might have turned the cheeseburgler into a one-armed bandit. But he had just enough time to hop out of the way and raise his hand up for a counter. But now he was in a real pickle. After all, his objective was to capture Ronald for his secret recipe. The clown wasn't worth anything dead. He was at a disadvantage in this situation, and was forced to cut his losses and try again at a later date. He dove into the trees, disappearing from sight.

Just ahead was the extraction site. Binky was standing there eyeing a stopwatch, and behind her was a red helicopter with a giant yellow “M” on it.

”Just a bit further...” Ronald whimpered. As short as their time together had been, their adventure was starting to take a toll on the clown.

“Darn it,” Ashley grumbled as she watched the cheeseburgler dodge her shot. She really wished her various Glamours weren’t so bright and noisy, but there really wasn’t much she could do about that, now was there? At the very least, her attack had succeeded in driving the rival mascot off, leaving them a clear path to the nearby chopper.

“Okay, Ronald,” Ashley sighed. “Let’s go.”

Keeping her eyes peeled for any potential tricks from the cheesburgler, and staying within the cover provided by the jungle foliage for as long as possible, the Knight of Tomorrow set off for the chopper. With any luck, there would be no further surprises, but she held Ronald close, regardless.

Ashley would be pulled out of her thoughts by a soft click. When she looked towards the source of the noise, she would see it was just Binky tapping the stopwatch in their hand. ”That’s time.” She slid the watch into her pocket, which was something on her real outfit and not the prehistoric leotard she was currently wearing. ”So my verdict on the test course is that it needs work. Sprawling forests aren’t really where we expect to dispatch espers. While I appreciate Fritzi’s sense of humor, we could probably stand to use some models that weren’t taken from some fast food joint. There’s also the part where you tried to jump over a burger spider and nearly ran into the cables that held it up right. Cables work for flying opponents, but it’s too dangerous to use in a holographic simulation like this.” She crossed her arms. ”How do you think you did?”

“Um, fairly well, I guess?” Ashley replied hesitantly. While she was relieved that the exercise was finally over, she couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive about Binky’s evaluation of her performance. “I mean, I managed to retrieve Ronald and bring him to the evac point without him getting too badly hurt,” she added, gesturing to the chopper. It was a bit unsettling to hear that Dr. Moller had been the one to design this bizarre scenario, though. Ashley had always imagined the renowned researcher to be a very logical, straight-laced sort, and yet this newest revelation painted a picture of a far more whimsical individual…

”I do not think many people with your skill set would be able to get through this course as fast as you did, but speed isn’t everything.” Binky cast her hand out towards the start of the course. ”You expended quite a bit of mana to get by the stone barrier. It was only fifteen feet tall, and it could have been scaled with a vine attached to an anchor of some sort. Barring that, you could have tied one end into a loop and caught it on the brambles on either side of the wall. If you were careful, you might have even been able to get the jump on the spiders without risking Ronald’s life. That melody was noisy, destructive, and could have hurt the VIP.”

Ronald patted Ashley on the back. ”You did okay.”

”Don’t encourage her!” Binky scolded Ronald. ”And speaking of hurting the VIP, you shot a melody directly at him! I’m sure Fritzi would appreciate something as brazen as that, but the cheeseburger was an esper. He could have resisted such an attack, and it would have been more effective on poor Ronald! This is another situation where you could have used the environment to your advantage. Had you knocked down a few trees or even some branches, you could have denied the cheeseburger an escape and caught up to him.”

Ronald was still panting. ”A little bit of pain reminds me what it’s like to be a man..”

Binky glared at Ronald, but decided not to argue with the simulation. ”It was a tragedy watching you successfully evade the Cheeseburger, only to whiff the shot that could have ended him. All melodies are noisy, but a beam would have denied him any chance to escape.”

Ashley cringed slightly as Binky picked apart her performance in exacting detail. Ronald, who for some reason hadn’t derezzed yet, tried to offer some encouragement, but the mascot’s words only made her feel even more depressed. After all, what good was she if she had to turn to a hologram for support?

“W-Well, um,” Ashley attempted to explain herself. “I didn’t know how long it would take to try and scale the barrier, and I admit to not thinking through all the possible ramifications of using such a powerful melody, but I was able to correct things so as not to put Ronald at risk. As for shooting that melody at him, I didn’t feel I had any other option. I don’t have access to restraining notes, and the cheeseburgler was far too agile for me to think knocking a tree over in front of him would hinder his movement in any way. So I did the only thing I could, while ensuring the melody would be as weak as possible.”

At this point Ashley actually began to look a bit upset. Angry, even.

“And the reason I chose to use a projectile, rather than a beam, for that final shot is because the former has less of a delay in casting than the latter. I was trying to catch him unawares, and, thanks to the way my Glamours work, powering up a beam is a lot louder than firing off a bolt…” she grumbled, crossing her arms, while an annoyed scowl marred her face.

”But you had the element of surprise, and by the time he heard it, it would be too late to react.” Binky shook her head. ”Agent Orion, I am simply assessing your performance and showing you where you could have altered your strategy.” The corners of her lips curled up into a smile. ”When it comes to an operation, the result is binary. You are either successful, or you aren’t. I’m not some angry drill sergeant that gets a kick out of breaking down new recruits.” She pointed at herself with her thumb. ”My esper state lasts thirty seconds, and only if I don’t use any melodies. I’ve had to really train myself to use melodies only when absolutely necessary.” She shrugged her shoulders. ”But far too many recruits try to solve everything with melodies. Regardless, I think your examination went well. Fritzi is likely reviewing the data now, and may even talk to you later about it. But regardless of what she says, I’m glad you’re with us.” Binky took Ronald from Ashley and tossed him into the helicopter. He said something, but the whirling blades made it hard to hear. ”Is there anything you’d like to go over?.”

Ashley listened as Binky spoke, taking a particular interest in the revelation that her esper form could only be sustained for thirty seconds. That was definitely something she wanted to learn more about. She was also surprised by her instructor’s change in demeanor. Binky seemed a lot less critical and a lot more friendly, now that the review portion of the test was over.

“Thanks, Binky,” Ashley told her instructor with a sincere smile. “And I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I wasn’t angry at you,” Ashley clarified. “I just don’t really understand why my powers work the way they do. They can be so inconvenient… As for questions,” she added. “Well, I kind of thought that agents carried out assignments in teams, or at least in pairs. As you just saw, there are certain tasks I’m not particularly suited for taking on single handedly, but in a team situation, I’d like to think I have a lot to offer.”

”Well first off, that’s not a question.” Binky had become firm once again. ”And yes, most of our agents have a specialty that they lean towards, but that doesn’t mean you can always rely on it. Agents do fall in combat, and when they do, the rest of their squad needs to cover for them. Who do you think would fare better when that happens: a group of highly trained specialists, or a group of highly trained generalists?”

Ashley frowned when Binky asked her own, actual, question. “I guess a team of generalists…” she replied.

Binky tapped her shoulder, and the holographic landscape turned off. The pallet wall laid in ruin, and there was a swimming pool that had acted as the pond for this course. ”While not all espers are effective on their own, it is important that we see what their weaknesses are and where they need to improve. This was not an official test, but do realize that I am responsible for training other espers, and my observations might be worth looking into.” She broke eye contact with Ashley. ”You are resourceful, you have value, but I’m not going to pretend you couldn’t have been better. I’ve worked with espers who have been doing this for years and can pick apart their performances.”

After the green-haired girl had finished with the rest of her micro lecture, Ashley hesitantly spoke up again. “I-I know I made mistakes today, and I really do want to improve myself, so, um, I’d be very grateful for any further advice you can give me, especially on how to mitigate my Glamours’ various detrimental drawbacks. For example, you said that you can’t really employ melodies, and that you can only remain in your esper form for thirty seconds, so how do you even accomplish anything? How do you decide the right moment to transform, and how do you keep yourself safe in combat when you’re not transformed? How do you figure out how to make the best use of such a limited window of opportunity? Do you gain enhanced reaction speed, so that you can process things more effectively?”

Ashley was now speaking quite quickly, asking one rapid-fire question after another. Having always been a rather inquisitive girl, and in light of her own limitations, she was eager to learn how Binky had managed to overcome what seemed like a far more crippling set of weaknesses.

A low growl escaped Binky’s lips. ”Truth be told, I’m something of a special case. No operation is ever over in thirty seconds, so I’m usually required to stand by until I’m needed. I’m usually operating equipment on operations that warrant it, or defending key points until other espers arrive.” She didn’t look at the recruit. ”I’m pretty much a walking example of someone who can’t escape their specialist role, So please do your best to broaden your horizons.” Binky took a deep breath before turning to look at Ashley. After examining her face, she mustered a half smile. ”Hiding under the reeds was a good idea, by the way. Thinking like that will help keep you in action.”

“I see…” Ashley replied with a slight frown after Binky explained her unique situation in a bit more detail. It seemed as though the green-haired esper wasn’t particularly fond of their highly specialized nature either… “I will!” Ashley declared with perhaps a bit too much intensity when Binky advised her to broaden her capabilities. “That’s a promise!”

Ashley almost couldn’t believe it when, a moment later, Binky actually complimented her on one of her decisions, and, after overcoming her initial shock, the young esper gave her instructor a big smile. “T-Thanks! It’s nice to know that I at least did something right.”

”Like I said earlier, you passed, not that it was anything too official anyway.I didn’t realize you were going to beat yourself up like that.” Binky sat down on a nearby bench. ”Alright, here. I tried to run the course myself just to test everything. I did have an advantage in that regard, but I recorded my attempt if you wanted to see it. It’s a lot slower than yours though. I didn’t want to use up my esper form on a test course so I did the entire thing with a simulated pistol.” She was scrolling through her tablet.

“Really?” an incredulous Ashley inquired as she sat down to watch the recording. “You mean you didn’t transform at all?” She had to admit, she was very interested to see how Binky’s test run played out…

---

The female esper gave a nod to her compatriot as Valkyrie said she would be heading downstairs. It made sense to reunite with the others, get things settled and all. Wukong herself wanted to head down too, though the itching at her brain about the accursed safe was not going to cease either. She'd already rationalized juuuuust enough sense into doing it by now, enough to not just try to escape the feeling by de-transforming.

However...

"And oh, uh... great job out there, thank you."

The thanks and smile took the simian esper by visible surprise before she could react further or even look away. Truth be told, she'd tried to just keep her ally alive without much other thought invested into it. It was what felt right, though not all such attempts were guaranteed to work...she knew that firsthand. She'd seen it go wrong.

And yet...it was kinda nice to hear in this instance. But it reminded her of other things as well.

After her ally was gone, Lilliah immediately turned and examined the safe, chasing the prior train of thought out by giving into the monkey-like curiosity. She made a point of looking at the drilled bits and structure with care, looking for weak points or hinges or such. If drilling and other methods did not work, why not a blow from an esper's weapon? It was worth the attempt. Worst case scenario, she'd have to problem solve until something worked on it...or until nothing did. In that case she could at least curse at the monkey brain her esper form seemed to try to afflict her with.

With that in mind the esper stood up once more, taking a trained stance and swinging her staff in a precise blow to try to smash into the drilled part. Not too much force, not too sloppy or rushed either, but trying to gauge it just right to smash the drilled lock to pieces. Maybe.

Lilliah thrust her staff at the lock repeatedly. Slowly at first to build up her accuracy, then she began to push with more force once she felt she was hitting it’s sweet spot. The safe creaked and moaned with every blow. The top of the safe rocked back and forth as Lilliah attempted to drive her staff deeper inside the safe. With one final thrust, she was able to hit the safe’s sweet spot and cracked the bottom housing on the lock open. Now she had access to the locking mechanism. Though the girth of her staff would not be able to fit inside the small opening, and wouldn’t be able to satisfy the conditions required for opening the safe. Though it was just the right size for something smaller, like her finger.

The esper would allow the faint trace of a grin to appear on her face, though actively tried to repress any form of excess excitement. She had to be serious, as this was still a serious thing she was doing here. Well, if one considered busting open a safe out of supernatural curiosity and due to Viper’s words as being any kind of ‘serious’. Even so, she would squat down in front of the safe with her staff in her left hand and her right hand trying to reach through the smaller hole to get to the locking mechanism. She would try to get it open in this manner by very carefully fiddling with the locking mechanism from the inside with her finger, unless it for some reason refused to budge.

The safe had been pushed to its limit. It simply couldn’t take the monkey pounding and playing with it like that any longer. The safe let out a creek and a pop before it released it’s door, allowing Lilliah to access its depths.

Inside were several files and boxes, likely records of some sort. Among them was a tupperware container filled with money, a bottle of wine with a prime vintage, and the box Viper had mentioned. Just as she said, it would be green and wrapped in a gold and red bow. It was of fair size too. It was taller than the wine bottle was, and filled half the shelf it was sitting on.

Lilliah looked at the non-file contents with a certain curiosity, the container with money, the wine, and box Viper noted that is, before carefully moving to pick each thing up and examine each one personally before stowing them away on her person. Most importantly, the wrapped box Viper had mentioned was kept the best hidden out of them all. It looked like some Christmas gift, or birthday surprise, but why was it kept in this safe in the Commissioner’s Office of all places? Was it a bomb or bioweapon? Something to be handed to Viper by the Commissioner before all this went down as a gift for some reason? She had no idea, but for the time being she forced herself to tuck that particular item away on her person especially safely and securely. The wine and container with money, however, would be quite the catch to keep or give out in the meantime.

N-Not that s-stealing was good or anything! She silently cursed at the simian impulses in her esper form’s brain, but in the end simply let out a sigh. Merry and herself did deserve a treat after all of this nearly getting blown up business, right? Right. She could use her own money for food, and the wine would be the icing on the celebratory cake! Maybe the money from the tupperware container could go to some local charity or anonymously to some other charitable organization otherwise. That would at least be better than it being in the hands of criminals, eh?

Still, as the esper felt a small bit of satisfaction enter her mind she returned her gaze inevitably to the files. She was not going to take them, at least that was the intent right now, but…hmm. No, a little thumbing through them wouldn’t be bad, right? See if any familiar faces were in there, Viper or the criminal leader (she’d already tossed his name aside within her mind for the moment being) or otherwise. Nothing in-depth, just enough to scan them over. With this in mind, the esper would try to pull out and thumb through the files to see if anything interesting popped out at her.

The only thing that Lilliah would find in the files were some of the more sensitive information that the commissioner likely didn’t want to display to the rest of the station. Files on undercover agents, documents pertaining to payroll, things of that nature. The sort of stuff that wasn’t of much interest to an ape but was very interesting to criminals or nosy co-workers. Without knowing their real names, she couldn’t verify if Viper or the criminal leader were in here somewhere. Viper was an esper, so her appearance didn’t match anything in the safe.

After finding nothing of notable value in the files, at least to her eyes, the simian esper would ultimately put the files back just as neatly and gently close the door of the safe before heading downstairs to meet with the others.

Besides...she had a trip to make later.