There was a lot to be considered. Betty’s Notes, Timekeeper’s fraying sanity, Justin’s fairly sexy (probably artistic license though) body, and the emergence of the GEMINI agents. She recognized a couple of them. Breacher with the shield, Silhouette looking pretty well-cooked. A chick with a sniper rifle, and a buncha melees flanking an unfamiliar face that looked like she had been passed around a vampire buffet. Outnumbered, but if it came to injuries alone, the cops looked much more fucked up than the freelance Mavericks.
Indeed, at the moment eye contact was made, at the moment both sides began to size each other up, Klava was ready to go.

But thankfully, Billy and Binky were willing to talk. They exchanged a couple of words, finding some common grounds. Klava relaxed, just a little bit. Perhaps calmer heads would prevail, and they could at least agree to both go…

Ah, of course. Those two motherfuckers even had the gall to tell unrelated parties to start scrapping first. Timekeeper tried to reopen dialogue, but the writing was already in the wall the moment Klava saw the dragon girl with the riot shield bring her defensives up, bring her gun to bear. Of course they wouldn’t even have the fucking courtesy to try to talk first. Must be really feeling themselves, knowing that they could shoot to kill with no repercussions because their real-life identities were safe and secure. Fucking GEMINI. Should’ve Blinked out and watched them explode amidst the Cobra gang’s last ‘fuck you’ instead.

…

Klava breathed out. No, there wasn’t really a universe where she would do that, was there?

Outnumbered, outgunned. Timekeeper had to play it safe, Tetrad was providing covering fire, and it wasn’t even certain whether or not Apollo was going to play a role. Lightning surged through her veins, thrumming with her accelerated heartbeat, while staccato notes sounded from firearms, ugly beats with no sense and no meaning. She had enough mana left for a handful of murder-inducing melodies, maybe a Construction or two. More than enough, in conclusion.

She had worked with GEMINI before. Had burned for them before. Wasn’t even nearly as mad at them as she had made herself out to be. Was willing to even let bygones be bygones if they walked away from this alive and intact.

But right now, they were in Pax Septimus, and GEMINI shot first. There was no room for hesitation, and only a small bit of space for non-lethality, one that none of the enemy Espers were going to afford, with all the bullets whizzing by. So Klava, of course, was going to fucking kick their ass.

And if they lived, maybe they can all have a laugh over this another time.

“Apollo, toss a flash over the statue.”

She charged into the fray, lightning sparking off her skin as a Melody wove itself around her. Each step propelled her faster and faster as one hand brandished Moya-no-Yume and the other undoing a sash from her outfit. Speedster’d and Slick’d, Klava was a blur as she skated over the tiles, ducking and weaving past Breacher’s gunfire as she curved around the opposite end of the statue and spotted her enemies clearly. All lined up, and all of them some manner of wounded.

Didn’t matter. They shot first, and Klava had already crossed the threshold. With luck, Apollo would have answered her call, dropped his Melody and distracted them long enough for her to make her move.

Her sash flung out, intent on catching the monkey in the face and blind her.

Her blade whistled, swinging in for a gliding strike to slice open the knight’s leg.

Her feet collapsed, a textbook slide tackle to knock the alien off her feet.

Her tactics ignored Silhouette, for he had done good work before and was otherwise so fucked up it was a miracle they let him come along.

Her actions brought her to the sniper and, just as smoothly as she had fallen, she stood up.

“Hey, is it too late to call a ceasefire?”

A shit-eating grin formed.

But that, of course, was only in an ideal circumstance.

“Too bad,” Jacqueline sighed. It’d been worth the suggestion. “Just to note, though, the enemy esper we fought before did have blood magic cast on her by the vampire, I’m pretty sure. You’d best ask someone else about how effective it was. I only got a glimpse, but it looked like good stuff. If also lethal to the hostages,” she shrugged.

That cleared up, she trudged alongside the others, clutching her belly and grimacing all the while. The numerous stairs were nearly enough to make her regret having decided to proceed. It was hell, pure and simple. Still, if there were other monsters to be cleared out before reaching Justin, it’d be worth enduring.

After some time, they made it into a large room with chequered floors, couches, wardrobes, and assorted paraphernalia. The centerpiece was a statue of nude Justin conquering a bull. Jacqueline peered at it skeptically. The vampire did have reason to show off, to be sure, but she couldn’t call that thing tasteful regardless.

The moment she noticed the assorted Mavericks and Freelancer, her lips curled in distaste. The monster, Billy was there. However, Binky engaged him in a surprisingly polite conversation. In the end, they didn’t attack each other, but instead dashed into a race against the other, presumably heading for Justin. So…given how fast they were, and that no one there was in much shape to engage the enemy leader, their mission was more or less done, wasn’t it?

Clearly, Breacher didn’t think so. Whether it was because of Binky’s comment that the rest of them should ‘get started’ or because she believed the Maverick group would otherwise attempt to obstruct Binky wasn’t clear. Jacqueline glanced at their opposing group. To be honest, all she wanted to do was collapse into one of those couches. If it was a monster, she’d be as eager as ever. However, these humans – regardless of the fact that some of them may be designated terrorists – frankly didn’t interest her at all.

But since Breacher engaged them, and Valkyrie followed soon after, there wasn’t no time for discussion any more. She readied herself to follow Breacher when she sensed someone getting weirdly close to her. Startling, she looked over her shoulder to see Orion healing her once again. “Oh, good work,” she commented, then turned back, ready to proceed.

However, in the short time frame when she wasn’t looking, an enemy had made a move against them. Thus, she was now faced with a fast approaching person who seemed to be practically gliding upon the floor. Having learned something from Centrocius, Jacqueline braced for impact, and readied her war pick. When the blade aimed at her, she blocked with the handle of the weapon, angling Havoc in an attempt to get the spike hooked against the sword. If she did it right, the enemy might be disarmed. Even if not, she was at the very least unlikely to get injured further.

Then, the kimono clad woman proceeded onwards. Jacqueline saw her aim a tackle at Orion. If the latter was felled, Jacqueline would help pick her up.

Then, advancing towards where Klava ended up, she decided to respond to the cheeky taunt. “I doubt you’re serious about that, and it’s not something someone at a disadvantage should call for, but I couldn’t care less about continuing. If you people’ve no intention to aim for Binky, our mission here will be done.”

Despite saying so, she was standing right behind Klava just then, eyeing her warily. She had Havoc raised in clear threat, ready to counter-attack if it looked like the other woman was about to make a move against their sniper. Valkyrie wouldn’t do well in melee, but the blue clad opponent had just put herself into the middle of a group of Gemini. Injured though they may be, they could deal with her shortly if pressed.

---

---

A battered, burnt, and breathless Samuel used what he figured were his last moments to defiantly gaze into the eyes of his foe. The pitiful human he returned to was able to express the disappointment at the result of this fight, but no fear.

I haven't accomplished enough yet... if only I were stronger...!

But Lenore's attack never came. Instead, Arzendale's demise caused the nun's mad enhancements to dissolve and with it her desire to kill him, apparently. With a few parting words, she left while Samuel was still speechless from surprise and confusion.

Samuel snapped out of his daze when not long after, grunting in pain as he scoured his immediate area for his mask. He cast a glance over the edge of the pillar and though he couldn't see much, he gathered that the fighting had ceased. It appeared they had come out victorious, but it was certainly not without cost.

...

...

...

When Silhouette was able to regroup with his team, he approached them massaging his wrists. This was the only outward indication he had even been subject to any discomfort aside from labored breathing, but the fact was he was having trouble not repeatedly and vividly recalling the pain of losing his hands moments ago.

Managing to put on a convincing and purely figurative mask, he glanced around at the rest of the G.E.M.I.N.I agents and only just avoided frowning as his eyes moved over the corpses of the sacrifices.

We managed to avoid losing any agents so ultimately this mission is a success so far, despite the hardship and deaths. Still...

'Little Sammy', huh?

I certainly don't feel victorious.

Binky's voice drew Samuel's attention, but he wasn't surprised in the least she was ready to get things done with. They couldn't waste time worrying about how bad that fight could have gotten or who they could save. "I suffered a lot of damage in that fight but I still have a fair amount of mana to provide," he said in direct response to Binky's calling that those who couldn't fight should leave. "...provided that someone can spare a beneficial note or two."

Samuel may not have expressed it quite as well as someone like Jacqueline could, but he was just as likely as her to call it quits. He was driven by not by righteousness or empathy, but purely dedication to his duty as a G.E.M.I.N.I agent.

...yes, it would set a bad example for our new blood were I to flee when I might conceivably assist still.

It was also quite conceivable his presence could be a detriment, but he chose to ignore that potential, and the group made their way further into the mansion, and towards Justin.

...

...

...

All the clothes in the world aren't going to keep him safe from us.

The G.E.M.I.N.I demon was being diligent despite his pain and keeping his eyes open for any more ambushes -- another nun like that getting close would surely result in his death -- but it was impossible not to observe the sheer fascination this vampire seemed to have with clothes. Samuel understood fashion to a small extent because appearances are quite important in a business, but nothing could prepare him for Justin.

Literally.

I wish I could say that is the most disturbing piece of 'art' I've had the displeasure of witnessing...

Though every fiber of his being screamed out in unison to do so, the transformed Silhouette didn't roll his eyes. It also helped that the unmistakable form of Billy Black, a known terrorist, was present in the room.

The entire exchange between Binky and Black was tense. As an upstanding member of G.E.M.I.N.I, Samuel would not hesitate to remove the head of the snake that was Maverick, but it appeared as though the two heavyweights in the room agreed that Justin must take priority.

...that was why it was a little offputting that Binky left them to fight what Samuel interpreted as some mixture of Maverick 'agents' and some Freelancers, a couple of whom Samuel couldn't mistake as having participated with them at the precinct. Unlike Su Fang, Samuel Howard had fought alongside them and it was hard to mistake both Klava and Apollo as they didn't exactly look inconspicuous. Of course, neither did he.

This situation is exactly why I would prefer not to mingle with their types, even if their results can be spectacular. You never know when they'll end up on the opposing team...

Samuel cursed the circumstances but was ultimately not emotionally invested in either of the two Freelancers he recognized aside from respect for their capabilities, something they likely both would prefer he didn't have as it would lessen the chance he may underestimate them.

Strangely enough, his eyes came at a complete halt on one member he didn't recognize. Or, well, he didn't think he did? But she still felt familiar, a little bit. That was really odd considering he specifically avoided associating himself with clowns and the like where possible.

Where possible.

For some reason, Samuel felt the need to reiterate that in his head. But much like the familiarity with the jester, he wasn't sure why.

Well, it must be nothing. I don't meet enough cute clowns to have the ability to forget them. And it's really for the best if I don't know them, I think.

That was because he offered no objection towards Breacher's decision and, lacking the hands necessary to signal back to Orion (he wasn't even able to wield his instruments in a way he could fight with them, deciding to carry them tucked into his armpits) he replied with a nod to her inquirey as the attack started.

While both Breacher and Valkyrie went on the offensive, Klava initiated her assault, but thankfully he wasn't a target. It would be a lie to say he didn't desire to focus her down right now and limit the damange she could cause, but even with a numbers advantage, they couldn't afford to neglect everyone for a single Esper.

Plus it was inadvisable to engage in melee combat when you didn't have hands to hold your instruments and severe burns all over your magical body. He chose, instead, to do something else.

Thinking about what he should do, he knew he required some setup to make the most out of his contributions to this battle, and thus, he spent most of the time allotted to him darting downwards and taking a position beside the armoire, and self-casting a melody that enveloped his person in a shadowy embrace which masked his presence from both eyesight and earshot.

Marrie knew what she should do. It wasn't the most economical thing, but... It would have to work. As quickly as she could, she fired a Bronze Projectile Portal at the ground, then jumped through it with the coin and Stacy's body before closing it behind her. It was time to put her plan into action. She waited where she came out before carefully placing Stacy on the ground and pulling out her phone. She took a picture of the coin, a picture of Stacy's body, and sent out a special message to the two flaming twins in a group chat.

-Hello.
-You probably don't know me, unless Pac-A-Fist told you about me for some reason.
-I doubt that but maybe.
-Anyway I found the coin.
-[Picture Attached]
-So uh...
-I have a proposition.
-I haven't decided what to do with it yet.
-But I know you guys have.
-So here's my offer.
-If you guys can get the head of a zombie girl that the giant snake ate.
-[Picture Attached]
-That's the girl. Her body is safe.
-So if you can get it and bring it to the entrance to the sewers.
-I'll let whichever of you brings her back there decide what happens to the coin.
-I'll even give you a fourth of the reward for your choice.
-(I'm taking a fourth, giving a fourth to the zombie girl, and a fourth to Pac just so you know)
-Otherwise, I might hide it somewhere. I'll ask Pac if that's feasible or not.
-If not I'll flip it to decide, IDK.
-So I hope you'll help me and the zombie.
-And sort of by extension the goblins who live there?
-BTW her name is Stacy/Stacie (not sure how it's spelled)
-Oh that reminds me I need to think up a good moniker.
-That's irrelevant sorry.
-Good luck, I bet you two can take down the Highway pretty easily.

Marrie sat down next to Stacy's corpse and waited to see what would happen.

---

Lilliah could barely eek out a sound as Ashley healed her, trying to make it sound as 'uh huh' as possible to confirm. The sides of her mouth barely could move, not even enough to make a smile at first, though Jacquieline's request about blood magic did draw her gaze over as she turned her crispy neck to look over. She didn't even bat an eye at Binky's seemingly unaffected attitude, however, as she was right. Justin needed to be stopped, and grieving and stopping would not make anything better. It would not bring back lives, it would not make things better, and it would certainly not revive the dead in any sort of favorable fashion. She didn't even need to respond to Merry's speech either for that matter. She would simply pull herself up and try to dust off some of the ash and debris, though the patch of charred, seared, and blackened flesh on her back that remained was a painful reminder of what had happened.

Even so, she had to admit that Su had ultimately voiced a similar train of thoughts to her own to Jacqueline about the matter of blood magic. Bravery was great, but not greater than the risk it could take to do something that work on an 'exchange' basis like Blood Magic on the fly. Then again it wasn't like she was rather brave herself...but she was alive. She was alive and had managed to get her way out of it somehow. And she planned to keep it that way if she could.

Yet speaking of life and death, her mind was wanting to race about once more as she fell into formation and walked along with the others. All those memories returning so vividly wasn't something comfortable, and more than anything she was forcing them back at the point of her staff as best she could. She couldn't let her mind wander. Not now, not in the next room, and not on the job. It was the determined will to see the mission through still that kept Lilliah focused on the path and task ahead well enough, though a chill ran down her mostly-healed back as flickers from 'then' popped in and out along the way. Wukong hung out near the back of the pack, and admittedly feeling glad about it by the time they got into the new room and people working for the Maverick-...oh.

Yeah, it made sense someone else had a grudge against Justin here, but seeing the opposition approach was not so fun. Especially when recognizing a few familiar faces from the police station mission out of the crowd. However, this was simply part of the job as well. Freelancers were Freelancers. It was not what stopped her in her tracks for a moment...

...rather, it was the statue itself that gave her that brief moment of pause. Seemed blood drinking was a sexual fetish thing for vampires, and her mind would never get used to the concept whether it was classical literature or not. Gross. So very gross. Forever gross even.

Listening to Binky and Billy speak to each other before blitzing off down the hall, however, the simian esper began to move the closest armoire for cover as quickly as she could. By the time Su made her hand gestures, Lilliah had her head poked back around the corner just enough to be looking back at her allies. Did she want a battle? Not really, it would be nicer to gang up on the vampire first in case things went sideways for the two leaders somehow. Still, 'Breacher' proved her codename apt as she kicked things off with a literal bang of her gun toward the enemies and Wukong dove as fast as possible behind the nearest armoire to hide as she began to cast a melody.

As she landed in a roll, Lilliah's staff touched the ground to cast her summon spell just outside of her hiding spot to bring forth a wind-element summon to try to assist her allies by having it attack the nearest enemy. At the same time, however, the room erupted into a flurry from all the shots and movement and mere seconds it took for the meeting to become a firefight. Cards flying, shots fired, a flashbang potentially being thrown if that ended up happening, and Klava charging in to try to get to them. All whilst two leaders ran for Justin themselves...idiots. Didn't matter how strong they were, it felt stupid to ignore the main threat whose home turf they were on before anything else. At the same time, however, it was frankly inevitable for this to happen between their groups after meeting here. Like how people talked about dogs and cats being around each other. It was natural.

If Apollo threw the flash, however, Lilliah would barely miss it going off as her vision was outside of the blinding light. At the same time, however, it did limit her ability to help outside of the melody she'd cast reflexively to try to provide a distraction or some kind of helpful boon to her team initially. By the time Klava came over to try to rush them, Lilliah would be out of reach and frankly sight. The summon? Who knew what would happen. It had its orders.



@Izurich@BrokenPromise@Ponn@FamishedPants@SilverPaw@ERode

With bullets coming down, Apollo gave a quick sprint to behind cover. Why this? Everyone here had something better to do.

If Klava asked, Apollo would oblige, even if it looked like steam was about to blast out of both ears and his scalp was going to pop off. Despite not having a face to express, the sheer anger seemed to warp his face enough for it to be very apparent.

"Really, all of you are FUCKING morons," Apollo yelled to both sides. He certainly was even more angry this time around. "Oooh, let's go fight in the middle of enemy territory, where there's some Esper skulking in the walls and probably some more pyromancers just waiting to pop out of the fucking ceiling or some shit!"

Still, a ball of light was forming in Apollo's hand.

"You know, we could have just taken a break instead," he continued to rant. "Lick our wounds! Deal with something more important than fight people we'll see again in three weeks! Not make enemies out of everything you meet!"

With the aptitude that would have let him gone pro in college ball (not that he went), Apollo hurled the ball of light over cover and the statue. With some level of accuracy, the simple spell struck the ground opposite of them. It burst in a flash of light. However, despite it being a simple spell meant to reveal, it still had very explicit physical effects. The explosion of light flashed the room in a light bright enough to bind, a side-effect of the power. Even if the spell did nothing, it would still blind anyone who looked at it.

A round penetrated the area of cover Tetrad was hiding behind. Thankfully, the first one missed her thanks to luck. Apollo stuck out his mancatcher in front of her chest. The second shot struck the impenetrable metal of his weapon, the shock of it reverberating across the entire handle to his hands and arms. His skin tore as the shock ran down his arms, blood now dripping from his hands. The third shot didn't hit his weapon, but Apollo wasn't exactly paying a large amount of attention to what would happen to Tetrad.

"The word 'extrajudicial' is coming to mind here! Is everyone here just a blood-crazed maniac who goes to murder as the first solution?" He yelled back at the GEMINI agents (and also perhaps a few on his own side). "Want to use some words like big girls? Or just want to continue shooting guns because your only value comes from pulling a trigger."

He paused for a brief moment.

"Again! There's more of Justin or whoever the fuck's goons literally hiding in the walls! A bit more important than killing because a bimbo told you to!"

---

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

The path ahead was dark, but short. Binky and Billy didn’t even have time to pass each other a menacing glance before the final door was upon them. This had to be where Justin was hiding. In addition to the hallway getting darker, the statues were getting more ornate and the armoires were becoming more numerous and larger. It was doubtful a man as vain as Justin would surround himself with anything but his finest treasures.

They both shoulder tackled an ornate door, blowing it off its hinges. The splinters fell around their feet as they charged forwards. They weren’t waiting for a talk with this evening’s villain, they just wanted him eliminated so that they could continue

But their opponent was not some anime villain waiting in the wings with a lengthy monologue. He was not sitting in his chair petting some exotic animal. He was not prepared to fight the heroes with a damsel locked in a tower behind him.

He was escaping.

Betty and Sofron were leaving the room through a portal the baleful esper had created, and Justin was following close behind. The only reason why he hadn’t left already was because he was dragging a dresser along with him. He was half way through the portal when he smiled back at them from behind the armoire he carried.

”Adieu, my friends.”

---

Su was the first to take initiative, which surprised some of her own allies. Why she was so eager to shoot at the freelancers/Mavericks hadn’t been stated. But shoot first she did.

The approach of a blood-soaked esper armed with a pistol and shield, gun raised and ready to fire, was enough to send the freelancers running for cover. Most sought cover behind the nearby armoires, but Klava attempted to run for a nearby statue so that she could engage the rest of GEMINI’s forces. Everyone was still winding up their melodies when Su started to shoot, and Luna hadn’t yet provided covering fire. Without any distractions, One of Su’d bullets managed to find purchase in Klava’s arm before she made her way to cover.

By this point, melodies were starting to fly. Finn was able to tag Klava with a speedster melody. On the other side of the statue, Ashley was healing up Jacqueline, and Klava was making herself S L I C K. Wukong also dove for cover and summoned a wind elemental to protect her escape. It took Apollo a bit longer to fling his melody, as it was a powerful one. It was also possible some of his attention was divided between his spell and his rant, but no one knew but him.

But the projectiles didn’t stop flying. Luna fired around cover, but only managed to hit Su’s shield. With Klava gone, there was little distracting her from blocking the shots. Silmeria was there to counter attack, and managed to fire off three rounds at Tetrad just as she was back behind cover. While Apollo had wanted to protect Luna from the incoming shots, he had prioritized lobbing a flash bang over the statues to cover Klava’s entrance. The first round penetrated cover and struck Luna’s arm. It pierced flesh, but Silmeria’s weapon did significantly less damage when it broke through cover. Moreover, it was hard to pick up Luna’s exact location being that she was far quieter than both Apollo and Su’s gunfire. When the second shot came, it struck “Restraining Order,” as Apollo had lobbed his flash bang at this point. Though blocking a bullet with a staff weapon was rough, at least the way Apollo was going about it. Leverage was against him, as the distance between his hands wasn’t nearly as great as the distance between his hand and the end of his mancatcher, which was where the bullet struck. The bullet shoved the head of the mancatcher into Luna’s ribcage, causing hairline fractures. His weapon would have done less damage if it was arcane, but it at least dispersed the force and kept Silmeria’s bullet out of her chest cavity. Before the third bullet could strike, Luna had fallen onto her back, in pain but still able to move. Apollo still ranted at those around them about their situation.

Elsewhere, the flash bang had gone off, and Klava was poised to strike. The good thing about having a one-handed weapon was that if someone shot one of your arms, you still had a backup. Lilliah had moved out of Klava’s intended flight path, but her elemental rushed up to her to attack, only to get sliced through by her dagger. Weak summons like that were really better as distractions than anything else, and couldn’t be expected to do much on their own.

Jaquiline had managed to avoid looking at the flash directly, as she had looked over her shoulder at Ashley when she healed her. But now Klava was rushing at her full speed, and she had no interest in slowing down. While Klava did have a huge speed advantage over Jacqueline, it was rather elementary to simply move her weapon in front of her leg just as Klava slashed. But this did not set her up very well for counter attacking on the same side. Klava would slide on by before she could get Havoc around Klava’s small knife.

The frozen ninja slid towards Ashley and Silmeria. What happened next was in their hands.

---

The closest people to Apollo’s position were probably the people he was mostly trying to yell at. Luna was laying on her back, looking up at the faceless monk that saved her from critical injury, if not death. And just on the other side of the dresser was a blood soaked Su who had her gun pointed at him. He did a lot of yelling, guessing his position wasn’t difficult. But she didn’t fire. Jacqueline’s voice could be heard behind Su’s head, and it seemed to make her relax a bit.

“Apollo, right?" She cocked her arm and pointed her gun at the ceiling. A default stance for when you didn’t want to shoot anything. “Why you here? Get money? Save Betty? Maybe both?" She stepped in front of the statue, but not so far that she would be able to fire behind Apollo’s cover. “Maybe we team up in three weeks. Maybe you stay with terrorist. Maybe you shoot me again even on same side. I not know these things. I know today you with terrorists. Maverick not like us much. Mavrick do bad things in the past. Feed monsters, orphan little girl, bad things. Maybe you not know about them?"

Luna groaned. ”Implying the government stooges are any better.” Her words were half said in a grunt as she stood upright. But she went ignored by Su, either because she didn’t hear her, or chose not to react.

“Maybe you putting on show. Maybe not. You not sound like show." Even if her gun wasn’t pointed at anyone, it was clear she wasn’t going to holster it quite yet. “Who esper who go through wall? We not encounter anything like that."

”Klava!” Kristina, that girl Klava “dated,” charged into the room. She had a rocket launcher resting on her shoulder when she burst onto the scene. ”I’m here to save youuuuuuuuu!” She was closely followed by Protector and a jester wearing extendable claws on her wrists.

“We gunna tussle or what?”

Su lowered her pistol to aim at the Jester, but Luna spoke up. ”Hold up, Apollo’s got a point.” She looked around. ”That ghost could be anywhere. Did you guys see it?”

A shape emerged from the statue of Justin. Gunther’s head turned to look at the bickering espers as if the statue’s body was his own. ”Are you talking about li’l old me?

”Gah!” Kristina fired a rocket at Gunther, but all her rocket managed was to blow the statue into chunks. Su was only able to just manage getting her shield up, but the hail of debris couldn’t be totally mitigated by her shield. Stones rained down on her head, and the blast from the rocket was enough to throw her onto her back. Her ballistic jacket kept her torso safe, but her right shoulder was filled with stone shrapnel, and one of her horns had broken off.

Gunther looked at all the surrounding debris. The dressers, and everything else in the room that wasn’t nailed down.

Perfect.

”Hey kids? Let’s try this one more time!”

Five white flames flew into the room, followed by thirty-one more. They flew into the couches, tables, dressers, suits of armor, the gargoyle statues in the corners of the room, and the rubble that Justin’s statue had been turned into.. The furniture closest to Gunther was orbiting him like a planet while everything else came under attack from his spectral magic. Silmeria, Luna, Finn, and Lilliah were all in separate corners of the room, but all came under attack from suits of armor. The rest had to contend with flying furniture, and the lights were starting to go out. The tables dumped their lanterns onto the ground, and the flames within were extinguished. Only the chandelier provided any light, and it looked like Gunther’s spetures were about to smash it into a wall.

”Do you feel that? Do you see that? Gunther inquired as he soared over everyone’s head. ”Every one of those souls hates you! They cry out for nothing more than your elimination! I wonder how your allies will react when they join them.”

---

_{@The World}

Stacy did not struggle too much when Marrie grabbed her and jumped through the portal. When they came out back in the sewer, it was all pretty much the way Marrie remembered it being. The only change being that Pac-A-Fist was now wearing a headset, and seemed to have grown accustomed to the smell. She wasn’t even trying to cover her nose.

”Guys? I really think you need to focus up and-” She turned to look at Marrie. ”Never mind! Looks like someone already found it!”

”The hell?” Regina roared over Pac-A-Fist’s headphones.

”Gah!” She cast her headset off as Regina’s shouts continued to pour out of them.

”This sucks! How didn’t we get to it first? I didn’t even get a chance to cook a snake!”

”Stop screaming!” Elroy barked equally loud. ”We’re getting a text!”

Sure enough, they were getting a text. Marrie had decided to put up the coin and even her part of the reward to recover Stacy’s head

”Is she there, Trisha?” Elroy sighed. ”Look, Highway to hell is dangerous, and-”

Regina cackled like an imp. ”Fuck YES! The Ruinous Meteor is gunna pave the SHIT outa Highway to Hell!”

”Regina!

”Champagne supernova!”

The headset crackled with white noise.

Pac folded her arms. ”I was kind of hoping to end their squabbling, but if it’s for a fellow, um, esper? I don’t mind sticking around a bit longer. I just hope they’re okay.”

From there, it was a waiting game. Pac and Marrie didn’t have a whole lot to talk about, and Stacy wasn’t in a position to ask any questions, or even be aware of her surroundings. She was reaching out with her index finger to rub the concrete floor around her, but otherwise didn’t move a whole lot.

But they would not have to wait long for something to happen.

The coin shook and leapt out of Marrie’s hand, where it turned into a blazing portal. The first person through was a middle aged butler, followed by a girl in a black japanese school uniform. They tumbled across the catwalk and nearly fell into the sewer water, but the school girl was able to use her massive sword to stop them from sliding. The last one through was a blond aristocrat, clutching a large dresser as he flew out of the portal. The portal closed into a puff of smoke, denying anyone else entry. The aristocrat looked to be in good shape, but the dresser had taken quite a beating.

”And, Sofron.” The blond man turned to look at the butler. ”That is why you don’t prepare a monologue for people like that. Binky knows she can’t dawdle, so she’ll attack on sight regardless.”

””Of course, master Carnage." Sofron bowed.

Pac-A-Fist backed up against the wall. ”You’re Justin!”

”Brilliant detective work, Pac-A-Fist.” He waved a hand towards her. ”Betty, how about you make sure she cooperates with us?”

Pac-A-Fist was fumbling with her phone when Betty pointed her sword at her chin. ”Don’t even think about it!“

”She won’t.” Justin opened his eyes while looking at Pac-A-Fist.Though when the lids of his eyes were up, there was nothing there. Just two empty cavities with something glowing like embers at the back of his skull. Blood dripped out of his empty sockets and ran down the corner of his lips. It didn’t seem to bother him, but Pac-A-Fist was visibly struggling to move. Sofron was able to remove her phone and spin her around, at which point Betty was able to keep her at sword point.

They were getting ready to depart when Justen spoke up. ”Were you the one who collected the coin?” He closed his eyes before turning to Marrie. There wasn’t a single drop of blood on his face, almost like his horrific visage was a dream. ”I must apologize. There's no coin to hand to the collector. Your task will remain incomplete. But I do have some good news.” He kneeled so that he was at Marrie’s level. ”I was the coin collector, and you did well to protect it as long as you did. Maybe you’d be interested in serving me?”

"I know misery loves company, but this is ridiculous."
Current Location: Von Carnage Mansion, Inner Circle

For a moment, the boy could only watch his allies fight from where he hid. Combining the speedster note with a slick one, Klava attempted to ambush the opposing group. Which that...didn't really do anything. The staff wielder rushed for cover too and summoned some mini tornado before the Maiden could attack her, the demon guy seemed to have dissapeared, the dark knight blocked the first slash at her legs, and well, you'd have to do more than trip someone to take them out. Apollo provided a "flashbang" for Klava then went to cover Tetrad, who was distracting the horned soldier and sniper. Surprisingly, no one went to attack him.

Okay, that's a good thing, all things concidered. But it slightly confused him. Maybe he wasn't actually a threat to the agents?

The Timekeeper's attention was turned to Apollo's rantings. Seems even he knows this fight is stupid, though he hoped the faceless guy wasn't dragging him into that. He didn't ask for this either! The mention of Justin's remaning goons made the boy anxious. That is the last thing they needed. He listened to the counterargument the shield-holder had against Apollo's rant.

Hm.

So that's how it is? How fickle. What G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick Alternative had going wasn't the freelancers' concern, but to alienate who you'll probably fight with next time is just...sad. Can't simply wait this out huh?

He'd get his answer soon enough. A "Speak of the Devil" moment, Gunther had appeared from the statue soon as reinforcements for Maverick appeared. Oh good, protector's okay! That relief was short lived when the ghost sent out way too many spirits for the boy's liking and used the room itself as a weapon. And of course the suits of armor came to life. Fable snapped his head towards the knights the moment they began to move. "Oh hell..." He uttered, stepping back and away from the new adversaries. Three of them. Hm...

Perhaps he can take them all down at once. The boy blocked and dodged anything he could, waiting for the right moment to ensnare the phantoms in an AoE melody. "So now what?! Are you going to continue trying to murder eachother, or shut the hell up, band together, and kill that Stay Puff reject?!?" He yelled to...basically everyone that wasn't Gunther.

@BrokenPromise @SilverPaw @FamishedPants @Crusader Lord @Ponn @Majoras End @ERode @OwO @Mantou

Focused on eliminating her target of a card-carrying jester, Valkyrie's mind pretty much drowned out all voices that she didn't recognize as her allies’; this meant that as far as she was concerned, the faceless chiseled douchebag was nothing more than some lunatic ranting off about something in the middle of a firefight. It didn't matter what he said, what mattered was the results of her shots. It was a bit difficult to observe with clarity, but she was confident that at least one of her sabots homed into that clown-bitch's body. To make matters even better, there was a lot more where that came from.

However, before she could serve Tetrad her second dose of piercing bullets, some Kabuki cosplayer went up all to her face. Silmeria's eyes and hands moved faster than her mind as she was already aiming the barrel right at Maiden's chest before she registered that she was asking a question. She'd have pulled the trigger too if not for the magical flashbang erupting nearby, blanketing the room with blinding light. "...!" Valkyrie was forced to look away and for the sole reason that she might commit friendly fire like this, she erred away from shooting Klava.

Then, much to her surprise, Breacher decided to stand down and talk instead, the very same person who decided to engage hostilities mere moments ago, Valkyrie wasn't sure that she approved of this two-faced approach to the situation. Make up your goddamn mind, you horny bitch... But of course, she kept it all in her head, no need to further overcomplicate the situation.

Really, when it came down to it, the only non-agent here that she'd proactively hunt down was Tetrad, the terrorist that she was; the Freelancers were in the wrong too, yes, but not as much, Valkyrie could understand the allure of monetary compensation. Hell, she first accepted this job because the pay was good, and it only became personal once she realized that she had the power to make a difference, avenge her sister's death and prevent anyone else from suffering the same fate.

The sniper kept overwatch while the two conversed, raising her gun at the three stooges that recently arrived. "..." One of them was Protector, there was only one esper around who looked like that. A heavy sigh left her lips, physical this time, regretting the fact that she had allowed herself to form some kind of personal connection with Aria. In the end, she was a freelancer and her allegiance was as fickle as the hands of fate. Well, Aria was an adult, she knew the risks of working for an enemy of the state. It was nothing personal...

Although by the looks of things, they weren't going to fight anymore and it seemed the only identifiable Maverick member in this room remained just Tetrad, the rest of these idiots were freelancers, including the young boy clearly waaay over his head. Well, whatever, orders were orders.

When Gunther reared his ugly mug, "Is that the ‘wall esper’ over there?" Silmeria inquired with all the deadpan tone that only someone who had worked in the service industry could pull off. Another sigh, time to get back to work. The sniper esper proceeded to fire three shots at Gunther's torso, see if her physical-based instrument could do something at this ethereal foe in lieu of her lack of mana; judging from the fact that the goth freelancer’s rocket simply phased through him though, her prospects weren’t great, but she still had to try, not like she needed to conserve ammo anyway.

Then whether it succeeded or not, she'd move away from the animated suits of armor, she didn't fancy getting a claymore to the face at the moment.

---

Upon making her inquiry, Silhouette confirmed that he did indeed require healing. Taking a closer look at the nightmarish esper, Ashley gasped upon noticing that her ally’s hands were so badly injured that he couldn’t even carry his weapons. She was just about to move over to him, when a bright flash exploded to her left. Although she quickly turned her head away, dark spots still covered much of her vision. Blinking her eyes in an effort to clear them away, Ashley soon found her feet being kicked out from under her. Thankfully, she was already crouched down, and so she didn’t have far to fall, but she still wound up with her butt on the floor. W-What just happened…? she wondered, her head spinning from both flash and fall. After taking a moment to reorient herself, Ashley saw that Silhouette was nowhere to be found…

W-Where did he go?! He can’t fight in his condition, so why would he run away from the only person who can heal him?!

Ashley’s answer would have to wait, as an exceptionally creepy ghost chose that moment to reveal himself.

If there was any bright side to the bizarre being’s appearance, it was that it seemed to unite the battling espers against a common foe. No sooner had the strange specter finished his lispy introduction, then a missile launched from the opposite side of the chamber struck the statue of Justin, which the ghost was protruding out of, blasting the disgusting sculpture to bits. While Ashley was glad to see such an affront to the eyes meet its end, the ensuing shower of rubble severely pelted the nearby Breacher. Even with her massive shield, the draconic esper was still clearly injured by the pummeling, and Ashley couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern for her wounded comrade. “Breacher!” the young esper called out as she cautiously rose to her feet. However, before she could take a single step, dozens of white flames shot out of the ghost and entered nearly every inanimate object in the room. Naturally, said objects didn’t remain inanimate for long…

As the various suits of armor, couches, tables, armoires, and gargoyle statues came to life around them, the lights began to flicker and die. Hurriedly casting her gaze around the rapidly darkening room, Ashley saw Valkyrie sprinting away from three animated suits of armor, while Breacher continued to lay in the center of the chamber, which was conveniently also the one place that was still somewhat illuminated. Unable to see the possible trouble the rest of her teammates were in, the Knight of Tomorrow resolved to help the only one that she knew needed her assistance.

Ducking to avoid a flying table, Ashley snapped off a shot at one of the three nearest suits of armor, before dashing over to Breacher, employing her shield to deflect the various pieces of flying rubble as best as she could. Upon reaching the draconic esper, she knelt down and placed a glowing hand upon her ally’s wounded shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice tinged with worry. “Here, let me help you.”

---

The barrel swung in her direction, and Klava’s blade swung even faster, knocking it off course. Apollo’s flashbang was simply icing in the cake, blinding the sniper just in time for her to take the one step needed to fully neutralize a long gun and slice open their throat. In that moment, it didn’t particularly matter what the long-term consequences were of killing a GEMINI agent. The short-term consequences, taught over and over again by her encounters with the enemy, was that this plain-faced bitch had no qualms with shooting first and shooting lethally, so there was no reason to hesitate in doing the same. Fair play and all.

She could handle that ashen knight afterwards.

But, in the moment before Moya-no-Yume could accelerate and deliver a fatal blow, Apollo and Breacher started a shouting match instead…which compounded in a familiar face and an unfamiliar face emerging, alongside a very friendly helmet-face…which lead to Gunther’s emergence, the statue’s destruction, and a half ton of shitfuckery happening all at once, climaxing in Fable’s little freakout. Klava turned her head slightly in the direction of the drama, then smirked at the sniper, withdrawing her dagger in one smooth flourish.

“See? Not so hard to use your words, neh?”

Undoubtedly, there was still a big chunk of her that wanted to stab the absolute crap out of sniper-chick, but Klava was a professional, not an opportunist. Though there probably wasn’t going to be any point in working with GEMINI anytime soon, least until this squad of trigger-happy bonobos got themselves killed. She took a step back anyways, and took another step back to avoid the cleaving swing of the now-animate statues. The adrenaline was beginning to ebb now, and the numbness of her left arm transformed into a throbbing pain instead. Wasn’t going to be using that in a hot minute, was she? What a real festival this now was.

Moya-no-Yume danced a defensive dance now, Klava moving to her right as she avoided the clumsy swings of the animate statues. Three at once was tough, but the knights had given her enough breathing room while they were swiping at those who flat-out ran away, and she made it to the armoire just in time to yank one of the doors open and catch a knight’s sword in it, entangling both. At the same time, her melody crystallized, a magical mark sinking into the tiles. Nothing useful for the time being, but certainly useful for the time coming.

“Hold down the furniture and kill him with magic, fast! The objects are just being controlled, so attacking them means nothing!”

And if Betty didn't come bursting out of the woodwork while screaming like an absolute lunatic, that would be lovely too.

Marrie jumped back in surprise as the coin flew out of her hand and transformed. She drew her Instrument immediately, ready to fight. Soon came the butler and schoolgirl, throwing off her guard. She didn't know what she expected, but it wasn't them. Then a rather handsome man followed with a... armoire? Or was it technically a dresser? No time to get into the specifics of finer home design.

Wait, monologue? Von Carnage? Justin? She'd heard those names before. Or rather, read them. GEMINI was after someone with that name, she saw it on Shimr. Was he a bad guy?

...

Then again, it was GEMINI who was after him, so all that really meant was that he wasn't human. She was about to say something when the girl pointed a sword at Pac-A-Fist. That wasn't a very good first impression. Given how beat up the wardrobe was, and that they seemed to arrive in a hurry, they had probably just been fighting GEMINI agents. Hopefully they were all okay; being a GEMINI agent didn't make someone bad any more than being a monster did, after all.

And then Justin opened his eyes. Marrie was mostly used to the smell of the area by now, but that vision made her throw up. There seemed to be a trend of that in her career as an Esper... By the time she regained her composure, the girl had Pac in a compromising position and the three were getting ready to leave. Justin turned to Marrie and asked if she was the person who had found what seemed to be his coin.

”I was the coin collector, and you did well to protect it as long as you did. Maybe you’d be interested in serving me?”

... Another bad sign, but he did have an aristocratic air to him, so maybe he just didn't know common sense. The blood thing was disturbing, but deformities aren't evil either. Marrie thought for a few seconds before replying.

"I guess if I'm not getting paid for the coin... If you were the one who was going to pay up for it, you probably have enough to hire me, since you technically already did, but..." Marrie pointed at Pac-A-Fist. "You gotta let her go, first. I try not to judge people, but kidnapping is a bridge too far. So let her go and I wouldn't mind teaming up, I guess."

Marrie looked over the other two people and then back to Justin, waiting for his response.

---

In the end, Jacqueline was too late to offer assistance to Valkyrie. Or rather, she’d never know if she’d get to Klava before Klava got to the sniper – because Breacher had a friendly little chat with the Maverick, which led to the discovery of a hidden enemy. An enemy who proceeded to appear just as it was talked about. More Maverick/Freelancer backup arrived at the same moment, though they swiftly redirected their attention from Gemini towards the ghost.

A rocket blasted the statue apart, but the ghost wasn’t affected. It was clear enough that physical attacks wouldn’t affect it. The same was likely true for its group of souls, each of which flew into a piece of furniture to occupy. Harassed on all sides by freaking furniture with no way to destroy the enemy…It was not a fun time for anyone involved. Klava had moved some distance away, and was shouting orders at whoever was in hearing range. Yeah, if only I had magic, Jacqueline thought. Technically, Havoc dealt arcane based damage, but she had no idea if that’d work or not.

But there was a way to test it. First, she moved towards Valkyrie to cover her from melee attacks. Then, she aimed to destroy whatever the nearest possessed object was, whether that be the suit of armor from which Valkyrie escaped, any furniture that might have followed after Jacqueline herself, or whatever else nearby. If she completely shattered at least one object, she thought a soul might have to come out to occupy something else. That was when she’d strike with Havoc directly at the exposed soul, to see if an arcane instrument had any effect on these little guys.

---

---

"Yea it's the money, what other reason would I be doing this shit?" Apollo replied to Su. "And I also know that GEMINI is kind of shooting me today. So, you know, not the best metric."

When Su brought up the ghost esper, Apollo still snapped back. "Yea. Ghost. Floats through walls. Currently lacks an arm. Strangleable throat."

And lo and behold, he appeared. Really, Apollo couldn't even be mad at this point. He just boiled over and there was nothing left in his anger pot. With the appearance of a woman with a rocket launcher and the protector, Apollo took a really long breath. Every fight really was just a clown car, wasn't it? Maybe one day he'd have a nice two men enter, one man leaves. Today wasn't even close to that day.

As the chandelier swung, it was apparent that the dark was going to take over the room soon enough. So, Apollo did what any support would do in this situation. With a brief moment of focus, he imbued the remains of the statue with light, bathing it in a radiant light. While not nearly as powerful as his flashbang, it still gave enough light to hopefully reveal enough of room after the chandelier would break. Though, it was only for a brief moment. Who knew that creating a simple light would take so much mana?

And from there, well, Apollo just ran around with furniture coming after him. He wasn't about to be killed by the supporting cast of Beauty and the Beast, that's for sure.

---

_{Reporting to: Billy Black}

---

_{LA GARAGE Collab w/ @BrokenPromise}

---

_{with @Erode@Majoras End@OwO@BrokenPromise}

A flash of light from around the corner, the sound of her summon being cut down with ease, people running, people shouting, and the statue getting blasted as something popped its head into the room. Something not exactly on a 'side' outside of its own. At least she wasn't the only one to see the stupidity in this situation...

"The kid and the other guy have some solid points you know!"

...which would have almost given her some relief to know, but then out of the walls and everywhere ghosts and angry balls of dead spirits looking like fire swarmed into the room and animated the various things around the room like it was a children's movie. Then last but far from least was the now-attacking possessed suits of armor now trying to get at her! It was enough to make the esper react by launching herself away with a great leap to try to get some good distance. The intent was to push herself away from the suits of armor ASAP, landing near Silmeria in a roll and getting back up on her own two feet and facing toward the direction of the suits of armor that had tried going at her.

If this succeeded, she intended to touch her staff on the floor a bit in front of herself to create another summon. Something to try to protect her and her ally defensively and keep the suits of armor busy if or when they approached. At least if it could even hold up to that beyond a mere distraction. Depended on how tough these armors suddenly were after being possessed by a ghost, at least compared to an esper. From that point she brandished her staff in a ready position, turning partly to the side to get a glimpse on where Gunther was but keeping low and her back mostly to Silmeria (if her ally made it to where she was moved to on the map OOC) and readying herself for what would come next.

Still, she did hear what Klava had to say at the very least. It was better than no information at all about this particular enemy at the very least.



@Izurich@BrokenPromise@Ponn@FamishedPants@SilverPaw@ERode

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

The sudden appearance of Gunther was enough to get everyone working together again.

While Finn shouted at the espers around him (they mostly ignored him) he also managed to focus his spite into a melody. The electricity coursed through the empty suits of armor, then an explosion of kinetic energy blew them apart. But the souls only blinked out of existence for a moment before reforming and animating the gauntlets. Far less dangerous, but they still packed a punch.

Silmeria attempted to run and gun. The flying furniture made aiming a shot difficult, but at least she only had to worry about aiming at Gunther regardless of what impeded her shot. Her bullets tore right through the couch he was defending him with, but had no effect on the ghost himself. The poltergeist winked at the sniper as chaos ensued.

Silmeria was soon joined by Lilliah, who had narrowly avoided a clubbing from some haunted armors. She conjured a distraction and remained near her allies for the time being. Whatever her next move was, only Lillia knew.

Ashley scored a hit one one of the armors before rushing to Breacher’s side. A gargoyle collided with her shield, a table passed overhead, but Ashley did make it to her patient. She administered her magic before asking Su how they were doing. She responded by hopping to her feet and putting her shield between Ashley and another gargoyle. In the center of the room, an attack could come from anywhere. Su and Ashley kept their shields up as they moved towards the wall.

Klava weaved through the flying furniture, even going as far as tripping up the armored knights with it. She understood that there was no point in attacking, so she aimed to get Gunther’s spirits stuck instead. It seemed to be working, but this alone wouldn’t defeat Gunther. Animated robes and dress pants flew out of the open armoire to attack the esper. She called for someone to end Gunther’s life.

Jacqueline would have obliged if she could, but didn’t have the magic to do so, and wasn’t ready to test Havoc against Gunther himself. So instead, she started smashing everything else. She was pretty good at it, and there were lots of targets. Suits of armor, flying tables, but the real goal was to confirm what happened when she swung Havoc at one of those spirits. A suit of armor crumpled under her swing, and gave Jacqueline the chance she was looking for. Much like Finn experienced with his melody, the spirit seemed to fade out of reality when it was attacked before returning. Though with only bits of timber to possess, it flew off to inhabit something else.

And Apollo, frustrated by the situation, knew that he had to keep the lights on if this fight was going to continue. He wove a melody for that very purpose. The remains of the statue glowed for the time being, allowing the fight to continue. And Apollo was right. That was an expensive spell just for light. Reveal was only necessary for keeping track of elusive targets, while light melodies of any kind tended to throw light as they persisted. But using it in conjunction with an AoE note did mean that Gunther would be powerless to obstruct it, short of moving every fragment out of the room. Apollo then ran about as Luna contended with the three armored suits chasing her.

Protector and Jezebel sliced and diced everything that came their way, but no amount of property damage was going to get rid of Gunther. The objects he could animate were getting smaller and smaller. It seemed that once something had been broken apart, it took more souls to animate it.

But it wasn’t long before someone came tearing down the dark hallway. Billy emerged from the shadows, battered and bleeding, but still able to fight. A single swing of his sword reduced some flying furniture into sawdust and pebbles. Gunther’s number was up, and he knew it.

”That’s my que!” Gunther sighed. ”We’ll have to pick up some other time.” It did not take him long to depart. Thirty-six souls followed him into the ceiling, and the room became still once more.

But even with Gunther out of the room, the tension in the air was thick. Everyone was aggravated, backup for Maverick had arrived, and Billy was present without Binky. Lots of unknowns filled everyone’s head, but no shots were fired. Billy looked towards the hallway he just left and joined the freelancers.

The second person out of the hallway was Binky. She wasn’t in her esper form, and had been roughed up a bit. There was blood streaming down the left side of her face, and her eye was swollen shut. She stumbled out of the doorway and towards the other GEMINI agents.

But there was a third person who left the hallway as well. One wearing a labcoat with lavender-colored hair. Her uniform was as pristine as wind driven snow, and her flesh was unblemished. Fritzi flashed a grin at all present.

”Hey everyone! I was going to jump on coms and announce my arrival, but I didn’t think that was necessary. I mean, I said I’d be here a week ago when the freelancers made a scene on Shimr.” She looked at the agents. ”In case you’re wondering, yes, Justin escaped. He had Sofron make a portal in advance and fled with Betty.” She swung her gaze over towards the freelancers. ”When you find proof that Justin is abducting girls, spread it all over Shimr, and make hundreds of posts about kicking his ass, he takes notice. Weird, right?”

As Fritzi walked towards the center of the room, the Maverick espers took a step back. Despite their number advantage and most of the GEMINI agents looking worse for wear, Fritzi’s arrival had them biting their lip

”If only you guys could have come to the authorities. But by golly, you were determined to take on Justin yourselves, weren’t you? I tried to course correct. I made a public announcement hoping to quell everyone’s chest pounding. In a few more weeks he would have let his guard down. We could have ensured his elimination.” Fritzi stomped on Klava’s mark, and worked her heel in until it vanished. ”But noooooooooo, you had to get in touch with a terrorist organization. And faceless here thinks he has the right to call anyone a moron.” Fritzi folded her arms and looked directly at Apollo. ”Is it that unreasonable for G.E.M.I.N.I. agents to fire on freelancers working under Maverick’s banner?” Fritzi raised an eyebrow. ”There’s no reason to assume you’re any less ruthless than Maverick is. If you were just freelancers I can understand the fuss. That wasn’t the case however.”

”They’re are just freelancers.” Despite the cuts all over his body, Billy was still able to stand straight. His wounds didn’t even seem to bother him. ”I reckon they wouldn’t fight to the death. Don’t even think yer agents would. There just ain’t that much reason to kill one another.”

Fritzi scoffed. ”Oh, I think there’s plenty of reason to keep fighting. You want this little slice of Pax all cleared up, don’t you?”

The giant hesitated. ”It is a good location, ain’t it?”

”It also happens to be located over one of Bastion’s entryways, so securing the mansion would be a huge win for either of us. I want it so that we can cut a head from the hydra, and you want to continue using Bastion at its full effectiveness.” She locked eyes with Finn. ”I’m sorry if you thought this was all about saving Betty or killing Justin, but I assure you Billy isn’t that altruistic.”

”Now wait- I say wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute!” Billy raised his voice and thrust his finger towards Fritzi. ”If I didn’t care about Betty, I woulda joined forces with Justin! That ain’t right, and you know it!”

”We both know you’re a greedy son of a bitch, you’d never work under anyone. But you know what?” Fritzi grinned at the freelancers. ”I understand. Even though you were working alongside terrorists, that’s not the same as doing terroristy things. You just wanted to slay the vampire, save the girl, get paid. So I’m going to give you another shot. A chance to put your money where your mouth is.” She flexed her fingers. ”Since Justin and Betty have fled, I’m going to take Billy’s life as a consolation prize. He’s desperately going to need your help to survive. But here’s the catch, I don’t have a reason to fight any of you. So you have some options. The first is that you understand how badly you fucked up, and exit stage right. We’ll let you go this time, but if we catch you on the wrong side of the law again, we will not hesitate to attack. But we also have a catering truck with ice cream, so who really cares? Just hurry on past us! Or! You can help Billy, in which case you will be participating in terrorist activities and will be dealt with accordingly. We will not be sharing our ice cream with you should that come to pass.”

”So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Billy looked at the freelancers and Maverick espers. ”If ya still standin’ with me, we’re gunna fall back to the wine cellar.”

Kristina scratched the back of her head. ”Uh, Klava?” She forced a grin. ”We could get some ice cream once we get out of here. Would you be cool with that?”

“Hmph.” Jez only folded her arms.

Fritzi rolled her shoulders. ”Well? The Justin bullshit is all over with. Time to show your true colors.”

---

Firing on the freelancers was not the best way to approach the situation, but hindsight was 20/20. She might have held them at gunpoint, but Su had been through an arduous battle, and Maverick was not known for pulling their punches. Had the freelancers attacked first, she would have wished she had. Su wanted to drive the freelancers behind cover and occupy them. There was no burning desire to shoot a child or any of the other freelancer’s in Su’s heart. Maybe Klava, but that was just because she considered attacking wounded agents. Regardless, things seemed to have turned out okay, even if it was just because Apollo was willing to talk. His sarcasm was grading, but it was hard to refute the guy’s logic. Maybe they were even now that they had both fired on each other. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought. With Justin and Betty gone, there wasn’t much to do but laugh about it.

What didn’t make Su laugh was Protector’s attendance with the Maverick unit. Unlike the other freelancers, this was someone she had spoken to, if briefly. Protector had fought alongside Silmeria, and Su had arrived to help clean up. She remembered posing for a picture with them afterwards. Su showed the picture to Mika, and she was amused when Mika pointed out that Protector had given her bunny ears. Su had thought it was nothing more than a friendly prank, but now it seemed like Protector might have thought she was a fool for real.

Well, all she had to do to put Su’s mind at ease was leave them now. Surely this was just to save Betty or slay Justin, there was no way she would continue to help Billy now.

---

So GEMINI had an ace up their sleeve too?

There was too much shit going on to really care at this point. Luna just wanted to bust Justin’s fangs in, unite lover boy with his love, and call it a day. The political intrigue that surrounded the situation didn’t really matter to her. It was a sweet mansion and everything, but like hell was Luna going to die over it. Who knew what Justin did in these rooms.

But Fritzi was going to put the kibosh on that. Luna took a moment to heal her stomach. A golden light swirled around her torso as the wound mostly mended. She was thankful that Billy just wanted to get out of here.

Welp, it was all on the freelancers now. Were they going to take the cowards way out, or be stupendous badasses until the end?

There was one thing Luna could attest to now, at least.

Marrie made the right choice not coming on this operation. May she be well wherever she is.

---

_{@The World}

The vampire remained on its knee as Marrie made her offer.

”Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Justin stood up. ”That does not sound like a very good trade for me. Pac-A-Fist has reputation, power, influence, I doubt you could barter for her with your employment.” He adjusted his vest before picking up the dresser with one hand. ”Besides, if mere kidnapping bothers you, I doubt we would be a good fit. Am I correct?”

"Sorry, but no-can-do. I don't help kidnappers, but I'm not stupid enough to try to fight three people who have a hostage. But if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down."

Justin chuckled. ”Such aggression is not necessary. If she behaves herself, I have no reason to harm her.” The vampire reached into his vestments and flung a small bag of coins at Marrie which she could use to bump up her STR and MAG to 20 ”I bid you adieu, esper.” Justin turned away to follow after his company. ”Bah, the hand will never let me hear the end of this.” It only took the group a moment to disappear into the shadows.

It would be some time before Regina and Elroy showed up. But Regina would lead the way, flames licking at her surroundings. ”Hell yes!” Regina ran a hand through her hair. ”The snake was tough, I almost died, but Elroy took the shot like a champ! But it means his sister was able to pave Highway to Hell!” She extended her arm, and in her outstretched hand was a charred lump of flesh that might have been a head at one time. It was impossible to distinguish any facial features, as the whole thing was covered in a layer of embers. ”You might wanna quench it before attaching it to her body. Anyway, hand over the coin! I’ll break that bastard in two myself!”

Elroy looked less enthusiastic about Regina’s victory. He had been burned by acid and fire, but he was walking so he was probably fine. ”Hey!” Elroy locked eyes with Marrie. ”Fog girl! Where is Trisha?”

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
Current Location: Von Carnage Mansion, Inner Circle

Well, there goes that plan. With all the chaos going on, everyone was prioritizing defense over bumrushing the marshmallow fucker. Atleast the Timekeeper did something about the wisps in armor. Magic worked, but the spirits quickly recovered and turned to fighting with fists instead. Whatever happened around him he paid no mind, opting to evade the gauntlets' blows.

Then, the spirits fled. Gunther as well.

The boy glanced over at the reason. Billy, though battered, scared the ghost away. The green-haired doc appeared soon after just as wounded. Though as he kept looking, waiting, he felt anxious again. What happened? Is Justin dead? Where's Betty? Then another woman appeared. A jovial scientist. He didn't realize it was Veronica until she mentioned the notice she posted on Shimr. That anxiety turn to dread once she told everyone what happened.

They failed.

Justin fled, and took Betty with him.

And if the boy's view of G.E.M.I.N.I. hadn't been soured enough, Veronica's tangent about how the freelancers should've just stayed out of it among other things made his conflicting emotions worsen. He felt a bitter retort bubbling, trying to escape his throat. He felt like his knees would give out, the urge to give in to their blame and tell them: "You're right." Or "It's my fault."

...It was his fault, wasn't it.

Fears. Regrets. The boy resisted the urge to cover his ears as Veronica and Billy argued, gloved hands running through his hair as he tried to calm down. Too loud.

Why did he care so much?

Why did he let this happen?

Someone shut them up. Please.

Finn's head snapped towards Veronica when she revealed the mansion was a connection to what he assumed was Maverick's HQ. He trembled out of some unknown emotion when she looked back at him. That apology meant nothing. Then once she gave the Freelancers an ultimatum, he deflated. His arms went slack back to his sides, and the ground suddenly looked more interesting than the remains of the room. He almost looked like a lifeless puppet. With all the shit he went through being for nothing? He suddenly felt empty.

They failed.

He failed.

With one more look at his team, he frowned in regret. It worsened when he looked at Klava.

Finn breathed out. "I'm sorry..." I can't do this anymore. He only hoped those who remained would survive. And that they wouldn't hold this, and his foolishness against him. He was tired, drenched in blood, and felt like he had gone through every stage of grief in a damn minute. Perhaps longer. The boy shambled past the agents, and to the exit.

He just wanted to go home.

...

...Huh. He didn't realize how tight the grip on his instrument was.

Well, that fight was taken care of. Apollo didn't really expect it, but his words actually seemed to work. It just went to prove that, really, all they needed to do to work together was put a very punchable face between them. Though, Apollo might have just been calling a kettle black.

A wounded Billy came back alongside battered Binky. And then came a third, the doctor herself. Really, could there be one day when there just wasn't a shitfest? That day would have to be when everyone would put on their big kid pants and talk it out like functional members of society. That day would never come, so it would seem.

"You're god damn right I can call people morons." Apollo shot back at the bad doctor. "Ever heard of the word 'due process'. It's in the constitution. You should read it some time." Despite saying this, Apollo hadn't actually read the constitution.

"I can't be pissed to do anything at this point. I'm going to go get shitfaced. See you losers next week when some new fucking thing happens. God knows what. Probably some fucking third thing that forces everyone to work together." And with that, Apollo went to leave the mansion. Though, he did give everyone else in the room a salute with 10% of his fingers.

He did stop for a brief second as he passed by the shambling boy.

"You want a beer or something, kid?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

---

Marrie waited until the moment Justin disappeared from sight before picking up Pac-A-Fist's phone and pulling out her own. She quickly copied over Pac's information to her own phone, including her Shimr log-in info, which wasn't that hard to crack when she had open access to her email and phone number to verify a password change. It took a little while, but soon she had everything from Pac's Shimr account on her own phone. She sent out a message to every contact Pac-A-Fist had: "I've been kidnapped by Justin Carnage. My last known location was..." Marrie entered the coordinates of her location, as well as pictures of her surroundings, and the direction that Justin had gone. "Justin has two accomplices, a young girl in a school outfit and an elderly man in a butler outfit, and is carrying a wardrobe of some kind. He is able to teleport using various magical constructs, and while he has assured that no harm will come to me as long as I cooperate, he is incredibly dangerous. He is working for someone known as 'the hand.' If you find any information about me, send it in a group message to Elroy Bates and Regina Bates only. Do not send any information to me, as I will likely be monitored."

Marrie paused before hitting send. She thought about making a public post, but decided against it. There was more work to be done. She sat down and began contacting the few people she recognized from both her account and Pac's simultaneously. G.E.M.I.N.I.'s poster of the Justin raid info, Billy, or at least Tetrad, and the person who posted the mission for the coin to be destroyed, as well as all verified higher-ups of GEMINI and Maverick. She even added a few of the more well-known Freelancers. She sent each of them a copy-pasted message from both phones, in opposite order. Which is to say, as she sent the message to the first on the list as herself, she sent it to the last person on the list as Pac-A-Fist, and continued to do so until each of them had received both messages.

From herself logged in on Pac's phone, she sent the same message she had sent a moment ago, though with the first-person changed to third. From Pac-A-Fist's account on her own phone she sent: "I do not have my phone. My life is in your hands."

As soon as she finished sending to everyone on her list except the Bates, and as she began to paste the three messages together into one for them, they arrived in person.

”Hell yes! The snake was tough, I almost died, but Elroy took the shot like a champ! But it means his sister was able to pave Highway to Hell! You might wanna quench it before attaching it to her body. Anyway, hand over the coin! I’ll break that bastard in two myself!”

”Hey! Fog girl! Where is Trisha?” Elroy locked eyes with Marrie, but she didn't have time to look back at him. She hit SEND on her combined three messages on bother phones, one to each of the siblings, as she walked over to him, her eyes downcast. She went over to Stacy's body and helped it stand up and walk over to Regina. As soon as she got it to her she cast a melody on Stacy's head. With that, she sat down on the floor and took a deep breath. Unfortunately it still smelled like sewer, so she gagged a bit, but she would be fine. She needed time to figure out what she was going to do to make things right, but at least she'd increased her contact list. If Pac really had "power and influence" like Justin said, then she would use that to her advantage too.

---