Erisse Augusta Narrativia

"You're barely legal and you have a girlfriend," Erisse bluntly said to Suzakura. "And my role in this drama isn't part of your harem. That said, to clear up a potential misunderstanding, Michael here isn't my... Actually, I'm not sure if he's legal as well, but I'm not touching him anyway. I'm just here to provide him romantic advice, which you clearly don't need as you're a paragon of maculinity anyway."

Yes, that last phrase had a sarcastic bite. Then she decided to play on Suzarkura's assumption that she was a teacher at Kiburi's and continued, "Also, I am a teacher, yes; Lord Kiburi's employment policies are pretty lenient - They allow me to work for all three other Schools as well."

When someone already believed her cover story, Narrative Role of Familiarity would work even better than it normally would. And as she can theoretically apply for official employment and make her cover story true at any time, this meant that she might not need to use it right now. After all, Narrative Role of Familiarity's main weakness was that it does not affect anyone who knew that said cover story was a lie, and if it wasn't a lie, well...

@Dezuel@Scarifar

Suzakura Plagerzes

The ambitious bully couldn't help but feel that what Erisse said sounded really good. Causing him to momentarily pause in his attempt to whisper something to Michael, putting him on hold for a moment.

"You... you know you are right. I have a whole life ahead of me and have a girlfriend. You are too old and can't be part of my harem. We have a required age limit now." Suzakura said in a proud manner, as if this was what he had planned all along.

He had somehow forgotten that the old woman before him was actually a teacher in Lord Kiburi's school. How had he forgotten all about her? Was it due to all these other attractive girls being so into him that he had somehow put her on hold?

"Oh yeah, Kiburi... hey doesn't that make us like family? You are like a really big sister then. No wonder we can't date then." Suzakura nodded to Erisse in agreement and then looked to Michael.

"Doesn't all that make alot of damn sense Mikey? Oh... Right.... Back into buisness... you see..." He began to lower his voice, holding out his free hand towards Michael. As if he were to discuss rocket science, or something very important. The bully tried to make Michael become focused on him straight ahead. While his mischevious offhand began to flip his soda upside down. Preferably down Michael's neck, but anywhere over the guy could have been a good second place reward.

"Whoops! How clumsy of me! My bad! My bad!" Suzakura said aloud as he attempted to spill the entire soda-cans contents over the prodigious painter.

Though there were doubts in Suzakura's mind, he originally wanted to pour said drink into the guy's pants, but due to unfortunate events the guy was sitting down, making such a move more difficult. How fate could be cruel. There was going to be no 'Haha! Look he pissed himself.' today. Such a classic would have indeed lightened his day. But sometimes you just have to settle for second spot. What a bummer though.

@Scarifar@Letter Bee

Michael unfortunately fell for Suzakura's hand gestures, directing his gaze where Suza wanted it. And with that, Suzakura's soda trick landed its mark on Michael. Michael tried to back off, but it was too late, and the soda splashed all over him...

Or at least, it would have, had it not been for the shield Symbol he had drawn on himself earlier when he first approached Vera. The protective layer of energy made the soda can and its contents bounce and slide off him, none of its sticky substance actually reaching him. Even Michael had actually forgotten he had done so, and was relieved he had been cautious before.

With that crisis averted, Michael turned his attention back to Suzakura. Now fully justified to retaliate, Michael balled his fist and threw a punch at his face. At the same time, Michael covered the top of his forearm in a striped arrow pattern and the top of his fist with a solid sphere. This would increase the speed of his punch while hardening his fist to better withstand the force of impact while dealing a more devastating blow.

@KillamriX88 @Letter Bee @Dezuel

For a moment, it seemed like Blondie's gambit had worked...

For an all too painfully hopeful moment.

The Man in the Suit rose with a new fury, and Chinami's Spirit battered away the fresh barrage of debris this time, still maintaining her vigil over the brunette boy behind her. Even so, despite their foe's survival, he was obviously on his last legs... If there was any time to reveal her range and help Blondie to finish this it was no-

A voice being cleared in the doorway drove a frigid spike of dread into her heart. As Nightman spoke, she knew she should be reacting, should be acting... And yet... And yet, she could only watch in a certain level of fascinated horror, as Nightman seemingly turned his own subordinate's powers against him, swallowing the Man in the Suit with his own darkness... reduced to nothing. Somehow... Somehow, she found that, the sudden ruthless betrayal and total annihilation of a man she'd been gearing up to kill moments before... suddenly sparked something like... sympathy(?) within her. Which was... perhaps not so odd. He hadn't violated her the way Nightman had. In the end, he was only a pawn. Her enemy for certain, but merely a tool to be disposed of at Nightman's leisure... probably living in terror equal to hers that this very day would come about...

She barely acknowledged the stomach-turning gruesome manner in which Nightman duplicated himself... but she did manage to bring herself back to the moment upon being directly addressed by the abomination of a man, when his two selves pointed at -no, past- her... at the brunette! Flickering beams of light crossed the distance at a speed even she struggled to manage. Between one blink and the next, they'd crossed past both sides of her, streaking toward-

Chinami's back impacted the brunette's body in a rapid teleport between him and the attacks, as she found herself transported nearly faster than she could consider the course of action. The boy couldn't dodge, so as the beams lanced into her left shoulder and right rib area, she'd braced to-!

Be... entirely unharmed?

Opening her eyes, Chinami shivered away a set of shakes that threatened to rattle her body. That... energy. Blondie's powers... Something about them had her so on edge that... even after analyzing them directly, she'd somehow been under the impression that she should be particularly worried about them... And in the case of the sword, she was still absolutely certain that conclusion was correct. But the light beams had just... splashed against the surface of her Spirit-shielded skin and petered out without so much as a scuff. Honestly, she couldn't say whether that was a result of Nightman's stolen portion simply being weaker or if even Blondie's full power wouldn't have punched through her defenses regardless, but even so...

Chinami felt a hesitant grin begin to form on her face again.

This is more like it. Finally, something in this damned Clinic that can't hurt me.

She still couldn't well afford to leave the brunette's side. While those beams couldn't touch her, he was a completely different story. Chinami had seen what Blondie's version had done to the area, and she had no doubt that even a lesser version would punch through the human body like warm butter.

She was pulled from her musings by Blondie's words, which... came off a might bit dramatic... Or, at least, they would if not for the potential stakes of the situation. Then again, maybe she was just too jaded to humor such... "heroic" talk, but perhaps it was appropriate in this instance. Only-

Blondie abandoned ranged attacks and rapidly encroached towards the Nightman pair, arcing his blade low for an attempted quadruple delimbing.

Shit! He's inside my range!

And if Blondie was in her range, then he was without question within the range of the copy of her powers Nightman had. She'd been hiding her capabilities from her allies as surely as her enemies, and he didn't know-! And worse-! Her eyes darted between the twin Nightmans. There was no way to tell how that power worked yet. Did it make a perfect clone with all his current abilities? Did it split his power in half, or were the powers still at full throttle? It was clear that both clones had Blondie's power... but hers was different. Chinami's power required a soul to use, so unless that clone power split or shared his soul, only one of those bodies should have her ability... the real Nightman.

Scattering paperweights and paper alike across the floor, Chinami's Spirit's hands latched onto the underside of the large desk in front of her and hurled it in a twisting table-flip at the upper bodies of the Nightmans, adding an upper assault to match Blondie's lower attack, a pincer move. And as the desk hurtled forward, she paid careful attention to what happened next, shouting to the boy with the sword, "Watch out when closing in! Don't let his copy of my power so much as touch you!"

Orpheuz Paladice

Rain. A soft rumble in the distance far away. Far away. But not as far as others had tread. In the rain a lone young man strode down the streets of Rhea, passing by an old abandoned apartment complex of several stories high. Something was moving inside, perhaps some uneasy specter or phantom from ages past. Perhaps it was just the wind blowing some old curtains within. The rainwater slowly traced it's way over the long black raincoat, the hood raised up and slightly obscuring the face of the young man.

The reflection in the windows of the building making him look like a shadow. A shade. Coated in black. Like a phantom from another world. Atop the opposing side of the street was another building, the dark roof held a rooster figure mounted upon it, which would spin slightly from the wind. Creating a screeching sound as the young man traversed forwards, his black boots stepping into puddles of water without any sign of hesitation.

Then there came a sight which was not an uncommon one within Rhea, the school of St Laurels. A prestigious and school of good standing, a shining example of Rhea's youth but also of the past. Many former students would find themselves working within it, helping to raise the next wave of youngsters. In this rainy day, there was no activity outdoors. Only a hydromancer could truly appreciate such weather no doubt.

The young man momentarily stopped to look up at the cloudy sky, the cap under his hood obscuring his right eye while his other shimmered in orange. Strands of greenish-blonde hair was hanging out from the hood, one on each side of his neck, all the way down to his torso.

"We shall never part. You remember? That's what I told you..." The voice came out soft, yet brimming with determination and an undertone of anger. His head lowered shortly afterwards, his hands slipping into his raincoat pockets fully as he continued along his way.

A truck drove by, bearing the prestigious name of the Ravenovich Bank. It's tyres slamming into the various pools of water, creating miniature tidal waves which would spread out along the sidewalks. There were a few shops along the street, the first being a clothing store, they had recently closed for the day. Yet one could still peek into the windows and see the mannequins there, one in particular was clad in an almost military fashion and the other was clad in a dress. The young man briefly stopped to look inside the store.

Fabrics. Something which could be both textile and something completely different. Like the fabrication of a lie, or a fabric of imagination. It made him wonder about the world itself, just who was pulling the strings of it all?

The gods? Just who were they. What could they do? Were they the cause of all things good and evil? There were things such as ancient evils. A thing he firmly believed in, no matter what world one would label as reality. Power was a tool that could subdue both evil and good, power was like water. You needed some of it to live, yet if you would have too much you would drown. The downpour coming from the cloudy skies didn't make him doubt it for a moment.

'Whatever you need to float your boat, as long as you are the captain and in charge. What else matters?' The young man blew some hot air out from his mouth at one of the long strands of hair hanging in front of his face. How his hair moved upon meeting his breath reminded him of precious memories, of a past he couldn't go back to in any other shape or form.

The street momentarily turned into cobblestone as he walked past an old Rhean church. The tower held a single window. He wished he could gaze out from it from up there, like he had done in the past. Amidst the best of company. Company which he couldn't help but feel he was missing terribly. Upon getting closer to the church, he could see a light coming from one of the windows, next to a side-door to the church. Likely leading down into it's basement. The young man reached out with his right hand, lifting it from it's resting place in his pocket. He twisted the handle as the door gave a creaking sound. It opened.

Upon entering he began to walk down a set of stone stairs until he came upon a chamber which was well lit, only by using candles. A young lady. At least he thought she were. Was sitting there praying, her white attire and short blonde hair made her stand out amidst the grey stone walls. The girl turned abit startled on hearing his footsteps. "Oh thee startled me. Have thee cometh here to pray? Wait thou aren't part of... Who art thou?" The blonde girl asked curiously as she rose up from her kneeling position.

"My name is not important, but I am looking for someone. I thought it was you, but I was mistaken. Excuse me, I shall leave at once." The young man began to turn to walk away.

"Hold up." The girl said and began to walk over as the young man stopped in his tracks. "Have we met before?" The shorthaired and short girl continued as a sense of eagerness overtook her.

"No you are mistaken. I have travelled from far away, I assure you have not seen me here before. You might aswell forget I was ever here to begin with. Now I must be on my way." The hooded boy made his way up the stone stairs again.

"It's still raining!" The girl yelled after him, but to little avail as he proceeded to head out into the rain. What did it matter that he would get drenched by abit of water, most people took baths regulary anyways. Abit of rain wouldn't be the end of the world.

"The end of the world..." He said in a low manner to himself. 'I've been there. I am still there. At the end of the world, there's indeed a vast waterfall. I've taken that plunge into the dark water...' He thought as he proceeded along his way, passing by one of the Rhean graveyards. He stopped by the iron gates. He felt fear. Fear. Him?

A small part of him was screaming at him not to enter, but that scream was but a whisper in the wind. The iron gate opened. His black boots stepped unto the gravel road that was leading into the graveyard, the rain kept falling and he walked over a few muddy pools along his path until he reached a specific location in the graveyard.

There it was. A feeling of relief. He stood before a place which bore no gravestone, no sign nor hint of anyone ever having laid there. He fell on his knees, his face looking up to the sky, raindrops falling down upon him.

"Thank you. This time will be different. Definitely." He reached up towards the cloudy sky with his right hand, his fingers spreading wide before his hand turned into a fist. The tensing of the young man's body, caused the top three buttons of the raincoat to become undone. He stood up after awhile, his rise was accompanied by a soft metallic sound as two dogtags were clicking against each other, attached into a silvery chain around the young man's neck.

"The road ahead for this phantom of the utopia..." He turned his gaze towards the sky before he seemed to phase out of the world itself, vanishing from the graveyard to reappear...somewhere else.

Ken

Ken was greatful for being saved. He owed this girl, and while he didn't normally believe in a life debt, he knew he wanted to pay her back as many times as he plausibly could. But now, as the other two assaulted Nightman from above and below, Ken analyzed what she said about her powers and Nightman's duplicate of them.

It was a powerful package of Gifts the girl had shown already; the ability to manifest a Spirit Guardian, teleportation (implied), resistance to mental Gifts, resistance to lasers (well, Magic lasers), and enhanced physical capabilities. And did she imply that Nightman's cloning was originally hers'? So add cloning to the list of Gifts she had. But what was the unifying theme of these various powers, which were hinted at to be merely the tip of the iceberg?

Wait... The Spirit Guardian the girl had manifested; was that the central link in what seemed like a random set of powers? A plan formed in his head, but it could potentially endanger Reverio and the girl herself, at least in the short term - Said plan was to pull back the energy he was channeling into Rev and the girl and pour it into the Spirit Guardian, but that would put Rev in danger and he could not risk that.

But what he could risk was the prospect of talking to Nightman, of talking to the person who had managed to lull him into revealing his flaws and fears and weaknesses of psyche. And he could sense instinctively that Reverio had gotten something wrong about his analysis of Nightman and that to assume that the latter was driven by a 'void' in his heart was... a huge leap.

No, far better to guess that this man was driven by greed, venality, and a little ego. That this psychopath wanted power for its own sake to make himself feel important, something Ken could empathize with, even sympathize a bit, all the while knowing it was wrong. But Dr. Nightman didn't actually care about human standards of right and wrong; thought them artificial and therefore illegitimate. Arrogance driven by a sense of perceieved and technical superiority... Ken can try and use that.

But how? As the fighting raged, Ken went through several potential retorts and invective at speed, trying to find the perfect line to make Nightman listen, to distract him for even a split-second so that Rev and the girl can prevail, with the full knowledge that the enemy 'doctor' knew he'd do something like that and had prepared accordingly.

Nightman thought that he was on top. He wouldn't be backed by a conspiracy or various influential people without finding a way to ensure that he was the spider at the center of the web and no one else. Assuming that he had backers, of course; he could truly be acting alone or with his small cabal of subordinates, but that was unlikely. Either way, he had the time, space, and cool mindset needed to analyze what Nightman was doing and what the man's psychological state probably was.

In short, he was acting like the psychologist. And then it hit him, and he visibly grinned, a grin Nightman could probably glimpse from where he stood.

"Oi!" Ken shouted out, trying to get Nightman's attention, "Are we actually your first victims?! You'd be manifesting powers we don't know about if we weren't! Or do you give up your stolen abilities at some point? Maybe to someone else? After all, even those above it all need help to set this up!"

"I know who you are, Nightman; someone who thinks that everyone below you, especially children, are pawns and dupes. That your own self-image relies on being on top not just in brute force, but in smarts." Ken then pursed his lips, preparing to drop the bombshell. "I can use that."

He then smirked as wide as he could, the overdramatic gesture deliberate. "Why don't you have me as your client for real? I'll grant you all the respect and bowing and scraping you want and make you feel like you're manipulating me into thinking I was manipulating you? You know what I confided in you back then; you know my plans and ambitions. You can rule through me while gloating about how I am one of your dupes, who himself thinks I successfully manipulated you. In short, we can play mind games all day, and all it takes is the low, low price of listening to a foolish boy's stupidity..."

Ken planned to meet Nightman's eyes if the latter ever so much as glanced at him, and the boy planned to say just one word to the man if he managed to get his attention for even a split second.



@Dezuel@Lewascan2@KillamriX88

Suzakura Plagerzes

A flight ticket. He couldn't recall having ordered one, yet nontheless he found himself a clear distance away from the table which Michael sat at. The bully couldn't help but notice his face felt abit funny, but before he could inspect it, a tall bulky looking guy. Older than he were grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up rom his prone position.

"You scrawny brat! Look what you did to my girlfriend's dress!" The older guy yelled in his face and nodded in the direction of his girlfriend which were clad in a long blue dress, which had gotten some unceremonial drink now adding to the decoration.

"Not a bad catch. But damn she is old." Suzakura replied in a slightly groggy manner, before headbutting the guy in his face, causing him to lose his grip of the bully. The older guy held onto his own face as his nose apparently got broke, Suzakura which had just headbutted him could sympathize with him. Blunt trauma to the head sucked. So being the nice kind of guy he were, he decided to shift the focus of pressure. He gave a firm and fine knee to the guy's pelvic region, causing him to slump over in pain. Not only did this take the guy out for the count, it also provided some needed seating, thus the bully took the opportunity to sit down on the man's upper back as he had slumped over. Suzakura crossed his legs, and felt his face with his left hand.

'That little foureyed bitch actually could throw a punch...' He thought as his tongue found his missing tooth, he spit it out to his right at a thin looking guy standing there just watching the chaos, with a paper cup with a sucking straw into it.

"Excuse me..." Suzakura said, leaning over slightly from his sitting position, allowing his regeneration to kick in and heal up the bruising on his face and his missing tooth would gradually be restored. But right now, the drink came at a good time. He took the paper cup with the sucking straw, taking some of the soda liquid inside of it, moving it around in his mouth before spitting it back out into the cup, handing it back to the guy which had bought it.

"That'll do. Time for round two...." Suzakura rose up from his makeshift seat, stretching his arms slightly. Before allowing his musculature to strengthen, giving himself more speed, strength and agility all in one, before finally moving back up towards Michael in a way a boxer would, with his hands raised. But it would be from his legs that a kick would come, seeking to slam right into Michael's chest.

@Letter Bee@Scarifar

@KillamriX88@Crowvette

Celestine offered a very worrying wink at the boy's reply of not being dropped, their small figure gripping now Wolf tighter against their self.
"Don't worry. Lots of places to grab onto." They said, as they perhaps took some -ahem- liberties with the places he was gripping Wolfram.

Meanwhile, the Librarian, Kiwi, let out a small weak protest "Now hold a seco- Wolfram!" She said, before being left with the abomination's partner. Kiwi, reacting quickly, drew Alyona closer to her as she began to crawl up the walls avoiding the goop.

<"Our training is hard, but not that hard."> She chose to answer in an accented Yekaterinan. <"We should try and reach the source... I can offer some web supports for us to..."> Kiwi had said, but, right in that moment, Alyona's curse activated, and five of her legs failed to find a support, before the spider girl fell backwards into the goop, but not before pushing Alyona out of the way.

"Hel-" Kiwi tried to say something, but soon it was all darkness.

It seemed Alyona was alone now.

---

Mina was confused. She had never thought Parker would walk away in this way, not after he had so many broken bones. Maybe he was still concussed? Or deaf? She had given him her best quality milk, but maybe there were things her panacea couldn't solve. She had to find him. But navigating the crowds was so confusing, and not many faces she could recognize.

So when she recognized Suzakura's her face brightened and ran towards his arms, a grin wide. A second later, a strange sound of impact was heard as Suzakura's full kick collided with Mina's ample bosom. The bovine girl let a strangled whimper before her generous rear's recoil would be sent in Michael's direction.

"Not...again..." She whined.

Orpheuz Paladice

The rain kept falling, the wanderer kept wandering. The puddles of water along the street didn't bother him the slightest, as he began to walk into the Rhean national tournament grounds. Silence. There were no sounds aside from the rain and his footsteps, as he wandered out into the middle of the grounds. The many benches surrounding the vast arena was as expected all empty. Upon reaching the middle of the field, Orpheuz knelt down to feel the ground itself.

'Has it already come to pass, or is it waiting to happen? So many questions, yet so little answers...' The hooded figure shook his head softly from side to side, it irked him that despite his vast trip. It had not yielded him much answers so far. Perhaps it was time to seek out someone who could enlighten him on the happenings of the city. His own knowledge was limited in that regard. He rose up again and allowed the falling rain to clean his hand of any dirt he had contacted when feeling the ground itself.

'A cleansing spring to clean away the filth, that's not a bad thing. Isn't that right? My mate of soul. We shall dance forever, but for now the masquerade is still going on. You did enjoy those... my princess.' He closed his eyes momentarily, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

'The unknown threat to all of us, just what kind of enemy did that man speak of? It doesn't really matter does it? I will hold up my end of the bargain. Without him I wouldn't have this chance, the chance of one in a lifetime...' The thoughts came back to him, of the mysterious man which had made him the great offer. Whereof Orpheuz had been quick to agree to it, it wasn't a bad deal. A ticket for a one-way trip was worth... everything.

'No matter who the enemy may be, I am ready to face you and this world...anew.' He thought as his gaze fell upon the moon as it was beginning to peek out from some clouds.

"To be born anew, is this how you feel every night? Watching us all from up there..." The orange-eyed figure gazed up to the full moon, the light of the moon reflecting in his eyes. 'But do you feel the same as I? Not that a moon could feel a thing. But even you have your lunar eclipse, shrouding who or where you are. Yet despite all that, past that cloak of darkness you are still the same. Will I be able to say the same when all is over and done. When I can find the light to my shade.' There were many uncertainties lying ahead, a path he had believed to have been fate or destiny had once before played it's cruel melody on him. Yet despite it all, the very gods themselves had taken pity on him. Or was it a test of his determination? Whichever the case. He would get everything or nothing, there was no middle-ground. To rule among the stars, or to fade away completely in their presence.

He took the moment to close his eyes if only for a moment, and remembered his other half. That long blonde hair flowing in the wind, the fine blue garments that was befitting of someone of such noble blood. The soft smile and the unmistakable laughter. He smiled slightly, someday soon, he would hopefully be able to see that smile once again. Hear that voice again. The two dogtags attached by his necklace jingled slightly as he began to walk again... towards the distance.

Michael was sure that blow would've kept a normal person down for a long time, but it seemed Suzakura was more resilient than he thought. Not only did he get back up, he even beat someone else down in the process. And that was before he decided to strengthen his body. Michael could see Suzakura's body visibly change into something more combat-oriented. Unlike his previous opponent who focused too much on strength, Suzakura's body was undoubted more balanced while still vastly improving his physical capabilities. Michael realized that something extremely troublesome had come his way. He sighed, disappointed he would have to switch to combat mode himself.

Michael donned his usual Symbolism pattern, which resembled a suit of medieval armor. In addition, striped arrow patterns covered his forearms and lower leg area, enhancing their speed. Finally, he added bull's heads to his upper arms and thighs, granting him extra strength. With his body ready for combat, Michael took a stance, raising his arms like a boxer world. Michael would not allow himself to be taken by surprise again, watching Suzakura's entire body. Then, he saw the kick coming.

What Michael failed to notice, however, was the interruption of another person entering the fray in the form of that cow girl jumping in and intercepting said kick, which launched her into Michael. He extended his arms in front of him in a desperate attempt to catch Mina, and consequently crashed into the ground, with her on top of him. Michael was disoriented from the sudden turn of events, but quickly tried to regain his bearings. "Ugh, that was... unexpected," Michael said to himself as he squeezed his hand, noticing that something round and soft was in it. He squeezed a couple more times, trying to figure out what it was before it dawned on him. Oh, that better not be what I think it is... Michael thought to himself.

Suzakura Plagerzes

Boink.
'What?'

Wobble.

'Huh?'

Why did that guy's chest resemble jello? Easy answer. It wasn't his chest but someone elses. His beefbabe had gotten in the way of his glorious kick and thus saved, what Suzakura would label as...

'That lucky foureyed punk!' He thought before ruffling his own hair quickly in frustration. "Ahh come on! Mina! I was having a moment here! This completely ruined the mood. You better make it up to me you hear!" He uttered in a disappointed manner, but then again, there would surely come new opportunities to punish the guy for his un-thugish appearance. Someone who waited for something good, couldn't wait too long. With such in mind he let his irritation slip away. It reminded him that there could possibly still be some more time before he could officially hook up with Chinami.

"Oh well, I guess it cannot be helped... Are you allright? No, not you meeky geeky. Her. Good thing you have that extra layer." The proud bully stated while shrugging his shoulders, then he put his hands into his pockets and approached the duo.

"Hey! Keep your scrawny but brawly rat-paws off my bovine babe!" He barked out as he got closer to see how the guilty had grabbed his partner in the refined art of oppression.

"Look! A pervert! Leacher! We have a pervert here!" Suzakura didn't waste any time to proclaim foul, holding up his both hands to his mouth as if they were part of a megaphone. "Shit. Nobody cares... Well fuck me. Come on Mina, let's bounce. I can settle my buisness with the foureyed pervert another day." Suzakura took out his right hand from his pocket and held it upwards with a flat hand, as if he was lazy-waving to someone.

The grumpy bully however kept glaring at Michael, or rather what he could see of the guy under all that... beef.

'I'd bet Chinami-chan is having the time of her life just about now...Hngn. Probably having a pillow fight with some other girls.'

@Scarifar@AtomicNut@Letter Bee

@Dezuel@Scarifar

Mina felt like fire on her lungs, and as if a dozen of hot pokers were inserted against her ribs. She could hear Suzakura's voice, but she could not process his words fully. She was more on guard and jolting by what appeared to be fingers digging on her gluteus. As if a lizard had gotten in her clothes, Mina jolted up.

Her first reaction was to ask if the guy and his glasses were alright, but that was quickly replaced on her mind by his cool bull glowy tattoos, which again, was superseded by a creeping thought. Her face beet red at the realization, she turned irate at Michael...

Except that, still trying to regain her bearings, she did not have the most nimble pace... and fell down again, this time front first on the artist's hands.

Pain and embarassment flared up, as her hand decreed judgement.

"YOU MILK THIEF!!!" She added as a slap came down hard on Michael.

Michael was understandably embarrassed by the sudden turn of events, as he mumbled, "Um, s-sorry," and tried to help Mina back up. Unfortunately, she seemed to have slipped and landed on him again. Michael's first thought in this scenario was him marveling at the softness that his hands were currently enveloped in. His next reaction was to blush violently as he tried to stammer out, "Th-this, uh, I-I, um, this isn't-". Unfortunately for him, that was all he could get out before receiving his arguably unjust reaction from Mina.

The slap she dealt to Michael was somehow powerful enough to break through his defensive Symbols and strike him hard in the face. Michael would've marveled at how strong Mina was had he the time to do so, but Michael could only feel a burning sensation from the force of the slap as his head was jerked to the side. The sudden force of the blow was also enough to knock Michael out cold. Michael's mind turned into a jumbled mess of thoughts before it all went dark, and his body fell limp to the ground.

Erisse Augusta Narrativia

Finally activating 'Narrative Role of Familiarity', Erisse conjured up two objects; one was a mundane apple, but perfectly red, sweet, and crunchy, and the other was an apple made of gold with leaves of silk. She handed the first one to Mina, saying, "Here, as a gift; it's fresh."

As for Suzakura, she handed the second gift, which had the words engraved, 'To the Strongest', on it, over to his hands. She would rather have handed the golden apple to Michael, but alas, the Gods and fate had other plans. She at least hoped to gain some goodwill from the two of them with her gifts, even as her sympathies remained with Michael and Andras. At least I can give Michael his Relic soon; I'm thinking a paintbrush which can supplement his own powers and change the colors of the 'paint' to add elemental effects. For example, 'red and orange for Fire', 'yellow and green for Earth', 'blue and indigo for Earth', and 'violet for Death and white for Healing Light'...

Yes, all of those would work out nicely.

@Dezuel@Scarifar@AtomicNut

Suzakura Plagerzes

Was it folly or was it a show of will that had made Michael take his own grip on fate. To Suzakura it didn't matter, it was basically a non-lethal death sentence. There were a couple of things which he couldn't stand, and one of them were when people were fiddling around with what he could only label as 'his stuff'. But the bully's plans to intercept and cast divine punishment on Michael had been put to rest by his impressive bovine barbarian.

'Oooh! That's gotta hurt!' He thought before exclaiming. "That's what you get you foureyed freak pervert! To bad you are knocked out cold, so you can't see your miserable face! Eeeeh!" Suzakura approached closer to Mina and then looked over Michael as he was lying on the ground.

"Good work Mina! I knew I could count on you to make my day more interesting! That's my girl allright!" Suzakura reached out to give her a gentle pat on her behind as he was passing by, but his path was obstructed somewhat by Erisse.

"Oi! Don't take gifts from strangers! Apples are typically poisoned... besides.. shouldn't one bring an apple to the teacher than the reverse? Also what the heck is this?" He took hold of his received gift with two of his fingers, dangling it as if it were a sack of trash.

'To the strongest? What possible use do I have for this? I cannot stoop to the level of all these low level narcissists and have something like that. Just what kind of person do they take me for. Putting me on the same level as stupid people... " He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose with his free hand, taking a slight breath before throwing his newly received gift over his shoulder. Landing probably in someone's drink, face or popcorn. But did it really matter? Not to him.

"Listen here, teachypeachy. I think you could cough up a better gift than that. Allow me to inspire such..." Suzakura straightened his pose, and then gave a slight cough into his hand.

"One, and a two and a three. A cup, B cup, C cup, D cup, E cup, F cup. La la lala la! There's many great things left to ponder, come with me and gaze at the wonder! Dun di dun di di di dun. F cup, stands for full cup! For the female bull stuff! Right Mina? Dodido didi didodido! E cup is the real she cup, best made into a we cup! Dodidodido di do." He took a moment to hymn on the same melody before proceeding in very lively demonstrative hand motions.

"D cup is the to be cup, there's many more still along the way! All ready at display! Huhun huhu huhu hu! Lalalala! C cup is the free-cup, please don't stop to jump up, look at my Chinami-chaaaaan. Huhu huhuhu. Nananana. B cup, is the a small C cup, B-wary of the bouncyness in tops! Huhihuhihu hihu! A cup! A cup is flatcup, also known as the sadcup! Look at the cardgirl to know what I mean! Huhihuhi huuu! Now the song is over, remember to not use a concealing pullover! Naninaninani naaaaaaa! Chinaminami chaaaan! A bra is the gift you gotta give! Come on in this moment we just gotta live!" He allowed himself to whistle the remaining part as he walked over towards Michael's body.

"Ahh, I almost forgot..." Suzakura would proceed to lean down to pick up Michael's glasses, if he would be able to get his hands on them he would go out of his way to pretend to drop them and then step on them with great effect. Accidents happen oh so easily.

@Letter Bee@Scarifar@AtomicNut

---

Vera grunted as she finished dragging her friend onto a stool and draped her over the bar to sleep off her overdose. She'd found her all right, and her purse, with almost all of her "product" having already been consumed. What a pain in the ass, as usual when it came to this one.

Half the time she never even paid.

She looked over her shoulder in time to see someone getting punted through the crowd, only to take it out on the very crowd he'd just inadvertently assaulted.

"Fuck me, of course he's here too..." The guy didn't exactly keep a low profile, sowing discord wherever he went, which at least made it easy for Vera to avoid him. In fact, she was pretty sure he barely knew she existed, if he knew at all. She watched as he and the almost literal cow of a woman who followed him around harassed Michael. She scoffed, almost turning away. Nothing more than the nosey punk deserved.

And yet something about it felt far too familiar...

---

---

"Alex, right? What are you two doing?" a boy asked.

Alex's eyes popped open. It was the beginning of recess and Alex had been sitting with her friend Wolfram, using their abilities to weave together a dream world. It was far more exciting that playing on the slides for the nth time, even if it sometimes gave them a headache.

"Making a dream world! Wanna see!?" Alex asked.

"Uhh, sure. Why not?" the other kid shrugged. Alex smiled and held out her hand. The boy did the same, but as their hands touched, Alex recoiled, trying to pull back, but the boy clamped down... and just long enough for the bit of chewed up gum he'd had concealed in his palm to stick to Alex.

"Ew, ew, ew! Why did you do that?!" Alex wailed, trying to pull it off only for it to get stuck to the fingers of her other hand as well. Tears began to brim in her eyes as the disgusting mess only grew worse the harder she tried to get rid of it.

"Pfft, you're too old to play make believe, you baby!" The boy chortled at her misery. Meanwhile, Wolfram was frantically looking around, trying to think of what he could use to get the gum off of Alex, but to no avail.

"Hey," a new voice entered the scene. Alex looked up, sniffling, but quieted down a bit. Her other friend had finally arrived, Vera. "Where'd you get that? Isn't gum against the rules?"

"What, you gonna tattle?" the boy sneered.

"Nah, I want some. You don't mind, do you?" Vera tilted her head. The boy looked surprised, but then shrugged, reaching into his pocket. Vera was tall for her age, and her family had money, so she naturally just fell into the "cool kid" category that let her get whatever she wanted most of the time. This poor fool just didn't know any better. He pulled out one stick to offer it, but Vera just snatched the whole rest of the pack.

"Wh- HEY! Give it back!" The boy lunged, but Vera leaned away, causing the boy to stumble forward and trip, landing face-down on the ground. Vera then stomped on his back to pin him. "St-stop it! What are you doing!?"

"Teaching you a lesson," Vera responded nonchalantly, pulling the gum out of the pack, one at a time, and popping into her mouth. Soon she was chewing on the whole pack, forming a massive wad of pink justice in her mouth as the boy struggled, but failed to claw free. When she was done, she leaned over and let the slimy, sticky mass plop down on the back of the boy's neck. It stuck to him, his hair, and the collar of his shirt. He would not be free of it easily.

Not to mention it was just about the grossest feeling in the world.

Finally Vera let him go and the boy scrambled to his feet, running away with tears in his eyes. She then held the empty gum wrappers out to Alex, "Here, scrape it off onto this."

But instead, Alex just lunged at Vera, throwing her arms around the girl.

"Wh- No! Stop! You're gonna get it on me! Off, off, get off!"

---

Vera took a deep breath and strode over the ongoing fracas. Michael was currently KO'd on the floor, and the other guy, Suzuki or whatever his name was, had stolen his glasses. That never ended well for the glasses.

Just as his grip began to loosen, Vera swooped in, catching his wrist and snatches the glasses from him with her other hand, "Give it a rest already," Vera sighed and then let him go. "And you two better hope he wakes up soon. He's still a contestant. Otherwise a bunch of very pissed off gamblers are gonna want to get to know you real well." She crossed her arms with an unimpressed frown on her face. "If you need to get off that badly, I'm sure there's plenty of other people whose day you can ruin."

Not like he could ruin hers any more than it already had been. She'd been much happier thirty seconds ago when he hadn't known what she looked like.

---

@Spin The Wheel

---

Duke would find the loser of the match with a couple of people around him. They'd pulled him onto the cushioned seat of a booth at the edge of the bar where it was a little quieter and were trying to coax him back to consciousness. One couldn't even really say he'd been thrashed, so much as completely blitzed, with a massive, swelling bruise on the side of his face. The fight hadn't lasted long, and it was now abundantly clear why -- the other guy had hit him like a truck.

Finally, the loser blinked, cracking an eye open, "Wh-... ow..." Unsurprisingly, talking was a little painful for him at the moment. It was then that he noticed Duke standing nearby, "You, ugh, got something you wanna say, man?"

@KillamriX88@Dezuel@Letter Bee@Scarifar

Mina was panting heavily still after the ordeal, as she got up from the prone Michael. She rubbed the bruised area with a downcast expression as she cast a last shot of disgust to the glasses wearing guy. She was specially sore and in a foul mood.

Out of nowhere came an apple. It smelt amazing. Pity that didn't last more than three bites. She couldn't be angry anymore as her face turned to bliss for a second. Then a frown.

"Why is it Chinami all these days... you hardly sing about me anymore." Mina said, slightly sulky. Well Chinami was a nice girl, so she wasn't as mad. It was complicated and thinking hurt a little.

And then another woman dared to touch her boyfriend. She felt vexed but the lady's words made a little of sense. Well they were complicated so Mina did her best to interpret them. And then it clicked.

"Oh you are a nice lady too." She said to Vera. "You are worried about your boyfriend the milk thief." She strained her face, thinking at her fullest."Oh, I get it. He needed restorative right? It should be okay, then." Out of nowhere a steely grip grabbed Vera's arm, while the bovine lady scooped Michael out of the ground with her other hand.

"We will go somewhere private, kay? You can watch. But don't think of telling, ok? I will give you some restorative like your boyfriend." She was offering her best smile there.

"I will be back, Suzakura! And you too apple teach!" She said while attempting to drag both of those away.

'What in the holy hells?' He blinked quickly, seeing the glasses which he had liberated from Michael being snatched from his fingers. What his eyes ended up on was a pinkhaired girl which he had not seen before, his irritation to not hear the refreshing sound of glasses being broken was replaced with curiousity.

'Who the heck is this background character?' The bully pondered. She looked familiar? Had he seen her in a magazine? 'Oh... nice top. She's definitely on the A-F scale.' The bully thought as he looked Vera over, she had touched him aswell in her mission to snatch his amusement. It wasn't that bad to having girls clinging to him like if he was a big steak at a barbeque party.

"Whoa! Where did you come from, pink poodle? Oh don't you worry, me and Mikey here go waaaay back! He's just having temporary amnesia! We used to... play those boring bored games where you move black and white pieces, oh and look at different coloured squares, circles and triangles with a load of admiration..." Suzakura couldn't stop the yawn that came out as the began to think of these things he found lethally dull. Who cared about colours when it was shapes that mattered? At least those old 'Vauqelian women' drawings had some style.

"He's fine! Fit for next fight? See?" Suzakura walked around Mina to Michael's side, grabbing the guy's head with one hand and the left under his chin, making his mouth move in accordance to Suza's hand movements. "Suzakura is like.. totally the coolest chief here. I am a pervert-addict, I am drinking to cure myself." The bully channeled his powers to give himself ventriloquism to sound like Michael while using the guy's head as a makeshift puppet.

"See?" Suzakura said aloud, before giving Michael a few slaps in the face to wake him up. "He's fine! It's all-okay." He said in a reassuring tone towards Vera.

"But hold up Mina, I am coming with you, I am like your manager, your coach. We are a team after all. Right partner?" Suzakura walked around Mina and then attempted to hook arms with Vera's other arm.

"So.. you said something about getting off? Looks like we are getting off to a great start, Miss Magenta. Ever worn a undersized swimsuit by any chance? Me neither." Suzakura allowed a grin to crawl up on his face.

@AtomicNut@KillamriX88@Scarifar@Letter Bee

The oil-slick goop that Alyona recognized as the 'Sea of Death' seemed more active than her memory of the myth led her to believe. It was said that the Sea of Death once crawled over the lake of the Tsar's capitol, as a grave punishment for his crimes against the gods and spirits of the land, and to this day the lake bears no fish or life.

Or that's how the story went. The shifting muck seemed to be sprouting distorted hands, legs, faces... poking out and then falling under its surface. Like it was trying to grow something new entirely. That unsettled Alyona just as much as being close to a giant spider.

Alyona crashed to the ground as Kiwi pushed her clear of the way, the spider-girl somehow finding a way to trip despite having so many extra legs. Alyona's aura certainly worked quickly. "Spider! Are you..." Alyona couldn't think of what to say. Dead? Able to speak? Even here anymore? The lack of response made her give up on finishing her sentence. "Oh well." She got to her feet. She was back to being alone. Same as usual, then. She took off in a run, wanting to put as much distance between her and the goop as possible.

As Alyona reached the stairwell, she realized that it would not be so simple. The stairwell was dripping with the same black mud, as if it was coming from the top of the stairs, or the roof itself. 'Great.' Alyona began to turn when she realized that there was something following her.

It was a black, dripping mockery of a human form. The same kind that she saw morphing and rising from the onyx slime. It seemed that they were becoming more advanced by the second. And it was shambling towards her.

Alyona looked around for a way out. The nearest window, labelled for a fire escape, was past the ambling muck-monster. "So be it." Alyona muttered to nobody in particular. The fire escape wasn't her preferred option, but she was used to being forced to pick the worst option in any given situation. It was better than jumping to the ground from the window.

She took a breath, watching the thing's movements before it was upon her. Just like her mentor taught her. Learning how to fight was one of the only pieces of solace she had back where she had previously lived. A way to escape her twin, the gossiping nobles, the worried look of manor servants. She hadn't taken much interest in learning what her gift - as silly as it was to call it that - was capable of until she had laid out a manor guard with a single stroke of a black lance. Through a stab-proof vest, even. Most just dismissed the case as the cursed girl claiming another victim. The same guard took her aside later and demanded to know what she had done. And from then on, she stole away from prying eyes, learning bits of how to fight from the man. The guard was stunned at her lances, weapons that passed through armor and clothing only to hit living things. Alyona remembered what he called her lances when he learned what they could do, "A weapon worthy of the Tsar's Assassin!" Alyona had always liked the sound of that. It could never translate outside of her mother tongue, of course.

That was all behind her now, of course. The manor, its mercenary guards for oligarch drinking parties, her sister. What lay before her was Rhea, a land where she could start fresh. Or so she thought, until the Sea of Death seemed to follow her. The lumbering humanoid figure had gotten close enough. Alyona would stop it, one way or another.

Drawing from Alyona's finger like a drop of pitch-black blood, another lance manifested from her accursed gift. As the monster lurched towards her, she gave an experimental toss of the lance; spearing the monster right through the torso. Yet it still lumbered forward, only slightly impeded by the lance of dark energy that seemed to burn the ooze where it touched.

'To be expected.' Alyona knew that wouldn't stop it. But she wanted to be certain that it wouldn't be able to absorb her negative energy... since Alyona felt an uncomfortable familiarity with the black mud.

The next lance she drew out was more fitting of the title, and one she shaped for a well-known task: Charging. She had to get past that thing if she was to get out of the building. It was simple, then. Bracing the lance, she took off in a sprint towards the clumsy figure. Spearing it through the chest, she drove it to the ground. It mindlessly grasped for her before being too drained to keep its form, reducing itself to a puddle of black goop once more. The slight hint of energy that Alyona managed to drain felt... odd. Alyona felt a little gross absorbing the thing's energy at all, but it was just what her lances did. No way around it.

Unlatching the window, Alyona crawled out to the fire escape. But of course, nothing would be that easy. Rattling the metal stairs from below, more sludge-figures were one level below her. Whatever was going on, the sludge seemed to be coordinating, at least in some rudimentary way. The clumsy slime monsters were having trouble navigating the metal mesh of the fire escape, but they were doing enough of a job deterring her from descending. "Up it is then." Alyona groaned to herself. She never liked going up. Increasing the potential for her to fall was never something she wanted to do.

Alyona hopped from the metal fire escape to the much sturdier floor of the rooftop. She was just happy that the metal stairs did not somehow decouple from the building and end up falling. With her luck, anything was possible. The fire escape had led her to one side of the roof, covered by air conditioning units. She took a moment to catch her breath. She didn't have a plan on how to get down, but the slime monsters seemed to be moving extremely slowly due to oozing through the metal grating stairs.

She peeked around the air conditioning units and froze when she saw someone there. A normal person, even. She nearly called out, but something Cel had said rang in her mind. The ooze had a source; someone had caused it to happen. And the stairs were out, completely covered in the sludge. She kept an eye on the person, taking her moment of peace to prepare to confront them.

'Just my luck. I run into the culprit and everything. I should have just kept walking home.' Aly mulled over what she was going to do as she spied on the figure on the roof.

'A name. What is a name? What friends and family use to call you, but when all such things are gone. What use is there for names? Perhaps as memories of times past, of better days in place far away yet at the same time... so very near.'

The hood of the raincoat was still up, as the wandering young man traversed his way towards the building which held the so called Midnight tournament. He had heard of this place before, a place where people who had the godsgiven gift, would compete against oneanother for the amusement of a crowd or money.

Money. What use was money for the dead. What use was entertainment when you had none to share a laugh with. Nothing.

The wet stone walls and stairs leading down into the ticket hall of the building was covered with colourful graffiti, of those who enjoyed displaying their works of creativity. But to Orpheuz, they might aswell had been whispers in the wind, for he passed them by without as much as giving them a second look. The door into the building was open, leading into a room which had a guy sitting behind a counter and a larger and older guy standing guard.

"The matches are already underway... but we are still selling tickets, you can get one for half-price." The young male sitting by the counter said in a very disinterested manner, barely looking at the water drenched figure before him. Same could not be said for the big bouncer, who carefully followed the hooded figure's movements.

"That is fine. What is the price?" The orange-eyed youngster asked in a very firm manner.

"Four Rheans." The young male at the counter said in a sleepy fashion, as the two changed money for a ticket. Orpheuz suspected the tired looking male wouldn't bother looking at the printing date of the coins.

"Enjoy the evening... let him in Brutus." The younger male said to the bouncer, who in turn opened the door leading further into the building, the music and voices were now reaching out into the room.



Orpheuz didn't waste any time to linger in the ticket hall, and proceeded into the section where the party was. Money. Money was useful to the living, but was it truly something to really strive to live for. No. It was a means to an end at most. But there were things you simply couldn't buy...

The midnight tournament did indeed live up to it's reputation, as there was plenty of fighting, partying and dancing going on. The current song being played did however catch his attention, where the graffiti had not. As he made his way through the crowd in search of familiar faces, he couldn't help but find the song awfully appropriate for his entrance into the lively den of nightlife. It did take him some time to pass through the crowds of people without bumping into anyone, but he managed to find himself a good vantage point at one of the top benches of the large room. It was from this point where he spotted someone he recognized.

'Looks like fate is smiling on me at last...' The seeker sat up from the bench and gradually made his way down towards what could only be described as a booth for the fighters of the tournament. The one whom he had noticed, was a girl who sported an eyepatch.

Still wearing his black and hooded raincoat, the young man approached the booth and the girl sitting in it.

"Excuse the intrusion, we've never met before, not in this place... I am just wondering, have you seen the person in this photo?" Orpheuz reached his hand into the inside of his raincoat, taking out a photo, the kind one would get in a photobooth. How very old fashioned. Then he held it out to show the eye-patch wearing girl. Yet he seemed to hold onto the photo.

The person depicted on said photo was a girl, no year older than Andras herself. Her hair blonde and long, her eyecolour however was hard to tell with her eyes being closed on the picture. The girl's attire would appear to be of the highest quality, befitting of a noble or even a royal. Orpheuz orange eyes were fixed at the lone eye of Andras, as if he was looking for signs of deception. The long green-blonde strands of hair hanging out of his dark hood.

"The girl in the picture. I am hoping you could assist me in her whereabouts..." The young man steadied his footing on the floor, his movement causing the two dogtags in his necklace to clash against each other.

"Through space and time, to find the one who shine... my Eurydice." Orpheuz averted his gaze from Andras and looked up towards the ceiling momentarily.

@Crowvette