After doing almost everything wrong, Luna did it.

In the back of her mind, there was always a chance that what she sought wasn’t going to be on the armored transport. Maybe it would be a trap, maybe Lenny would be mistaken about the identity of the “lost lamb,” or, whatever. She didn’t know. But to see Jezebel in the flesh was something else. She was without a grimoire, high off whatever Gemini had decided to sedate her with, and likely had to endure who knows what in a special interrogation session with Fritzi. They hadn’t had a chance to really catch up since she left for Pax Septimus, and those freelancers helped abort what should have been their reunion. But none of that mattered now, and damn the circumstances. She gave her friend a hug. She didn’t respond, but that was okay for now.

Then the chopper arrived.

Luna laughed. Half because she was so happy, and half because after something like this, she doubted they would give her a fair trial. Or at least, Luna knew that the power of friendship wasn’t going to hold up in the court of law. She wouldn’t be surprised if they just decided to open fire on her as soon as she entered line of sight. Jezebel was in no condition to run, or even understand her surroundings if her wandering eyes were anything to go by. But this would hopefully be it. After the chopper was dealt with, they would be in the clear.

Maybe.

Luna wasn’t really set up for dealing with a chopper. Her “kit” was more set up for sowing discord and supporting her allies. As fun as it would be to sink all of her remaining mana into a single “Zone-Push” melody, she knew that was going to be fairly ineffective on machine gun fire. She lacked the ability to fire a melody directly at the chopper, but she wasn’t totally out of options. All she had left was a single hair brained idea, but it was all she had to work on. Maybe after this, Luna could see about patching up her wounds.

Behind the armored truck was the light, crappy door of the patriot. It had fallen off when the GEMINI drivers decided to run themselves off the road smashing into Lenny. Luna wasn’t especially familiar with the weight of jeep doors, but she reasoned that it was probably just the right weight and size to be affected by a transplace melody. The idea being that the chopper was probably focusing their weapons on the armored transport, as they likely saw her enter. So if she swapped places with the door, that might give her enough time to counter attack.

She listened for the sound of the helicopter’s spinning blades.

She approximated the location of the chopper.

Okay magic, don’t screw up now!

She did her best to minimize the amount of time she would need to start attacking the chopper. She faced where she thought the helicopter would be after she transplaced wit the door. She turned her head and prepared to fire a beam out the door. Once she swapped places with the door, all she could do was aim pit boss at the helicopter and hope she could bring it down before it got a chance to fire back.

If she did have to run for cover, hopefully it wasn’t far. She still felt like hell after tumbling out of the Patriot.

Regardless though, her eyes looked really super sparkly pretty right now.

What was Marrie even doing here? She had done nothing but gotten in the others way and herself hurt. She didn't even have the conviction to kill someone, even Sofron, without the adrenaline of near death fueling her. She was just an untrained dumbass getting in the others' way. Having been electrocuted, burned, and nearly drowned, she could barely even stand up. Her will to live, let alone fight, was dwindling fast. So she did the only thing she could think to do. She shot a Heal at Orion, set one on herself, and trudged her way through the water as quickly as she could, stumbling and staggering as she did.

By the time she even got to the counter Orion had vaulted over the fight would probably be over. Marrie didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing anymore.

---

It was a miracle that Tetrad survived as long as she did. It was an even bigger miracle that she was still surviving in this situation. Perhaps an innumerable amount of miracles had been granted upon her ever since this truck chase from hell even began. No GEMINI Espers present, nor any immediately crippling incidents, despite all the opportunity for it.
If it was a matter of drawing well, Tetrad drew very well.

And she continued to do so.

A beam was a small thing, really. Small enough to weave through gaps, small enough to slip through cracks. All she needed was to get a view of her target, and the opportunity to charge up her melody. After that, it just required a quick prayer. Her eyes shone, her body transplaced, and a heavy door clunked before the door to the armored truck. Magical projectiles spewed out from the Pit Boss, piercing steel, its arcane effects seizing the machinery within. But the tail rotor was too small a target to be clipped, and the pilot was well-protected. More importantly, the gunner was swiveling, finger already on the trigger as bullets stitched into pavement, drawing ever closer to Tetrad!

The Patriot roared to life once more, reversing right by her. In that instant as it drove past, bulky from obscuring Tetrad from sight, the Maverick Esper could see a nun at the wheel, pointing a finger at her.

Blacklight shone, and she was pushed back instantaneously, falling into the roadside ditch.

And the gunner continued to pursue the reversing Jeep, helicopter gradually swiveling around to chase after the suspect that must have escaped by hopping back on!

Was this opportunity to try her luck again at taking down the helicopter? Or opportunity to hide and escape, making her way back with Jezebel on foot?

The stakes heightened. The choice remained.

---

_{@The World@Ponn@ERode}

Ashley may have been surprised, but attacked soon enough. The rodent woman was about to spring to her feet, but there wasn’t a lot she could do to avoid the incoming attack. She heard the spark of a wand firing, and she had just enough time to look up and see it collide between her eyes. Espers were magic resistant, sure, but Ashley’s wand was potent, and the head was the last place anyone wanted to get hit by anything. The neon projectile blew apart into green dust, and May’s body went limp. While the attack had only broken the skin, it hit hard enough to rupture her brain. She wouldn’t be getting back up.

Marrie, on the other hand, chose to wallow in despair. Things started out promising enough, with her finding Ashley and then running into Klava not much later. She even managed to protect Ashley from being electrocuted, but she didn’t feel like she was doing enough. She could not compete with the crazy antics of Klava, nor did she have Ashley’s determination. Two melodies backfiring was all it took to shut Marrie’s spirit down. Of course, there was plenty that she could do. She could bounce-blink to Klava’s position and give her a wind-shield to protect the detransformed esper from projectiles. She could create a new portal, closing the one in the pool and dropping her victim through the ceiling into electrified water. She could even attempt to spare their opponents that she detested the idea of killing. But it was impossible to see those options when you allowed yourself to be discouraged. She spent most of her remaining mana healing negligible damage to herself and Ashley. In her mind, her allies could fight this themselves. She didn’t even need to be here.

But was that reality, or an illusion reflected back at her by despair? Klava had been shoved towards Sofron, and she was able to make use of that momentum and a melody to get his gun pointed elsewhere. Her kick landed, and she was upon him not long after. Klava’s plan was flawlessly executed. Sofron might be an esper, but espers were still weak to the mundane world. A brutal beating from a pair of fists could really hurt regardless of who was doing the punching. But while espers may be weak to mundane attacks, that was only if they had no other special abilities. Sofron’s greatest attribute was his magic, but his second greatest one was his durability. This was a man who shrugged off a stab wound to his stomach, one of the most painful wounds one can inflict on another. He was immortal, a highlander, how was bludgeoning his head going to stop him?

Klava had to sacrifice her grace to launch an attack like this, but Sofron would not be parting with his baleful hatred.

Between Klava’s blows, he sweeped the barrel of his gun across her arms, shoving them out of the way. This was just to buy him enough time to release the tompson and seize Klava by the throat. The maiden was strong out of the esper state, but she wasn’t an olympian. It was that kind of physical prowess that all espers had as their baseline, regardless of how old they may have looked. Sofron used his other hand to push himself to his feet. Klava didn’t stop fighting. Even if had to use her hands to stop choking to death, she could still kick Sofron. It wasn’t enough to stop him from driving his fist into her stomach. His hand glowed as he prepared a melody. Klava had been stunned, and there wasn’t much she could do in the moment to save herself but then Sofron looked up. the bit of water that dripped off of his clothes wasn't enough to smolder his flames.

He saw the squirrel woman’s unmoving body, and Ashley standing just beyond.

Salt water dripped off his cheek, or was it tears?

"No storm can rival what turns in my heart." At the end of the day, Klava was just a human with a gravely wounded esper form, and there were still other espers to take care of. He cast her out the nearby window before pointing his hand down the lane at Ashley. "Baleful..." Sofron fired a beam melody, another bale whip-looking spell. The only thing Ashley could do to defend herself was to raise her shield, but the melody pierced her shield and struck her shoulder, severing her arm. Her shield and arm laid at her feet while her body cried out in pain, and her nose could pick up on the faint smell of a well done hamburger. But Sofron still moved, as he prepared a second melody. "Dragon!" This was also going to be a beam attack, most likely. But would there be anything they could do before it went off?

Ashley didn’t fully notice just how effective her attack on the rodent esper had been, just that it had ensured said esper wouldn’t be playing any further part in the battle. Even if she had realized that she’d just killed the young woman, it wouldn’t have mattered much to the G.E.M.I.N.I. agent. This was someone who willingly worked with people who had kidnaped and inflicted unspeakable tortures upon children. Such monsters didn’t deserve mercy…

To that end, the Knight of Tomorrow quickly refocused her attention back to Sofron, who was in the process of fighting a brutal hand-to-hand combat with what appeared to be an untransformed Maiden. However, before Ashley could do anything to assist, her eyes widened in horror as the Maiden was flung out the open window. An instant later, she cried out in pain as Sofron’s arcane whip pierced her raised shield and sliced off her arm. At this point, lesser espers might have frozen in shock, but not Ashley. Indeed, she was now well-acquainted with pain, and her current agony only served to accentuate her hatred of Sofron and sharpen her focus to end his wretched life.

Thus, the Knight of Tomorrow prepared a defensive melody to, at the very least, mitigate the baleful butler’s next arcane attack, while simultaneously firing a gleaming neon bolt from the tip of her already raised techno-wand. At this distance, and with several other detrimental factors affecting her aim, the high-tech heroine chose to fire upon Sofron’s center of mass, and, in particular, his heart. Still, in the back of her mind, one question screamed out to be answered- Where was Gale? Why hadn’t her partner done anything yet? The Maiden was gone, possibly dead. Had Gale now abandoned her as well? Was she left to face Sofron alone?

---

Marrie didn't know what was happening until she made her way over to the counter next to Orion. She had heard the sound of fighting from the other side of the makeshift bathtub she was shocked in, and assumed that Sofron was already down. She was wrong, again, and this time once again might prove fatal to someone. When was she going to get things together? She watched Orion put down what could only be another esper and saw Sofron throw someone out of the window, someone who was most likely the Maiden. She didn't have a chance to think, she began moving.

[Warm: Silver Self - Flight]

With the speed she had just gained and adrenaline pumping through her as she watched Orion's arm get shot off, she flew to her and tackled her over the counter farthest from her the instant Orion's own beam attack was fired. She didn't realize that she was probably throwing off her aim, she only cared about getting her out of the path of the beam and hopefully out of Sofron's sight. She didn't even consider the very likely possibility that she would get shot instead as she then flew to Sofron, attempting to grasp him by the face and take him out the window with her. Later, she would, assuming she were still alive, likely justify this as an attempt to stop the Maiden from hitting the water from such a height in mundane form. And maybe Sofron would just drown without something to put a portal on. But in the moment, all she knew was that her body was moving.

---

Every good gambler knows when it's best to fold their hand and walk away from the table.

At present, Luna had everything she could have possibly expected to get out of this little operation. She had Jezebel, she got to wreck some Gemini agents and their shit, and she was still alive. Lenny had been fun, but her taste in cars was pretty shit, and she probably expected Luna to run off with the prize anyway. It wasn't like Luna dove into the ditch, she had been pushed in there, and Lenny chose to drive off on her own. She probably had a way to avoid the chaingun fire, and if she didn't, that was her problem, really. It would hurt Luna for a long time, but the smart move was to take Jezebel and leave on foot.

...Is what Luna would think if she was like any of those freelancers!

No, the job wasn't done until everyone had been accounted for. That included Lenny. It might not have been the smart thing to do, but Mavericks were a tight nit group that never forgot their friends. Now that the helicopter wasn't trying to turn her into swiss cheese, as the pilot put it, she could fire back with something a bit more potent. A joker card appeared in Luna's hand, and with a toss, it flew through the air like a bullet. The effect on contact was a bit more unusual.

When the card struck the tail of the helicopter, it didn't stick. Instead, it orbited around the tail while throwing suspending glitter around itself. Most zone melodies created a static field that more or less stayed put, but this one circled the helicopter, always keeping it within the stopping forces of her melody. The helicopter would still be able to move and shoot, but over the course of a few seconds would behave as if it were inside a vaccum. Steering the helicopter would be difficult, and it would more or less hover in place while the tail rotor struggled to do anything.

And it would struggle much more when under fire.

Luna was battered and bloody, but the suspend melody she had cast on herself had worn off. Her movement was only limited by her determination, and she was quite determined to ensure one of the few people who went out of their way to help the Mavericks would live to do so again.

Again, Pit Boss fired on the helicopter.

She would not miss the tail rotor this time.

She fell.

Out the window.

And one second later.

Struck the water.

Into the depths.

She fell.

What was there to be said?

In a battle between humans, it was misdirection that had always become the easiest method of securing victory. One could toss as much money as they wished at a problem, but if that money went into the wrong pockets, it meant naught. And in this case? All it required was for a simple assumption to be made, before victory was Tetrad’s.

A suspension locked the airborne vehicle in place, and her Sentinel-sharpened shot sealed its fate, blasting the tail rotor to bits. Six seconds elapsed, and the helicopter spiralled out of control, too close to the ground for parachutes to be of any use. Like an aluminum can against the wheel of a car, it crumbed against the pavement, engine igniting the fuel tank before an explosion rocked its surroundings.

Explosions, of course, that Tetrad didn’t need to look at…because the smartest move to make would be to take cover inside the ditch, in case shrapnel or gunmetal eviscerated her in her moment of victory.

As tortured metal polluted the forest scenery, as a good fistful of millions out of the government budget now laid fuming in black smoke, the beat-up, shot-up Patriot wheeled over once more, one of its tires ruptured and its entire roof removed. Lenny grinned, jabbing her thumb at the passenger seat, where Jezebel laid.

“Hop in, loser. We’re bouncing before they send ol’ Binky after us.”

---

_{@The World@Ponn}

Espers lived and died by the melodies they chose to use. Ashley’s options were further hindered by Sofron’s baleful burn effect, which further hindered the type of melody Ashley could cast. But with Sofron having just blown off her arm, she did have an advantage. She would get off her melody before Sofron got off his. Ashley needed to make it count. She could go offense or defense, and chose to cast a reflect melody on herself.

Sofron couldn’t be sure exactly what sort of melody she used, but it wasn’t hard to guess. His most devastating feature was his spells after all. But did she really think her magic could stop his own? The young esper likely couldn’t conjure a barrier strong enough to absorb his melodies, and her meager arcane defenses were unlikely to get much help from a modest melody. A more sinister person might find delight in their opponent’s futile attempts to stay alive, but Sofron was only further angered by his opponent underestimating him. Though with the bruises Klava left on his face, it was hard to see his scowl deepen.

It seemed like it would be over for the GEMINI operative. Which was just as well. Sofron had dealt with the infuriating ice maiden. That other girl likely ran off. She let Justin and him walk off with Betty and Pac-A-Fist, so it was easy to assume she fled upon seeing him again. Ashley’s wand might not have had a wind up like Sofron’s melody did; it was a projectile going against an instantaneous beam melody, and Sofrom could quicken his spells. Victory was almost assured.

But Ashley and Sofron were not the only ones here.

Marrie, upon noticing Klava fall out the window, immediately pulled herself up by her bootstraps. Seeing someone who needed help was all it took to get the young esper’s mind off of herself. She decided she could do something, that she had to do something, and took off flying towards Orion. And she was moving fast. Faster than a projectile…

But not a beam.

The dragon appeared, and immediately flew into Marrie. Though the attack had been initially aimed at Ashley, so it was not aimed at her most vital areas. The dragon struck her upper thigh, biting through the limb in a single chomp. She wouldn’t be hovering on that for a while, but what need did Marrie have for her legs when she could fly?

Ashley was shoved out of the way, but her projectile smashed into Sofron’s chest. You can bet an esper of Sofron’s caliber was going to have plenty of arcane defense, but Ashley’s wand was stronger than most. The neon green projectile ruptured his heart. But someone with that much hatred didn’t need a heart to keep going. He stumbled sideways, clutching his hand over his chest before his hand caught ablaze. He was running on fumes, but he had enough mana for one more melody.

"Baleful-"

Sofron was cut off when Marrie took hold of his head. He tried to take a swing at her arm, but by that point she had already let go of him. The burning, internally bleeding, angry man tumbled through the air before falling into the ocean. A few seconds later, all Marrie could see was the waves washing to and fro, with neither Klava nor Sofron in sight. Both Ashley and Marrie would feel a dampness on their chests as the brooches Klava had made for them melted away.

The espers did not have long to celebrate their victory, nor mourn their friend. The “police woman” from earlier rushed up the stairs.

”You guys done? We have to get out of here! Oros is-”

There was a dull thud as the woman’s head was shoved into a wall, knocking her out.

”Yea, i'm right here. How about you take a nap, eh?”

With a few swings of endless eclipse, the portal and constructions Sofron had made were dispelled. It wasn’t long before all the water drained away. Without anything there to bar her advance, Oros entered the room. She had the police woman thrown over one shoulder and was still holding her sword.

”Now let’s see, I mentioned a date, which is adequate foreshadowing for WHOA!” Upon seeing the squirrel woman lying on the ground, Oros tossed the police woman onto a nearby counter and looked into her sword. ”What the hell? You killed my date!” She turned to Ashley and pointed between her and the squirrel woman she killed. ”You’re such a cutie patooty too! And you- Why? Wha- What the hell was she even doing up here? Was I one of her side hoes?” Oros growled. ”This is why I hate Non-Patron Champions as dates, it’s so hard to tell what the less important ones are doing. She was screwing around with Sofron wasn’t she?” With a sigh, she sheathed her sword. ”Well okay, I guess the only fair way to do this is for one of you to replace her, right? I mean, it’s not like we knew each other. And uh.” Her eyes wandered up and down Ashley. ”I mean my own preference would probably be Gara gura over there, hey, do you need a heal or something? You don’t look okay.”

While Ashley and Marrie were no doubt confused by this interaction, their “Patrons” knew one thing for sure.

This was going to get resolved in a collab.

”Wanna watch me turn into a shark? I could like, dive into the water and see if I can find some esper remains to eat.”

---

Time passed within the sewers, makeshift torches drawing in the attention of the sewer’s insects. Firelight exposed the remnants of rotting flesh and exposed bone, the detritus of the sinful city, but greater monstrosities, if they existed, did not show themselves. Had the GEMINI operatives taken too long in their initial investigations? Or did the labyrinthine sewers, combined with their lack of tracking capabilities, simply meant that they all ultimately pursued the wrong branch? The reasons didn’t matter. Only the results.

And as the hours drew on, as the prospects of finding those thralls that had escaped grew slimmer and slimmer, the agents could only return to their starting point once more. Empty-handed, except for a fortunate find from Leroux.

The cold body of a thrall, encountered at a far-off junction. A gangly youth with a now-limp mohawk, his stature such that he looked worthless as a combatant, his body wrapped with bandages now stained by the scarlet of reopened bullet wounds. He had collapsed, passed away. Now just an ashen corpse for GEMINI examiners to open up.

How many pieces were left? How many pieces could be put together?

As they left the Aspira Refuge together, the dying sunlight greeted them, as well as a call from Dr. Moller.

It was time to make their report.

"Dead ends. Dead ends everywhere."
Current Location: Leaving the Aspiria Refuge

Unfortunately their trail turned cold. Unless the pounds of corpse meat and bone were what remained of the thralls, Whoever, or whatever the doctor was using them for got away. Of course this was just speculation on Fable's end, tested when Leroux found the corpse of one thrall. Bullet wounds. Someone else shot at him, most likely. If there was any bullets left in the thrall's body, they might be able to trace it back to whoever really shouldn't be stalking the sewers like that.

Then again, that's part-wishful thinking for the Timekeeper.

The trio had to head back eventually, yet something left a bitter taste in the boy's mouth. A grim pattern he's starting to notice. It had to be a coincidence. Justin wouldn't happen to prefer youths as his victims, of thralldom or otherwise, right?

...Right??

...

That bastard is a dead man.

But for now, all they could do is report back on what they saw and found. He'd explain to the best of his ability and even offer some theories. Any info he seemed to be missing will have to be left to his teammates. And not cause I can't be bothered to write a long-ass recap.

Agent Silhouette struck a defensive pose, posturing with his sword before his dagger. The glowing, eerie orbs he called eyes in this form unmoving from his target.

This does not bode well. How can I practice team synergy with no team?

He could feel the eyes of his boss upon his back and they may as well have been drills for all it mattered. To disappoint Fritzi so spectacularly… he wondered if they would still have jobs after this.

No, he still had a chance to salvage this, to save face. All he had to do was best this knight before him.

This valiant, strange, and powerful knight that had rendered a fellow agent helpless with but a single well-placed blow. No pressure.



Taking note of MDP, Samuel sprung into action, much like the armored knight did before. Gathering energy of his own within his hand, he constructed a pitch-black square about twice the size of a rubik's cube which he then flung in the knight’s direction. It was not, however, aimed directly at him but instead towards the ground beside his feet, with just enough power behind the throw that it might skid a foot or two past him, should he avoid it.

Lilliah had not even finished falling over, and the Pink Pounder was already moving towards Sam. With the projectile inbound, the knight rolled off to the side, placing plenty of distance between himself and the projectile. He did not stay tumbling for long though. He was fast to spring to his feet, and charged towards Sam without waiting to catch his breath.

When MDP brought down her wand, a star fell from the heavens and collided with Lillia’s head. Candy canes swirled around her form and locked her in place, not unlike a restrain melody might. While Lilliah was in a lot of pain, she was still conscious.

The cube simply slid along the floor until it came to a stop, nothing else happening.

Silhouette hadn't been given enough time to conduct another melody, leaving him little choice but to respond to the knight's charge.

While Silhouette was quite tall, his form was relatively thin. There was no mistaking which one of these two played the role of the bigger combatant. And with no desire to attempt to resist the momentum his 'larger' foe carried, Silhouette would rather side step the charge altogether at the last possible moment. He wouldn't hesitate to thrust his dagger into his opponent if the opportunity presented itself.

Though all of this took place in mere moments, he managed to keep MDP and Wukong in his focus.

"I would think that her exclusion meant she would not interfere with this spar," Silhouette's voice seemed calm enough, but there was a hint of irritation. Or maybe it was secretly desperation since he didn't have much control over the situation currently.

“You are mistaken!”

There were no opportunities for a sly flourish of Samuel’s dagger, and shortly after his dodge, he found himself locking blades with the Pink Pounder. Both combatants were using a duel weapon configuration, and their sword blows appeared to be evenly matched, while the Pounder’s massive shield offered no openings for Sam's dagger to penetrate.

“The only thing MAGICAL DREAM PRINCESS is guilty of is defending herself. Something that you should be doing!”

It wasn’t entirely obvious, but it did seem like Pink Pounder had misunderstood Samuel’s comment a bit. This could have been because he was more focused on the fight between them, as this was full contact sparring and a lack in focus could end with someone losing a limb. It could also be that the Pink Pounder was a filthy LARPer that couldn’t get out of character, if they weren’t suffering from some form of insanity.

His sword glowed, another melody would be coming shortly.

As flamboyant as the knight was, he did have quite the point. One Samuel couldn't exactly dismiss since any attempt he had made to wound the knight had been nullified without difficulty by a shield. It didn't exactly take long for Samuel (and the knight, he imagined) to understand he was the lesser of the two favored for a clash like they were in. Naturally, he sought a way out.

Preferably without a sword splitting me in half...

He hadn't managed to work out entirely how he'd escape before his eye caught the gleaming of a sword imbued with power. Sadly, the fact he could see it meant that there wasn't enough time to cast a meaningful melody first.

But I can go second!

A foreign shadow appeared below the knight, swirling with magical energy. A spawn note wasn't exactly subtle. But regardless, it wouldn't manage to activate until after whatever the knight had planned came to pass. Samuel couldn't tell what this man had in store for him but he knew it could only be bad.

He wanted to break off the engagement and settle at a distance. If he could do that, the melody would be easier to deal with and he could possibly whittle this man down from safety.

I just can't imagine he's not waiting for me to try...I'm sure she would.

Rather than fumbling an obvious attempt to flee, he focused on trying to put more pressure on the knight, hoping to surprise the man and land a lucky blow, to cause him to whiff the attempted melody, or even to delay him long enough that his own melody could ensnare the simp. But regardless, it all depended on how well this knight's own attack went.

And he wouldn’t need to wait long to see it.

With the black mass flickering around the knight’s feet, he lept into the air and thrusted his sword forward, causing his sword to drag him through the air as a pink flash of light followed his blade. But while a push or pull note was capable of performing a high speed thrust, The knight was sent spinning through the air like a whirling dervish. This was much harder for Sam to defend against, but as he was somewhat predicting the attack, he was able to get his sword up in time to prevent the knight’s sword from cutting into his flesh.

But this was not the end of the knight’s melody.

He landed just a moment later, but his sword still shined. While keeping his sword pointed away from Samuel, he stretched out his arm and pointed his pink shield at the shadowy esper. Shields might have been tools for protection, but the bottom of a tower shield was like the head of a dull ax, and much heavier. After having just blasted past Sam, the knight was shoved towards him yet again, a stream of neon pink light in his wake.

I wasn't suspecting that kind of note, honestly... But then, that's what makes it interesting.

Silhouette didn't succumb to the sudden, violent shift in momentum from the knight, but he wasn't sure he could've managed to avoid succumbing to that strike if he hadn't already been poised to intercept one.

And that wasn't all the knight had in store. Still propelling himself via melody, he wasn't about to give Silhouette much time to reflect. But the demonic G.E.M.I.N.I Esper did not need very much time anyway. All he required was a flick of his arm as a pitch-black projectile melody escaped from the tip of his blade which had been aimed at...

...the constructed cube from earlier, which had been lying on the ground off to the side of their current contested area.

The transplace note was intended to give him enough time and distance to breathe. Relatively speaking, of course. Samuel didn't think the knight would stop to admire the trick once he understood what had happened.

The pink pounder indeed appeared to not be too impressed with the trick, only growling at Samuel’s attempts to delay the inevitable. Using his sword as a golf club, he batted the cube towards Samuel's head before attempting to close the distance again. Though this time the pounder was using a more cautious approach, more jogging towards Sam than jumping into a blind run. Samuel had gotten his moment to breathe, but now what would he do?

Tilting his head to avoid the construct, Silhouette had begun casting a melody in his hand, with a nebulous snake coiling at the center of his dagger's pommel. When the melody had been prepared enough, the hazy form of the snake became opaque and fired out of the pommel as a beam, directed towards the knight's chest.

But the knight was cautious, and his slower movements meant that he could easily block the incoming projectile.

But that had been exactly what Samuel had counted on.

The projectile struck the knight’s shield, covering it in shadowy tendrils as the snake phased through, connecting with the knight’s chest. He growled, continuing to press forward. He lead the charge with his shield and used his sword to begin cutting through the dark tendrils. But it seemed like Samuel had an opening. What would he do with it?

With a shrunken distance between the demon and the tenacious knight, Samuel opted to abandon the channel of his tendril beam and quickly set upon his opponent, who was preoccupied with the tendrils. He ducked low, hoping to hide behind the knight’s own raised shield as he approached and specifically targeted the hand holding that very same shield with a quick, explosive slash.

An experienced fighter like the Pink Pounder was not oblivious to Sam’s actions. Some might even say he expected them. But his arm was bound, and his sword could not easily fit between his shield and his own body. By the time he had freed himself from his restraints, Sam had liberated him of his hand.

“Pwink Pwondah, you wost your widdle hawund! Do uwu want two- GEEEEEEEEEEE!”

The king of monkeys may have been restrained, but they weren’t dead. They were able to fire a melody out of their staff and hit Magical Dream Princess with it. It was just a windstorm of hers, but it knocked MDP down before trying to free Lilliah from her restraints.

“_____—_______—__—”

Though MDP’s scream had triggered something in the Pink Pounder. Sam could feel it, as a demon that exuded his own aura of malice, he could feel the hatred radiating off of him like heat off a flame.

A quickened melody propelled the Pink pounder’s foot into a roundhouse kick, one that connected with Sam’s back before he sprinted towards Lilliah’s position. The wind elemental was little more than a momentary distraction that was dismissed with a wave of the pounder’s sword. Bound and unable to defend herself, Lilliah could only brace for pain as the pounder brought their sword over their head. They hacked off her arm, stabbed at her legs, and all Lilliah could do was struggle to stay in esper form as long as she could so that the Pink Pounder didn’t end up stabbing her true form.

Some time ago, the Pink Pounder took up his moniker while becoming a hunter of orcs. Fleshy, pink, pig shaped monsters that lack the numbers of goblins, but aren’t as strong as most other monsters. No one knew what made him take a calling, but it was known that attacking anyone in his company, especially young girls, triggered something inside him. When he flew into a rage like this he was no longer the Pink Pounder. He became a machine for pigs: a slaughterhouse:

Sam had recovered quickly from the kick, but they would need to act fast. He was no longer in a sparring match, as this had officially become a life combat area. If he stood by and watched, he might witness a murder take place.

Fritzi continued to watch, but did not intervene herself.

A grunt escaped from the demon as the painful kick to his back had momentarily unbalanced him, allowing the enraged knight to set upon his ally with a berserk onslaught of blows.

Detestable Freelancer! I knew nothing good could come from this one! It was idiotic to place a modicum of trust in them!

Seeing the brutal maiming and presumed murderous intentions of the wrathful knight evoked similar anger in Silhouette, but it wasn't one he couldn't get a reign on with the knowledge that a fellow agent could die.

Each frenzied swing the mercenary took at his ally could potentially be the last. Every time it pierced her, there was the chance she wouldn't be able to hold on to her transformation anymore. A friendly life lost under his own supervision while his boss watched... such an outcome was far more terrifying to him than anything his own form could conjure. But perhaps that fear was the only thing tempering his own anger.

He exploded into a dash to make up the distance, a rather ironic twist considering how their fight had been going up to this point, but the apparent lack of reason and the obvious lack of shield hand gave Samuel enough confidence to actively confront him in melee range. As he drew close and his contempt, anger, and desire to kill the mercenary peaked... he ultimately chose again to go after the remaining hand of the knight instead of a mortal blow, at least for now.

He was angry, but his senses were still sharp.

As soon as Sam sprung into action, The Pink Pounder turned around. HE had cast a restrain melody on his own severed wrist, binding it to his weapon. He couldn’t hold his shield anymore, but he could grip his sword with both hands. It probably wasn’t ideal, but the Pink Pounder had been the superior swordsman. How would fighting with only a sword affect his performance?

Their blades clashed. Sparks leapt off their blades every time they connected. While short one weapon, the Pink Pounder’s cunning was still at play. Sam’s knife offered a bit of range, but the pounder’s hand was not locked in place. He could release the hilt of his sword to brush Sam’s knife aside when he needed to. Regardless if their anger clouded their judgment or focused it, it was clear both men were fighting as hard as they could.

Lilliah collapsed onto the floor, no longer able to remain in the esper state.

The Pink pounder charged a melody. His remaining hand surged with power. It was going to be a powerful one.

A decisive blow could land any minute, and if Sam played their cards right, they would be the one to land it.

Silhouette had almost nothing but contempt for this knight for being a mercenary and for breaking the sanctity of the sparring match. But there was no denying the knight's skill. Even missing his shield, the berserker effectively kept him from gaining any ground in their clash up to this point, but Silhouette felt like this could change at any given moment, whereas before he felt coming out on top of the clash was impossible.

When the knight had begun to prepare his spell, the ground beneath MDP began to stir as a swirl of darkness suddenly appeared. It seemed as though Silhouette had also begun casting one as well, but his target clearly wasn't the man in front of him.

Naturally, she yelped.

Naturally, the knight reacted.

The Pink Pounder’s physical abilities outstripped everyone in the arena, and he was going to put that all to use moving towards MDP’s position. He slammed his fist into the ground, throwing himself backwards through the air in a spiral. Moments before the spawn melody could activate, the knight would be able to lift MDP out of the area of the spawning melody. She shrieked as the nightmarish energy manifested behind her. The knight landed without making a sound, and was quick to push MDP out of the way should Sam attack again. But the demon had put himself at a disadvantage. While he could use roughly one melody every six seconds, the Pink Pounder could use two. His entire body surged with power as he prepared to finish the fight, but where was Sam hiding?

Wherever he was, it wasn't out in the open. It'd take a true idiot to assume he had suddenly fled, so that meant he was most likely hiding somewhere behind the scenery of the coliseum.

There were several boulders of varying sizes he could be using as cover. Some closer, some further, though it wasn't likely he made it to the farthest ones by the time Pounder had begun searching for him. And considering his form was on the taller side, smaller rocks probably weren't hiding him either. There seemed to be two likely candidates given these criteria: a slender boulder not too many feet away from them, or a wider one a bit further out, closer to where they had been clashing blades.

But whatever one he was waiting behind, he didn't seem to feel the need to reveal himself, likely for the very same reason Pounder wanted to find him quickly.

Assuming the Pounder was even thinking right now.

Giant rocks were mighty obstacles, but instruments were still indestructible, never dulling weapons. That was barring any other special ability an esper might have, such as the ability to cut through all inorganic matter like it was paper.

One after another, the knight cut through the stones. The boulders practically detonated on impact. Each swing filled the air with dust, and scattered pebbles across the arena floor. But no matter how much he swung, he showed no signs of tiring or calming down.

Following Pounder’s onslaught, Silhouette was forced out of hiding not long after it had begun since he had chosen the closer boulder to hide behind, but this outcome hadn't been unexpected, and his reaction was relatively quick because of it and one other factor.

Though he could not physically see the knight from behind the boulder, he hadn't exactly been impaired as there wasn't too much subtlety in the armored brute's movements, and so it had been obvious enough when his own boulder was about to explode. In response, the G.E.M.I.N.I Demon threw great effort into his escape around the boulder and then subsequent dash directly toward the knight as a dark miasma engulfed his sword-hand.

Like the knight before him, the strength behind this melody was quite apparent. Perhaps he intended for this clash to be the final one.

And it might even work. With the stone being turned into dust and debris, it provided perfect cover for Sam to close the distance between the two. It didn’t matter how many melodies the Ponder could cast, Sam was going to attack before he could get one up.

The pounder might not have been able to see his opponent coming, but he could hear him. With all the fury of a reckless berzerker, he swung into the cloud of dust where Sam was coming from.

But Sam’s blade had already bitten into his foe.

A silver flash cleaved through the pounder’s forearms. Along with it was an explosion of dark tendrils, rupturing metal and flesh up to the knight’s elbows.

He should have been detransforming any moment now, having been parted from his instrument. But this did not appear to be the case. Blood rushed out of his stumps, but he would not calm down. With a roar of hatred, he lunged for Sam again.

”I think that’s enough.” On Fritzi’s command, Sam would wake up on the floor. He was in the training room with everyone else, but there were a few differences from how it appeared just moments ago. For one, the arena showed no sign of destruction. The boulders were all intact, and there wasn’t any evidence that there had been a fight. Lilliah was on the ground sleeping, as was the Pink Pounder. MDP was missing, but there was a woman in a purple business suit conversing with Fritzi. ”I didn’t realize sparring was so aggressive.”

“I underestimated my acquaintance’s penchant for defending me. I told him not to get too rough during the simulation, but I hadn’t anticipated Wukong would attack me in the dream world.” She crossed her arms. “You’re not upset, right? They were never in any real danger, and good agents always do what’s asked of them regardless of what the facts say.”

”Only if I’m the one giving the orders, as they know I have proper information.” Veronica growled. ”I do not need to test their loyalty to me, just their combat readiness in a unit. That’s not something this exercise demonstrated very well.” With a groan, Veronica walked over to Sam’s side. ”If I thought things were going to get this crazy, I would have let you know about the dream magic ahead of time. I thought it would be obvious when your mana was restored between bouts, but, well..” A smile crept across her face. ”I miss having Binky around to deal with things like this. Are you alright?”

Samuel tore his attention from Lilliah to Fritzi when she approached, and it was clear that he was still a bit on edge from the 'fight'. "I suspected something was wrong when it became clear that the fight had no longer resembled a spar and still you remained motionless... But even with such an on-the-nose name, I failed to realize the situation I was in," Samuel sighed, clearly disappointed with himself.

With a drawn-out breath, he eventually answered Fritzi's question. "Aside from some residual drowsiness, I am physically well, at least."

His boss smiled. ”I don’t think I’ve ever been impressed by someone napping on the job. Don’t get used to it.” It wasn’t long before Lillia and the pounder woke up. Perhaps they had been up for a bit. It was impossible to see the pounder’s face, but Lilliah looked a little shocked, and was rubbing her arms where they had been severed. ”I do think your teamwork is improving. While not conventional, Wukong’s attack against the dream princess did raise the pounder’s aggression, which made him a much easier target to exploit. You made use of that aggression and his desire to defend MDP, didn’t you Silhouette? You’re quite the opportunist.”

“Yes, and everyone’s perfectly safe. If someone was to die in my dream world, they would just wake up. Though…” The business woman lowered her gaze. “That first fight was definitely a blunder on my part. Though I am pleased to hear it seemed so realistic. It took a long time to get my magic to the point where I could use it to help espers spar like this.” She looked to Sam. “If you’re still up for it, I would like you to give the Pink Pounder and I another chance. I just need to talk with him for a moment, if that’s alright?”

The question prompted Samuel to give another thorough look at Pink Pounder, and he did not answer for a few seconds. "...I suppose, technically, nothing happened. And nobody was apparently in actual danger, either," Sam didn't seem particularly thrilled about the idea but ultimately agreed with a shrug. "Go have your talk, then. But going forward, I hope it's not too much to ask for my consent."

A smirk crossed the woman’s face. “Of course. That’s the least we can do.” Not long after, she took the pink pounder by the hand and stepped off to the side to chat.

”That was an impressive display of skill, Silhouette. Even if it wasn’t a life or death situation, I think that’s the closest I’ve gotten to seeing how you really fight up close. Maybe I’ll hold off on telling the other agents its a dream too?” She grinned. ”It will be interesting to see what the benefits of training like this will yield, don’t you think?”

Samuel's breathing had by this point become completely stable and it seemed he had finally come down from the high of the 'battle'. "I'm sure it is hypocritical of me to say this right after making a deal about it, but I don't disagree with that assessment. Yes, thinking logically... what better way than this, aside from actually fighting to the death? As far as I was concerned, it was either kill or be killed. And though I would sooner call it desperation than opportunism, I am not sure I would have resorted to such methods were I assured with the knowledge that my failure didn't have lasting consequences."

”Speaking of, it seemed like you were willing to spare the Pink Pounder. You had him dead to rights, why did you hold back?”

Samuel seemed rather surprised by the statement. "Which part, exactly, are you speaking about?"

”You aimed to cut off his hands and separate him from his instrument. I thought that was an attempt at mercy, to get him to revert to his normal self so that he would be harmless. Otherwise, wouldn’t it have been easier to just run him through? His neck and torso would be much easier to hit in close quarters. ”

"...you are right," Samuel turned a hint of red. "I wasn't entirely sure I needed to use deadly force. I suspected a trick of some sort, just not one like that, so I was hesitant. But losing your ability to stay transformed is as good as dead if the other party wants, speaking from experience."

”You’re referring to the nun.” Fritzi raised a hand to her chin. ”I’m not too familiar with any nuns, but I do remember working with someone long ago who spun melodies using blacklight. ” Veronica trailed off. ”What was it that she last said to you? ”

"Her exact words should be somewhere on my report for that mission, but she wanted me to tell the doctor 'that it's not over yet'," he quoted. "A coincidence, I'm sure."

”Perhaps, but it’s not a possibility I’d overlook.” Fritzi bit her thumb nail. ”If that is... No, it doesn’t make sense. She wouldn’t return here. ” The doctor folded her arms behind her back. ”Though maybe a test is in order. The next time you see that nun, I want you to call her ‘Blackout’ and see how she reacts. Of course, if you have the opportunity to kill her on sight, that works too. But all of the reports point to her being a very able swordsman.” Fritzi looked up at the Pounder and “Magical Dream Princess.” They seemed to have concluded their talk. ”Might as well get in all the training you can.”

"Yes. I have much to improve on," Samuel nodded, then turned to catch up with MDP.

Blackout. I'll remember that.

Less than a second after snapping off her shot, Ashley felt herself being pushed out of the path of Sofron’s own attack. Before she even realized what was happening, Gale had flown to Sofron and pushed him out the window. Slowly rising to her feet, the Knight of Tomorrow felt a slight dampness as the brooches the Maiden gave them began to melt. “Maiden!” Ashley gasped as she tried to employ her rapidly dwindling brooch in an attempt to rescue their imperiled partner. Yet, it soon became painfully clear that it was too little, too late for such a strategy to be viable… However, before she could take any further action, one of their guides burst in, warning that…

Oros was here…

Oros. That name sent a chill racing down Ashley’s spine. She had read about Oros. Every G.E.M.I.N.I. agent had. The pink-haired, black-garbed woman was one of the most infamous, and powerful, Depraved espers known to the organization, a chaotic psychopath, well-deserving of her title “Oros the Mad”. For her to appear now, when they had just barely survived fighting Sofron, with one of their number missing, and possibly dead… The Knight of Tomorrow’s grip tightened on her instrument. Even though she didn’t rate her chances of surviving an encounter with this pink-haired lunatic particularly high, she was prepared to fight to her last breath.

Fortunately, combat didn’t seem to be on Oros’s agenda, as she instead chose to ramble about several disjointed topics. From what little Ashley could glean from the incoherent mess, Oros had come to meet the squirrel-tailed woman for a romantic engagement, unaware that she was evidently already in a relationship with Sofron. And then something about how either Gale or Ashley herself should serve as a replacement, an idea which filled the Knight of Tomorrow with utter revulsion. However, Oros also asked if they needed some healing, which drew the high-tech heroine’s attention back to the charred stump that was all that remained of her left arm…

“Uh, I-I have healing abilities of my own,” Ashley replied hesitantly, before Oros came out with another random comment, asking if they wanted to watch her become a shark and… “Oh! Our ally was thrown out the window!” The Knight of Tomorrow gasped, the mention of water bringing the Maiden’s plight back to the forefront of her mind. “Sofron was as well,” she added her voice taking on a harsher tone. “I don’t care if you eat what’s left of him, but please, if she’s still alive, can you help our ally?” Of course, a part of Ashley’s mind knew that she probably shouldn’t be asking Oros, of all people, for assistance, but if there was still a chance to save the Maiden, she was going to take it.

The pink haired esper chuckled. ”There’s way too much irony involved with a GEMINI esper asking a depraved to save another depraved. But I guess you wouldn’t be a cupcake if you put your job before the lives of your friends.” With a hum, she rolled her eyes. ”But imagine me doing something that gives you the chance to scram or call your buddies. Nu-uhu, ain’t happening.”

Marrie was still stunned from watching Sofron and Maiden hit the water. She slowly turned to Oros and floated back inside, barely making it before her melody ended. ”I… I messed up again.” was all she could manage before collapsing to her knees, suddenly screaming in pain as her adrenaline faded and her leg injury flared to full force.

Ashley’s teeth clenched and her mouth contorted into a snarl when Oros decided she didn’t want to go for a swim after all. So she was just toying with them, was that it? Ashley utterly despised those who made light of others’ misery, and was about to say as much, when she heard her remaining ally cry out in pain. “Gale!” Ashley gasped, rushing over to where the bluenette had fallen. Now that she had the chance to take a closer look, the Knight of Tomorrow could see that her ally’s leg had been blown off by Sofron’s final melody. “Here, let me help you,” she added, retrieving the severed limb and using a healing melody to reattach it (while also hopefully soothing at least some of the pain). “There, does that feel a little better?” she asked, her countenance filled with concern.

Marrie took a few deep breaths now that her leg was reattached. ”Y-yeah. Thank you.” she managed through gritted teeth. It was hurting a lot less, but it still hurt and combined with the emotional damage of the fight, it was a bit overwhelming for the young girl. The limb was partially stitched together by the neon glow of Ashley’s magic, though Sofron’s attacks were potent, and the wound still remained. It was at least attached, but Marrie would need more attention before her wounds healed the rest of the way.

Or would she?

The rest of her leg was stitching itself together. The wound grew transparent blue fangs and “bit” itself closed. Any shed blood sunk into her leg, and all that remained were the emotional scars the fight had left her with.

Oros lifted her finger to her lips and blew over the top of it. ”Diamond melodies are something else, huh? Even healing them up is a bitch.” She sat on the floor and tucked her hand under her chin. she couldn’t have been sitting more than a few feet away from Ashley, but at least her sword was sheathed. Save for about a foot of steel that was sticking out of the scabbard.

Marrie watched, transfixed as her leg healed itself. Wait, diamond melodies? They were fighting someone with diamond melodies!? No wonder things turned out like they did. Still, it wasn’t going to help anyone to wallow in despair. It certainly didn’t help last time she did. She hesitantly stood up, testing her weight on her leg. It seemed to be completely back to normal, which was nice.

To Ashley’s considerable surprise, Oros had chosen to aid her in healing Gale’s injury, and even if the action almost certainly had an ulterior motive, the Knight of Tomorrow still felt compelled to show her appreciation. “T-Thank you,” she told the pink-haired woman after a moment of stunned silence had passed. Predictably, the depraved esper had a substantially more involved show of appreciation in mind, once more mentioning a date…

”So as I was saying, I kinda need a date for tonight.” The depraved esper placed her hands on her knees. ”If you really want me to dive in after tall dark and hungry, I can do that. But I have priorities, you know?. I’m not too picky. I mean, Gara Gura would be my first choice, but Icarus here looks a little more emotionally sound. If you can’t pick, I could take both of you, that would be cool.” She tapped her chin. ”Do we have time? I guess we’ve got a few minutes before anyone drowns to death. There’s this cool place on thirteenth street. It’s like a super shopping center, but they’ve got a food court and a buffet nearby. So you can go shopping, pay for some overpriced chinese shit, then sit down in the court and eat all the stuff you picked out. It’s also really cool because there are no butlers, so you don’t have to worry about them turning out to be enemy espers or robots.”

Ashley suppressed a shudder. Spending a night with this dangerous lunatic was pretty much the last thing she wanted to do, but if it was the only way to possibly save the Maiden, and if the only other alternative was for the visibly distraught Gale to do the same… “I-I’ll go with you,” Ashley declared, the words forming before she fully comprehended what she was saying. “I-If you can save our ally, I-I’ll… hang out with you for the remainder of the night, b-but no crossing of personal boundaries,” she hastened to clarify. “I-Is that acceptable?”

”I dunno.” Oros tapped her chin. ”I mean, you’re not my first choice, and it’s dependent on me being successful?”

”Who are you, by the way? Do you think you can save-...” Marrie stopped before she finished. From the height she fell from, in non-esper form, the chances were high that Maiden was already dead. Your fault. She shook her head to clear that thought from it. Even if she was dead, she deserved to be returned to any family she might have. ”Do you think you can, hopefully rescue, or at least retrieve the girl who Sofron threw out the window? She deserves better than a burial at sea, at least.”

With a growl, Oros threw her hands over her head. ”Ffffffffffffine! I guess I’ll go take a swim. But only because you’re so cute when you don’t know who I am.” She walked over to the window. ”I’ll be back shortly, so don’t go anywhere.” She pointed at the unconscious police woman. ”You too, Mac!” Oros stepped backwards out the window. While she disappeared from the frame, the espers could hear a splash a moment later. It seemed the espers were alone for the moment.

Despite Ashley’s offer, it seemed Gale would ultimately be the one to motivate Oros to go look for the Maiden. Although a part of her was relieved that the depraved esper was more interested in her companion, as opposed to herself, another part of her was greatly concerned for Gale’s continued safety. And so, after a moment of awkward silence had passed in the wake of Oros’ departure, the Knight of Tomorrow decided to tell her ally exactly who they were dealing with…

“That was Oros,” Ashley explained with a tired sigh as she retrieved her severed arm from where it lay on the floor. “Also known as ‘Oros the Mad’. She’s a very powerful, and very insane, depraved esper. That’s someone who’s so dangerous, they’re being hunted by all other espers, regardless of faction affiliation, just like Sofron.” Wincing slightly as she employed a healing melody to reattach her arm, the Knight of Tomorrow continued. “If anything, she’s even stronger than Sofron, and instead of serving a vampire, she claims to be working for an eldritch horror who apparently intends to destroy the world. Still…” she added as her gaze turned towards the open window. “I haven’t seen any evidence of her committing atrocities against innocents, and she doesn’t seem openly hostile towards us, so we might be safe for the time being, although I think we should remain on our guard nonetheless. If she truly is as insane as I’ve heard, then there’s no telling what she might do next…”

”Well… I try to see the good in everyone. Even Sofron, if he didn’t attack us out the gate, I would’ve tried to reason with him, once we subdued him. I’m not one to take other people’s word for someone being a bad person, either. But I’ll keep in mind the whole ‘works for someone who wants to destroy the world’ thing.” Marrie replied, before muttering something under her breath. She sighed and sat down on the nearest sittable area, possibly the floor at this point, and asked, ”Do you need a heal too? I think I’ve got enough in the tank to do one more, but I can’t do major heals so I don’t know if it’ll help as much as I wish it would.” As she sat, she flexed her newly healed leg to test it. This Oros person was really strong, if she could heal something like that as fast as she did. It only took a moment of silence for Marrie to punch herself square in the jaw. ”Damnit. I hope she comes back with news that Maiden survived…”

“I try to do so as well,” Ashley replied. “Although when I see firsthand the horrors Sofron and his master have inflicted upon so many innocent people, I can’t just stand by and allow them the chance to harm who knows how many others in the future.” Gale then asked if she needed additional healing, to which Ashley gave a tired smile, before shaking her head. “Thanks, Gale, but I think I can manage. You should probably try to conserve your remaining mana for something important.” Like if Oros decides to attack us… The Knight of Tomorrow’s eyes widened a moment later as she watched her ally punch herself, but a part of her understood what the blue-haired young woman was feeling. “I-I hope so, too,” she added in a softer voice. “But what happened wasn’t your fault, so please don’t blame yourself. If anyone’s responsible, it’s Sofron, not you.”

Marrie remained silent at that. Whether it was true or not, she still wouldn’t be able to just accept it.

Not much later, Oros returned through the stairway. Her clothes were wet, and she was wearing the most disgruntled frown either of the younger espers had seen in some time. A carry out bag from the Grizzly rose swung in one hand while the other twisted the water out of her ponytail.

”So good news, bad news.” Oros walked towards the espers. ”The bad news is that I couldn’t find Mrs. Om nom nom anywhere. The undertow was pretty strong and must have dragged her out to sea. I wouldn’t even know where to look.” Her lips curled into a smile as she seemed to radiate sunshine. ”The good news is that I didn’t find her body! And being that she’s a Patron’s Champion, that always invites the possibility that she survived somehow!

Marrie blinked. On the one hand, if there was a strong current, Maiden was probably gone. On the other, if someone who can heal a diamond melody wound like it was nothing says there’s a chance she survived, then… Maybe it was better for her mental health to take Oros’ word for it.

” And there’s even better news!” Oros stepped over the squirrel woman’s body, who had reverted back to her original form shortly after expiring. ”There were some grilled club sandwiches on the counter! So since everyone’s having an emotional breakdown, why don’t we just have a quick bite up here? Just the three of us?” She looked at the police woman, who was still unconscious. ”I brought a fourth one in case she wakes up, but, yea, dig in!” Oros pulled a sandwich out of the bag. The bread had been press-grilled on a real panini press and had golden waves on the top and bottom of the sandwich. ”Oh! I guess I should say grace. You guys can just dig in, or you can nod your head along with me.” She clasped her hands together. ”Zigus gaplaflem Aigorost, Dis kurtoban muntory crentinity, zes yojensen bidelaford…”

As Oros rambled about food, and then began an incredibly bizarre “prayer”, Ashley’s mind was replaying the first two things the Pink-haired esper had said. The undertow was strong and she hadn’t found a body. Well, of course she hadn’t, not if the Maiden had been swept out to sea. And if their ally had reverted back to her mundane self, something the Maiden’s altered appearance when Ashley had last seen her seemed to suggest, then the odds of her survival were nearly zero…

Despite that, Oros seemed to think the Maiden might still be alive, noting that she was a “Patron Champion”, whatever that was, but Ashley reminded herself that Oros was utterly insane. For all they knew she hadn’t even looked for their ally at all, or maybe she’d found the Maiden and killed her herself? Regardless, Ashley was in no mood to play the depraved esper’s sick games, and she was certainly not about to eat with her, not when everything that had just happened had seriously ruined her appetite…

“T-Thanks for the offer, but I’m not particularly hungry,” Ashley muttered

She listened to the pink-haired girl continue, and found herself blinking again. Sandwiches? That was a weird segue. She was about to say something when she noticed a blue glint from the floor. She walked over and found what appeared to be a hairpin? On closer inspection, it looked like a prayer stick. What was that doing here? She thought about pocketing it, since it might be a clue towards Justin, but she decided to show it to the other two once Oros finished her… prayer? Fitting timing to find the thing, she figured. ”Do either of you know what this is? I doubt it was Sofron’s, -” she stopped, horrified as a thought entered her mind. What if this was Maiden’s Grimoire? If she had fallen in mundane form not because she was out of mana, but because she’d lost this… That made the likelihood of her surviving even lower. Marrie found herself staring at the stick in silence.

Gale’s discovery caused the Knight of Tomorrow to stifle a gasp.

“J-Judging by its aesthetic similarity to the appearance of the Maiden’s esper state, I-I think that’s probably her Grimoire, w-which means…” The high-tech heroine’s voice trailed off as she found herself unable to finish that dreadful thought. She truly wanted to believe that there was a chance their ally had somehow survived, but each new piece of evidence made that outcome seem increasingly unlikely…

”Okay so like number one, it’s rude to interrupt grace. ” Oros Pulled her hands apart. ”And two, You guys saw her get thrown out a window, untransformed. Is it that big a surprise that her grimoire is here?” With a groan, Oros picked up the unconscious police woman and moved her closer to the gathering. ”But whatever! If you girls don’t wanna eat with me, I don’t really care! I got, I mean look!” She placed a sandwich in front of the dead and unconscious woman. ”They’re not quite my type, but I’m gunna enjoy these club sandwiches with these-” A smile suddenly crossed her face. ”Hey wait a second!” She pointed at Marrie. ”You need a head, right?”

Marrie started when Oros pointed at her, breaking from her thoughts. “Uh… If you have one that’s ethically sourced, then yes. Why? And, um, sorry about interrupting your prayer? I guess that was kind of rude…” Marrie wasn’t sure what to think about anything anymore.

”Ethically sourced head?” She dragged the former squirrel woman onto her lap. ”I mean, I kinda doubt this one’s gunna miss her head much. Might be easier on her family too if they don’t know she was murdered in some penthouse that was being rented by a rich asshole.”

”Maybe… but it wouldn’t be right to not give her family closure.”

All of Ashley’s worried ruminations on the Maiden’s continued survival came to a crashing halt when Gale and Oros began talking about needing a head, of all things, and apparently one that was “ethically sourced” as well…

“Um, I’m sorry, but what do you need a head for?” Ashley inquired, not even trying to hide her shock.

”Oh, I have a friend who needs a new one. She can’t talk very well without one so I’m not entirely sure how she can survive without it, but apparently it’s as easy as putting a new one on her neck to fix. It’s, uh… Sort of my fault that she lost it, so…”

”We’re just a bunch of girls gathered together in search of some ethically sourced head!” Oros laughed hard enough to shake the room.

She… decapitated someone…?

And they’re still alive?

And now they need a new head?

Despite her high I.Q. and normally good focus, Ashley was having a very difficult time following what was being said. And Oros’s incoherent ramblings certainly didn’t help…

My…patron…?

”Well, no sweat off my balls either way. I just heard Ashley’s patron was going to leave if certain events didn’t transpire, and Stacy having a head is required in making those events happen. Can’t blame me if anything happens.” Oros opened her mouth and shoved her entire sandwich down her throat. Snakes are capable of dislodging their lower jaw to eat large prey, and if a human could do this they could eat a watermelon whole. But there was no evidence that Oros used a melody to grant herself such a power. ”Mmmmmmm!” She pulled a bottle of vodka out of the bag to wash down her sandwich. With a smack of her lips, she turned back to the girls. ”You guys suck at small talk, so I’ll just cut to the chase. There’s a lot of bad shit coming down the pipe. Some of it you’re aware of, some of it you’re not. Pretty sure Fritzi’s mentioned the holy diver in hushed tones to a few people already, so you should know what that is. And you got Sofron wet. I’m not a friend of GEMINI or the freelancers, but I think we stand a better chance working together, don’t you?”

”I guess? It’s always helpful to know more.” Marrie granted. ”I don’t mind working together, though I’m not sure I’ll be any help…”

It was only when the discussion turned to the Freelancers, the Mavericks, and GEMINI all uniting against a common foe, that the Knight of Tomorrow was finally able to find her voice.

“While I agree it’s best to stand together against a world-ending threat, The Mavericks have proven themselves to be little more than terrorists, who are all-too-eager to sacrifice innocent people in order to appease the horrific appetites of monsters. And speaking of the end of the world,” she added, while glaring at Oros. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re trying to accomplish?”

”That’s the rumor. But if it was the truth, wouldn’t I be scrambling to get into Justin’s good graces?” Oros set down her vodka and placed her hands on her knees. ”But you aren’t wrong, GEMINI and Maverick Alternative aren’t exactly peas in a pod, and it’s because of everyone's beliefs. It’s like asking the liberals and conservatives who they think the next president should be, and that’s not the kind of divide you want with a war on the horizon.” She looked to Marrie. ”But ya gotta work with the hand you’ve been dealt, and it’s too soon for all of us to stand together on the same battlefield. The gang bang is going to have to wait until later. But! we can work apart towards the same goal.” she looked back at Ashley. ”Wanna know more about the Holy Diver? I fought it a month or so ago.”

Marrie bit her tongue, literally and figuratively, before shrugging and speaking. ”I guess.”

“If you’re willing to share,” Ashley added, knowing full-well that everything Oros was telling them was very likely to be complete bullshit, but still interested in any possible intel nonetheless.

”Hey now, that’s some pretty good intel I’ve got. Don’t you think it’s worth something?” Oros slapped her own knee. ”You gotta show me something hot or tell me something cool. Like, if you knew who High Priest is or something.”

Well that was oddly specific…

“I can’t speak for Gale, but I’ve only ever communicated with High Priest via text message,” Ashley replied after a moment. “Although…” she added, narrowing her eyes. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they were you.”

”Afraid I’m not charitable enough to pay people to tell me what I already know. Especially when the alternative is like, feet pics or something.” Oros folded her arms. ”Though you know what would be better than feet pics? If both of you like, held hands or something? And then you pressed your foreheads together? Maybe Icarus, being the older sister type, could have a reassuring hand on Gara gura’s shoulder? And then Gara gura could use her free hand to tug anxiously on her skirt? And this would happen, like, in a doorway or something, with Gara gura trapped between the wall and Icarus? That would be really cute.” Oros looked over the two espers. ”Well look at that narrow opening towards the dance floor! That would just be perfect, wouldn’t it? Come on, let's see how you girls look!”

”Uh… That’s oddly specific.” Marrie said as she walked towards the area Oros mentioned, looking around. ”I guess I don’t mind holding hands with someone, that seems simple enough.”

Ashley frowned when Oros switched the subject, in her usual disjointed fashion, to she and Gale striking suggestive poses for the pink-haired lunatic’s sick enjoyment. Possibly vital information on an exceptionally powerful Behemoth ostensibly hung in the balance, but there was no guarantee that anything Oros chose to tell them would be even remotely accurate. However, the Knight of Tomorrow’s indecision was resolved for her, when Gale agreed to the depraved esper’s strange request.

“Fine,” Ashley relented with a resigned sigh as she moved to join Gale by the door. “If that’s your price, then I suppose I can accommodate it…”

I mean, it’s not like it’s all that degrading…

By this point, Oros had stood up and approached the two espers. ”Oh wow! You’re doing it!” Her grin had been replaced with open mouthed awe. ”It’s so strange, I’ve seen images like this before but-” She stepped past them. ”It’s in three-dee now! And happening in front of me. I can, I view from almost any angle! I can feel the warmth coming off your bodies! I can smell you!” After eyeing them up for a bit, she continued. ”Holy Diver is a song by Dio, who in an interview said that the song was about a christ figure who was going to leave his home planet while his people selfishly begged him to stay. The behemoth of the same name also looks like a christ figure, sort of. But that’s not the only reason for their namesake!” Oros leaned in towards Marrie and Ashley. They could feel her breath on their faces as she whispered. ”He dives out of the sky, and proceeds to cast ten spells. But these spells, they’re all very powerful, and appear to be themed after the ten plagues of egypt.” What Oros said was likely new to Marrie, but not Ashley. She was a GEMINI esper and was well read on such creatures. ”And as for each of those attacks…” There was a white flash, then Oros stepped backwards and slipped her cellphone into her pants. ”You know, I do like how wholesome and cute this is, but it’s ahhhh, it’s missing spice you know?” Oros poked her finger tips together. ”How about you comfort each other with a kiss? That would be really sweet.”

As Ashley and Gale took their places, Oros had a little “fangirl moment”, before giving a very basic overview of Holy Diver. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything the Knight of Tomorrow didn’t already know, and certainly not worth this level of discomfort. Ashley was about to say as much when Oros snapped a picture.

Then she asked them to kiss.

“I think that’s going a bit too far,” Ashley replied pointedly, her cheeks beginning to turn red as she glared at the pink-haired esper. “And no one gave you permission to photograph us,” she added. “So I’d appreciate it if you deleted that picture you just took.”

”Uh… Yeah. I mean, she’s cute and all, but I don’t really know her well enough to want to kiss her. But why is this ‘Holy Diver’ important, anyway? Is it from around here, or someone else’s job?” Marrie asked as she pulled away from Orion.

Oros didn’t say anything. But as the seconds ticked by, the smile ran from her face. ”I’m sorry, what did you say?” She looked between both girls before resting her hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword. ”Have you mistaken my hospitality for friendship?” She added with a growl. ”You killed my date, and I was fuckin’ generous enough to give the two of you a way out. I even dove out a window to look for your friend. You refuse to eat with me and you won’t even play a game because it makes you feel uncomfortable?” She looked down on the espers as if they were insects. ”Am I a joke to you?”

Eh? ”You were just talking about being allies a bit ago, and now you want to fight? What’s with that? If you’re not upfront about something, you don’t get to complain when people don’t notice what you actually want.”

Oros seemed a bit startled that Marrie was the one to speak up next. ”I-I didn’t say I wanted to fight.” She rubbed the back of her head. ”I thought I told you guys that I wanted a date, and you snubbed me. So I think I was pretty up front about what I wanted.”

”Wait, you were serious about wanting a date?” Marrie was taken aback, having barely been paying attention in the first place and thinking Oros had been joking. ”I mean, I don’t know anything about you… Though I guess that’s what dating is for…? I’ve never been on a date before…” Should she be thinking about dating in the mental state she was in? Probably not. Was she in sound enough mind for romance? Definitely not. Was she willing to be coerced into the first date of her life? Maybe.

Unsurprisingly, Oros took offense at Ashley and Gale’s objection, going so far as to not-so-subtly threaten them with violence if they didn’t agree to her demand. What did surprise the Knight of Tomorrow was how quick Gale was to give a fairly indignant response to the pink-haired lunatic, before seeming to ponder the possibility of going on a date with her…

“H-Hold on,” Ashley spoke up after getting over her initial shock. “I said I’d spend the evening with you earlier, even if I don’t find you the most pleasant person to be around,” she told Oros. “And if Gale wants to come too, that’s fine. I just want to make sure she’s safe and not taken advantage of.”

The lunatic laughed. ”As if you could stop me… Not that you’d need to, of course!” She looked over the girls as her grin widened. ”I thought the whole thing hinged on me bringing tOm nom back safe and sound. You know what? You girls are alright.” She raised one of her hands into the air and extended a finger.

”The first plague, water to blood. I don’t advise drinking any tap water during the diver’s approach. It’s also going to rain most likely, so, might want to bring an umbrella and feed your pet fish its last meal.

Next is frogs. They’ll crawl out of the blood and fall from the sky. There will be so many of them that it will be hard to walk without stepping on them, and doing so is greatly discouraged. The bile in them is corrosive and they explode when popped. They’re a bit sticky too, and love to cling to people.

Now we get serious, the third plague pulls flesh eating gnats out of the ground.This combos good with the frog one. Definitely seek higher ground.

The fourth plague is flies. By this point you’re going to be covered in blood, frog guts, and dead gnats. More of a nuisance than anything else, they’re almost inescapable. Needless to say, they’ll be thickest where the dead are. Oh, and they’re huge and definitely not something you want drinking the frog vomit off of your face.

Pestilence was the fifth plague, but we don’t rely on animals for transportation as much as we use to. Consecutive thunderbolts will cause an EMP pulse if they don’t fry you outright. Expect infrastructures to collapse and cars to not start, because almost everything has a computer in it these days.

Then you have boils to look forward to. The pain ramps up over time, but you can cure them with even a modest purify note. Otherwise, the pain will make it difficult to cast melodies, and I imagine you’ll be a little more sore after something slaps you.

In the number seven slot, you have hail to look forward to. Nice big chunks the size of baseballs. Remember when I said to get an umbrella? Yea, might wanna just hide in something if you can.

Followed by Locust, because flesh eating crawlies weren’t bad enough, we need ones that fly now. Only good news about these is that they’ll finish off the flies. You’ll wish the flies were back real quick though.

The ninth plague is darkness. It’s a magical darkness, so don’t expect to ward it off with a candle. Though your light magic might be able to do something against it.

And then the last one. By this point the diver is ready to fly back up into the heavens, but as a parting gift, he’ll kill every firstborn in Pax Septimus. He doesn’t discriminate either. You can be a father with three kids, or the oldest sister, and you’re toast as soon as this goes off. Though as a first born myself, I can say that being an esper does seem to make one immune to the curse.”

As Ashley listened to Oros describe the various stages of the Holy Diver’s attacks, she couldn’t help but feel a little sick. While the information wasn’t all new to her, it was still no less horrifying than when she’d first read about it. The Knight of Tomorrow still had no idea how the relatively small G.E.M.I.N.I. force in the city was going to defeat it, even with help, but she knew with dreadful certainty that if they didn’t, a lot of people were going to die…

With a sigh, Oros gave the girls a wistful smile. ”Ah, you look like you’ve been through hell. Let’s do the date thing after the diver thing, eh?” She pulled out her phone and started scrolling. ”I’ll uh, I’ll get rid of that picture too, since it bothered you guys.” After finishing up with her phone, she shoved it into her pants. ”You kids get some rest, okay? You too Icarus, someone needs to watch out for the big sister sometimes.” Oros tapped the floor with her scabbard, and she sank into a portal. It wasn’t long before the portal grew a row of teeth and comped together before dissipating.

After giving her “briefing”, the pink-haired esper surprisingly chose to depart. She’d even deleted the picture she’d taken. Apparently their “date” would happen after the diver had paid its visit. Something else to look forward to…

“So, I guess we should probably leave now, huh?” a weary Ashley asked after a moment of silence had passed.

Although it seemed likely that they had succeeded in eliminating Sofron, there wasn’t any way to know for certain, much like the nebulous fate of their ally, the Maiden. All told, this really didn’t feel like a victory, and all Ashley wanted to do now was take a long night’s rest, before setting to work preparing for what promised to be a very challenging battle…

Marrie nodded and slowly left the building, head down as she thought over what she had heard. She’d have to tell Stacy that she missed a chance at getting her a new head when she got home.

"Just a normal day."
Current Location: Retro Heaven Arcade

On an off day, there wasn't much Fable could do work wise besides the usual. He was mainly waiting to hear if they have a new lead from what little they could salvage last assignment. Once more, he idly checked back on shimr to see if anything crops up on that end. He also wanted to check back on any friends or acquaintences he hadn't check on in a while. Klava hadn't responded yet. Must be that busy, he rationalized, like most of the others.

What about Mary?

After a moment of concideration, he decided to call zir.

The phone didn’t ring more than once. ”Fable! Where have you been? I mean, last week was crazy! There’s all these rumors about Betty being your lover or something, something else about you joining the gems, meanwhile I minding my own business when some weretigers chasing a-” Zi sighed. ”Right, you called me. I would have called sooner but I didn’t know where to start, what’s going on? I haven’t seen you at the Great Escape for a while.”

The boy's eyes widened at the sudden barrage of questions, opting to respond when ze had calmed down. "Those rumors are false, first off, a-and frankly my love life isn't anyone's concern damnit! Don't even know how it got to that point." He groaned. "But...yeah, I did join GEMINI. Maiden suggested it and frankly, I don't think I'd be able to take him down without the help." Fable frowned. "Not after my last slip up..."

After a pause he shook his head. "Sorry I haven't popped up often, just been really busy, y'know?" He probably sounded tired. "And I don't exactly trust Shimr anymore, so that's half my fault for keeping things quiet."

”Oh, alright.” Mary remained silent for a bit. ”Maiden, that’s another one I haven’t seen for a while.” She trailed off before clearing her throat. ”Was there something you wanted in particular? Just wanted to chat? I have time if you want to meet up somewhere.”

Fable checked the time. "Well I should be done patrolling soon. Anywhere you wanna go? I sometimes visit this one arcade if you're down with that." He offered.

”Alright, I'll be there shortly.” Mary hesitated. ”Oh um, and Fable? I um, today, i’m, i'm a girl today.” She sighed. ”I’ll be wearing a red and pink dress, so, don’t get confused. Hah! I’ll see you later!” She hung up before he could say goodbye.

After another pause when she hung up, Fable chuckled. "Alright then, I'll keep that in mind." He answered regardless to no one in particular.

---

Once his shift was done, Fable hurried down a memorized route to one of his usual haunts. Retro Heaven Arcade, though the name may be a bit cheesy, it had a great selection of both video games and prizes to choose from. It also had a snack bar which was a nice surprise when he first visited the place. Last he heard, the owners were planning on expanding it.

It would be a moment before Mary arrived. And when she did, he wouldn’t be sure why she bothered to mention her wardrobe. Yes, they were not colors she normally wore around Finn, but the outfit was so loud, he probably wouldn’t have any recourse but to assume it was her anyway. It was just a pink shirt with a long red skirt, but it had been heavily accessorized. The keychain charms wrapped around her waistband bounced with every step. Along with them were her necklaces and bracelets, which were just a bit too big for the girl. Once she saw Finn, she stopped in her tracks. She was out of breath, but kept her posture at a proper angle. ”So this one, then?” Finn hadn’t told Mary which Arcade they were going to, but Mary also didn’t stick around long enough for him to say, or even call back to confirm. ”The last time I went to an arcade, I think I was ten.” She placed her hands on her hips. ”I think I got a high score on a whack-a-mole game. But I think they had weasels instead for some reason.”

"Man, that long??" The boy's brow rose. "Well if you need any refreshers on some games, let me know. This place is legit!" His mouth quirked up to a grin as he opened the door for her. "After you!"

”Legit?” She stepped in ahead of Finn. ”Well, what did you want to play? I don’t really know what they’ve got to play.”

Finn thought for a moment. "They have racing games, rail shooters we could co-op, there's an air hockey table over there, crane games if you wanna test your luck on that..." He listed off, searching his pockets and wallet for some spare money. "There's some sports based ones like basketball or bowling in the back, and Pop the Lock if you wanna test your reflexes. I swear I always get close to the jackpot yet it somehow jukes me near the end." Surprisingly, he seemed genuinely excited to show her around. "Basically, there's alot if you wanna pick your poison! Can also pay for snacks if you're peckish, heheh!"

”I bet I could get a portal inside the prize machine somehow. Those are usually scams anyway.” With a chuckle, she walked towards the video part of the arcade shop.. ”But why don’t we try a rail shooter? Cooperating with you has been, pleasant, in the past.”

"Sure thing, I'll get us set up!" He followed behind Mary, of course.

There were a few light gun games to pick from, but the one that captured the attention of the mirror witch the most was “Blood of Cthulhu,” A game involving some of her favorite themes. Unfortunately, it looked like the side of the cabinet had a chinese mobster getting blown away by an explosion, and hurting minorities was something Mary couldn’t stand, so she moved onto the next cabinet. “STAR LANCER 2” was at least good enough to get a sequel, and the only thing to shoot were robots and aliens, so it was good in Mary’s book.

”We can play this one, Fable.” While Finn searched his pockets, Mary turned to look at him. ”So you’re doing alright Fable? Nothing weird going on?”

Honestly, what kinda game was that if it had chinese gangsters of all things? Maybe if the gangs had ties with the occult or a deadass secret murder cult you'd have to eventually face, then sure, that'd make some sense. But with a name like Blood of Cthulhu, you'd expect it to be a bit more in ties with Lovecraftian Horror, like what Mary seemed to be into. Maybe if she can visit his house, they could play some console games. Survival and Horror seem to go hand in hand after all.

Putting his internal rant aside, Fable luckily had some leftover quarters from last time. If anything he could always get more, but it's a good start. Then Mary asked if he was doing okay. He looked back up at her. "Hm? Oh, yeah I've been holding up. Recently had been assigned to inspect a clinic thralls were last seen at." He stepped over and put in enough quarters for the both of them.

”So just normal esper stuff then?” Mary didn’t say much else. Once Finn paid they both picked up their light guns, which were attached to the cabinet. An opening cinematic started to play, scrolling text besides images of aliens and robots laying waste to innocent bystanders. It was not an original plot, but the graphics were pretty, at least. ”We can talk about it over snacks later, then.” They were about to play a game after all. This might have been the first time they did something together that was supposed to be fun. They weren’t going to the hospital or hunting for clues, they weren’t even in their esper forms. But even now, they were preparing to defend earth from some otherworldly threat. After the cutscene ended, the gameplay started.

The level started in a panicked city. It just took a few seconds for all the civilians to find cover before the aliens showed up. They spilled onto the screen, brandishing blasters straight out of a vintage sci-fi comic. The plastic guns that Finn and Mary held were no different.

”They can’t be that advanced.” She said while raising her gun. Her bracelets jingled a bit as she did so. ”They all have the same skin color.”

Finn merely shrugged. He would've said something too, but his focus was solely on taking as much aliens out on his side of the screen as possible.

”I-it was just a joke!” She said. Mary had no problem talking, but her gunmanship wasn't as good as Finn's. Then again, he also had a lot more experience at this than she did. She was unaware that he was aiming for the side of the screen, and was just trying to shoot whatever came up. They hadn't been hit yet, but there were a fair number of aliens on the screen now. It may have been the first level, but it was a doosie. ”Why is my score only half of yours?” An alien with a shotgun aimed at Mary, who also raised her pistol to shoot the offending creature. They both registered each other's presence and fired. The alien blew up in a cloud of glitter, but Mary lost one of her lives. ”He did not hit me! I was way over-” The aliens started to scatter as the next leg of the level opened up. A tank drove through a wall and several robots started to climb out of the woodwork. ”There's too many of them!”

"Tch!" Seeing Mary was having trouble, Finn changed tactics and aimed closer to her side. "We can do this, okay? Aim for the weak points, watch for any power-ups and keep them away from you at all costs!" He said, starting to take out several of the robots. "Might have to take that tank out too, get ready!"

”Okay!”

With Finn's guidance, Mary was able to get her side of the screen under control. The robots were trickier to deal with as they did have special weakpoints that needed to be hit, but their flashing red appendages were an obvious clue for what needed to be shot. ”Got him!” Mary was doing better, and because she was doing better, Finn was doing better! They were avoiding damage while dealing with a considerable number of enemies on the screen. Wave after wave of generic robot was destroyed, but it happened, Finn's worst fear realized.

No, this was something even he didn't fully forsee.

The tank... was the head of a giant mecha!

"AW COME ON!"

It stood up, revealing arms and legs loaded with weapons. Everything was powering up while weakpoints all over the mech started flashing, begging to be taken out. But which ones to destroy first? And now the aliens and robots seemed to have joined forces and were attacking together. The clock was ticking, but Mary was keeping her cool.

”A dog?”

Sure enough, a dog was weaving through the enemy hoard. Though it was on Finn's side of the screen, and was for him to deal with. Despite everything going on, it decided to sit next to a demolished car and look at Finn, panting with a happy expression on its face.

The out of place dog was just a distraction. Nothing more, nothing less. Atleast that's what the boy told himself. Could be a hidden xenomorph for all he knew, or just the main characters' faithful companion. As long as it only watched them decimate their foes, it's presence was fine.

Hah. Almost reminded him of Parr...

"I'll handle the mecha, think you can cover me?" Finn asked Mary, firing at the weakpoints around it's arms first.

”On it!”

The girl was really getting into this lazer gun game. She was was starting to react to things on screen. She’d try to duck under lazer fire that flew over head, and became more vocal. Sometimes she was even telling Finn what to do.

…But that dog was still there, innocently wagging it’s tail. It inched closer to the screen, and Finn could swear it winked at him. But he wasn’t sure…

...

Just a trick of the eye, that's all! Y-Yeah, it couldn't have winked at him, it's just a part of the game's program. He wasn't supposed to shoot it...right?? God, virtual or not, that'd be a new low he didn't want to reach. Finn was starting to lose focus cause of that dog, his crosshair on screen straying away from it's intented target once or twice. Don't freak out, just keep going at it!

Yet his eyes kept darting between the dog and the mecha. Was it always part of the game?

He didn't know. While Finn had played all of the machines at least once, he was not always fortunate enough to do so with a friend. This tank boss usually just stayed as a tank in single player mode. It wasn't uncommon for easter eggs or special mechanics to activate when playing games multiplayer. Noob Smoke was a rather infamous example of such mechanics. But something as strange as this dog? On level 1? It didn't look too strange in the game, it was just uncommon for friendly characters to stay on the screen for more than a few seconds.

The dog grinned, and it's ears curled like a devil's horns.

Joining the robots and aliens on screen were imps with pitchforks. It didn't matter that the boss had been defeated. The mecha collapsed to the ground, on for it to rip off its metal bits. Beneath its metalic exterior was a demon as black as night, with a head that looked like the skull of a horse or dear.

”Wow! These aliens are more diverse than I thought!” Mary giggled.

Finn on his end wasn't so amused.

In fact, he felt mortified that his uncertainty could've been an undoing. It was just a dog. It was just a dog! Not a-

His eyes widened at the next wave of enemies. Familiar enemies. What the hell, what did imps have to do with a sci-fi themed video game?! He didn't think much of them or their weapon choice.

...Until the mecha revealed it's "second form". Call it deja vu, but he couldn't stave off his dread any longer.

"Chernobog."

Finn didn't even think twice about shooting it down.

Finn fired at the boss’s new form, but it did no good. Unlike the boss prior, this one had no flashing areas to denote its weak points. The only things in the game that didn’t have weak points were enemies that went down in one hit regardless of where you shot them, and indestructible targets such as those that appeared during cutscenes and the background. Which meant…

The mighty demon pulled back its fist. Its imps gathered around just as his hand surged forward. It moved with the speed and power of a locomotive, and shattered the game screen. Shards of glass flew past Finn and Mary as the imps made their way into the arcade.

They poked at the other arcade games with their pitchforks, causing them to start play. Though these game, too, seemed to have more demons inside of them. The other arcade goers seemed oblivious to this, and even welcomed the idea of playing a game without needing to purchase a play first.

But Chernobog, as Finn had taken to calling him, gripped the side of the arcade cabinet and pulled himself towards the screen. As he came near, he pushed on either side of the screen, rupturing the arcade cabinet and opening the rift into the game world wider and wider.

Mary lowered her gun. ”I don’t think these are going to work on it.”

Finn was already transforming as she spoke. He snarled at the demon. "Decided to try again, asshat?!" This felt too real to be another dream. He made sure Jan was dead! No, this time the bastard decided to follow him into his turf, and he wasn't letting it go without a fight. The mechanical esper snapped his head over to Mary. "So much for a break, I'm so sorry!" He frowned, getting into a battle stance.

Mary nodded, and she too changed into her esper form. But the fist of a mighty demon fired out of the game and smashed into her chest, sending her reeling away.

"MARY!" The Timekeeper cried out, unable to stop it from separating the two in time.

"Doth thou truly think bluster works in mine presence?" Chernobog withdrew his hand and forced hole into his world open. Many more of him were starting to break through other screens around the arcade. Civilians panicked and ran for their lives, but the imps were hot on their trail. They wouldn’t all make it, even with Finn’s help. "Thou hath a penchant for unwise actions. Leaving Betty at the diner, assisting the Mavericks, letting the thralls escape. Thy judgements are flawed, oh pursuer of truth!" He broke off a wall inside the video game world and chucked it at Finn.

I-It talks?!

And it seems to know the boy more than he wished it did. He quickly dodged out of the way of the virtual wall at him. "How do you-?! Just, what are you?!" Finn barked back at the demon, holding his weapon in both his hands and trying to remain calm.

Even when he could feel his heart racing.

"You already know."

But while Finn did well to evade the wall, a second hand from a different Chernobog seized him. Its fingers enveloped him before dragging him towards a racing game. He let out a frightened yelp, and he tried his damnest to free himself.

"Thou is unskilled, so thou hath taken to being apprenticed by other espers. A sensible choice, me thinks. Pray tell, oh seeker of truth, if thou doth wish to save lives, why doth thou surround thyself with such unsavory characters? "

The fingers tightened around the boy. He could feel his shoulder popping out of its socket.

Finn hissed in pain, struggling against the demon's grip. "T-The hell do you mean?! They're my friends! The Mavericks was a one time thing, I couldn't let GEMINI go after Justin without me! They could've killed Betty!!" He tried to defend himself, and ignore the constricting pain threatening to crush him whole.

"If thou art willing to die by thine choices, mayhaps mine wisdom is wasted on one such as you." The demon began squeezing even harder. "Get thee gone!"

…

…

…

But Finn would not be crushed in the grasp of a demon. He would find himself waking up in a fairly tight hug. Mary was bear hugging him from behind while her puppet was giving him… Mouth to mouth?

"I don’t have lungs, you know? And there’s only so much melodies can do. You might have to kiss him instead!" Denny grinned.

”Don’t be so-.” By this point, Mary noticed that Finn was awake. She let go of his arms and stepped around him. ”Fable! Are you okay?” She cast her gaze at the floor. ”I’m, I’m glad you don’t need to be resuscitated!” She lifted her head back up. ”Did you drink enough today? You passed out while we were playing.”

It was...another dream? Nightmare?

It took Fable a moment to process everything, but he didn't need a second to pull Mary into a hug in return. The real one. The boy's small body trembled in...fear. He couldn't deny it, he was afraid.

What would the demon want with him? What did it mean by it's "wisdom"? He couldn't trust it. It was just another monster. But he had to figure out just what it is before...

_{"I-I'm so sorry."}

”Um!” Mary didn’t struggle out of Finn’s grasp. Her cheeks were turning a light shade of red, but she seemed to be willing to let the boy hug her for as long as he wanted. ”You’re fine Fable! It happens! I think, ah, why don’t we sit down with some snacks?” She dusted some sand off of her dress.

Once Finn had calmed down, Mary found a discreet place to go back to her normal outfit before buying some snacks. She seemed to be from a wealthy family too, unless it was common for kids to be carrying around fifty dollar bills. She fed one into a machine and let Finn select some things for them to eat. Once she recovered the rest of her money, she took fable over to a table and sat down with him.

”So let me tell you what happened.” Mary folded her arms. ”You just kind of fell asleep standing up. I was concerned of course, so I found a place to transform before looking over you again. A purify spell didn’t do anything, so I tried a dispel melody out of sheer desperation. Some sand blew off of you, and you woke up shortly afterwards. ” She eyed Finn up and down. ”You don’t look like you’re hurt. You kind of woke up with a start though, were you dreaming?”

Even once he calmed down, the boy still felt a bit out of it. He took several bites of his chips as Mary explained what happened to him, and the mention of sand caused his brows to rose.

"I-If you can call it a dream." He answered with a nod. "But I didn't expect the damn sandman to be the culprit of all things. ...Well, whatever knocked me out." Fable frowned slightly. "I told you what happened at the Date Night job, didn't I?"

”That was a bit ago…” Mary raised a hand to her chin, but not before eating a chocolate raisin. ”You went to some dingy hole in the wall kind of place, and one of the waitresses was a succubus that preyed on people in their sleep.” She sighed. ”But you killed her, right? So she couldn’t have done it this time. Also, didn’t her magic cause you to sleepwalk?”

"I literally double tapped her by a stab in the heart, so she shouldn't be still alive. Had to be someone else." He shook his head, pulling out his phone to look up what kind of demon Chernobog was. "What I'm trying to refer to is something that happened during the dream realm. A demon appeared when I got sucked into that. I dubed him Chernobog, but never looked into it asides from a brief Google search with Klava. Barely know about 'em, shrugged it off as a part of the bog man's dream realm or my stress. Until now." His frown seemed to worsen as he looked back to Mary.

"He appeared again. He tried to kill me, even when I transformed I couldn't fight back."

”But it seems like it’s a different type of magic, right?” Mary gestured towards the floor. ”You were sleepwalking before, and now you were totally unconscious. Not to mention the copious amounts of sand that was on you.” Mary groaned. ”That demon, did it talk to you in your original dream? I’m kind of unsettled that whatever did this was able to just attack you out of the blue. You had to have been hit by a spell of some sort, otherwise…”

"It just tried to crush me first back then. Whatever it could've said to me, I didn't have time to hear it when Klava needed help." Fable explained, going back to researching.

"Unless the sand was some bullshit method of him getting into my skull, who knows? This might not be the last time I see him."

”The sand is a hint, at least. You’re Gemini now, and they have info on a lot of monsters I’m told.” Mary smiled. ”You need to find out how this is happening to you. I would be very careful about where you go, and definitely watch out for sand. Maybe even that seedy diner would be worth revisiting.” She frowned. ”And um, Klava was with you when you slew the succubus, right?”

He simply nodded in response.

”And, you haven't been able to get in touch with her, right?”

"Yeah...?" He hesitantly nodded.

”...I don't really need to spell out the possibility that, you know...”

What she was implying slowly dawned on him. Klava was... S-She's...

Finn suddenly felt light headed, quickly holding onto his chair for support. She couldn't be. She couldn't be dead! She couldn't! Not after he had grown attached to someone he saw as a mentor!! That's selfish of you, damnit! Why?!

...Why again...?

He didn't do anything about the tears threatening to form. Though it was clear enough, the poor guy was panicking.

Mary blushed again, but she looked a lot more nervous this time. ”H-hey! Hey! she might have been captured! We don't know anything for sure yet! I mean-” Mary pointed at Finn with both hands, using every finger. ”We don't know what this thing is capable of. So just, you know? You like investigative work right? Whoever did this clearly knows about the job you did, so I'd look into that.”

"B-But last I saw her was the raid against Justin, not-!"

The boy took a moment to calm down. After what had happened, he really didn't need the added dread. He was already anxious by default. "Right...Right, I meant to catch you up to speed with everything." With a deep breath he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Mary. I was looking forward to showing you around this place, y'know? Maybe make this a frequent hangout besides the dinner." He softly told her, feeling like an idiot now. He sheepishly looked away. "Can't believe this didn't go well either...

Mary smiled and looked off to the side. "We did beat that level, you know?" She looked back to Finn. "I mean, some kids had to finish what we started, but they were able to clear the first level. If you had been awake for five more seconds, we probably would have beaten it." She took a bite out of a candy bar before letting out a squeal of pleasure, "It is a nice place to come. I like The Great Escape, but the espers haven’t discovered this place yet. Just a nice place to go and forget about it all for a moment, you know?" Mary took a moment to observe her surroundings. "But you’re a bit too popular to hide from the public eye now. But you have lots of friends you can rely on, so don’t be afraid to use them. That’s me, the GEMINI guys and girls…" Her smile got wider. "It was a little more exciting than I wanted, but I did have a lot of fun tonight."

He nervously chuckled. "Y-Yeah, not sure how that happened either. It just did." He smiled sweetly back at Mary. "But I'm glad you had fun."

The girl nodded. "Maybe next date, I'll take you some place I really like."

The boy tilted his head. "Anything in mind??"

Mary's face, for the third time tonight, got a little more red. "Oh, just a nice place to eat. I want it to be a suprise." After staring into Finn's eyes for a moment, she sat up a bit straighter. "Fable?" She folded her hands together. "How would you describe our relationship?"

"Honestly? ...I don't know." Finn answered truthfully. "Not exactly experienced with the complicated stuff in relationships. I do know that I care for you and trust you, e-even if we got off on the wrong foot at first." He lightly scratched his cheek. "Just, whatever we may be, I'm here for you."

Mary nodded. "Well... Alright." With a huff, she turned to look at the light gun game that they had been playing. "Looks like they couldn't beat the second level. I bet we could if you tried again."

"And hopefully not faint again." With a shrug of his shoulders, he got up from his seat. "Night's still young, why not make the most of it?" He smiled, ready to head back to the game.

After his trip to the arcade, Fable had spent no small amount of time at G.E.M.I.N.I. HQ trying to find out all he could about hauntings, demons, and, in particular, Chernobog. However, he was careful not to alert Dr. Moller, or any of his fellow agents to his search for answers. After all, he didn’t want any of them to think he was losing his mind… The sole exception had been Agent Orion, aka Ashley Avenir, a kind and approachable young woman, who, upon hearing what elements of his story the boy chose to share, was more than happy to help him in any way she could. After exhausting the G.E.M.I.N.I. database, or at least the portions of it they had access to, the pair had decided to try a different path, namely, an occult bookshop that had recently opened in the historic district. Thus it was, that the two untransformed agents found themselves standing at the entrance of a small storefront, tucked between two, ornate art deco buildings, with an elevated railway overshadowing them. This created a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere, even though it was around noon, on an otherwise clear day. Upon the sign above the door, the name “Torvald’s Tomes and Trinkets” was spelled out in elaborate script.

“This looks like the place,” Ashley announced as she gazed up at the sign, which was dimly illuminated by a flickering light. “This area certainly has a unique ambiance, don’t you think?” the bespectacled young woman asked her companion.

Fable took a quick glance over the building, before looking over to Ashley. "Must be a member of the Addams family. He joked. It was unfortunate, and a bit disturbing that the HQ's database held no answers for his nightmare. He had to act swiftly before he's forced to face him again, and concidering it knew about his vice of failures so far? Of course, he ended up humoring his co-worker about his recent blight. The two were the youngest of their team after all, they gotta stick together.

The boy went up to the door and opened it for Ashley. "So, anything crop up on your end?" He asked.

“Not much, aside from this bookshop,” Ashley replied with a frown. “We might have had better luck asking Binky or Doctor Moller, but I understand why you’re reluctant to bring them into this,” she added sympathetically. The bespectacled girl’s smile returned a moment later when Fable politely opened the door for her, triggering a small chime.

She was about to thank him, when a reedy voice called out, “Greetings, seekers of knowledge! I am Torvald Brellomee, the sage of sages, and I welcome you to my humble bookshop!” Stepping further inside the cramped and musty shop, the two agents would find a wizened, but quite animated man with a long, white beard standing behind a counter, which itself was cluttered with various bizarre items. He was wearing a purple robe with white moons and stars printed on it, along with a matching pointed hat. “Herein you will find manuscripts on a myriad of subjects most esoteric in nature,” he continued. “From the language of the birds to the secret cypher of the Ancient and Arcane Order of Ihoppmennu! So tell me, young seekers, what quest brings you here today?”

Of course, the sudden appearance of the store's eccentric owner left the boy a bit perplexed. But it was rather charming. Just didn't have a sword in a stone in the back from what he could tell. With a quiet giggle, he cleared his throat. "Got any books on demons, or dream magic??" He asked the librarian.

“But of course!” Torvald replied with an amused chuckle. “Among these hallowed shelves, you will even find tomes on demons who manipulate dreams! Yes, yes! From Morpheus to Mujaki, if such a being is the goal of your quest, you shall surely find the one you seek!”

Manipulate dreams, huh? Maybe that's one way the demon was able to plague him. "Thanks." With a nod to Torvald, Fable walked further in to look through the bookshelves, picking out anything that could prove useful in his search.

“Yes, thank you,” Ashley also told the strange proprietor with a smile and a respectful nod. She idly wondered whether or not the man was an esper, a magi, or simply a mundane eccentric. It was always best to be cautious about such things, the young agent reflected, but since Torvald had been nothing but helpful thus far, she didn’t think they had anything to worry about. Following along behind Fable, the bespectacled girl looked over the various manuscripts her fellow agent was gathering. “So, um, when was the first time you started having these… visions?” she asked tentatively, not wanting to pry into things the boy wanted to keep private, but still desiring to help him in his search for answers.

"Well, not sure if you can call them visions. But the first time I saw him was during one of the jobs I worked from Shimr. Y'know, before I joined you guys." Fable explained as he picked out a stack of books. "I didn't think much of it at first... Or really I did, but eventually went to the conclusion that I was overthinking things. What with me being stressed about recent events. Until..." He trailed off with a sigh.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of all this. That's one of the reasons why I need to know more before I'm forced to face him again. I need to know what I'm dealing with."

Ashley thought over what Fable had told her. There was always the possibility that he was simply hallucinating due to stress, but not only was she hesitant to mention such a sensitive subject, but it didn’t really seem all that likely, especially not when the first occurrence was while on a mission. Perhaps he was under the effects of a long-term hex or curse? “If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what happened that first time?” the bespectacled girl inquired. “Knowing the exact circumstances of the initial episode might provide some insight as to its origin.”

Once he found an empty table to sit at, the boy set his books down and spread them out. "First time was against a succubus and her dream realm-magic-thing. It didn't appear until I got dragged into that mess." He shook his head, opening one book and flipping through the pages. "Second time I got fully knocked out mid outting by dream sand. Most likely case there is Sandman decided to be a little shit that day, dunno what else could've done it. If the demon isn't just a byproduct of my mental health, then I guess it can only reach me through dreams. Not sure if it has to be magically-induced or not, which can be a huge problem if it doesn't need the help." He rambled on.

Ashley listened intently as Fable described his encounters with the creature thus far. “So, you’ve only seen him twice?” she asked once the boy had finished. “Were there any commonalities between the two instances? Like, you mentioned sand. Was that present on the first occasion as well? And did you happen save any for analysis?”

Fable shook his head. "Sadly I didn't even think to gather whatever sand wasn't dispeled off me at the time. Other than that, I don't think there's any other common theme to these instances besides..." He trailed off suddenly, staring at a certain section of the Demonology book he was looking through.

So he didn’t recover any of the sand, huh? Well, that was unfortunate. However, something in the book he held seemed to gain Fable’s interest, and Ashley leaned over to get a closer look at the page in question. “What is it?” she inquired. “Did you find something?”

He didn't answer yet. He was too busy reading about not the god of Bad Fate,

But Baphomet, a goat-headed demon representing balance in various occult and mystical circles. He already knew about the whole "Demons in Dreams" had mostly negative meanings behind it, but he never thought about there being a good omen to something he was afraid of.

But then, what did it mean for him?

"I think...that's him." Fable finally answered passing the book to Ashley before sitting back against his seat. "Is it bad this only gives me more questions than answers?" He asked her.

“I think more questions will ultimately lead to more answers,” Ashley replied with a reassuring smile, before returning to the task at hand. “If memory serves, Baphomet was also often used as a stand-in for the devil, or simply as a generic symbol of evil. I think the very first instance of the name comes from the crusades, when crusaders, mishearing the name of Muhammed, thought their muslim foes were calling upon some form of demon. So, essentially, its creation was just a big misunderstanding that took on a life of its own. Anyways,” she added, adjusting her glasses. “I don’t know if that matters or not, but you mentioned that this creature talked to you in its second appearance. Do you remember what it said?”

"Hah, for whatever reason Not-Devil knew about my current streak of screw ups. I think he was concidering giving me advice or something, whatever he meant by 'his wisdom being wasted on someone like me'. Y'know, before he tried to crush me to death." He grimaced. Ironic something like Baphomet would appear with a Not-God of a Behemoth planning a business trip to Pax.

Or maybe it wasn't? Hell if he knew at this point.

“Hmmm… If he only appeared in your dreams, perhaps he really is a manifestation of your subconscious fears and insecurities,” Ashley mused. “Not that I think you’re simply hallucinating,” she hasted to clarify. “Just that mystic means were employed to place you in a dream state and then manipulate, and possibly even magnify, its contents. The real question is, who, or what is responsible? You said the first instance was the result of a succubus’s spell, while the second occurrence involved presumably mystic sand. This would seem to indicate that the two were not related, and yet, what motive would someone have for, essentially giving you a bad dream? If someone wanted to take revenge on you, I would imagine they’d be more direct, trying to physically harm, or even kill you. Then again,” she continued. “If this was someone who wanted to get back at you for your role in the succubus’s death, then they may have chosen to use similar means, possibly in a sinister effort to gradually erode your sanity. Oh, and you were untransformed at the arcade, so it would also need to be someone who knows what you look like outside the esper state. Do you happen to know of anyone who might meet those criteria?”

"I don't..." Fable's eyes then widened. Something crossed his mind. "It couldn't be. Could it? Not even sure they would willingly work with Jan knowing she was a monster, but how else would she get away with it for so long?" He thought outloud to himself. He then furrowed his brows, looking back to Ashley. "I'm not that confident about it, but I believe there are some suspects in mind. The owner of Dante's, the succubus' old hunting ground. That or one of her old coworkers." He explained, standing up from his seat and grabbing the set of books to get them checked out.

“Okay then, in that case, I suppose investigating this restaurant is the best place to start,” Ashley declared. “Although, if they know what you look like in your mundane state, then maybe I should take a look myself?”

Oh right.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned they didn't see me untransform before I left. But I don't know who else it could be. I won't stop you if you wanna follow me there though! Might need the back up..." Fable clarified.

“All right, if you’re determined to go, then I won’t try and stop you,” Ashley replied. “But I’m definitely tagging along. Whoever used that sand on you did so when you were out of the esper state, so someone knows that you and the Timekeeper are one and the same, and if that person really does work at Dante’s, then you should have someone there to watch your back.”

With their mind made up, they set off.

“Come again!” Torvald waved to his departing customers before turning to someone at the front counter. “How about you sir? Have you found a book to quench your thirst for knowledge?”

Sitting in front of the counter was a large man with a floating grace to him. He almost seemed to hover on the stool he was sitting on, and his wig swayed just a bit too much with every bob of his head. He was reading a book on poltergeists and had a few more books picked out on urban disasters and haunted business establishments. ”Oh you bet!” The unusual character said. ”I think I’ll take all of these.” While Torvald punched the books into his register, the eccentric man pointed at the GEMINI esper’s backs and jerked his hand back. ”Those kids are pretty cute. A shame none of them stay that way.” His rubber lips curled into a smile.

It's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing. flowers are blooming. on days like these kids like Mary...... should be in school. But Mary was not enrolled in a public school. Zir tuition started and ended at odd hours and odd days. Sometimes ze would spend all day Sunday bouncing from one teacher to the next, and other times ze would have an entire Wednesday blocked off just for zerself. It all depended on what zer parents wanted for zer.

And that's how Cthulhya the portal witch was able to investigate some back allies on a school day.

As for the why, well, why not? Pax Septimus was peppered with abandoned warehouses that made excellent hideouts. Shimr was always lit up with requests to exterminate goblins, cultists, or other such paranormal threats. Monster locations were worth money, and both GEMINI and Maverick paid a premium for them.

But Mary wasn’t the only one walking around back here. A purple haired girl surrounded with butterflies peaked out from behind a wall. ”Well hello there little girl. What might you-”

"Cthulhya is actually a demi-boy, and uses ze and zir pronouns. At least on days where ze dresses in purple." Danny inhaled, or at least it sounded like he did. "I apologize for cutting you off! You were saying?"

Sharr hummed, but kept her smile up. ”Right, of course.” she placed her hands on her hips. ”Just so happens I have the power to make sure something like that never happens again.”

“What do you mean?” Mary inquired.

”Interested? I’m an artificer by trade, and I can make adjustments to magical equipment like your grimoire.” She pointed at her. ”My services do cost a fair bit, but I’m sure you’ll find them affordable. I could add any feature you like. Maybe you’re not happy with your outfit? You can’t seem to decide what you are, but I could make it so that you could be whatever you wished with a snap of your fingers.”

“Really?” Mary started to get excited when the puppet popped up again.

"Now hold on a second! This almost sounds too good to be true! Who are you even?"

”Oh, did I forget to introduce myself?” The lavender haired girl stepped out from behind the wall and placed her hands on her hips. ”I’m Sharr Webber, an artificer for GEMINI. Long story short, I’ve escaped my captor and am going to join up with GEMINI’s PAx Septimus branch shortly. But I’m not against taking requests for freelancers.”

“So I can just contact you on Shimr if I want to make an appointment?”

”Well, I’m not really supposed to help just anyone, and I don’t presently have an account of my own. But I suppose once I get settle in, you can shoot me a private message.” Mary seemed to consider the offer, but Sharr had one last thing to add. ”Does Monarch Artificing sound like a nice name for a glamor shop?”

“Um, wha?”

---

Fritzi was in her office, which wasn’t an uncommon place to find her She was pushing papers around on her desk. Normally she would delegate this to someone else, but the only person wshe trusted to do it right wasn’t available. Everything her agents did needed to be well documented. On top of that, she was also head of GEMINI’s research. Everything pertaining to the Holy Diver and the mysterious “Hand” group wound up on her desk. She had no secretary. The closest thing she had to that right now was a chime that let her know when someone had entered the premises. And sure enough, that chime sounded. It wasn’t a polite sound either. It was course, and never let her know who was coming into her office. With a sigh, she adjusted her coat and waited for them to walk through the door. But she would hear them before she could see them.

”It’s just me!” Before long, Binky walked past the threshold of the door and saluted Fritzi. She still looked a little banged up, but the swelling had gone down, and she just had a few bandages on the bottom of her chin. ”It kind of hurts to talk, but I think I can return to service.”

"Cereza and Cerise were able to patch you up pretty good then?" Fritzi was referring to two GEMINI espers outside of the Pax Septimus branch. They had fought together in the past, but their stations had been shifted around quite a bit. Fritzi and MBinky became researchers while Cereza and Cerise supported GEMINI efforts by managing equipment distribution. They were also revered healers, not that melodies were especially effective on humans.

”The real reason they wanted to see us was because top brass decided to give us a little extra help. Apparently they didn’t realize just how bad things were here.”

"Why am I not surprised." She placed her hands together. "Let me guess, we got access to assist glamors finally?"

”I’ve been putting through requests since we arrived here.” Binky smiled. ”I don’t know if it was the growing vampire problem, Pac-A-Fist’s capture, or what, but they decided to listen. The lab is all fitted up with them so we can begin distribution among the agents as soon as possible.”

"And I would have been content just getting my secretary back."

---

‘Why is it always so hot?’

The person speaking was someone dressed up as a witch. A cat witch. Only they weren’t really dressed up as a witch. They were wearing their hat, but their robe had been cast over a nearby chair. This left them in their underwear, which was probably only a sensible option if you were working over a giant cauldron and weren’t expecting any customers. There was nothing to sell yet, and there was a closed sign on the door.

After hearing about Pac-A-Fist’s disappearance, Brittany Todd decided to fly to Pax Septimus as fast as she could to capitalize on what she suspected would be a monster hunting hot spot. Nobody just kidnaps the number one freelancer’s girlfriend and expects him to take it laying down. No, there would be more espers. Freelancers galore, and she didn’t doubt that GEMINI and Maverick Alternative would be trying to get on the Bate’s good side either. But the smartest people in this situation didn’t aim for being the one hero standing above all the losers, they aimed to profit off the lot of them.

‘There’s a lot of mana here. Two Izu souls have already appeared on my cauldron. ’ It was going to be a good place for business. Even if she didn’t sell them all, Pax Septimus was the perfect place for brewing assist glamors. She couldn’t help but smile thinking about the immense amount of wealth she was going to acquire. It would be simply-

The front door swung open, and Elroy stepped in. “Bikini Cat?”

‘Kiyah!’ Brittany hugged her ladle against her chest. ‘What are you doing in here myshopisnotopenyeatyouneedtogetoutofhererightnow!’ She inhaled. ‘And this is not a bikini!”

“... Lingerie Cat?”

Brittany blinked. ‘Im, sorry. I was just startled. You’re right. This is a bikini. Definitely not underwear. Nope.” She lowered her ladle back into the cauldron. ‘The door does say closed for a reason. I have nothing to sell presently. But um, you’re Elroy right?”

“All day every day!”

”Good good! You’re actually the main reason I’m here!” She smiled. ”I heard what happened to Patricia, and I just knew-”

Elroy squinted his eyes. “You gettin’ rich off my suffering?”

”N-no! What gave you that idea? God, that’s horrible!” Brittany blushed, but it wasn’t because she felt exposed. Well, not because of her current outfit. ”I mean I am here to run a business, but I’m not doing anything more than providing a service! Uhhh! Do you know what assist glamorous are?”

Elroy didn’t say anything. Asking the number one freelancer if they knew what assist glamorous were was like asking an esper if they knew what a monster was. They were special glamorous that acted as companions to an esper’s grimoire and did not have to be attached directly to it. The caveat was that these special glamors did need to be “tuned” to a grimoire to work, and needed a bit of help to do anything. As an example, Elroy had a glamor that let him use an arcane artifact that Pac-A-Fist made for him. But the glamor was just there to help facilitate his ability to use magic that didn’t belong to him. Others gave espers the ability to keep mundane items on their esper and mundane form, and even trade them between the two. But again, those items had to be acquired elsewhere and were not granted by the glamor itself.

”...Well I make those! And if you come back tomorrow, I’ll have some wares out!”

With a shrug, Elroy grabbed a hold of the door knob. “ I’ll tell the others you’re here. Thought you were a monster, sorry for barging in.”

Brittany nodded, and Elroy closed the door. As awkward as that exchange was, she was just happy that Regina wasn’t with him. It was a shame he was so blue, but that made sense considering what had happened. But none of that mattered! Elroy was going to personally promote her shop! ‘Grand Opening of Brittany’s Boutique! Here we come!’

It took some doing. Jacqueline may have requested the blood mage’s assistance back at the assault on Justin’s mansion, but the tech wasn’t there to facilitate the request. Lada’s limited casting range and the lack of glamors to facilitate such a boon made attempting a blood based buff at the time unviable. Especially since the operation demanded success and allowing a former hostile that Jacky had personally hurt was seen as unwise by some. But things were different today. There were no mission parameters to contend with, and they could converse with Lada in a non-hostile environment. Even Better, Binky was back on duty. Fritzi would never humor such a request with her schedule, but now most of that was Binky’s problem, as was taking Jacqueline to see Lada.

The shipping elevator made its slow descent into the earth. The old reclaimed lab in Pax Septimus was near their headquarters, but was separated into an entirely different facility. Jacky hadn’t been told much about the place, but that was par the course for GEMINI. Everyone was on a need to know basis, and the only thing Jacqueline needed to know was where Lada was being held.

”Do you get tired of people telling you how tenacious you are?” Binky was wearing a lab coat with some GEMINI patches on it. It was similar to what Fritzi wore.

Jacqueline, on the other hand, was in one of her business suits. At Binky’s question, she chuckled. “No, I’m not the type to let that kind of passive-aggressive criticism get to me,” she retorted dryly.

”It’s not criticism!” Binky flailed her hands. ”I mean, some may view it as a negative, sure. But not me!”

Jacqueline smirked. “Don’t worry about it, I’d take it as a compliment even and especially if it weren’t meant that way. Still…thanks, darling,” she winked. After that brief bout of unprofessionalism, and flustering Binky, she leaned back against an elevator wall, and let the other woman redirect the conversation to the matter at hand.

”Right, better move on before you become Fritzi MK II.” With a cough, Binky regained her composure before explaining the situation. ”Lada’s arrangements have improved a bit since you showed her the butt of your war pick, but I wouldn’t put it past her to show you some hostility. She’s been moved into a visiting cell where you can communicate with each other. If you can convince her to bestow a blessing on you, we can move you two into a lab and more closely monitor what she’s doing. If everything goes well, you’ll be able to use her power in combat.” With a sigh, Binky shoved her hands into her pockets. ”Su wanted to come down here with you. I didn’t tell her anything, but she figured it out pretty quickly. She made me promise to make sure nothing bad happened. If you decide that this isn’t worth the risk or Lada’s too stubborn, I can take you back up.”

Jacqueline nodded along to the explanation, only half-listening. “Mmhm, got it,” she assured. “Really, I don’t know what you all are so worried about when she’s under this kind of security…”

”True, but in order for this to work, she’s going to have to cast her magic on you. We’ve been able to keep her away from magic circles for the time being, but you’ll more or less be at her mercy if the two of you decide to go through with this. I’d rather be too cautious than not cautious enough.” The elevator stopped with a rumble, and a pair of double doors opened up. Beyond them was an empty loading bay, and beyond that were the labs. Somewhere in that network of plexiglass shields and labcoats was what Jacqueline sought. Binky turned to look at her. ”Any questions? Got a strategy in mind? I don’t know many espers that would willingly subject themselves to a dark blessing. I’m, admittedly, kind of out of my element here.”

“No questions,” she replied shortly. When asked about her strategy, she put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. “You mean for what I want out of this? Something like what Arzendale did for that esper lackey of his. It looked to work pretty well for them, so I figured why not, you know. Might as well fight fire with fire…or something,” she shrugged, clearly not all that concerned about the potential risks or the morality of what they were doing.

”I see… Then I’ll just take you to her. You may wish to enter the esper state to hide your identity. If you care about that.” Binky knew that she didn’t.

For all the build up the labs got, they didn’t look particularly interesting. Even though they were supposedly synthesizing mana for magical experiments, it just looked like a bunch of scientists playing with beakers. Some were wearing hazmat-like suits as they walked in and out of tented rooms.

Binky opened the door and waved Jacqueline inside. The setup was very similar to a crime drama. There was a plexiglass-like barrier that split a countertop down the center. There was a phone in both halves of the room, but there was no way to dial anyone. Binky waited at the doorway while some armed guards were positioned on Lada’s side of the room. The level of security probably seemed excessive to Jacqueline, but not a surprise. Lada herself looked like she was doing pretty good. She was still bandaged all over, but there was a bit more luster to her appearance. Her hair was straight instead of messy. She was actually wearing a dress. Though she looked just as disgruntled as the last time they saw each other. Though that could have easily been attributed to a “resting bitch face” among other things. She picked up the phone on her side of the glass as soon as Jacqueline did the same.

”You are interested in blood magic.” Her russian accent was thick, but not to the point where Lada was hard to understand ”What do you want?”

Jacqueline sat down, polite smile in place. “Yes, that’s right,” she answered. “What I’d want, huh…Well, there was this vampire who used his blood magic on an esper on one of our missions. I’ve been curious if you could do something similar. Use your magic to give me a defensive boost, maybe a healing option in a pinch?” She shrugged. “I obviously don’t know what goes into this, so you’ll have to tell me if it can even work or not, then we can test it for the fine-tuning.” She paused for a moment. “If you agree to, of course.”

And it wasn’t like there was much reason not to. Jacqueline hadn’t been filled in on all the details, but she understood that Lada knew helping her would further benefit her in some way. ”Blood can heal. Blood can protect. You remember the fight, no? Can do, maybe.” She rubbed her chin. ”Why turn to me? Healing and protecting magic is not rare. Other ways to go about it.”

“That’s true,” Jacqueline hummed. “Some of it is a personal interest on my part, I guess…But also, there should be benefits to blood magic. Which you should know better than I. So if there are things that only you can do, feel free to clue me in.”

”The benefit is how easy it is to use with access to sacrifices. Every living creature has blood, no? All that matter anyway. ” Lada gave the agent a sideways glance. ”Jean has been obsessed with you since you fought.” She scoffed and shook her head. ”On and on about how your fight was interrupted by all the distractions. He says that we will not have a child, but he will have rematch one day. No magic, no distractions, just a duel.” Her hand caressed the side of her stomach. ”I think I can make spell that you like. If you agree to give Jean rematch, I make you spell. Deal?“

“Easy power…” It was still all too easy to remember how Arzendale had done it. A bunch of hostages, slaughtered for his magic. “It’s fine as long as it’s just me giving you some of my blood, or you getting incidental bodies like last time,” this referring to when Lada had exsanguinated recently dead Cobra gangers. “But just so we’re clear, I’m never going after someone just for this.” That much was probably obvious, but at the very least, Jacqueline wanted to make it clear that even though she, unlike pretty much any other Gemini agent, was interested in blood magic, she wouldn’t be going out of line with it.

Lada stared back at Jacqueline. Her scowl hadn’t deepened at all, but it hadn’t gone away either. ”And they say Russians are dramatic.” She waved her hand at the esper. ”I do not care if the blood comes from you, a cow, or a child. If it did not come from Jean I will help you. You must honor my request, that is all I want.”

Jacqueline then considered Lada’s proposal. “Jean,” she blinked. “Rottweiler, huh. Strange request, but sure,” she agreed easily. “He better be fine with me transforming, though, or it won’t be much of a fight,” she commented. She stood up, and stretched. She still held onto the receiver so Lada could hear the rest, but turned to Binky for her next idea. “Maybe give him access to some non-lethal gear if he wants it? Since I’m gonna go at him with Havoc.”

Before Binky could offer any input, Lada stood up. ”I was not clear.” She leaned on the counter. ”Jean is aware you are no match for him now. But he wants you to beat him one day. He has been looking for successor and would train you. He was impressed with how you handled weapon, but knew you would benefit from guidance in hand-to-hand combat.” She squinted her eyes. ”I do not understand that man, but that was what he wants.”

The green haired doctor placed a hand on her hip. ”Why did you say he wanted a duel first?”

”That how he worded it to me. He wanted a duel, after she was ready.” Lada avoided looking at anyone while she spoke.

Lada’s clarification started a bark of surprised laughter from Jacqueline. “Wow, you were saying about dramatic?”

”My Jean is not Russian. For better or for worse.”

Jacqueline shook her head, bemused. “Alright, I’ll let him train me till I can beat him. Deal,” she grinned, and would have offered a palm to shake if it weren’t for the plexiglass separating them.

Just hours ago, the weather channel had announced an unusual sunny week for Pax Septimus. An hour ago they changed that forecast for partial clouds today and scattered showers for the rest of the week. A half hour ago there were reports that a tropical storm would cause torrential downpour for hours at a time, and might cause flooding in some areas. Now Pax Harbor was watching for tornados, and it seemed like a pretty big one was forming.

But this was no ordinary wind storm.

Oros waited on the top of Axis Mundi Enterprises, the tallest building in Pax Septimus. While most buildings were about five stories tall, and a few were as high as fifty stories, Axis Mundi was over a hundred stories. She could get a view of just about every other part of the massive city. Though the overcast skies and distant tornado hampered visibility. But good visibility wasn't essential for what was coming. The cultist had opened up a lawn chair and sat in it. Cold lemonade in one hand and her sword in the other.

”Oros?” Sharr approached the relaxing esper. ”It's going to arrive shortly, isn't it?”

”Why do you think I'm drinking this? It's going to turn into a bloody Mary later.” She slurped her drink. ”The new glamors work great, by the way. I'm glad the Grand Magistrate got them done in time.”

”You're welcome?” The purple haired girl tipped her head. ”Your backup was quite old. You're fortunate I'm so good at my job.”

”Fortune implies I didn't seek you out for that purpose.” Oros stood up and set what was left of her drink in her seat. ”Guess this is going to be goodbye for a time?”

”For a time.” Sharr smiled. ”But you convinced that doctor to come help you out, right?”

”It's not the same though.” Oros ran for the building's edge. ”But that's enough foreshadowing for now. we've got places to be!”

---

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End@Ponn@FamishedPants}

"Hello agents! Hopefully you've read all the documentation we have on the Holy Diver, because it's finally going to land. Its first spell is going to be a tide of blood. Estimates place the Diver right in front of the historic district, so if you could head to the roof of Precinct #11 that would be swell! Oh, and I doubt this will be a surprise to anyone, but monster activity has really ramped up recently. We expect them to come out in droves while we try and stop this thing. Binky and I will be en route to your location, but we may be a bit late."

”Fritzi! The bullets do nothing! Help!”

"That's my cue! Here's to a successful operation!"

Such a standard message from Fritzi, yet this was probably going to be their greatest foe yet. Regardless of where the Gemini espers stood, they would notice the rain had started to pick up. In addition to that, a dark shape was forming in the clouds.

---

_{@The World}

Shimer was lit up with reports on the Holy Diver. Everything from estimated arrival times to possible locations. Among all this was a few shit posts about a rare world boss spawning that dropped rare loot. But none of that was an issue for Marrie at the moment. While rain fell on Pax Septimus, her zombie companion had decided to make a run for it.

It had been weeks since Stacy had a head, and it seemed that she was done bumbling around Marrie's home waiting for something to happen. But maybe not. It wasn't like Stacy made a habit of communicating her desires, as she had no head and couldn't read text messages. Moreover, it seemed like something in this aproaching storm was calling her.

"Here?"

"Yes, you dumbass. Or what, you don't want me to?"

"...I-It's not like that. It's just that now simply isn't the ideal time to-"

"I haven't seen your face in years, Sammy! You're beginning to sound different, too."

"H-huh? What's that mean?"

"It means I miss you and it has been way too long. I don't remember you being such a stick in the mud, at least not this much."

"...Are you forgetting a lot of things? Do you remember what you ate this morning or for lunch?"

"I don't have no stinking diagnosable problem with my memories if that's what you're trying to see! I'm pretty healthy for my age, even. Or so the expensive doctors I have say. Or maybe they said otherwise and I forgot? How many times have I called you today?"

"...just the once. And, okay, I'll take their word for it. I'm glad to hear that."

"And I'm glad to hear you get the stick halfway out of your ass. I was almost worried you were going to take that seriously."

"..."

"Anyhoo, I'm not sure you love me anymore. I think I need some concrete evidence. And no, throwing the unwanted inheritance at me does not count. Ok, well maybe it does a little bit, but it's the privilege of the rich to be greedy, so I will be. Been speaking so much about forgetting things already but surely you haven't forgotten what I taught you? The best way to let someone know you love them is....?"

"Huh? What prompted that reaction? O-of course I...love you."

"...is to tell them! But since you did, I'll let that slide. Could've been quicker with it, though."

"I apologize, it's just... different when you're asked to say it."

"How so? You weren't really this stingy with the word back when we used to live together. Maybe say it more often and I won't have to force you."

"...W-well, I'm a grown man and not some affectionate kid like I used to be..."

"Affectionate? Ha! It's even funnier when you roll with it. Guess the stick came all the way out, huh? If it's good enough to keep, I'd wash it before using it."

"...Thank you for the advice. And... I have got to get going. But how about this? Things are a bit chaotic currently, but with any luck they will settle down soon and we can have a nice dinner or something together. It really has been too long, I agree."

"Music to my ears! As vague as that timeframe is, I'm still a bit upset, but you can make it up to me by bringing some of your work buddies along whenever it comes to be."

"...Buddies? Well, I suppose I do have a few..."

"Suppose!?"

"It's complicated, sorry. But I will invite them and see how things go, is that good?"

"Not really, but beggars can't be choosers.... which doesn't apply to me at all. I'm choosing! Or we are going to need a serious discussion if you can't at least hire some people to pretend to be friends for the night. That's all I'm going to say about this and, for now, I'll let you go, Sammy."

"...I'm already searching listings for friends to get an idea on pricing, I'll let you know what comes of it. I'll speak to you later."

After some laughter and a playful, "Dumbass", his grandmother hung up the phone, leaving him to the silent atmosphere that enveloped his apartment.

...

...

...



"Hello agents! Hopefully you've read all the documentation we have on the Holy Diver, because it's finally going to land. Its first spell is going to be a tide of blood. Estimates place the Diver right in front of the historic district, so if you could head to the roof of Precinct #11 that would be swell! Oh, and I doubt this will be a surprise to anyone, but monster activity has really ramped up recently. We expect them to come out in droves while we try and stop this thing. Binky and I will be en route to your location, but we may be a bit late."

Hidden beneath an umbrella, Samuel watched the stormy sky with a tense expression as he walked, not far from the precinct. He had already done his research and the sheer chaos that this thing was about to inflict upon them almost didn't seem real, considering how calm it had been today so far. As the various afflictions came to mind, he pictured how the scene might look not long from now.

Strange was one way to describe it. A bloody landscape painted with frogs, flies, locusts, and magical darkness that deprived one of even seeing the calamity before them. He had come to feel a connection to darkness through his abilities, but it wasn't perfect. A fact he lamented silently.

But that wasn't all. Never minding the special attributes each "plague" also seemed to have, there was the matter of monsters. How numerous would they be? How strong might they be? How big might they be? G.E.M.I.N.I had only just established their foothold in Pax Septimus only a short while ago. They weren't countless bodies to throw at these beasts nor the Holy Diver. Could they handle this?

Well, I suppose that if we can... then beating that nun... 'Blackout', if that's who she really is... I don't think it would seem quite so far-fetched.

With his free hand, he rubbed around his wrist. It technically wasn't the same one that had been severed, but it always seemed to throb in pain when he remembered his close call back at the mansion. Despite this, what really 'pained' him was the feelings of humiliation and despair that accompanied it.

Hmm... no, I can't afford to be selfish right now. Not in front of the newly recruited.

Samuel exhaled and purged most of his distracting thoughts to come to his mind as he entered the precinct. How could he expect Ashley or even their newest member to remain calm if someone like him showed signs of distress? He, of course, couldn't. He had made it a point to always appear composed even in dire situations, after all. If that had been working, then it would likely be no different to them than if Fritzi had suddenly started sweating something to him. And if someone like her showed such concern...

”Fritzi! The bullets do nothing! Help!”

"That's my cue! Here's to a successful operation!"

The end of the message she had just sent repeated in his mind. He couldn't complete the former thought.

It's...odd but I can't even honestly imagine her losing her composure like that. Suppose that means she's a lot better at it than I am. Or she's just insane. She did see it fit to give me that ball for losing...

Well, needless to say, he needed to at least appear composed, even if the situation called for a spare change of pants and a prompt cleanup of spontaneously-generated bricks that led to such a need. And so, he put on a work face and made his way to the top of the precinct, where he would await the beginning of the plagues and the start of what was sure to be the most intense battle of his life up to date.

"Should make sure Eddy doesn't hijack the post banner."
Current Location: Heading to Precinct #11

"...To a successful operation. Right."

Finn would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, facing something like this. The Crab Rave was one thing, but to have a false godhead able to perform the Ten Plagues of Egypt, as if the heavens decided to bring forth judgement to his home, wasn't exactly something he can fry up alone. And yet, the events beforehand were still fresh in his mind. Ashley and him had to hold off investigating Dante's until they can defeat or drive the Holy Diver off. The boy felt a bit hesitant to be there. What if he screwed up again? What if they failed, because of his foolishness? Maybe he was overthinking again, but an event like this had much more weight than Justin.

The final plague would cause a genocide. Worser still, this meant his own sister was in danger to this...thing.

No. He had to be there. Stoping that fanged bastard is one thing, but this was personal. To many, he'd guess.

The rain began to pick up further once Fritzi's message concluded. The Timekeeper didn't have an umbrella unfortunately, so he simply pulled his hood over his head as he hurried to the precinct. His new puppet would have to stay hidden in his pocket for a little bit longer. Mary had entrusted Eddy to him for extra help in this fight, and he got some new equipment in case he was forced into a corner. All else fails, shoot 'em in the head, right? Maybe this time, things will be different. And it'd be fucking sick if he managed to actually kill this Behemoth too!

Don't get your hopes up.

The Timekeeper hurried inside the building and up to the rooftop to find someone else arrived early. His eyebrows rose. "Oh, hey Mr. Howard!" Despite the grim setting they were in or the fact that the kid was soaked at that point, the robotic esper politely smiled at him. Finn walked up next to him rather quickly, but that certainly isn't cause he saw that he had an umbrella. "Not sure how effective I'll be, but I'll back you guys up the best I can."

---

“Is that it?” Adam Avenir asked, pointing to the green marble-size sphere.

“Uh huh,” Ashley confirmed as she continued to pack several sets of cloths and her most important belongings into a small collection of suitcases and travel bags. The G.E.M.I.N.I. people would be stopping by to pick her up the following day, and she wanted to make sure everything was ready by the time she went to bed.

“Wow…” the thirteen-year-old boy marveled as he picked the item up to get a closer look at its shimmering interior. “And you have no idea who gave it to you?”

“Nope,” his big sister replied. “It was in an unmarked box, sitting on the table along with the rest of my graduation presents.”

Although nearly everyone’s recollections on what, exactly, had transpired during the graduation party were rather hazy, Ashley’s brother, by virtue of being the closest to her, had seen and remembered everything. Ashley had sworn him to secrecy, of course, and Adam had been only too happy to keep the knowledge to himself as a special secret between siblings, something which only served to further strengthen the pair’s already inseparable bond.

“That’s awesome!” Adam declared. “Like, whoever made this thing must have been searching for just the right person to have it, and after seeing how much you love to help people, they chose you! This is, like, your very own origin story!”

“Maybe…” Ashley conceded with a slight blush.

“Come on, show me how it works again!” Adam begged his sister with an eager grin as he held the tiny orb out to her. “Pleeease?”

“All right, all right,” Ashley told him with a giggle. “Just give me a moment,” she added, taking the offered sphere and stepping back into the empty center of her room. Closing her eyes for a moment, there was a bright green flash, and then…

“So cool!” Adam cheered as he took in his sister’s transformed appearance. “You look like you just stepped out of a video game, or maybe a sci-fi movie! And with all those cool powers you have, you could totally be a superhero!”

By this point, Ashley’s cheeks had turned a bright crimson from all the hero worship, but she was still smiling nonetheless. “Well, now that I’m joining G.E.M.I.N.I., I’ll be able to learn how to use my powers to help people, so I suppose that’s sort of like being a superhero,” she reflected. “Although I doubt it’ll be anywhere near as glamorous as what you see in the movies,” she added.

“Still, if you’re gonna be a superhero, you gotta have a super awesome codename!” Adam insisted. “How about Future Girl?!”

“I’m not really a fan of that…” Ashley replied with a frown.

“Then what about Captain Future?!”

“I think that’s already been taken.”

“Tomorrow Lady?”

“Hmmm…” Ashley mused as she found her attention drawn to her brother’s t-shirt, which depicted the cast of his favorite comic series in vibrant colors, with the name “Knights of the Cosmos” boldly emblazoned above them. “How about… The Knight of Tomorrow?”

“Oh wow!” Adam exclaimed, his face lighting up with excitement. “That sounds great! You’re really good at this codename thing, sis!” he added with a grin. “But, then, you’re pretty amazing at everything!”

“And here I thought little brothers were supposed to annoy their big sisters,” Ashley teased as she wrapped Adam up in an affectionate hug. “Thanks Adam,” she whispered before placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “I’m really going to miss you.”

“Me too,” her brother replied as he returned the hug with interest. “You gotta promise you’ll tell me about all your cool adventures when you come home for Thanksgiving.”

“Okay,” she agreed, smiling down at him from an even greater height than usual, thanks to her taller esper form and its rather impractical footwear. “It’s a promise.”

---

Ashley couldn’t help but think of her brother as she made her way along the rainy streets to Precinct #11, her hood up and an umbrella in one hand. Although he was safe in Tomasville, the bond she shared with him naturally brought to mind the familial bonds shared by all the inhabitants of Pax Septimus, bonds that would be irrevocably shattered, should she and her teammates fail today. Dr. Moller had sent out one of her typical, unnaturally nonchalant, messages, informing the agents where to meet, and as Ashley replayed that message, a part of her wondered just how much of the doctor’s almost carefree overconfidence was actually genuine…

She always puts on such a brave facade, but…

Ashley shook her head. There was no sense questioning such things now, not when her team, her city, was depending on her to be at her absolute best. Entering the building in question, the young esper made her way to the roof, where she found two of her fellow agents had already arrived.

“Timekeeper, Silhouette,” she greeted with the best smile she could muster, given the circumstances.“It’s good to see you. So, um, have either of you given any thought as to how we might actually go about fighting this thing?”

---

Unlike some others, Jacqueline didn’t do have any special preparations she felt like doing for the upcoming fight. Didn’t call her parents, didn’t meet up with friends. She had begun that training with Rottweiler – Jean – as promised, but it’s not as if that counted for anything when they were against a monster.

A capital-m monster, actually. Jacqueline thought it was kind of early in her career to be facing down potentially world-ending threats.

Well, she wasn’t actually quite certain how extensive the scale of what this thing was gonna do was, but regardless, it was large enough to be difficult to imagine till she saw it go down. So, yeah, pretty fucking huge.

She made her way to the 11th precinct, all espered up, and saw several of her coworkers had arrived already. She didn’t even bother with an umbrella, and was already soaked. But compared to what’d come, who even cared? Torrential rain would be the least of any of their worries.

Jacqueline took in her fellow agents. Silhouette. Fable. Orion.

“Hey, you three,” she grinned at them. “Ready to take down the Holy Diver bastard?”