It's been hell tracking down information. Not even counting the Holy Diver on the horizon, which Marrie had no idea how she was going to handle, there were rumors that Justin was back in town. She'd seen some activity involving one of his silk businesses, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if he showed up again when such an existential threat was coming. To make matters worse, Stacy had gone off somewhere. Marrie hoped it was to find shelter, because "flesh-eating insects" and "flesh barely held together as a zombie" didn't go well together. Speaking of which, Marrie had invested in some kevlar and a clip-light, though perhaps a hazmat suit would have been smarter. She supposed she could just stay inside while the insects were around, but... She might not be able to live with herself if she just hid while normal people suffered. She did make sure to set up a message to her mom in case she didn't make it.

Right now her investigations led to conjecture, but she was going to investigate further. When the first "plague" came down, she'd be going over to look into what Justin was doing back in Pax.

The police station was busy on the inside. The hallways were all filled with personnel moving to and from rooms. Orders to evacuate the city due to unusual weather patterns didn't convince the population to evacuate. Most did not have the means to leave their homes or were concerned about what would happen to their homes. A wind storm might do some damage, but any number of criminals would jump at the opportunity to raid an empty home. The police force was stretched too thin to assist with evacuations, causing the general populace to stagnate. Once again, it would be up to Pax Septimus’s espers to contend with the Holy Diver.

But before Su contended with the Holy Diver, she needed to contend with Mika.

"The storm is big!" The teenage girl wasn’t her usual bubbly self. The lights flickered overhead and they might lose power any moment. But Su just flashed her a reassuring smile.

“Mommy take care of things soon. Her friends upstairs!” She pointed over her head.

"Even Jack-O-Line?" Mika curled her fingers together.

“And more!” She spread her arms so that Mika could hug her. Once Mika’s small hands curled around her body armor, she closed her arms around her child. The world around Su fell away as Mika’s embrace continued. She could feel her breathing, and was in tune enough with her heart beat to feel it through her kevlar. It was a bit faster than normal, and her grip on Su only became tighter as time went on. “Oh Mika. She looked down at her daughter. “I must go. I protect them so they protect you.” She moved her hands onto Mika’s shoulders and gently pushed her back.

The safest place for Mika was probably not the heart of the city. But the only people Su trusted with Mika were here in the police station. Just knowing she was nearby would make Su fight that much harder anyway. There was a non-esper GEMINI agent nearby to escort Mika to the underground lab, which would be a more secure location if they managed to lose the police station.

Once they were apart, Mika dried her eyes. She looked at her mother without saying a word. Su shot her a grin, patted her shoulder, and headed upstairs to join the others.

---

Mundane equipment wasn’t the most effective thing to use against behemoths, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, mounted machine guns would be useful VS whatever thralls decided to attack during the diver’s descent. Binky sat in the middle of a convoy headed towards the Diver’s drop zone. Meanwhile, Fritzi had entered the esper state and was using a dining room table to bat aside some wargs. They looked like wolves, only bigger and uglier.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round!" Fritzi sung as the table was stained with more and more blood. As cumbersome as the table looked, it looked like a formidable weapon in the hands of Vermillion Veronica.

Binky did her best to ignore Fritzi for the moment. This wasn’t even the real conflict.

But it would involve her shortly.

A giant fireball flew out of the darkness and smashed into the front-most armored truck, turning it into molten scrap. With a sigh, Binky put her head set back on. ”We might be a little late. Engage the Holy Diver at your discretion!”

---

Elroy marched out of The Great Escape with a small army of espers behind him. His sister was to his right, and Cthulhya walked just behind the two. The Immortal Volcano’s heat was such that the rain didn’t bother him for long, and that wasn’t even considering the Ruinous Meteor’s presence beside him.

“Unfortunate Gear Boy isn’t one of us anymore.” Elroy mused.

Regina snorted. “Who gives a shit about lover boy? We can can kick plenty of ass without that heart throb getting in the way!”

Danny shrugged. "He still hangs with us. And he’s got my brother to watch over him now. "

The group of espers stopped when a vehicle drove out of a side street and obstructed the path. It seemed to be from some landscaping company. Cthulhya raised an eyebrow. “Is someone cutting grass here?”

”Not quite.” A blond man dressed in white stepped out of the driver’s seat. He was holding a tiger plush in one of his hands. ”We thought you might want to warm up a bit before you fight the Diver.” Weretigers began to climb out of the nearby windows and drop onto the street.

Regina erupted into laughter. “You think I give a fuck about some furballs?”

”Maybe.” The man shrugged his shoulders. ”Though I know at least one tiger you won’t just brush off. Tony?”

That was when the largest weretiger anyone had ever seen burst out of a wall. Freelance espers were thrown about with a shower of brick and mortar. They had been ambushed, and needed to defend themselves.

---

GEMINI might have outgunned, but Maverick Alternative wasn’t going to stand aside while the Holy Diver cursed Pax Septimus. They just needed to keep their distance. Shouldn’t be too hard with such a massive target. Billy and Luna cruzed down the streets. It didn’t matter what was done to bar Billy’s path, a mecromancer’s ride was a hard thing to stop. Abandoned cars were sent rolling out of the way as Billy cleared a path for his gang of biker espers.

”I say I say, it’s a fine day to have the hood down!” The monstrous man laughed as rain pelted his mask. ”We’ll take to the roofs shortly. Just gotta find a good place to park.”

Luna pointed ahead. ”How about where those guys are parked?”

Sure enough, there were a few more bikers parked ahead of them. But one of the bikers pulled off their helmet and allowed their bright turquoise hair to flow down their back. The Mavericks slowed their approach as both gangs raised weapons at each other.

”You know.” Afterglow started. ”If you don’t want to press on any further, there’s no reason for us to fight.”

”And if we do?” Luna stepped off of her bike and aimed Pit Boss at the dark net espers.

”Then we’re going to get wet with a lot more than just rain.”

---

Sharr cracked her knuckles. ”Should we join in?”

Oros sighed. "Judging by the last few scenes, I don’t think we’ll get a chance. "

”And that is, why, in English?”

"She’s probably talking about me!"

Sharr and Oros turned their heads to see that they were not all alone on top of Axis Mundi Enterprises. Standing nearby was a blond woman wearing… Hands. Just hands as black as night with vibrantly colored nails. They seemed to be coming directly out of her back, but it was hard to tell. The amazing part was that she wasn’t overexposed anywhere. Her torso was sparsely covered, but rows and rows of hands locked together from her waist down to make a skirt that reached her ankles. There were also arms coming out of her back that reached out to nothing, almost looking like a pair of black wings.

Oros took a step in front of Sharr and pushed the pink haired girl behind herself. "Glex… I was wondering when you’d show that ugly mug of yours." Oros raised her sword.

"Ugly? Have you seen your sprite work?" Glex’s grin only widened as they spoke. "Like anyone would pick that on character select! "

"The Grand Magistrate-"

"The Programmers did what? " Even more hands came to Glex’s defense. "I know you’d just love to spend the next few rounds tossing banter around, but Holy Diver is going to spawn soon!" She closed her eyes. "Wanna see which player is stronger? It’s been a while since Aigorost and Glexaroth played a game together, we should probably have a fight right now!"

"Sharr." Oros kept her eyes on the newly arrived, but spoke to the girl behind herself. "It’s impossible to under buff me for this fight. Don’t save anything for later."

"We’re fighting then?" Two massive fists hovered over Glex’s shoulders. "Round one: Start!"

---

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

“I am!”

Su answered Jacqueline as she joined everyone on the roof. She didn’t have an umbrella, but she was using her shield as one. That was until she had gathered with the others. It would be a bit sad if they got taken out because Su had her shield pointed towards rainwater instead of projectiles. Besides, once the blood started to fall, they’d be glad the water had soaked into their clothes first.

And so they waited. Minutes ticked by like hours as the sky continued to darken. But it would not be the Holy Diver that showed up to greet the Gemini agents. It would be someone else.

Just across the street was aresidential building that towered over the police station. There was a long balcony that ran the length of the apartment complex. Though less interesting than the balcony itself was the people who were on it.

Justin Von Carnage being the most notable person there.

”Well look at the lot of you!” Justin waved his hand over the Gemini espers. His eyes were shut, but there was a crude smile on his face. ”I’d have loved to meet you all at my mansion, but Binky and Billy are horrible house guests. They just destroy everything, and I’m told they turned on each other after I departed. About what I expected from that rabble.”

“You!” Su pointed her gun at Justin.

”Not ‘just’ me, of course.” Justen extended his arms and put them around the two girls that were standing beside him. Betty stood to his right, and Pac-A-Fist stood to his left. They didn’t say anything and just glared back at the Gemini espers. But Finn could feel a bit more of that stare from Betty. ”A little bird told me that neither of them were going to make it here. You have no backup. It’s just going to be the lot of you, against me, my woman, and the Holy Diver. I don’t think your odds are very good.” His fingers curled around the girls hips as he pulled them closer. ”It’s not too late to change sides. These two certainly haven’t regretted it.”

And no one could be sure, but it seemed like some of the rain drops were turning red in color.

_{@The World}

Marrie was only one girl, but she was tech savvy enough to follow the trail that Justin's offshore silk plants had for her. The silk was primarily sold to a processing factory/dye house in the USA. From there, the dyed silk parts were stitched together in sweat shops to save costs by artisans before being sent out for distribution. The interesting part about this was that a single company called "Apex" handled the entire process and did not sell to most retailers. They produced apparel for high end shops that didn't demand large quantities or were too specialized to be mass produced. Despite this, it seemed that Apex was sending a tractor trailer filled with their clothes to Pax Septimus, despite there being no retailers there to sell them. Just the other day it was spotted being unloaded at an apartment complex right by the precinct #11 police station.

Which was where Marrie was now.

Maybe Marrie was in the streets, maybe she had entered the apartment complex, but she hadn't been spotted by anyone yet. Most were too concerned with the storm to pay a young woman much mind.

"God help us all."
Current Location: Precinct #11

One by one the rest of the agents arrived on the rooftop. The Timekeeper nodded to them in greeting, then turning his attention back into the sky. It probably wasn't a surprise Dr. Moller and Binky were going to be late. He could only hope they last until they arrive. Minutes gone by and no sign of their target so far. Uncontent with simply sitting there doing nothing, the boy let Eddy out of his pocket, resting him in his free hand.

Eddy tried to shake the rain dropplets off him, appearing unamused. "This Diver guy sure is taking his sweet time..." The puppet glanced around, then back at Fable. "Think we had time to get an umbrella?"

The boy in turn rose a brow at him. "What? Worried the blood's gonna leave a stain?" He asked him.

Eddy snorted. "Look at yourself, kid! I'm surprised you're not shortcircuiting with how drenched we got." He responded in a snicker. Fable sighed.

"We have other things to worry about, Ed. We wouldn't have time to run to a store that happened to sell umbrellas, much less one that hasn't scrammed cause of this shit. Once we're through here, I'll see about getting any blood off you, alright?" He reassured him, then going back to keeping an eye on the sky without another word. Yet his thoughts seemed to wander. Lydia's life was on the line here, as far as he knew, but he couldn't help worry about his parents too. Fable frowned. "I hope they're somewhere safe..." He muttered to no one. He'll have to come up with an excuse if his family was looking for him right now.

Eddy noticed the boy's change in mood, and with an empathic frown opened his mouth to offer some reassurances. But then something caught his eye across the street. The puppet scowled towards him. "We got company."

Finn's heart dropped once he looked up to who just so happened to drop by.

Justin was here.

Why?

Betty was here.

Why here?! Why NOW?!?

As if things were bad enough!

Finn couldn't help trembling under Betty's scornful glare. He couldn't help it, cause Baphomet wasn't the only demon he feared. It took a bit of will not to look back to the last time he tried to fight Betty, lest he be petrified. The other lady. She must be Pac-A-Fist. Don't tell me she got turned too...? Didn't Binky say espers can resist that brainwash crap?! God, whatever the case was, this only fueled his need, no, desire to bash that cocky grin of Justin's into the pavement. And oh, how his words gratted on the boy's ears. And how he held the two girls, victims close to him as if flaunting undeserved trophies.

He planned all of this.

He planned all of this!!!

Whatever fear that threatened to creep up on Finn faded in an instant. He stopped trembling. If he wasn't truely angry back then...

He was absolutely fucking livid now.

"You detestible son of a bitch, THEY'RE NOT YOURS!!" Finn barked back at Justin, as if Betty and Pac-A-Fist weren't even there. Archs of lighting began to crackle through his body in rage. "So this is it then?! You go into hiding like a pathetic coward until something capable of GENOCIDE rears it's ugly ass, then decide to pop up again, showing off your kidnapees in front of us as if you already WON?! AS IF, JACKASS! To kidnap an innocent girl, innocent PEOPLE is one thing, but her?!" He pointed to Pac-A-Fist, the shook his head in disgust. "You must really have a deathwish... But that's not all the shit you've pulled is there, you sick freak?! The renown from ripping your head off and mounting it on a fence, from behing a hero doesn't matter anymore! I'll kill you even if I have to turn this shithole city on it's head!!"

"We just need to hold out until the boss gets here, no doubt other espers are going to fight the Diver too! Divide the workload, make sure no one gets overwhelmed!" Eddy called out as he and Finn got into a battle-ready stance. And just in time too. The Diver's first spell was set in motion.

...Was that a hint of depravity in the young boy's furious eyes?

“So am I!” Ashely added once Breacher had responded to Leroux’s question, nodding to each of the newly arrived agents in turn.

As they waited for their foe to make its grand entrance, Ashley’s attention was drawn to their team’s youngest member, who had pulled what appeared to be a sentient puppet from his pocket and begun conversing with it. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it was still a rather charming sight nonetheless. “So, who’s your friend?” Ashly inquired with a smile. The boy barely had time to make a quick introduction, before the puppet noted that they weren’t alone…

Ashley gasped.

There, on a balcony opposite the precinct, was none other than Justin Von Carnage, flanked by two young women Ashley quickly recognized as Betty and Pac-a-Fist. How was this even possible, she wondered as she entered the esper state, her hand tightly gripping her instrument and her teeth clenched in a snarl of fury. After all this time, Justin had been right across the street?! Seriously?! Still, now was not the time to question or berate the capabilities of their information sources. Justin alone was bad enough, but he also had two hostages with him, innocent victims the Knight of Tomorrow couldn’t bring herself to harm, and, even worse, the Holy Diver would be arriving at any moment!

They had to act fast, but what to do? Any attack on Justin from this distance could easily be blocked by his “expendable” hostages, and there was precious little room on the balcony for a melee engagement, even if they could get over to it, to say nothing of how woefully underpowered they probably were against such a foe… Still, before Ashley could take even a single action, Timekeeper stepped forward to deliver an emotional and rage-filled rant, vowing to kill the vampire, no matter what it took. While Ashley had to admire the boy’s conviction, she was still more than a little concerned about his current mental state. After all, this wasn’t the time for recklessness, or to let one’s emotions get the better of them, something Eddy thankfully seemed to agree with.

“Eddy’s right!” Ashley spoke up over the torrential, and increasingly crimson, downpour. “We’re a team! If we work together, we can make sure neither Justin nor the Diver will live to harm another innocent ever again!”

---

Well. This was a problem. Marrie didn't expect Justin himself to show up, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he brought Pac with him, and she seemed to be under his control. Which meant talking things out with Justin wouldn't be possible. She had been waiting on the roof of the apartment building that Justin appeared on, hoping that someone high up would show themselves for her to get Justin's location from. This was a bit more than she bargained for, but...

Her train of thought was cut off by a screaming child. But hey, there was Orion over there. Did they let kids into G.E.M.I.N.I.? Not important. What was important was figuring out the exact angle for an attack. Then again, she didn't seem to have been noticed yet, so maybe... No, once the Diver got there, her chance would be gone. Maybe Justin was a first-born and all she had to do was keep him in Pax until it left? Too risky. Portal up and throw one at their feet? Maybe, but then it would be easy to follow through it. Blink down, grab Pac, blink up? The timing would have to be perfect. And ultimately, she believed she'd need all the mana she could get, so... Right as the first drop of blood landed on the roof, she jumped off, quiet as she could be as she feel down to the walkway, Instrument in hand and ready.

She tried to stab right into Justin's skull as she fell, and-
-upon failure/landing between him and Pac instantly went for slicing at his throat and pushing Pac away from him with her back as she did in a singular smooth motion. She'd turn and wrap Pac-A-Fist in her Instrument's chain as she grabbed her and ran off the balcony, making sure to land on the balcony below to avoid harming either of the girls.
-if she managed to skewer him with the tip of her Instrument on the fall, she'd blast a Damage X - Scatter into his brain through it before grabbing Pac and jumping off the balcony onto the Police Station's roof below.

---

Samuel had been eying the impending destruction in the sky when he noticed the newest member of G.E.M.I.N.I (at least that he was personally aware of) had arrived and approached him. In his current, fragile form, Samuel was able to offer the robotic boy a reassuring smile. "I'm confident that you'll play an imperative role in the events to come, as we all will in one way or another." He offered Fable his umbrella and when the boy presumably took it, he retrieved his mask and crushed the middle of it with his hand, prompting his transformation.

Sporting broader shoulders and a similar height to his own human form, it was clear the Silhouette that had emerged from the shadows that suddenly engulfed Samuel was different than the one from prior operations. Yet despite the shorter stature, the strain on one's mental wellbeing only seemed stronger.

"Thank you," he said in a multitude of voices as he took the umbrella back right before the Knight of Tomorrow joined them on the rooftop and prompted them with a rather simple, yet difficult question.

"Admittedly, my experience with beings of such scale is... nonexistent, thanks to that oversized crab appearing at an inopportune time. Perhaps I could've gleamed something useful in such an encounter... but I digress," Samuel rubbed his chin. "I'm sure an answer will come to light when our group is made whole and we can pool our thoughts together."

Not even a minute had passed before the rest of their squad had assembled, though things had unfortunately turned sour before any of them could start an honest discussion on how to deal with their main objective. Samuel didn't attempt to stop the young boy's outburst, but that was the only lenience he could yield to Fable right now. "Keep that fire in your chest, Agent Timekeeper, and wear the coldest expression you can. Denying him the outrage he wants will strike harder than any words."

Of course, Silhouette was more interested in him keeping a firm grip on his emotions so that he didn't compromise the mission. But having seen Arzendale's blatant depravity, Samuel could only imagine Justin as being just as petty. Not unlike a school bully given too much power, only they can change. I wouldn't expect much from a monster like him.

"Precisely," Silhouette loudly agreed with Ashley, striking an offensive stance and ignoring the crimson that started falling from on high. "Keep your composure, work together, and today will end with a past failure being rectified...?"

Completing his rousing words, Silhouette struggled to keep the confusion from what he was witnessing from invading his tone.

Some idle chatter passed between her coworkers while they waited. Meanwhile, Jacqueline just stretched, the feelings of boredom at nothing happening just then and the anticipatory tension that something would warring inside her.

Then, Justin made his appearance, with two brainwashed espers at his side. Jacqueline glanced at the two women, but disregarded them for the moment. “How nice of you to show up,” she snarked, vicious smile stretching her lips. She was looking forward to erasing that smug look from his face, and hoped that his confidence meant he didn’t have a plan to run with his tail between the legs like he had last time.

When Justin tried to have them back down, or join him, she laughed. “Does that ever work for you? Or do you just love the sound of your voice so damn much?!” Possibly, he was also stalling, maybe for the Diver to show up? Or to distract them, maybe. Jacqueline eyed their respective positions, the buildings, the distance apart them…It’d be best if they lured their opponents to where they all were; a fight on the precinct’s roof was better than on the residential building’s.

She was distracted from her contemplation by Fable’s outburst. The kid really was motivated to bring down this monster. “That’s the spirit!” she cheered Fable on. “Just don’t forget to put more into your bite than your bark,” she joked, clearly not concerned that the child-esper’s fighting capabilities would be lessened – unlike the other agents, who encouraged him to calm down.

Orion’s and Silhouette’s words had her shaking her head. “As long as we bring him down,” she huffed. Then, Jacqueline got ready as well, gripping Havoc more firmly. She moved and shifted, positioning herself as she felt was best. She was about to start a melody, when someone else appeared at their enemy’s position, attempting an ambush.

Heh. I don’t know who you are, but thanks. If Justin was taken by surprise by this more than they were, they’d have a very neat advantage for the start of this fight. “Guys, let’s make use of this,” she urged quietly.

---

---

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah! The end has come for sinners and sons! Ring the bell and paint thine doors, or into the altar sheathe thine swords!

Against the darkness that accompanied the Holy Diver’s advent, neither Fritzi nor Binky could see the monstrosity that lurked within, slinking over rooftops like a monstrous snake. But they were experienced Espers, and their sense for the supernatural warned them even more assuredly than the sudden loss of mana in the atmosphere around them.

Cataclysmic rituals, arcane and terrible, scored the blackened sky and revealed the silhouette of a thing with too many hands and too many eyes, lines of pure gold tracing its beautifully sinuous form. The sky would soon be blotted out by one behemoth, but another one, older still, reigned upon the skyscrapers, wielding a spear to break the world and a staff to remake the world. The intonations continued unabated and hymnic, resounding like the clarion of the apocalypse. And before the aces of GEMINI, concentric halos formed, resounding with the brilliance of daybreak.

The end was nigh, and against the beast that rattled the stars, it would take everything they had to survive.

…

And within the echoes of the Dawnraiser’s song, the sleepers woke once more. Following the oracles of the Morning, they found each other, opening up hidden cabinets, forgotten lockers, abandoned warehouses. Armed themselves with what lay within, armed themselves with an arsenal of weapons meant solely to inflict the worst damage they could. Chaos fomented suffering, and suffering birthed trauma, and trauma…

…became the most wonderful source of mana.

Under the omniscience of the all-seeing eyes of the Machine Child, the agents placed their cathode-tube masks, offered up their eyes, and proliferated into the chaotic mess that had become Pax Septimus. Stalking. Coordinating. Aiming. Assassinating. What killed Espers the most often were bullets, and in the chaos of the weretigers’ war, in the frenzy of the Mavericks’ death-race, in the hurricane of the GEMINIs’ spelldance, the willful puppets took their marks, stilled their hearts, and pulled the trigger.

Flesh rent and blood splattered within the millisecond. There was no need to aim for the head. A surprise attack would lead to a fatality even if the bullet itself wasn’t lethal.

As a matter of fact, Morning preferred that.

…

Yet at the pier, recording the sounds of the ocean, observing the detritus of the foul tide, the Bookman cared not for what laid behind. There would be accounting to be done at the end, and contracts to be written, annulled, fulfilled. Scarlet lapped at his leather loafers, his four horns tinged by the break of Dawn and the breath of the Diver.

He closed his book.

---

Justin first turned to “look” at Jacqueline, who managed to get her quip out while Finn was still brewing. ”I do not feel that those two outcomes are mutually exclusive, are they?” His grin was wide enough that the skin at the corner of his lips was starting to tear. ”These two ladies found my offer very convincing, and this one was as mouthy as you before she changed her mind.” Justin stroked Pac-A-Fist’s hair, but his eyes were on the gear boy that was shouting at him. He looked on with mild amusement as Finn vented at him. ”I would have been fine staying at my mansion and letting my minions take care of this. But your lot sacked it and I haven’t been able to find a buyer for what remains.” He slammed his palm on the railing. ”Taking it out of your flesh will be pittance, but I expect the process to be… therapeutic.” He leaned in to Betty and dragged his tongue against the side of her head. Her lips crooked into a smirk as the tip of his tongue wandered around her ear lobe.

There was no better time for Marrie to strike. She dove off the roof towards her target,

But she did not dive alone.

As soon as her feet left the edge of the roof, a hole opened up in the sky. For just a moment, GEMINI and Justin’s arena was bathed in sunlight. But that sunlight was soon obscured by a massive entity. The halo of light made its shape impossible to identify, but its silhouette was massive. Marrie descent could be measured in feet per second, the diver miles.

Marrie had thought things through. She was quiet, it looked like the right moment to strike. But then the apartment building betrayed her. The brick work seemed to come alive and shoved her off course. Not a harmful attack on its own, but she was going to miss the balcony and land on the pavement below. Then a gunshot rang out, and the building seemed to change its mind. Brick and mortar coalesced into a serpentine dragon just in time to catch the rooky esper.

The end of Su’s gun smoked.

Gunther peaked out from a wall.

”Well darn it!” The poltergeist grinned. ”Seems I was expected this time.”

There was hardly time for anything else. Something else was about to make landfall.



Pax Septimus roughly translates to “Peaceful Seventh.” Originally the city might have been named after the seventh heaven referenced in the Talmud: the place where the throne of god resides. Regardless of the case, god certainly wasn’t in Pax Septimus now.

The holy diver slowed their descent as they reached their destination. Everyone on the ground could feel a wind storm kick up as the air was displaced by the Diver’s sudden arrival. The espers and even Justin needed to brace for the mighty behemoth’s arrival.

Oros had described the Diver as looking like a christ figure, but it looked more like a cultist pretending to be a christ figure. An onyx robe hid onyx flesh, and the Diver’s eyes were covered by a crown of thorns that were wrapped around its head. It even held a coal colored cross, but it was not burdened by it. Rather than carrying it like it weighed as much as the sin of all mankind, he wielded it like a hammer, a tool to punish all the sinners in Pax Septimus and beyond.

By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hands I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.

— Exodus 7:17–18

Once the air settled again, the rain continued to fall from the sky. Only now it was bright crimson.

There would be no working taps in Pax Septimus.Its water supply clouded over red. The toilets, tubs, and sinksl filled with blood. Showerheads clogged with coagulating vermillion. The dead hadn’t even started to pile up and the city already smelled like a slaughter. No windshield wiper was enough to clean away all the red. The city was filled with screams, but the Diver was just getting started.

But the GEMINI espers could not reach the diver at this time. It was hovering a block or so over, and Justin was ready to push his attack.

Gunther’s souls fled to take residence in some cars parked on the street and elevated them up to the balcony. Justin, Betty, and Pac-A-Fist rode them like magic carpets to the other side.

Betty screamed Finn’s name as she made a bee line for the boy. Her opening move was almost generic at this point: a giant crescent slash that threatened Finn, Jacqueline, and Ashley by virtue of how large her sword was. Her body was radiating a black mist, tipping everyone off that she was casting a melody on herself.

Pac-A-Fist rode her car clockwise around the side of the building, to Gemini’s right flank. Joining her was a dumpster one of Gunther’s souls had taken control of. The lid flipped open and The espers were peppered by debris. Su put her shield in the way to keep the larger items away from her squad, but she could only do so much. A pak-man head started to grow in Pac-A-Fist’s palm. It grew to the size of a basketball before she threw it over Su’s head. It made digital om-nom sounds as it soared homing in on the espers as it flew.

While all that was going on, Justen stayed back. His closed eyes were turned towards Marrie, who was still on the dragon statue.

”You said you were only going to hunt me down if I hurt her. Didn’t you hear me?” With all the blood falling from the sky, almost everyone was coated in crimson. But not Justin. Instead, the blood seemed to swirl around him. There wasn’t a single speck of blood on him. ”I don’t mind your vain attempts to end me, but to stab me in the back? To go back on your word? At least have some nobility.” The blood raining down on Marrie suddenly stopped. It was coalescing into an array of bloody spikes. One by one, they started to fly towards Marrie's head.

At least Justin seemed occupied for the moment.

"Like you didn't have to sprint out of the rain, Bozo!!"
Current Location: Precinct #11
|Current Objectives:|
- Defeat the Holy Diver, hold out until help arrives!
- M̷̹͝ä̸̭́k̵̡̏e̴̖͑ ̸̟̇ţ̶͊h̸̟̓a̵͙͋ṭ̶̃ ̴̥̎b̷̳͒ả̴͓s̴̤̔t̷̬̑ả̵͇ṟ̴̕d̴̙̔ ̶͓̊p̷̻̓ã̷̮y̵̲̌.̷̣̽ Defeat Justin Von Carnage! Keep him separated from his thralls!
- Incapacitate Betty, or keep her busy! A̸n̷d̴ ̶m̶a̶y̶b̴e̶ ̵d̷o̵n̸'̸t̵ ̵n̵e̷a̵r̷l̶y̷ ̵d̴i̷e̵ ̷t̵h̶i̶s̸ ̵t̶i̷m̸e̸,̶ ̷I̴d̵i̸o̵t̷.̷
- Incapacitate Pac-A-Fist, or keep her busy!

The concern some of his fellow agents had would be sweet in different circumstances. But with everything Finn had to deal with throughout this whole incident, why wouldn't he get sick of it? Although, at Silhouette's words, his head tilted slightly towards his direction, and his murderous scowl reeled back into a still-murderous glare. He nodded. At Leroux's encouragement, he mirrored her grin. Though that soon dropped one he looked back to their adversaries.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Oh yeah. I'm gonna have fun making you bleed. The Timekeeper held himself back from speaking any further. But the look on his face said enough. If that bastard did anything else to her...

And then someone else attempted a sneak attack. Finn's eyes widened as he watched the third party, who he assumed was a freelancer, basically attempt to one-shot Justin. Whoever she was, kudos for the help! Unfortunately they also had help. The Stay Puff Marshmallow Ghost decided to appear too and help the trio across. The hell was his deal?

...Oh yeah. And there was the Holy Diver.

Like a condemned denizen of Paradiso, the Behemoth decended. It's first spell was in effect. Nothing Finn was concered about. The worst blood rain could do was give Justin some form of leverage. They had time, but they also had to be smart. It'd fucking suck if they were able to kill one and not have enough energy to kill the other. It was four against the six. Five against six if you count the Diver, but also five against seven if you count Eddy. But he didn't have time to waste thinking numbers.

"Spread out, MOVE!!" He barked out to the other agents. It was almost cute that Betty didn't forget her apparent grudge against Finn, but kind of predictable ain't it? Luckily the roof was spacious enough of a battlefield. He just needed to keep everyone separated, keep the field even. Justin was occupied with the freelancer, Pac-A-Fist and Gunther were trying to snipe from their side,

And Betty wanted him dead specifically. So why not take advantage of that?

She was about to cast a melody, it'd be too risky to get a first strike in. So Finn ducked under her sword, same as back then, and sped himself up. But this time, he wasn't aiming to charge at Betty. He spun on his heel and sprinted away from the edge of the roof, away from the black swordsman. "Catch me if you can, BROAD!!" The boy taunted her.

Ashley ground her teeth in utter fury as she watched Justin violate Betty’s dignity in a particularly disgusting manner, although her anger still paled in comparison to Fable’s manic rage. However, before any of the G.E.M.I.N.I. espers could make a move, Gale, of all people, dropped down from her hiding place on the roof above Justin and attempted to drive her instrument through the vampire’s head. Sadly, any chance of this sneak attack being successful was thwarted when the building itself seemed to come alive and fling her into the street. It was only thanks to Breacher’s quick thinking that the bluenette didn’t plummet to her death on the pavement below. The source of the building’s sudden mobility soon became apparent as Gunther poked his spectral head out of a wall, but even as he did so, something else chose that moment to make its appearance…

From a jagged hole rent in the roiling thunderheads it descended, a horrific monstrosity that almost made Ashley’s heart stop. For a moment, the Knight of Tomorrow simply stared up at the terrifying behemoth in stunned silence, even as a crimson torrent rained down upon her. This… This thing was enormous! How could they possibly defeat such a foe? Such thoughts raced through the young esper’s mind, but she knew they would have to. For the sake of everyone living in Pax Septimus, there could be no other option. Although it seemed there was a more immediate threat to deal with first…

Not content with his first trick, Gunther employed his bound spirits to levitate a trio of cars, upon which Justin and his two brainwashed minions rode to engage the G.E.M.I.N.I. espers in earnest. As a crazed Betty leapt upon them, screaming Fable’s name with unhinged ferocity, Ashley used the olympian physical abilities of her esper form to leap out of the arc of the deranged girl’s swing, as well as the flying pac-man projectile launched by Pac-a-Fist. With Fable seeming content to bait Betty, Ashley, wielding one of the only two ranged instruments among them, decided to focus on eliminating Justin. The vampire himself was currently focused on dealing with Gale, which gave the Knight of Tomorrow a small window of opportunity. With an array of glowing particles coalescing between the prongs of her techno-wand, Ashley fired a protective melody at Gale, followed by a bolt of arcane destruction at Justin, less than a second later. At the very least, this would save the bluenette’s life, and possibly allow her to make a second attempt on Justin’s.

---

Jacqueline just glared at Justin in disgust, all the more determined to kick in his teeth. That oozing villainous self-satisfaction…It was beyond grating. Just as she shifted to move and take advantage of that stranger’s ambush on Justin, the pesky Gunther intervened. Then, as if to stack the odds against them, the Diver appeared. She couldn’t immediately see what it looked like; just that it was fucking huge. Of course, it had appeared at the worst possible moment.

“Damn it,” she growled, as everything and everyone moved at once. She held her ground against the raging winds which had been produced by the sheer mass and speed of the Holy Diver’s advance. But for now, it was out of their reach.

All the more opportunity for them to deal with Justin first. The poltergeist conveniently brought all their enemies over via a possessed flying car. Jacqueline ducked Betty’s swing, then let her and Fable get tangled up. It was for the best if those two resolved whatever it was between them on their own.

She held Havoc in front of her, and channeled a melody into it. She moved straight in the way of Pac’s pacman shaped projectile, ready to cut it down. Provided that succeeded without issue, she’d go assist Breacher against Gunther and Pac-a-Fist.

---

---

Marrie hit the ground in a roll, managing to avoid taking too much damage from the fall, in part thanks to her Leitmotif and some practice. Still though, it was only a moment before Justin showed himself, prattling on about her keeping her word.

"You know, if you had shown up without her being brainwashed right next to you, I probably would've let you be and just dealt with the Diver." Marrie managed to say as she tried to dodge between the spikes. Keep it up, he can't have endless magic. And with any luck...
"Besides, it was Pac I was going for. A rescue attempt requires knowing where the one to be rescued is."

Her plan didn't turn out like she hoped, but she wasn't going to give up yet. To be honest, she only cared about Justin insofar as it related to Pac-A-Fist. She only really wanted to make up for her mistake, rather than complete some noble goal of defeating the villain. But let Justin assume whatever he wanted, as long as she kept him busy and made him waste his energy, that'd be good enough for now.

---

The surprise attack by the third party had, unfortunately, failed in unceremoniously ridding the world of the deplorable vampire, Justin. It did, however, mean that G.E.M.I.N.I had another friendly piece of the board, at least for now. But that was hardly a comfort when the Holy Diver itself took to the stage in swift movement Silhouette hadn't even considered the false god capable of.

How fast can it move!?

Silhouette struggled to maintain his footing on the rooftop when battered by the sudden gust the Diver had kicked up from its incredible descent, but pressed on, only to be soaked in blood from the now-tainted skies. The first plague had begun to pour, indicating Silhouette's remaining time had begun to count down. And while it was supposedly true that Oros mentioned Espers being immune to this plague, it was definitely true that Oros' word was about as trustworthy as Justin's as far as Silhouette was concerned.

...Not that trust is our current problem. Somehow, I don't think my mediocre Esper capabilities will be enough to penetrate whatever sort of defenses that collosus has.

The blood-soaked demonic Esper switched his attention off what he could see of the Holy Diver and onto Justin and the others.

We need to start with the weakest and move up. No point in considering how we'll deal with that thing if we end up dying to this crazed vampire, anyway. And to deal with Justin... we should rid ourselves of the other distractions....

In direct response to the charge made by Team Justin, everyone had suddenly began moving into position to deal with threats. Fable had narrowly avoided a large swing of Betty's weapon and was attempting to lure her away. Justin was currently occupied by the random Esper as well as Agent Orion, who had begun to open fire on him. Meanwhile, Silhouette used the cover Su was providing with her shield to avoid what he could of the trash being flung at them by the ghost, while Agent Leroux made to intercept Pac-A-Fist's attack. Silhouette retreated behind Leroux in order to not impede her attempt.

I would have preferred to assist our newest but... well, I can't help how things turned out. And... I suppose the older agents need to prove they are worth respecting every now and then.

"What an irritating apparition. And so very pathetic!" Silhouette focused for a second and in response, a whirling abyss appeared on the edge of the rooftop as close to the car as it could be. "I kindly implore you to cease to be, for the sake of people who still have lives left to lose."

The heavens wept blood, but the earth demanded more.

”Fable! Fight me! You coward! You coward!“

If anything, Betty had become even more frenzied since she last met Finn. But her single mindedness made her actions predictable. None of the other agents impeded Betty’s movements and she had no interest in fighting anyone other than Finn. His goal to draw Betty away was working. Finn was a speedy esper, but he needed every bit of that to stay ahead of Betty.

By the time they got in the middle of the roof, her melody activated. Black particles swarmed around her body. This was the second time Finn had seen her do this. She had cast a protecting melody on herself to absorb his attacks. But before he could think about what to do next…

This is what the great lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.

— Exodus 8:1–4

The diver raised its blood soaked cross in the air and waved it about. Joining the rain of blood were frogs. Hundreds of them. They fell from the sky and landed all over Pax Septimus. Most did not survive the trip. They hit the ground with a splat, leaking their corrosive bile onto whatever they hit. But other frogs got lucky. They came out of the gutters and the drains, invading homes en mass. Some screamed, some hid in their living room, but not the Gemini espers.

Fable and Betty were granted an audience of frogs. They climbed over the precinct wall and jumped towards them. Finn couldn’t run forever. Certainly not with so many frogs around. But Betty was still charging. He would need to think of something fast.

His allies were in trouble too.

While Ashly had jumped out of the way of Betty’s sword, she was not out of danger. Pac-A-Fist’s projectile had tracking capabilities and it wasn’t going to get juked by a single hop. It continued to make its digital “om-nom” sounds as it drew closer. But the only thing it got to taste was Jacqueline’s cold steel. It blew apart into pixels.

”Gunther? It’s raining frogs.”

”I can do something about that!”

The vehicles that Gunther’s spirits had picked up started to shift around. Two police cars flooded lengthwise under a van, which hovered between the police cars and a dumpster, while two other cars floated on either side of the dumpster, and a sport car floated above the entire mess. With a bit of imagination it looked like a giant robot. While Samuel did try to restrain one of the vehicles, it was too heavy. Even a considerably strong melody was only enough to restrain a human of average strength. Holding down a vehicle that weighed several tons was beyond the capabilities of his melody.

”Can’t say I relate. I was never alive to begin with.”

Pac-A-Fist climbed into the sports car while Gunther floated inside the robot’s chest. The tower of metal surged forward as Pac aimed a gun at the espers and fired. It looked like one of those light guns you’d find in an arcade, only it fired lazer beams.

Su did her best to protect her allies. But there was only so much surface area to her shield, and even that wasn’t going to stop the wall of cars from rolling towards them. Worse still was that the frogs were making their way towards these espers too. “Move!” was all Su said as she prepared her next melody.

The building across the street was also having a frog problem. Justin had jumped off of the vehicle he was riding and onto the stone dragon Su had made. Bloody projectiles descended on Marrie’s position. She was running out of room to maneuver. A single projectile struck her but it was absorbed by Ashley’s barrier. The blast from her wand smashed into Justin’s shield and opened a hole in it. But as it continued to rain blood, the hole grew smaller. He rotated the barrier so that the hole was facing away from both Ashley and Marrie.

”And I couldn’t care less about your goals. Brandish a knife in my presence and you’ll see my fangs!“

The blood barrier around Justin formed spikes as he surged towards Marrie. What few places Marrie had to jump to were covered in frogs. What would she do?

"Ribbit ribbit."
Current Location: Precinct #11

"Just ignore her kid, you can do this!" The only one to respond between the Timekeeper and his puppet was Eddy, and even then he too choose to focus more on their plan. Luckily Finn's idea to lead Betty to the center of the roof managed to work, even if it meant the other agents couldn't help him. Here he could understand why though, even if it's still a dumbshit move to face her by himself like last time. But unlike last time, whatever he learned there could give him a leverage here. Like with Betty's defensive melody. He intended to make her waste it.

And then there were frogs.

Damnit, that thing's faster than expected! Gotta hurry this up! The boy's head snapped around to see the second spell was set in motion. Frogs both dead and alive started to spawn from the woodwork, and apparently bloodthirsty. Hopscotch don't fail me now. Finn had to maneuver around his newfound audience as they jumped at him, cause he was not looking forward to seeing what their corrosive bile could do to his outer shell. Unfortunate still that his adversary was still charging at him.

Now, he did have an idea of how to take advantage of this. But it'd take precision, and more importantly, perfect timing.

"Ally-oop!" Swift as he could, the Timekeeper flung a bolt at the floor below Betty. For a moment she'd probably assume he missed or hesitated, but he fully intended to have her caught inbetween the corrosive explosions of nearby frogs. If not to knock her down a peg, then at least to continue stalling her. He just had to keep at it, keep moving.

Speed was one of his few virtues.

Let's hope it'll last.

Frogs were now falling from the roiling heavens along with the crimson rain, but Ashley was content to ignore them for the time being. The Knight of Tomorrow had Justin in her sights and a lack of focus could prove fatal, if not for herself, then for Gale, whom the vampire was currently closing in upon. Darn it! the high-tech heroine hissed as she watched Justin rotate his shield so that the rapidly shrinking opening her energy bolt had created was now facing away from them. With so much blood available to fuel his dark incantations, it seemed like it would be impossible for her to break through Justin’s defenses. Even if his spells were limited by his remaining mana, there was no telling how much of that the vampire had left, and time was clearly of the essence, something the cacophonic croaking of the surrounding frog swarm attested to.

Seeing that Gale seemed to be safe from ranged attacks for the moment, and not wanting to waste any more of her own mana than absolutely necessary, Ashley put her trust in the floaty bluenette’s ability to avoid Justin’s melee attacks and just focused on wearing down the vampire’s defenses as best as she could. To that end, the Knight of Tomorrow fired yet another glowing bolt of neon green energy at the vampire’s blood barrier. With luck, this continued bombardment would, at the very least, keep their foe’s attention divided so that Gale would be able to take advantage of any openings that might appear in Justin’s defenses. Meanwhile, Ashley’s own above-average defenses against chaos attacks should keep the corrosive frogs from harming her, at least for the time being. In any event, this was sure to be a challenging fight, and the high-tech heroine only hoped that her fellow agents were having a better time of things than she was…

---

Frogs already? The critters would go ignored, however, as Gunther assembled a bunch of cars into a heap; some sort of makeshift fortress, it looked like. You...you are an annoyance. Pac-a-Fist took potshots at them with her laser-gun, which she evaded as she best could. Jacqueline was quickly losing patience, however. She formed a melody on the tip of her finger, and aimed. “TAKE COVER!” she shouted at her allies, echoing Breacher’s urging for them to move. She had no idea if her attack would have devastating effects for her enemies, allies, or both. Or maybe Gunther would prove powerful enough to keep control of the cars even as they got shaken up. She was betting not though, because the coward was hiding. For all that he scorned the living, he was very much attached to his own un-life. Her beam fired, and connected to the sports car on top of the poltergeist's construction. Then, Jacqueline took her own advice, and dashed away.

---

---

Frogs were falling.

...

Frogs?

This would be interesting. She faced Justin as he rushed towards her, his spikes already impaling several of the falling frogs. She began to cast a melody. It was a stretch, and a risk, but it just might work. So she cast her melody, winds whipping into existence around her and throwing the falling blood and frogs off of her, some of which went towards Justin. As soon as a frog hit his barrier, she fired her Multi-melody's second phase, launching a beam at the vampire, hopefully through the small hole that the frog had made. And if not? Well, hitting the frog would work too.

---

I must be letting this affect me more than I should if I'm making mistakes like that...

Silhouette watched as his melody failed to do anything of value. But as frustrating as throwing away mana was, there was another matter to worry about: they were being 'blessed' with a large influx of caustic anura brutally descending from the heavens, and in what felt like no time at all. If only I could simply knock all of these amphibians from the rooftop! But I can't Push nor can I affect multiple targets...

Unfortunate as it was to admit, he didn't have a favorable matchup against multiple smaller targets like this one. Even if he could successfully fling these animals past him with Pull without hitting an ally or himself, he didn't have the time nor mana capacity to do so for each frog. So aside from doing his best altogether to avoid them, which would only be viable for so long, he couldn't do much more than that.

But even that much was difficult when someone was shooting lasers at you. Pac-A-Fist appeared to be using a Nintendo Zapper to attack them while Sil was still in recovery from having cast his last melody, forcing him to do his best to evade without losing his legs.

"Eyes open! Keep track of the frogs!"

Mobile amphibious landmines be damned, Silhouette would at least attempt to fire off a dangerous melody towards the retro gamer girl, hopefully it would be effective.

The fists of an angry god clashed against a blade of twilight.

Oros was mad, but it was Glex’s maniacal laughter that filled the air. Even as blood and frogs fell from the heavens they continued to exchange blows.

A fist the size of Oros’s torso collided with the roof. Asphalt and tar was thrown about as the mad ronin tumbled to level footing. Shar struggled to remain by Oros. She needed to be close enough to not get separated but not so close that she risked injury. This wasn’t selfishness on Shar’s part. If she was taken out there would be little Oros could do to keep up with their opponent.

”I had hoped this would be over already.” Shar pointed her butterfly topped wand at Oros. ”It’s normally not this exhausting to keep you on your feet.”

"Just keep an eye on her."

”What do you think I’m doing?” A butterfly flew into Oros’s shoulder. Her skin acquired a healthy glow like that of a silk cocoon.

"Don’t let her out of your sight!" Oros growled. "Her whole gimmick is hyper positions. If we can keep an eye on her, she can’t do anything!"

Glex only chuckled. "Why would I want to go anywhere? I plan on playing the entire set!"

---

Just because a problem was predictable didn’t mean it was easy to deal with.

The amphibians emitted a cacophony of croaks, and Betty pursued Finn with a fanatic’s single minded determination. Finn was fighting on his back heel but drawing a dangerous sword woman away from his allies would help his team out. Their opponents were outnumbered, so even getting just one of them to split off should tip the scales in their favor. In addition to this, he knew he could outthink Betty. She was the berzerker with the giant sword, and he was the duelist with the fencing rapier.

A spark of inspiration flew from his blade.

Betty saw the attack and side stepped it. But hitting her directly had not been the intent. With a zap, the frogs wet bodies detonated. Corrosive flesh was scattered in all directions. The frog bile splashed Betty’s back and legs. Enough that her melody couldn’t protect her from it all. Betty howled like a demon. The pain was significant, but it wasn’t slowing her down.

”You fucking imp!“

Betty’s sword arced through the air. Her blows were aimless, but Finn didn’t need to be reminded of how deadly each one was. Her sword cut through the asphalt roof like it were made of brownies. And that wasn’t Finn’s only problem. The frogs had started jumping onto him. His arms, shoulders, even his legs were gradually filling up with frogs. He’d have to be careful if he didn’t want to end up like Betty or worse. But he couldn’t remain stationary as Betty’s sweeping blows were coming closer.

It was an afterthought, but Finn got a glimpse of souls that had appeared once Finn slew the frogs. They sunk into the roof as soon as they appeared.

Breacher and Pac-A-Fist’s shots passed each other, but none hit their marks. The storm made aiming difficult even at short range like this. But with a wall of metal moving towards the Gemini espers, the best thing any of them could do was run. Before they took cover, Jacqueline fired a melody at the sports car while they retreated. It was a hard target to miss. On impact, the vehicle shook. There wasn’t a single piece of glass in the car that didn’t shatter from the impact. Pac visibly bounced in her seat as shards of glass bounced in her lap. She couldn’t hit much before and now it was going to be impossible. Pac went to put on her seatbelt as a bolt of shadow tore her hand from her wrist. The the shadows attempted to pull her through the window, but it only managed to pull her torso into the steering wheel.

*Honk*

She briefly looked at the stump and then back out the broken window at the Gemini espers.

”Damn it!”

Gunther had also flown out the back of the sport car. The attack hadn’t been of any danger to him, but it was impossible for him to know that from where he had been hiding. The mechanical contraption’s charge stopped as it assumed a defensive stance.

”A little spooky…”

Su fell back with everyone else, but she remained between the floating cars and the rest of Gemini. She fired her pistol at one of the watchtowers and bridged a roof of debris between the two facing the apartment complex. Those underneath could hear the blood and frogs smashing into it. A welcome shelter from things to come.

Ashley continued to fire on Justin. She ignored the blood, she ignored the frogs, but it was getting harder to do so every second. They leapt onto her body as she stood unmoving. Their tiny suction cupped toes helped them cling to her legs and back. One even managed to land on her cheek. It croaked into her ear as if to bid her good evening. Her shots weren’t landing where she wanted them to, but they were hitting the blood barrier.

Marrie wished she only had frogs to worry about. But with some earnest action she might be able to set the vampire lord back. She gave herself a wind barrier not as a form of defense, but as a form of offense. The frogs that were coming her way were launched towards Justin’s blood barrier. Between his fast approach and the acidic frog guts coming his way, a large hole in the blood barrier was burned open. Bloody spikes caved in on themselves as the barrier was diluted with the frog’s entrails. But Justin didn’t stop charging forward, nor did Marrie stop casting melodies. Another barrier of wind formed, this time on Justin himself. But he was moving too fast for Marrie to do anything else. He seized her by the neck and hoisted her body over the edge of the dragon sculpture. That was when he hesitated. The blood that should have been forming his barrier was now being repelled away by their wind barriers. Crimson orbited them like moons but stayed a good distance away.

”Had we continued to engage in melee, I might have applaud your efforts“

Justin flung Marrie straight at Ashley. She’d have to do something if she didn’t want every single frog on her body to detonate. But Justin didn’t care about that at the moment. He turned his head towards Su.

And opened his eyes.

“Hngh!” Su struggled to move, but her movements were jittery and sluggish. As if unseen hands were holding her in place.

”That one, Gunther.“

Suddenly, the safe from the commissioner’s room tore through the roof right under Su’s feet. It elevated her off the ground and up in the air where there was nowhere to hide. Her shield was up, but what was she protecting herself from? The real threat were the mechanical abomination’s arms. Two cars that likely weighed a ton or so apeace.

And they slammed together on either side of the agent.

If Su said anything it was buried under the sound of a head on collision. The metal made an ear splitting screech as it stretched and bent. The shattered glass rained down like tiny diamonds, and the blood soaked vehicles threw crimson in all directions on impact. It was impossible to tell if Su had managed to survive or not. There was too much blood to tell if any was hers, and she had been completely enveloped by the two cars. But it didn’t take long for a soul to fly out of the wreckage.

”I think we’re evened up now, aren’t we?“ Justin closed his eyes with a grin. ”You thought you could fight me without consequence? Think again! You’ll all join Gunther’s spectral army soon enough!“

With a wave of Justin’s hand, the blood in the air formed into a blob and shot off several tendrils. It then homed in on Ashley and Marrie attempting to coil around the rookie espers.

The mechanical behemoth resumed moving forward again. This time Gunther remained behind his contraption while Pac fired at Jacqueline and Samuel. But they were under cover and she couldn’t fire on them directly. With a snap of her fingers, a space ship from a popular arcade game appeared in the sky. It swooped behind the gemini agent’s position but hadn’t started firing yet. That would change soon though.

But regardless of how much blood was shed, the Diver would not be satisfied.

"And the Lord said [...] Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt." […] When Aaron stretched out his hand with the rod and struck the dust of the ground, lice came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became lice.

— Exodus 8:16–17

Thousands of lice fell like sand on top of the precinct roof. The frogs that had been fine chilling were starting to detonate. They would be difficult to see if it wasn’t for the fact that there were so many of them. It was hard to tell if there was anything special about them at a glance, but they did seem to resist the burning entrails of the frogs. More so than the precinct roof.