The snake tilted its head. A low purr came between its jagged teeth, its ear-wings pricked at the static amidst the downpour. Temujin extended both his blades. He slinked out of the shadows, his armour wet and glossy from the water, his jet black eyes staring down the serpent for their final confrontation.

Smoke coiled from the sides of the snake’s maw. A red glow pierced through the scales, building in its throat. It opened its mouth…

An explosion of white vapor hit the monster in the face. In an instant the ninja and snake were covered by a hissing cloud. The hiss cut off - with a solid thud, something cylindrical and red dropped from the sky and rolled past Temujin. A rush of air followed after it. Tendrils of smoke cut through by a flaring pink jacket.

Umbri’s red eyes pierced through the smoke. She moved to grip something in two hands. She launched herself in two steps and swung.

The snake reared back with a screech. Dark smoke escaped through the gash Umbri had slashed through its cheek. Its thrashing parted the white clouds. Umbri stood beneath it holding the fire axe. She hadn’t changed. The only thing different about her were the bandages wrapped around her left ankle, which she stood on, in her clear heels, without folding. She switched the axe to her left hand and shot her right up.

It was wrapped in the same sports tape as her ankle. Talcum powder dusted her palms.

The calculating was over, the plan was in action, pure adrenaline and no thoughts rushed her head as she shouted, commanded,

“TEM!”

Temujin flew past the snake and over the rafters. He shot the wire from his palm, landed on the side of the beam, and pulled - with Umbri clutching the end of the cable. He stepped back, further and further, atop the beam, towards the edge, and jumped. She flew up spinning, her pink jacket flaring out like a dancer’s skirt. The momentum of his dive yanked Umbri higher and faster than before, in time and out of reach of the snake's snapping jaws, until she stopped, dangling from stretched wire… with Temujin ahead of her, their positions balanced between the serpent like weights on a scale.

With the wire in one hand and a blade above the other, Temujin swung. Green light staked behind the ear-wing and scorched a glowing scar into the skin. The serpent's tail lashed out - but Temujin was already on the other side, swinging past its head, sparks cast from his palm as he stretched the cable to its limit.

Umbri’s heels skipped across the wall. Her eyes tracked the deadly tail as she ran. She almost slipped as she lost momentum but launched herself off, bringing her legs up over her head, putting her entire weight into the swing. The axe swung at the back of the beast’s head, this time harmlessly bouncing off the scales. She danced through the air past its retaliation, every movement designed to keep this pendulum swinging. “Pin it!” She shouted.

Temujin grunted. He did not savour taking orders. Words and lines flashed in his vision whilst he took in their surroundings. As he reached the apex of his swing, the cyber ninja slashed a beam above him - twice -, planted his feet against a nearby wall, stabbed the length of metal, and wire-slung right back into the fray with a mighty kick, ripping a chunk of the beam in the process. The new weight had Umbri jerking back with a stomach-dropping severity and flying up. Wind rushed past Temujin at near-blinding speeds. He flew over the fins, jumped over the curve of black coils, and - with his eyes on the target - chucked the steel beam as a javelin. The rectangular slab spun through the air, between its coils, arcing high until-

A clean hit. Metal lanced into flesh and pinned the tail against concrete. The serpent’s rattling wail drowned Temujin’s vision in static and sent Umbri’s ears ringing. She let go of the wire. It whipped out of her grasp over the rafters and dropped after a falling Temujin. Her hand slammed onto the beam in its place.

“!” The ninja flailed, dropping twelve feet back-first onto the ground. His wire slithered through the air, snapped back inside his palm and tucked beneath a clenched fist. He looked up. She’d pulled herself up to crawl along the rafters. It was all on her now. “Go for him,” she whispered. Watching the thresher twist, its head turning to the fallen ninja. “Go. Go get him.”

Temujin rolled to a knee. He ignited one arm blade, with a glow and hum that the serpent associated with its quarry. He rolled, dived, and struck, lobbing scrap and detritus to agitate the beast, with a veil of aggression over evasive actions.

With a gasp she fell.

Both hands grasped the axe as she twisted through the air. Heels found purchase on scales and skidded down to ground safely. With legs far apart, she hauled the axe up.

Glowing blood splattered her face as the weapon crunched down. Then a second time. With a third frenzied swing the stinger finally separated. Her hand plunged down to seize the prize and thrust it above her head.

---

---

Dean sat back down across from Ash and set down their coffee. Cream and sugar was also pushed forward after his own brew was dyed tan with how much he doused his cup to sweeten it. Alex seemed oblivious to Ash's wording, and Dean's strained expression and subtle head shacks were hopefully a good enough sign that Alex was not in fact initiated. The question about there being [Haze] around Alex confused him though. "Hey big guy, when your done can you please put a shirt on? I think you've tortured the poor woman enough with how hard she's trying not to stare at your abs."

ID scooped up her cup as it was served and cradled it in both hands, mainly to enjoy the aroma, and had been eyeing Alex over the rim when Dean called her out. She flinched, flicking her eyes out the window with the most nonchalant expression she could muster.

"It's not strictly necessary...," she muttered, sipping her coffee black. ID closed her eyes for a few moments to savor the experience: she hadn't had a real cup of coffee since her last visit to Ichabod. "If you're feeling left out, you could take your shirt off too," she teased, passing a smug grin towards Dean.

"Oh bugger off you." Dean spat out with a grin between bites and sips. 

Despite having a serving well twice the size of the other two at the table, Alex's food had all but disappeared save a few crumbs and signs of residue. His demeanor made it very clear that he was used to this type of talk around him. Though there had been the slight sign of blush on his face from learning that Ash had been trying not to eye him up. After Alex put his dishes in the sink Dean got a painful flick to his shoulder for his comments as he walked past him. Dean for his part merely winced slightly and rubbed the extremity that was going to grow a dime sized bruise. "I'll go put a shirt on already. and I need to call one of the handymen to repair our broken window anyway. Dean, behave please."

The hedge mage gave a look that could best be translated as "I haven't done anything yet." and flipped off his best friend playfully while the brute went out of the room. After waiting for a solid minute to make sure Alex had walked off, Dean leaned forward towards Ash and spoke in a hushed tone. "OK first rule, Big man isn't [Awoken] or even [Initiated] and we are keeping it that way for the time being. Second, what did you mean Haze in his aura? That doesn't make any sense." While Dean had pivoted into "serious mage" mode, there was a hint of concern in his voice regarding the situation. He really wish he wasn't astral-y nearsighted so he could at least attempt to try and see what Ash was even talking about. 

"Are you so sure?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, flicking eyes back to Dean after watching Alex leave. ID was eating slowly and purposefully, and for a moment during each bite she closed her eyes. "He carries a signature that reads as Mana... something off about it though: couldn't say what without some equipment," she explained, turning her gaze back towards the stairs and seeming lost in thought for a moment.

That got her a rather flat look that made it exceedingly clear that Dean was sure his best friend of YEARS was not in fact among the ranks of the awoken world. That or he was trying to shoot mind lasers through her skeptical skull.

"I can see he's recently been in contact with a Haze signature that's extremely polluted with emotional turmoil. There's other signatures being smothered in there I could probably pull apart with some time. Seems his body is hanging onto it, but he says he doesn't feel sick so...," she shrugged. "This," she pointed at the plate with her fork. "This is really good. I'll have to peep into your windows more often," she smiled.

Dean sat there there for a moment to gather his thoughts. Nothing he could think of or any of his lessons could answer the real burning question. "How can a mundane collect haze? The Big guy is at minimum a Brute 7 which could explain why he's fine but-!" Dean suddenly froze in realization.

"He said that he had been very . . . sloppy and sluggish yesterday during, well, everything. And without going into personal detail about him i can tell you that's not normal for him. That damn scream aside."

"Could be that this has been happening slowly for some time, which is why it went unnoticed, and some new factor or catalyst is what's tipping him over the edge," she mused. Like spending time with an unstable and reckless mage with marginal control over her abilities... 

Curious that the charm didn't prevent her from omitting information.

"That still doesn't explain how he would be sucking haze of all things into his body." Dean pointed his fork at her before taking another bite.

ID tapped her plate in thought, and then speared Dean with a shrewd look for an uncomfortably long time while she savored a bite of omurice. For just a moment her eyes flashed amber. and then she considered her plate with a sly smile.

"I mean... I could look into it," she mused, prodding at her food. "... If you're really that worried about him," she mentioned dismissively. ID turned her eyes back towards him to gauge his reaction, the corners of her lips curled into an amused grin.

Dean made a face at her. "Of course I'm worried. I can't even begin to consider how long this has been going on. or how much he might have been keeping to himself so me and everyone else wouldn't worry." He muttered aggressively to himself before downing the rest of his coffee and setting the mug down with a clack.

He stared at Ash for a moment. There was a decision formulating in his head, probably a risky one but he needed more help with this. Probably a good idea to contact the Nordic's about this. There really wasn't any telling what a contained Haze buildup could do to someone like Alex, especially with his powers. "So you'd be willing to help?"

"Not for free," she answered slyly, holding his gaze for an uncomfortably long moment. "The good news is...," she paused to gaze back at the stairs for a second while cradling her cup of coffee in both hands. "His enhanced physiology is probably slowing the progress of symptoms a great deal. Fatigue and cognitive fog are early signs of Haze poisoning though," she answered, eyeing Dean over the rim of her cup evenly.

What will you do now, little Earth Mage?

---

---

"So... how much of the Greek Mythology that I learned is real?" Yue asked with a note of excitement. Archer laughed as they slowly strolled the edge of the garden, passing a Bonsai tree shaped like a looming giant.

"Much of it is greatly exaggerated," he answered.

"That doesn't sound very magical to me," Yue replied with a bit of a pout.

"Oh are we disappointed?" Archer laughed.

"You can't just tell me 'Magic is Real' and then backpedal and say Myths and Legends aren't true," she teased. They had reached the farthest part of the garden from the house and Yue sat down on the tall wall encircling a pond several meters below, swinging her feet. Archer lowered himself next to her.

"'Exaggerated' does not mean 'untrue,'" laughed Archer.

"Oh! Don't you have a brother?"

"Apollo is a terminally irresponsible frat-boy, and she is my sister this go around," he grinned, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"No, for the most part we get to choose," he answered, amused at Yue's child-like curiosity. "I uh... I arranged for this to happen as a prank after Apollo and I got into a fight. We made up later and I forgot all about it, then years later I wake up in my newest incarnation to a rude surprise. Hermes thinks its great fun, but most of the others tiptoe around her like she's made of glass which is... hilarious to me," he chuckled. Yue was blowing a string of smoke rings when she erupted into laughter.

"I'm sorry," she snorted, covering her mouth.

"Oh don't be, we're all hilariously fucked up."

"Zeus and Hera?"

"Marriage counseling, and lots and lots of therapy. He's still a slut, but he's getting better."

"Oh! Hades and Persephone?"

"You mean 'Emo Boy' and his rebellious Goth wife? They're so cute together... Last year at the Halloween party they came as Morticia and Gomez Addams; Hades was Morticia. It was great. Demeter still tries to frame it like he kidnapped her at every family gathering and let me tell you: if there was any of that happening 'Thena would have murdered the lot of them," he revealed, rolling his eyes. "Wait, are you going to keep going until we run the whole pantheon?"

"Maybe...?" She grinned, blowing smoke at him. "Actually, tell me why the lore of Final Odyssey matches so closely to all this magic stuff," Yue asked, with a note of amusement.

"Oh that's Hypnos' doing. He's one of the principal partners of the company that owns the game, and also their lead creative director. It's kind of our secret project," he explained, leaning back on his hands. "He's been using it like a pseudo-outreach program to identify at-risk Awakened or potential awakened. I helped with the funding, and also keeping it from the rest of the more 'conservative' pantheon members."

"I knew it!"

"Hey whatever happened to 'no magic talk?'" Archer teased, with an amused grin.

"Nuh uh, honey, this is family gossip. It's completely different," she giggled.

The serpent screamed. A high-pitched, far-traveled wail that accompanied a high-pressured gush of blood, coating Umbri from head to shoulder in bioluminescent crimson. The serpent’s form undulated like a wind-blown flame, and with the desperate strength of a cornered animal, it wrenched its tail free from the javelin and tossed the bit of metal aside with a spiteful, earth-shattering clank.

Fire and light glowed from the serpent’s wing turbines. It spun and propelled away, disappearing through the hole it created in the blink of an eye, twin trails of embers and smoke cascading to the warehouse floor. Umbri collapsed on her ass as she watched it go. Guess it was just an animal after all.

“You did it,” Temujin remarked, his voice trailed with disbelief as he stared off into the hole. His blade shrunk, and the strut that housed it collapsed back into his forearm. “I’m… impressed,” he admitted, finally turning to look at Umbri. He thought for a moment as he analyzed her vitals. Blood pressure at critical levels, heart rate inhumanly fast - he was surprised she hadn’t entered cardiac arrest yet.

The ninja shook his head. “I told you to stay put. All that exertion was just aggravating the poison.” He stepped closer. His gaze wandered to the stinger in her hand. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t discount the value of her help. And so, with a sigh, he held out his hand. “Come with me, we need to get you to Shieldtown.”

Umbri’s pupils shrunk down and her breath slowed as the old pains crept back. ”Shield… town?” She echoed as she took his hand and allowed him to help her up. “Why are we going there?”

“I know people who can help. People who spent their lives fighting these creatures,” Temujin explained. “People I can… trust.”

Umbri gave him a look. That wasn’t said with confidence. "Mm…" Regardless she pushed it down and leaned against him, lifting her bandaged ankle and giving it a well deserved break. She shut her eyes in relief. The fatigue from relying on her Chrome heart was catching her. “Anywhere is better than here,” she murmured.

Temujin leaned back by reflex… but accepted, supporting Umbri as they walked. Until…

A high-pitched shriek. The wail of a cornered animal, rattling amidst the crackle of fire and light. Temujin whipped his head towards the sound. “It’s still here?!” Umbri tilted her head to listen, wincing.

“Wherever it is, it’s dying.” She said, and laid a strategic hand over his chest. “Please. Let’s just go.”

Temujin's gaze lingered upon her hand. The beast was far too dangerous to be left alone. Yet he barely eked out a victory with the dancer's help, and…

He looked at her face, the flutter of her eyes, the glossy quiver of her lips. The serpent could wait. She couldn't. Temujin nodded. "Alright, let's go." Umbri smiled weakly. She wanted to laugh but she didn’t dare do anything that would bring a crease to her face. She might just survive this.

---

Through the beast-burned hole, and out of the warehouse. Temujin supported Umbri every step of the way, their silhouettes stepping out of the steam-shroud. There were more shadows than lights in southern Northbridge, an arrangement that served the two well as they fled beneath corrugated roofs and broken windows.

Fire lit beneath the sky; a flash of red that burned through black-green haze. A serpentine shape twisted beneath, and its rattling cry travelled in echoes. Temujin pushed Umbri against the wall, shielding her body with his. Heat, light, and fire burned the fog away, and from within, the flame serpent fell, flailing through the sky, sparks cast from its neck.

A thunderous crash. Rubble and dust came from above. Temujin looked up, and the green rings flashed within his eyes. There, upon the serpent’s neck, was a hulking shadow. More mountain than man, and more machine than mountain, flashes of yellow seared upon black steel. Four red dots came alive in the shadows of his mask, glowing with mechanical enmity as he dug his heels into cracked scales. He held a shield in one hand and an axe-like contraption in the other, the latter’s head snarling with blood-soaked teeth that growled and spun like a chainsaw.

“Impossible…,” Temujin hissed. A quake lingered in his whisper despite his best efforts. “That’s Lockdown.”



The snake shook, rolled, and took back to the skies. Lockdown leapt off of it, his feet dragging across the roof as he landed. The beast reared up in defiance, bioluminescence lighting up every inch of its body. From below, Temujin and Umbri could see - one of its ear-wings had been cleaved off, a shiv of blood-drenched bone poking out in its place.

Lockdown raised his axe, and it rested on his shoulder with a heavy THUNK. The serpent spat fire from its jet-wings, its form a glowing, blurred line as it charged its armoured aggressor. He bent his knees, raised his shield, and stood his ground. Sparks and flames ignited upon impact. A shockwave erupted beneath Lockdown’s feet, cratered the concrete and blasted the railings into ash and cinders. The serpent reeled back and doubled down, casting a cone of fire against Lockdown’s bulwark that turned the black metal a glowing, red-hot colour. Yet the machine-man held firm, with only the slightest shake to his grip as he pushed back, bit. By. Bit. Even as the fire went around his shield, charred his armour, and singed his muscles… until Lockdown came close enough to backhand his shield against its jaws. Hard.

The snake was winded. Fire sputtered to embers within its mouth. Lockdown stepped forward to seize his advantage. He bashed, and struck, and stabbed his shield into the creature’s neck, forcing a high-pitched shriek of pain amidst a shower of blood. The snake thrashed as the machine-man lifted it, driving the shield deeper into its gullet with every inch, its entire body flailing in alarm.

A loud crack came, and the serpent’s blunted tail whipped towards Lockdown. His axe came alive with a furious roar, and Lockdown unleashed it with a full-bodied slam. Half-ton metal crashed upon black-scaled coils, denying the serpent’s desperate counterattack in an orgy of bone, blood, and severed flesh. A cry unlike any the serpent had summoned came forth. The serpent’s tail flopped between the alley walls and crashed a foot away from Temujin and Umbri with an earth-shaking thud.

The serpent turned around, ripping itself out of Lockdown’s shield-stab. Its tail-less body limped through the air, cawing, spitting, whimpering. ”Hu hu hu,” a metallic chuckle came from the machine-man. A burst of fire ignited from his back as he jumped, far and high, covering the distance between them in seconds… before he fell, his axe outstretched.

ZRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Scale, hide, and bones melted like butter beneath gnashing metal teeth. The serpent's turbine wing fell apart from its shoulder. There was no more might, pride, or amusement in the serpent's warbles. Only a naked fear, shrill and sobbing as it fell from the sky.

Pincers extended from the bottom of Lockdown's shield, clinging to the beast with blunt teeth. The machine-man hacked and slashed, ripped and tore, cutting bits upon bits of the snake, every fin and wing, peeling flesh from the bone. He swung his half-ton axe with the ease of a knife. Lockdown had already won. This was no fight. It was violation.

The serpent collided upon the back alleys, the last of its strength manifesting only in short, ragged breaths. Temujin and Umbri watched from the other end of the alley, the snake's tail flopping not far away with a parody of life.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Lockdown's steps rattled within the narrow alley walls. Smoke billowed from his charred armour, the red shifting back to black as it cooled. He strolled towards the serpent's dying maw, storing his shield upon his back as he held his axe with both hands.

"Veni." There was a whirr and a hiss, and Lockdown's mask retracted, exposing his all-too human grin, bloody with the taste of victory. "Vidi." He held his axe high and back. Turbines expanded behind the haft, and purple light hissed from within them. He stared the beast in the eye, challenging it to its last breath.

"Vici."

The earth, the walls, and even the winds shattered beneath Lockdown’s final blow. The serpent was cleaved, from head to neck to spine, snuffing whatever life remained. The glow rapidly faded from its skin, until there was more black than red, and more grey than black.

Shadows framed every crease and line within Temujin's mask. All he could see was Lockdown. Nothing else mattered. ”Stay here," he commanded Umbri as he shuffled away. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Lockdown, leader of JAHANNAM, out here, alone, in an alley of shadows and silence. He clenched his fist, and the struts of his blades extended with the quietest whir.

With Archer and Yue making their way out of the living room Zolya held her seat for a few moments longer slowly finishing her cup of coffee before walking off towards her own side of the estate heading for her workshop eager to work with some of the new materials she managed to obtain, perhaps one of her long stalled projects could take wing at long last.

But first she had to return the book back to it's proper location, right next to the with Freya's essence permeated copy of itself. As her fingers grazed the book a fleeting sensation of her hand being clasped between two caring warm hands shot through her she instinctively pulled her hand back to her chest, seems even now she was being watched over by the highest seat in Folkvangr and that entity wished to remind Zolya of that fact. After allowing her heartrate to settle down she turned her attention back to the new materials, while it was far too late to start painting, she could start testing pigment blends... It had to be perfect after all.

In the meantime Raudd had made himself busy getting clean bedsheets, pillows, and blankets to the one two-bed guest room. After dealing with the bedlinnen he went out front snipping a few sprigs of lavender to put in an empty vase in the room. As he came back in though he noticed a tinge of magic coming from inside his garden. Far too 'clean' to be anyone other than Archer given the current company. After placing the sprigs in the vase as intended he headed for his garden to give the intruder throwing trash all over his garden a piece of his mind.

However upon entering the garden he could hear Archer wasn't the only one who'd entered his garden... Zolya. Of course she directed them to this place, just because you aren't allowed inside doesn't mean you should try to get as many others to do so in your stead. He sighed listening in on the conversation as he walked towards the source of the sound, which seemed to be at the deepest point of the garden you could get to without getting wet feet... Or mountain goat genes.

Seems the conversation was mainly Archer being asked by Yue to lay out the juicy and embarrassing bits of his family situation. But there was a more interesting grain of information in the hows and why's of Final odyssey's lore fitting so well into reality.

"Well, that's not exactly what I expected to find in my little sanctum. Two girls gossiping about love. But if you could hook me up for some relationship advise from Hades or Persephone, if I ever decide to commit I'd prefer a lasting relationship, and they seem to have that figured out in a pantheon of... Well, you know what I mean." Raudd asked as he sat himself down besides Archer and got a whiff of the tobacco they were smoking.

"Is that some kind of special blend?"

The streets Doll led Máire down were winding, narrow, and crowded with refuse. They twisted and turned in a way that had Máire convinced they’d turned around or gone in circles several times, to the point she was ready to turn and leave the boy behind to find Rat herself. But each time she thought to do so, she realized she had no idea of how to get back to where she’d been before, and so kept following the child instead.

Doll spoke the whole time they walked. The boy seemed to know a great deal about Shieldtown and the undercity at large - his father worked with the caravans pulling meat and supplies between settlements, he claimed - and also seemed familiar with many of the residents in the buildings they passed, able to lavish Máire with more trivia and stories of Shieldtown’s populace than she ever cared to know.

Máire was getting a headache. This was going nowhere, the boy was clearly leading her in circles as some misguided prank, and her tolerance was rapidly growing thin. She would just find Rat herself - or Bayushi even, at this rate. It would doubtless be quicker than this mindless wandering the boy was taking her along in.

“Enough of this,” she grumbled, planting her feet. “If you want to play with strangers, try someone else. I’ll find the messenger myse-”

Máire was cut off by Rat appearing from the alley next to her. She looked at him as he greeted her, then over his head into the darkness he’d emerged from. The HUD in her vision immediately started flagging more bodies within. Four, twelve, thirty-two, fifty-three-

She looked away from the alley.

Rat was placing a coin in the boy’s hand. Máire tried to ignore the smug look Doll was giving her before tossing him a credstick. His hand caught it from the air in a split second, bringing it up to his face to inspect. “What’s this?”

“Money.”

“No money I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m sure that bank of yours can exchange it for you.” She leaned toward Rat, silently correcting his grip on the sword. It was hers, but no harm letting him keep it for now. It seemed to make him feel more confident somehow.

Impossible. Now that was the word of the day. So many times she wanted to shout that word and wave her finger, refute everything she was seeing and make it go away. Even if she could shut her eyes and pretend it wasn't happening, the pain kept her grounded in this nightmare.

Seeing him gave her pain.

It took over everything else. Icy pinpricks attacked her ankle and her neck wound, spreading until all her skin was cold with sweat. Her stomach churned and head spiralled with nausea. There wasn't the familiar feeling of acidic heat in the back of her throat. An icicle sat at the base of her tongue. If she moved she was going to hurl up the entire Arctic.

She'd only glimpsed him once before, the man who held her life in his iron hand. When she first approached JAHANNAM for a loan. She'd been young and nervous, and though she was well aware that she was a minnow in a world full of predators, she hadn't learned yet how to navigate that chain. Seeing him on her way out cemented the reality that she could not survive on grit alone, not when that was what was hunting her. She had to get smarter. If she only hadn’t been so desperate then she might have learned that lesson sooner.

The dying shrieks of the snake raked at her chest. It wasn’t fair. It was a predator, proud and territorial, just hungry, it didn’t deserve this. The stinger in her pocket felt less like a necessity and more like a trophy by the second and it disgusted her. But complicit in its destruction as she was - the way he was brutalising it was on another level. It wasn’t survival, it didn’t respect it, it was cruel… and it was her future.

She wasn’t thinking about getting away anymore. The tools she’d collected - the axe, the gun, the extinguisher - she might as well have tossed. He just destroyed the monster that took so much of her to even land a strike on, all without bringing a drop of sweat to his brow. She wasn’t thinking about getting away. She was preparing herself. The poison, ankle, even blood coating her top half posed as new threats to her now - how will she dance like this?

Her morbid thoughts were pushed down as her companion moved away from her, leaving her to balance on her own. Stay here? That chrome junky wasn’t serious…

“No… no!” she gasped as she limped after him, “You said… you said we were leaving. You can’t go. Don’t fight him, please don’t fight him.” She rambled. Her face was pale like it had been painted with lead. She just missed his hand. Shit! She was losing him. It was so hard to stay mysterious and desirable while trying not to piss yourself in fear. She fell against a wall instead and held in a whimper as her ankle flared up.

“I don’t know how to get to Shieldtown,” she murmured, reaching for him with urging eyes, “I don’t know how to… leave Northbridge. I don’t know if I can.”

Focusing WAS easier now, and after a moment Felix shifted. His gaze snapped up, only able to take in the star-scape that had now exploded overhead for a brief moment. The falling motes of light made him cackle, as his eyes danced with ideas and thoughts aplenty.

He turned to her, still smiling as he made his way towards... Well.
He certainly wasn't heading towards the doors that led out of the lobby. He also wasn't heading towards the doors of the nearby elevator. Or stairwell. Instead, he was approaching a window.
"God, I hope this isn't rude sounding but... I think if I saw that as a kid, I'd assume you'd hung the stars. That was so, well, so pretty!"
He spread his arms as he walked, fingers moving in slow waves as he 'stretched' his limbs.

"Also! I really am sorry I forgot about you down here. You're entirely too kind, and I really do appreciate your patience." Felix emphasized. His expression was one of regret, and again, his eyes met Dawn's.
He took note of her stance, trying to place her mood on that alone. Was she upset? Had he fucked up far too much?
Felix had started frowning, brows furrowing, when sovereign 'bee-bee-beeped' a message onto his HUD.
Lux Discordia paused for a moment, letting his civilian mask slide away, as he observed the message sent to him.
Thoughts spiraled rapidly through his brain, each being carefully looked over and noted, before he let his face split into a wide grin.

"Before we go anywhere or go any further... Is there anythin' I can do to make up for it? There anywhere you'd like to go? ... We could maybe leave your brother a surprise for bein' such a smart-ass? Or I could take you somewhere for some actually good food! Since Sai was bein' an ass and didn't share his with us!" Another pause, before he continued.
"Or we could do anythin' else too! Your wish is my command, o' lady Light, bringer of Helios across our mortal skies!"

He finished with a flourish, that same impish smile only growing into a truly mischievous grin as he spoke. "Y'could even try tattooin' one of my arms, or legs, if you'd like! I refuse to let my slight against you go unanswered!"

"You mean a pantheon of frat boys and sluts?" Archer grinned. Yue had been pulling on her cigarette and nearly choked, hunched over in grimace, alternating between fits of coughing and laughter. "As for advice from the one 'healthy' relationship in our clan of deviants and weirdos: I'm not sure what you would get from the God of [Darkness] and [Fear], and the Goddess of [Chaos] and [Death] constitutes 'normal' for a lasting relationship... but I'll pass your inquiry along," he snickered while Yue recovered, and held out his cigarette case to Raudd.

"It's a secret blend. He won't tell me what it is," Yue fit in between giggles. "I think he's just afraid he won't be my sole supplier anymore."

"You were the one that said you wanted to quit smoking," Archer grinned. "Kindle makes them for me."

"Who's Kindle? I don't recognize that name from any of the mythology I learned," Yue asked with a note of curiosity.

"Ah. Yes. Kindle is Hecate's fox familiar," explained archer, raising an eyebrow at Yue's expression of rapt attention. Clearly he wasn't going to be able to brush this inquiry off now that the can of worms had been opened. "How do I explain this? Hecate is kind of unique in the pantheon in that she... adopts... things, and has accumulated a large number of 'companions' from multiple cultures..." Yue gasped, her eyes widening with amusement and wonder.

"IS SHE A YOKAI?? YOU GUYS ADOPTED A KITSUNE??"

"Amongst other things," laughed Archer.

Temujin's back was turned to Umbri. The snarl of his mask left no room for sympathy, no space for forgiveness. Her words fell on deaf ears as his silent steps brought him further and further away, until she blinked, and he disappeared into shadows.

"... Son of a bitch," Umbri cursed, looked around, hauled up her stuff and limped on her way.

Lockdown loomed over the serpent's corpse, his hand rested upon the head of his axe. The first Thresher to invade Northbridge's shores in years… it would make for a fine trophy. He brought a finger behind his temple to activate a hidden communicator. "Megahertz, I'm done here. Send in my extraction."

Silence. The lights didn't flicker. The winds failed to whisper. Lockdown's golden eyes gleamed straight ahead. A lithe shape leapt out of the shadows behind him.

ZRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"....!"

Green plasma clashed against metal teeth, spinning too fast and too hot to melt. The sparks that scattered were so bright they were almost blinding. "Well, well, well!" Lockdown remarked, one hand upon his waist, his amused glint quickly obscured as black eyes rolled over gold and his fanged mask enveloped his face. ”I know you. You’re the Rogue that’s been a thorn on our side!" He remarked, his voice distorted by the speakers of his mask. ”What was it they call you?”

Temujin stared him down without a word, the ninja's crossed blades grinding against Lockdown's axe. Their shoulders, elbows, and wrists shifted and turned alongside the rise and fall of their blades, each man poking for vulnerabilities between their bound blades, until-

ZRRRRRRR!

Temujin's blades fell too low. Lockdown's axe slid past his defences and crashed below his shoulder. White blood sputtered from torn flesh and severed cables. The Ninja's attempt to escape came too late, and his dangling arm fell blade-first into the earth. "...Ah!" Temujin felt no pain. But shock was a primal feeling he recalled. He stumbled and scrambled back, white blood continuing to gush out in obscene amounts from his stump.

"Hu hu hu," Lockdown chuckled, his posture upright, his steps as slow and casual as a stroll. He reached for the shield on his back and held his axe low, the weapon snarling as its teeth scraped and scattered sparks against the earth. "Done already? I'm just getting started."

The ninja let out a bestial growl and dashed back into action, his stance low, his blade held close to his forearm as he jabbed - once, twice, thrice, each strike aimed at the dull gold muscles between Lockdown's armour, each hit deflected with little effort by the machine-man's swift shield.

Clank! Clink! Clink!

"Hrh! Hraagh!" Temujin's desperation came alive in his voice. The ninja swiped, and slashed, and poked, again, and again, but the few hits that slipped past Lockdown's shield were easily warded by his armour.

WOOSH!

Lockdown's counterattack was a blindingly fast blur. The axe barely missed Temujin's feet as he jumped, flipped away, and flung two hot-bladed kunai. Lockdown parried them with the slap of his shield, and then held his guard as Temujin threw another-

Smoke hissed and swelled upon impact. What Lockdown foresaw as a mere knife was instead a parlour trick that covered his surroundings in thick black clouds. "Hu hu hu… you seek to blot out my sun?" Lockdown turned his gaze one way, then another. He returned his shield to his back, widened his stance, and wielded his axe in a two handed grip. His machine-vision shifted between a field of red, then green, then blue, and back to red.

"...Then I'll have my battle in the shade."

Lockdown's every step quaked the earth. Vermin scattered, rubble trembled, his jet-black eyes one with the darkness. He walked down the alleyway, white blood dripping from the head of his half-ton axe. And behind him, green-ringed eyes came alive. Distortion snuck within the smoke, stalking the machine-man with a readied blade.

Lockdown looked over his shoulder.

Temujin had only a microsecond of regret. Lockdown's axe flew with a trail of purple jet-flames. The weapon crashed into him, with enough force to ripple the air, sunder the earth, and shatter every inch of concrete around them. It was less a swing and more of an explosion. Clouds of dust and ash lingered in its wake.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Lockdown's mountain-like silhouette stepped out of the ash, his axe slung over his shoulder, white blood and debris crumbling from its teeth. Every booming footfall was accompanied by the whine and whir of hydraulics. The machine-man looked down upon the body beneath him. Sparks surged upon a pool of white blood. The crimson armour which shone so boldly were faded with dust and sundered by deep, vein-like cracks. His one good arm was torn right off its socket, with a cut so vast it bisected him above his pelvis, a flood of cables, pale blood, and machine guts spilling from the gaping wound. Temujin's snarling mask seemed trapped in a grimace, peering up at the foe which had defeated him so utterly.

Thud.

Lockdown's black iron foot landed upon Temujin's lower half. There was a creak, and a groan, and metal and synthetic muscles alike were flattened in two seconds. The ninja maintained a stony demeanour, even as he winced inside. Static, beeps, and warnings assailed his vision from all corners, lines of warnings and code that he could summarise in two words: I'm fucked.

"Now I remember," Lockdown mused, kicking aside the crumpled remains of Temujin's lower body as he approached, then dropped to a knee. "You're the Eyes of the Rogue. The Red Oni. Temujin."

He brought a massive, armoured hand to Temujin's face and turned him one way, then the other. "I expected more." Lockdown tightened his grip. Cracks formed between the ninja's eyes. "...But I'll settle for a souvenir." The cracks deepened, and spread, and the ninja wheezed. His vision saw more static than screen, his field of view collapsing around him. Not my face! Let go of my face! He squirmed, and struggled, and sparks sputtered from every stump. There was nothing he could do but flop, like a fish waiting to be gutted.

You’ve got to be KIDDING!!

Umbri dragged a hand down her face and flicked the blood off, eyes wide with a complete lack of control. Her escort was being literally torn apart. Fuck, she needed him. That cyberpsycho was her best bet of survival, even though immediate survival looked more like legging it right. Now. Her instincts, which had snatched her by the hair and ripped her against the concrete the entire night, wanted that. She'd already fought her battle and won her prize. This wasn't her business anymore. What would be good for her an hour, a day, a week from now was a blip. Lockdown hadn’t seen her. She was halfway gone.

Dammit.

Dammit.

He was so helpless.

In a situation entirely of his own making, but helpless and dying and probably afraid if he hadn’t already shut off that part of his brain with all the wires clogging his humanity up. Helpless. Dying. Afraid. The voice that pushed her to run was getting quieter, until all that was left was...

Umbri didn’t see this part of herself as anything to value. A hand lowered down to raise others did nothing to lift yourself. And she had to keep climbing. Climb like hellfire was coming after her. She tossed the fire extinguisher aside and pulled something from her pocket that flashed.

BANG.

Red, smoky ribbons spiralled off the barrel of her gun, raised to the sky. She stood in the open. Unlike her gun, her head was down. Her immediate, terrible regret was shadowed by the bangs of her wig. She offered her hand down and was dragged to Hell for it.

Archers frank and direct filling in the blanks had Raudd burst out in laughing. "Not my words, but that fits." He replied to Archers question. Archer questioning what good advice would be passed along by gods of some grim domains was met by a smile by Raudd and an answer after he took him up on the offer of that cigarette. Lighting it with a small spark of entropy on the tip of his finger he then held that sparking finger out front for the other two to see. "I'm practically chaos and destruction incarnate, not much better. Either way, I'd rather avoid 'that' shattering my heart every century or so, and the only way I can see to avoid that is finding an equally fucked up immortal partner. Heck, in the grand scheme of things marrying into your family of frat boys and sluts might not be a horrible option." He said with the cigarette jiggling around between his lips as he talked, his words heavily insinuating he wasn't up for losing many a long term lover to the sands of time and the hands of death.

Raudd took a long drag of the tobacco stick appreciating the flavors as Yue griped about it being a special blend that Archer kept secret to keep it away from her. He then snorted most of the smoke out in laughter as Archers gift of gab once again backfired on him as he revealed the name of his supplier and Yue pulled to get more information out of him. Practically forcing him to explain Hecate's motherly habits.

"What, it's only a cute fox hiding itself in Hecate's shadow with it's nine tails." Raudd said with a grin fanning the flames from Yue's direction. "And apparently he's pretty good at his trickery, a few of these might spoil your taste for the normal cancer sticks permanently." He added exhaling a cloud of smoke and taking a good long look at the cigarette between his fingers.

*STHSTHSTHSTH* Hissed Rat. It was echoed throughout the alley behind him. The alleyway was filled with uncomfortable fidgets and rustles, and the occasional pair of gleaming Rat eyes peering at them "stealthily" from the shadows. As Maire began to look away, a Rat shaped figure at the back of the alley attempted to slowly cross, though a hand reached out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him back into the darkness with a grunt. Rat shuffled to the side a little to obscure their view of the alley.

"Information-gets, knife-lady," he informed, hefting the sword onto his shoulder with a grunt. Rat's eyes flicked towards Doll for a moment, probably wondering if the boy would scamper off now that his task was complete. Rat turned his gaze back and forth between Maire and Doll uncomfortably for a long minute before he focused on the Templar.

"Information-gets," Rat whispered loudly, holding up a hand to cover up Doll in his vision like that would prevent the boy from listening in. "Gossip-Talks reveal big-man brings guest to ShieldTown. Injured. Unconscious," rat explained.

"Unconscious," the alley echoed, followed by ripple of shushes.

"Shiney-plates, she had. One you seek, perhaps. Go see big-man," he instructed, pointing behind Maire to the stylized shield painted in blue graffiti on the adjacent building. "Late, it is. Rest now, perhaps. Rat will guide you. Rat is your guide," he chirped, then shuffled hesitantly out of the alleyway to look left and right down the streets.

"Where is cat-kitty?"

"Don't be daft," Dawn replied. "I only hung some of the stars," she chirped. Felix's display of remorse seemed to inject some confidence back into her posture, though it was impossible to tell whether or not her statement was sarcasm.

Dawn pushed herself to her feet, brushing off her jeans. She reached to take Felix's arm in hers, though she ended up jamming her hands into her kangaroo pocket awkwardly instead. Her golden eyes glimmered as she regarded him, and she perked up at the mention of tattooing but let her gaze drift out up to the slowly fading snowfall of light. An expression of mild disappointment crossed her face for a split second... it was a cute sketch. If she'd had a couple more minutes she could have made it linger until Archer... or whoever was covering for him at least came in.

"Some coffee sounds nice... why don't we go sit down somewhere and figure out what we're doing," she decided uncertainly. Her premonitions weren't generally wrong, but she couldn't help wonder what exactly she was supposed to accomplish with the help of someone so... adorably scattered?

"Better go somewhere with Net coverage, so your voltaic himbo doesn't kool-aid-man through Elysium's walls," she added with a note of playful bitterness as she made her way to the lift. "What's even open this late?" Dawn grumbled, staring at the mélange of buttons with a lost expression, and no helpful glimmer of clairvoyance to guide her hand.

---

---

Without breaking eye contact, Dean dug into a pocket and slapped something on the table. he pushed it forward to reveal the round coin-like green stone no larger around then a quarter. Even without Astral sight the stone's geometric carvings thrummed with latent power. He gave Ash a rather flat look as if he hadn't just sat down piece of Locklear Jade.

ID tried to keep a neutral expression, but she could not disguise the momentary flash of amber in her eyes, nor the ripple of crimson scales that crawled down her neck from her temples. Locklear Jade was no cheap bauble or trinket to be traded away on a whimsy... and this one held a noticeable amount more potency than some of the newly minted pieces she'd come across.

Oh. This was serious. What kind of mess had she stepped in now?

To be honest, she probably would have conceded for the promise of more of Alex's cooking, and the opportunity to study him. For a while she sipped her coffee while staring at it, and resisting the compulsion to immediately snatch it.

"May I ask... why you trust me with this?" ID paused, placing a finger on the Jade piece, and then flicking her eyes to Dean. "We've only just met."

"First of all, you could have stayed quiet, but you didn't. Alex is my friend. I'd even say he's family to me. He's important to a lot of people and does a lot of good around here." Dean paused for a moment and chose his next words carefully. "And . . . . I had a [Dream] about him a long while ago. Never made sense but I've stuck with him ever since . . . I don't know whats coming or what the future holds but after that scream yesterday, I had that same [Dream] for the first time in years."

[Smoldering armor and costumes across a battlefield. Figures of myth clashing with one another and with monsters he could barely describe.]

[A shining tower of steel and light that scraped the heavens, a titanic tree of flesh and wood.]

[The only thing that could be seen clearly was Alex, shining in colors more than just his blue and holding a shield that both inspired and terrified.]

[A world in chaos.]

The earth mage shuddered and poorly hid the worry and uncertainty that flashed across his face. His bond with Golem helped to keep him stable though. Maybe he should have talked to Archer about this? Maybe Dawn could make sense of it. No. Not now. Had to help Alex first. 

ID regarded him in silence. The portents of Awakened dreams weren't her area of study, but it was generally accepted to be prudent to pay attention to them. She was tempted to have him recount it for her, but if she was involved in it somehow just knowing the contents might warp the intent. Her finger pressed down on the edge of the Jade piece, and she rolled it across her knuckles and into her palm.

"This isn't something I can do from afar, and if we're to keep him ignorant of the awakened world it may take a while. If you're okay with me intruding on your [Sanctum] then I can accept," she answered carefully, with a bit of a sigh. At least it was something Mother might be interested in too.

"My scientific recommendation would be to observe him until we know what we're dealing with. It should be safe to covertly treat his symptoms as well... I can think of a few ways myself, and I've earned some goodwill with the Runesmith that runs the Stoneworks. I could call in a favor if you're comfortable with that... I'm sure she's eager to claw more material enchanting out of me," she muttered, grumpily.  

"I have other responsibilities that demand my time later in the morning, but I intend to return by evening. I'll have something to ease his symptoms then... for now just keep him away from any strong magic, else we worsen his condition."

Lockdown ceased. He relaxed his grip on Temujin's mask, the cyber ninja dangling from beneath his hand.

"What have we here?" Lockdown mused aloud. Whirs, clicks, and hisses came as his mask split apart, then folded out of view, revealing the face of the man beneath. His thick, wide features were starkly pale against the jet black of his armour, a pallor that was highlighted by the shadows around his deep, staring eyes.

"You're Marionette." He remembered. The girl who danced every night above Northbridge's skyline. The corners of his eyes wrinkled with a smirk. A moment of silence passed as he glanced between Temujin, the thresher, Umbri… and put the pieces together. "Hmm. Good to see you're not half-digested in some thresher's stool."

Lockdown released Temujin. His limbless body flopped with a careless clank. The machine-man's heavy footfalls dominated the alleys as he approached Umbri, his full height and width barely confined within the walls. He looked at her from top to bottom, with a gaze that tugged and stripped, the kind she felt even without meeting his eyes. Black metal fingers conformed to her cheek and lifted her by the chin, with a touch that seemed almost gentle… if not for the inhuman heat that flared from his fingertips. "Have you come back to mend your strings?"

Umbri certainly hadn’t intended for him to get this close, least of all touch her, but her old habit of freezing had her by the throat. Gross. She wanted to cast off her skin like a reptile and it showed in the curl of her lip. Her eyes were heavy, unable to lift with her chin he controlled. She held a gun and he approached her still. Her trigger finger twitched. She caught a glimpse of red in her peripherals.

She watched the ninja do what she was about to attempt and fail. The smoke and mirror tactics she’d been quick to adopt from Temujin against the threshers were useless here and her head was empty of anything else. She was, as the gang leader called her, Marionette. No brains, just strings. And no other choice.

She didn’t slap him with a witty retort. That wasn’t useful. She might have accidentally made eye contact as her hand came down. Her heel rolled the fire extinguisher away from her and the barrel blasted off, releasing the last bullet in the chamber. The extinguisher exploded. As the smoke cleared, Umbri was about… ten feet away, huffing and grunting as she dragged Temujin across the ground by his horns. Slowly. Painfully. And disappearing into his approaching shadow.

No.

No, that wasn’t happening. She might have been poor of a highschool diploma but she had brains enough to know how this would end. She pocketed her imagination and drew her heel, nudged against the body of the extinguisher, back in. Her gun lowered in an arc deliberately away from Lockdown. She had to talk, and that was okay. It was work.

She pulled out the stinger, met his eyes and held it out to him.

Lockdown raised his brows. His smile faded, giving way to intrigue that lingered upon his gaze. His grip drew away from her cheek to rest beneath her hand, lifting those slender fingers for a better look. "You did this?" He asked, the stinger reflected upon his golden eyes. "What for?"

Usually, before Umbri committed to a client, there would be a screening process. A meeting in which she would learn his psychology; his desires, his insecurities, one's relationship with one's mother. Right now, she was diving into negotiations with none of that information. Dangerous. But not undoable. Her eyes slid to the snake's pulverised carcass. Her bloody axe hit the ground with a thud and she leaned on it for balance.

"A trophy," she said. "It's a glower. Sell it to the right scientist and it could be worth a couple ten hundreds. Or a third of a debt."

Temujin whipped up to look at her. His mask seemed almost wide-eyed between the cracks as he shook his head, muttering a weak, garbled 'No'... Not after all the blood, sweat, and tears.

Lockdown's smirk returned, carving dimples beneath his cheeks, accompanied by a low and distinctly mechanical chuckle. "So the doll fancies herself a conqueror?" He asked, his voice beaming with approval. "Good… the people of Northbridge could learn from that kind of ambition." His gaze turned to the stinger, and a moment passed as the thoughts spun in his head. His hand swivelled atop her fingers, coaxing them to close around her trophy.

"Keep it. A true hunter does not claim the spoils of his peers," Lockdown declared. His leering gaze returned to meet hers. And came closer. "One fourth of the debt and three months extension…" His hand remained over hers. "...If you'll join me for dinner."

Umbri’s knuckles went white around the stinger. She read him right. He was a hunter. She hadn't expected it to go this "well" so fast, though she should have known it. She was already in his peripherals. She knocked her head Temujin’s way.

“Dinner and a show if that one comes with me right now.”

Lockdown's eyes darted to follow hers. He scoffed. Then looked back to Umbri, towards those piercing red eyes, and the lips that gleamed with a nostalgic shimmer. "Deal."

A sound was coming from above, stark against the silence of the night - a rolling, roaring staccato, that came closer and louder by each passing second.

He drew his hand back and stepped away. The whirs and clicks of his servos seemed twice as loud against the prone ninja, who squirmed, helpless to the situation and his own instincts.

THUD.

Lockdown's stompers stopped dangerously close to his head. He bent down to a squat. "Consider this a… tribute to our shared history," the machine-man whispered, staring at the name across Temujin's mask. The name that stamped out another. "Next time we meet, I won't be so charitable." Lockdown petted his head twice - like a master would a dog - and walked away, casting one last smile at Umbri. A false smile that warned her of the consequences of a broken promise.

Light shone in from above, accompanied by the billowing wind and spinning rotors of a helicopter. A ladder extended - twice - and ceased just beside Lockdown's waiting hand. A figure stood by the open window - clad in robes of blue-tinged white, the face beneath its pointed hood completely shrouded in darkness.

"Be ready for when I call you," Lockdown instructed Umbri. "And wear something… gold." The ladder retracted, pulling Lockdown along the way, before he shrunk into the sky and rode away upon the chopper.

Umbri pocketed the stinger, limped over and hooked her fingers into the armoured plate of Temujin’s shoulder to slowly drag him with her. The cyber ninja groaned. Static spurted out from his wounds and zapped the streaks of white blood forming beneath him. She felt every pound of the cable-like muscles and metal armour that made up his mass, far too heavy for someone so silent.

"You…," he whispered, his broken neck barely allowing him to glance over his shoulder. "You didn't leave me."

Umbri kept her gaze firmly forward, despite the wobbling her staggered stride had her doing. It took so much effort to even move an inch. This dead weight was going to have her pop a shoulder.

“Hm," she said, "You did."

Temujin cast his gaze low. "Yeah," A twinge of guilt pricked what passed for his heart. He was glad they couldn't see eye to eye at this moment. "That was really shitty of me."

Umbri let him wallow in that thought for a moment. “Can’t say I didn’t anticipate it. I wasn’t…” her annoyance cut through her teeth, “Expecting a new client.”

Temujin glanced back at her at that word. Client. His blood had stopped flowing, and in its place, his body grated, unlubricated, against the hard, coarse pavement. An ungodly noise followed, a cross between nails on a chalkboard and old stones grinding. "Not a fan of fucking cyborgs?"

The grating stopped. A torso she had JUST SAVED at a sacrifice to her autonomy and (before Lockdown let her keep it, she had assumed) the ONE thing that could save her life had the gall?

"No. I'm not a fan of fucking cyborgs. Now shut your fucking mouth before I leave you in the fucking dirt, you fucking cyberpsycho."

"You-...!" Temujin stuttered. He reached out to clutch, to handle, to throttle… only to realise that he had only phantom sensations to spare, and no choice but to submit. "Hmmpf."

Umbri paused, looking down at the helpless metal lump, and realised that she felt a bit better. The night wasn't done and the nightmare was going to extend long after it, but she could cry and tear at her skin about it later. She had somewhere to go. And half of an asshole she had absolutely no reason to take shit from anymore.

---

Temujin laid neglected, blending into a pile of scrap and waiting for Umbri to limp her way out of a back alley doctor’s office. She moved faster and on one leg. She came out of the alley with beat-up metal crutches before she set them aside to haul up the ninja.

“Upsie daisy.”

The cyber ninja was as stiff as a plank. Dirt and grease from the back alleys clung to and sullied the colour of his armour. "'Upsie daisy'?" The snarl on his mask seemed downright offended as he muttered, "What do I look like, five?"

Umbri strapped him to her back with great effort, over her backpack and the axe. "You're about that size," she grunted under the weight and started to shuffle forward.

"Huh. Didn't realise you were so chatty," he replied, keeping an eye on the harness that secured them together. It was a surprise… but not an unwelcome one.

Umbri slowly walked on crutches with a crushing weight on her back through the Northbridge streets. By the time she was at the precipice, the sun lamp had already started to wash the grime in a faint glow.

And she was staring out. On the edge of a plate, into a great, dark expanse, through a scrapyard that seemed to last forever. The end of Northbridge. Had they always been so far away? She couldn't take another step.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Temujin suddenly spoke, having left her to silence for so long. The sarcasm was dripping from his whisper. "How the piles of refuse never end. You think you've seen it all, but…" He shrugged. Even without limbs, he could manage that much. "It's a whole lot of world out there. A whole lot of world for the inbreds of the upper city to shit on."

“Yeah,” Umbri echoed, and did not move. “A whole world.”

"Well. What are you waiting for?"

“Permission, I guess,” slipped honestly from her lips without thinking.

"Huh," he replied. Mostly a scoff, also a chuckle. "You're the one with legs, Hooker. You don't need permission from a dead weight."

Umbri crinkled her nose. “Not from you,” she muttered and looked out into the crevice. She took in a resolute breath. “Alright,” she said to herself. “Let’s find a way down.”

The one-legged dancer hopped across the expanse on a clear heel, the crutches, her belongings and the half a cyborg on her back keeping her heavy and slow. A lone pink beacon covered in the glitter and gore of the night’s adventure. Neon veins wrapped her neck like a choker. The blood in her mouth was her last taste of home.

Come on, girl.

This body isn't yours to let die.

"Cat-kitty?" Máire followed Rat's gaze down the street briefly, then shrugged. "Attending to other matters, following other leads. Does it matter?"

No, it probably did. As far as Rat was concerned, the shapeshifter was another Templar, and it would likely cause some sense of anxiety to have them lost in the wind when Rat was supposed to be their guide. A role that he apparently wasn't meant to have in the first place. Máire's eyes wandered back toward the alley, briefly; whoever was hiding down there likely wouldn't take kindly to hearing Rat had lost one of his charges.

"They're following another lead," Máire added quickly, before anyone could raise any questions on the matter. "Cat-kitty will regroup with us later. It's more important we regroup with our missing third, first."

"You're taking them to see Aegis?" Doll piped up, stepping closer to them both, grabbing tight to Máire's sleeve. His eyes sparkled with something she didn't recognize, a wide grin splitting his face. "Can I come with?"

Máire recoiled slightly from the child's enthusiasm, sharing a look with Rat. "...Whatever. It's up to our guide."

The body was moving without input again. Memories were bubbling up, half formed and disjointed in their collection.
A flash of a child, with mouse brown hair, sitting on a slab of a table. Wires trailed from his shoulders, shiny metal gleaming in the surgical light—
It skipped. Again. Why couldn’t they hold onto the memories?!

Another flash, blooming like the pain of a migraine.
A birthday party. What was a birthday party again? … A celebration. A pair of hands reached forward, lifting a bottle of champagne. The collection of people— when did they get there? A surprise! They all cheered—
It skipped.

J-3 came to a stop in the middle of the street they had found themselves in. The world around them whirling and twisting as if in a dream.
Another flash. And another, and another. And another.

Memories of a birthday again, smaller and familial.
Memories of a question, “What is your name?”
Memories of an introduction, “Hi! My name is Jemma! You can call me Dove! I’ll be your Fixer today, okay sweetheart?”
One last memory, old and worn like a loved photograph out of its frame.

“Dude, I’m telling you. We shouldn’t take her to the caves. She’s arachnophobic!”
“Is she? I didn’t know! … There’s the Sword-Singer’s Descent? She would love that probably. Kasha’s weird like that.”
“’Kasha’s weird like that’, you’re only saying that ‘cuz SSD has way too many movement mechanics, mister ‘tanktastic’.”
And then… another response. But it was lost to a burst of mental static as J-3 abruptly crumpled.

The migraine was worse. Rippling through the core. Astral eyes closed, willpower was drawn upon like a well. An empty well. There was nothing left to give.
Ink exploded from the quadrupedal form, whipping through the air as the body began screaming. Pain worked through every aspect of J-3. Memories pressing up and forcibly slotting back into place.
Memories from two different existences.
A flash of the mana scape, staring up at [QUEEN-MOTHER-PROTECTOR-PROTECTED]. A pillar of marble white.
A flash of thought, chasing a beacon of [FEAR] and [FURY]. Subsuming it. Bringing it back.
One last flash, of searing pain and confusion, being forcibly melded with something. A shape. Small and [HATEFUL] and [TERRIFIED] and [REMORSEFUL].

J-3 abruptly stopped screaming. Laying on her side on the street, heaving exhausted gasps. The world spun slowly, the migraine had faded.
Jemma stood up, moving cautious and slow. She could hear and [SEE] a couple of shapes approaching her. People.
One knelt, spoke to her. She blinked up at it blearily. Heard nothing.
Understood nothing.
Something behind her sternum shuddered, and she coughed once. Ink spilled past her lips, and the shape exclaimed.

The world cut to black for a moment, then clicked back in. She was on a stretcher. Screaming, again, as a far far distant pain bloomed throughout her flesh. What was happening?
Voices above her, rushing quickly. “… Call her then! I can barely find…”
The world cut again.

And clicked back once more, a bright light in both pupils. Screaming had faded for weak whines, begging. Eyes followed the light as it shifted back and forth. Astonished voices.
“Hey! Hey I know her!”
A voice ignored, before it shouted again. The response?
“We’ll let’em know in the morning then! She’s fuckin’ dyin’!”
Her hand reached up, swiping through the air. Astral eyes opened to see mana shift. A sprinkle of salt water fell.
“She’s got powers!”
“You couldn’t tell from the fuckin’ INK?!”
The world cut once more.

And then returned. She was laying on her back in a dimly lit office. On a desk, or a proper table? There was a wire connected to her head, trailing to… a display? An EKG? No. Tracking brain activity.
Jemma groaned quietly, tried to sit up only to find she couldn’t move more than an inch or two.
She blinked a couple times, noted the blankets that covered her. The material was clean, stained in a couple places. The stains were black as pitch, and we’re scattered at random.
Where was she? What was going on now?
Astral eyes opened.

There were two presences just beyond a door, to her right. One was leaving, nearly running, while the other was fumbling with something.
Both pulsed with [DETERMINATION] and [WORRY].
Interesting.

Well… Shit.
She still needed to find The Blonde Ally and Rat. Shit.

---

---

The mention of the Runesmith made Dean snort. "So she gets stuff from you too eh?" He leaned back in his chair and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding until just now. " Truth be told I was considering bringing her into this anyway. I'm not too sure where to even start fixing whatever's going on with him and spirits know it's easy to make things worse if you don't know what you’re doing in our line of work."

Dean waved a hand around the room in a casual gesture. "We get enough people coming and going around here anyways, long as you keep to the rules and be hospitable you're free to come and go. Just please knock and ask before waltzing on in." His tone made it evidently clear that more than a few people didn't give him such courtesy.

" I think this is an acceptable arrangement all things considered. I can always give you a few more pieces of Jade later down the road for your troubles anyways." Leaning forward, Dean held his hand across the table towards Ash. " Shall we [Shake] on it?"

"Ah?" ID blurted out in an attempt to suppress voicing a thought. She raised an eyebrow, slowly lowering her fork back to the plate. Was that an invitation to use pact magic on him? Did he somehow know she could do that? She pursed her lips, drumming her fingers on the table for a long moment as her eyes flicked back up towards the stairs. Her eyes flashed luminous amber as she turned her gaze back on him.

The crushing intensity bore down on him like a rapidly approaching freight train, and he could scarcely move a muscle. Without breaking eye contact, she breathed gently into her hand, whispering a spell of [Commitment]. Her breath ignited into a Magatama array with [盟約] burning in its eye. ID clasped his outstretched hand without waiting for confirmation, and the spell pulsed through them. It was hot, but didn't burn like expected, and when she released him, the Kanji lingered on his skin faintly, like a mild burn. ID broke their gaze and returned her attention to her plate as the [Light] faded from her eyes.

"Agreed," she intoned with a note of finality. There was no backing out now.

Dean's hand traced across where the kanji had lingered before nodding. "That would do it." Looking up at his guest, a sheepish smile grew across his face. "Well, unless you have anything you wanted to add-" He was cut off however by the rapid footsteps coming down the stairs. "Never mind, we'll talk later."

Alex walked briskly back into the kitchen. while no longer shirtless, the dull grey fabric clung to his torso enough that it didn’t really leave much up to the imagination anyway. Alex didn't seem to notice or really care for that matter. "So, what did I miss?"

His roommate gave an incredulous look. "You left to go get a shirt on and call the repair man, HOW did it take you that long to get back here?"

" . . . I uh . . . got distracted."

Dean gave the large man a flat look long enough for Alex to fidget in place uncomfortably before rolling his eyes and turning back to Ash. "This is a rather common occurrence. Forgive him, for he is dumb of ass." That comment got him a light bap on the back of the head as Alex walked passed to sit down. Dean flipped Alex off in response, Alex replied in kind. The men laughed like school boys and the once serious air from before quickly melted away.

ID's eyes followed Alex through the room. She wasn't sure whether the tight-fitting shirt was less distracting, but the corners of her lips curled into an amused smile at the exchange. Lacking any practical place to hide the jade piece in a hurry, she had pinned it in the fold between two fingers and turned her palm towards the table. It thrummed distractingly against her skin as her eyes followed the Brute into his seat.

"Nothing to forgive," she answered, blowing an involuntary smoke ring from the residual combustion of her breath. She disbursed it with a subtle hand gesture while Alex's gaze was focused on Dean. "Considering the... unintentional stir I caused, the meal and the show has been plenty gracious." smirked ID. "Mantis-Raptor eggs have a peculiar musk, but the flavor is simply divine."

" The trick is to use aromatic herbs and spices. Thank goodness they lay so many eggs, though I wish they were less . . . Hostile." Alex shivered slightly and rubbed his arms.

Dean shook his head. "Your tales letting people know you’re a brute. Usually need heavy equipment to go near those things. I mean the scythe arms are bad enough but holy fuck they have too many teeth for me to be comfortable even going near." There was a collected pause among the three followed by various forms of responses that would be described as "Nope, don't want to think about it."

" Thanks for reminding me, ass hat. I promised the game wardens I'd help with collection this week."

" I've said it once and I'll say it dozens of times my dude, you're too damn nice for your own good."

"Oh bite me."

"Piss off, I don't want to break my jaw," Dean jabbed. This remark was followed by a utensil being chucked halfheartedly at the large man.

Instead of letting the fork bounce off of himself harmlessly, Alex reacted without really thinking and the fork was caught suspended midair in a softly glowing blue bubble. Dean stared wide eyed, which confused Alex for all of five seconds before he made the same face. The fork clattered to the ground as the bubble evaporated. Both men very slowly turned to look at their guest apprehensively. Given their reactions . . . This situation, or at least something similar, wasn't too uncommon in this house. It was a wonder how Alex had any form of secret identity for as long as he has been down here.

ID had been watching them with interest when the opportunity to observe Alex's powers in perfect time dilation had her rapt attention. She watched the pulse of [Blue] radiate outward through his body from his chest to his fingertips before tearing away and quickly encapsulating the drifting fork. The static cling of the barrier pulled on the residual haze from their pact, swirling it inside the sphere.

After a while, the sphere dissolved, and ID's eyes followed the trail of clinging energy back into Alex's chest, as it dragged the haze into his body. She stared at him thoughtfully for a long time with a raised eyebrow before an intrusive thought bubbled its way to the surface of her mind.

"I'm probably strong enough to leave bite marks on him...," she commented absently. ID grimaced, clapping a hand over her mouth and shooting a momentary glare across the table at Dean.

Alex raised an eyebrow at that remark. "You wouldn't be the first to try. Wouldn't recommend it. You don't need to break any teeth and ruin a nice smile. he paused for a second, seemingly confused by his own statement but shrugged it off.

Dean however fell out of his chair and was laughing like a hyena on the floor.

"Mmph," she replied, clapping her other hand over the first as a flustered blush spread across her cheeks. It was real difficult to keep a lid on those intrusive thoughts if she wasn't focused on it. ID took a breath and tried to compose herself before releasing her hands. She clucked her tongue, now unable to meet Alex's eyes.

"W-well. Um, it's... uh! I'm- thank you for the meal," she stammered uncomfortably as she got to her feet. "I um, well... have a... THING I have to do... I'll um... I'll see you in the afternoon. Uh. If that's okay," she mumbled, awkwardly unable to find the proper thing to do with her hands, and lacking pockets to shove them in.