Mika did not rush after her prey. Far too many people got caught up in the thrill of the chase, only to get blindsided when they approached a corner too fast. This was especially true this deep in enemy territory. Any number of weretigers could be lingering in other rooms. She had to be cautious.

When Mika turned the corner, she could see Honey Badger and his human shield. She didn’t have any spells that would help her teleport despite the GM thinking she had them prior to this encounter, but even if she did, was she willing to wager her spell was faster than anything he could do? She needed to ensure a decisive blow without any screw ups. The teenager raised her hands into the air. Mika took a full step backwards.

Of course, this was just step one of Mika’s offensive. She had a foolproof way to get the drop on her opponent. The floor overhead should have been relatively empty, and it would not be difficult to pinpoint Honey Badger’s location with how loudly he was arguing with the teller. All she-d have to do was get over his position and-

Mika looked over her shoulder as soon as her “ally” announced her arrival.

Her pupils got wider as Angelie's shadow swallowed her.

And just like that, Mika was scooped up bridal style and carried right back into the hallway.

More speed was not always the answer. Usain Bolt could dash a hundred meters in under ten seconds, but he would struggle to reach the end of a hallway before you could flip a light switch. The analogy worked well here. Just replace Usain Bolt with an air headed esper and the light switch was someone’s neck, if not the trigger of a pistol. But Angelie showing up wasn’t all bad news. She had something that could move even faster than she could.

Mika knew she was going to get thrown. Not because she could connect with Angelie on a deeper level, but because it was the most hair-brained idea she could possibly have. The teenager reached for Angelie’s SMG, which slid easily out of its holster. As soon as the angel tossed Mika into the air, she placed the gun against her head, and a bullet ripped through Mika’s skull.

Or it would have, had she not traded places with some spirit stuff.

Once again, Mika’s body teleported out of harm's way, placing her much closer to Honey Badger’s position. She flew right over his head and dug her claws into his shoulder. She still had the momentum of Angelie’s high speed toss to carry her through the air, and she let it drag Honey Badger backwards. If he remained standing, Mika would allow the momentum to carry her knee straight into his back. If he fell backwards, she would attempt to land on her feet. Regardless of the outcome, once Mika was stable she would take her claws and drive them into the side of his neck.

"’The password, now."

Angelie's gun fell to the floor. She'd want to pick that up if she wanted to stay transformed.

@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise@Nyahahameha@The World@TaintedMushroom

Himiko hadn’t been expecting the stone thrower to have quite as much power as he did. Her cover ending up being more of a hindrance to her then a help. Exploding upon the impact of the boulder, sending shattered stone everywhere while sending her flying in the chaos and debris. Roughly hitting the hard ground, stone jabbing into her as she rolled a short distance. The dirt and grim getting all over her nice white coat and her long golden hair. She came to a stop, quickly getting back onto her feet to prepare to defend herself against the onrushing paleguards. "Shit, that actually hurt again, these guys are making this a lot harder then expected...." Himiko bitterly complained through gritted teeth. Only her mask keeping the uncomfortable grimace on her face hidden from view.

Watching as a bolt of lightning struck the rebar thrower's leg, detonating it below the knee. Himko had to take a look at her own revolvers just to make sure that she hadn’t somehow done it herself. She hadn’t been expecting any other espers, Noble Sparks arrival being a blessing. She wasn’t about to complain about getting some free help in a challenging moment.Feeling a sense of relief to have someone by her side. It made her job a lot easier, especially with her rounds not having great effect on the pale-guards.

Glancing over her shoulder at her free help as he introduced himself, she quickly tried to dust herself off as best she could. “Noble Spark? Well whatever your name is, thanks for the help, just call me Sovereign, we can save the pleasantries for later…we have some skulls to crack” Her relief was short-lived as the stone thrower was fast approaching. Requiring her full attention as Noble Spark at least drew away the shopping cart guard. Leaving her only the stone thrower to deal with in the meantime, now that the rebar thrower had been crippled.

She turned the aim of both revolvers onto the stone thrower, this time she changed up her approach. Bringing the barrels of both guns towards the right leg and knee of the stone thrower. Letting loose every single round she had in both revolvers one after another in quick succession. Trying to use all twelve rounds on a single knee to sever it from the body by sheer brute force and mass of lead. Learning that if she spread out her fire power, the rounds would harmlessly pass through the bodies of these guys.

Once she had run out of shots, she quickly dashed towards Noble Spark, putting him between her and the pale-guards while she quickly reloaded both revolvers. She was sure he wouldn't mind her using him as a temporarily form of cover and distraction. Once she had reloaded she took position close behind him and slightly off to the side to keep her field of view and fire open. Guns at the ready for whatever threat that presented itself first.

It was then that she heard the truck's engine beginning to rev up as it picked up speed. Along with the sounds of the cries of the homeless as they got mowed down by the new threat. Himiko knew that the situation had drastically changed from what it had originally been. Something had to be done about the Semi before it was able to escape. Though she wasn't too keen on ditching Noble Spark to handle the pale-guards on his own. She also wasn't thrilled about trying to put herself in front of the semi, or chasing after it. So for now she would have to rely on her fellow espers to handle that side of things. The arrival of the cultists was problematic, what seemed like a easy job to her when she had taken it, turning into much more then she had bargained for.

"We need to take care of these guys as fast as we can, so if you can fry them, we can try to make our way over to help the others and regroup, if they try to run in front of that truck they will get tired, but if they try to chase after it they will get exhausted so our best bet is if they disable it....Just let me know what you need Noble Spark and I'll see what I can do....for a price of course...." Himiko remarked to him with a smile of her own hidden beneath her mask. Greed reflecting in her golden eyes as she knew she had a chance to make profit if she played her cards right. Testing the waters with Noble Spark to gauge if she could extract anything of value. Even amongst the chaos, her thoughts remained on what potential profit there was to be gained.

"Tch!" That was all Marrie was able to get out of her mouth as she was tossed over the paleguard with its rather impressive technique. But this was fine, she had expected something like this. She let go of the grip of her Instrument, and with the very last instant of her flight Melody, she adjusted her course so as to only clip Finn rather than barreling into him. It was only a few degrees off from the aim of the throw, but hopefully he'd be able to put that change to use. Much more importantly, she was glad that her Instrument had changed as much as it had since coming to Pax. When she was flung she initially had horrible flashbacks of her first mission again, and wondered if something similar would happen.

As she rolled to her invisible feet, relief washed over her. It seemed that her chain was working well. And to better use that chain... She prepared to rip Apexer Predator up and through the paleguard's shoulder, hoping to sever it complete, when the giant snake slammed into the MicroMart. As the cultists swarmed out of the snake, Marrie had a single thought.

Why does god hate me?

It didn't help that the truck began to take off, rightfully so, or that the homeless were beginning to be-

Fuck... She slapped herself on both of her temples, just hard enough to hurt but not enough to knock her unconscious. Rationalize later.

Did she dare try to switch places with the one-and-a-half-armed man, on a moving vehicle, with the only cast note that could do it giving a huge warning to him that it would happen? ... Probably not. But what was she supposed to-

And then it happened. Something, some fucking THING, slammed into the front of the truck. Well then. I suppose that solves this mission. She tore her gaze away from the truck before she could see what happened to it, but she'd made up her mind on what to do. If these bastards were going to hurt genuinely innocent, unlucky, fucked-over people... To kill them... Were they any better than any of the few people Marrie'd been forced to kill? Was self-defense the only acceptable reason, or did protecting other count? Even if she couldn't save any of the homeless people who were here, wouldn't she be saving people in the future from the same fate?

Rationalize. Later.

With her Instrument still stuck in the paleguard's back, blade pointed upwards and its chain laying across its shoulder next to its next opposite the stab-wound, she couldn't just leave it. But these things were fighting for the mob, right? They were trying to protect them from the Freelancers like her. Would they fight for them against this group of trash? She could only hope so.

Besides, better to fight them than another esper, in her experience. So she stood up, jumped forwards as hard as she could, and hoped the monster was stronger than it looked. The instant her feet left the ground, she retracted her Instrument's chain, using the paleguard, who moving in the opposite direction, as a weight in an attempt to trebuchet herself at the actual cultists. The musculature was hopefully just strong enough for her to highschool physics class her way out of this, and just weak enough for AP's blade to come loose once the stronger force was put on it from the launch, letting it come back to her hand as she flew. It was up to fate-

- that she would succeed. As she flew the few yards that her maneuver had afforded her, AP would return to her hand as she instantly began casting a Melody, pointed directly at the group of cultists. She'd make sure not to hurt anything other than those fuckers.

{Silver Beam - Scatter - If Foe - [Warm (+1 Rank) Damage X]}

- that she would fail. After quickly regaining her balance after being swung about slightly, she'd dash forwards and retract her chain, now from the direction of the paleguard's back, to return AP to her hand and cast a Melody through her foot onto the ground.

{Silver Touch - Portal}

The bums fried. In varying degrees, some were less fortunate than others, but whatever dread he'd feel about it didn't seem to register in the boy's head yet. All that mattered was Marrie being able to break herself off and get a stab into the paleguard's chest. Even if he did struggle to keep the pole-pipe-thing at a distance for long enough. But, as zombie rules apply, a simple stab in the heart wasn't enough to affect the guard in any degree.

"Ah shit-"

Marrie being flung towards Finn was enough proof of that. He was about ready to dodge when she changed course and clipped him instead, only causing him to stumble a few steps back. He huffed. "Use your melodies! Our weapons are useless against them!" The Timekeeper called out to the others. If anyone else could hear him. Hopefully. He was about to aim one at the paleguard when, as per the tradition of all these ridiculous battles, a giant ass snake launched into the MicroMart bringing with it the actual cultists. Oh shit. So that meant-?!

...Ah. Well, hopefully the others will assume the charred corpses were cause of the cultists?

Oh hey. The water truck's moving.

This is going so well isn't it? Somehow he wasn't surprised this shit happens anymore.

Everyone else was determined to keep the Cult of Aigorost at bay while preserving the stolen truck from the looks of it except the blindfolded guy trying to slice it in half like a samurai. Finn, on his end, fished Eddy out of his pocket and aimed him at the cultists. The eldritch Big Ed can take the opportunity to cleave them apart. With Marrie using the paleguard as part of her attack, the boy fired an electric projectile at the Grand Wizard guy instead. He wasn't a freelancer anymore, but he could still help stall their enemies as best as he could.

Seems I was at Odin level when I should be at Thor for these guys.

After witnessing these hulking hobos no-sell his gunslinging ally's attacks, Noble Spark had decided it was safer to put a bit more 'oomph' into his initial melody than he might normally have. The result was a bit stronger than he intended, but beyond mild surprise at how they didn't seem to resist the melody at all, he didn't mind so much since they were zombies and he knew even Batman didn't mind killing those.

Noble Spark gave an earnest nod to his companion as she suggested not having a lengthy talk mid-fight. "How very right you are!" he agreed, having already learned talking wasn't quite the free action it was in comics in his first experience as a Freelancer.

Still, Sovereign? I wonder if she's a Wonder Woman fan?

With one foe down temporarily and two left, that meant, of course, they would split into two separate one-on-one fights. This was standard practice for any comic, so he obliged without question, focusing his attention on the one rushing him with a shopping cart.

I feel a weird sense of irony, for some reason....

But while the unDead was Rising to the challenge of facing an Esper with a very unique weapon, Noble Spark wasn't about to underestimate it. He'd heard of stranger things being used in murder cases from his father, and these guys were built like tanks. Though his will could easily withstand the weight of anything they could hit him with, his skull had a limit of about a thousand pounds.

The air around Noble Spark began to pop and crackle with a building aura of sparks as he gathered power in his hand similarly to last time. However, instead of pointing his hand at the incoming foe, he pressed his palm into his chest causing a surge while the the aura of lighting becoming far more discernible around his immediate person, as if forming some sort of barrier.

With the bolt on his attire now glowing, Noble Spark attempted to use his newfound speed and durability to juke the oncoming shopping cart and let loose a punch aimed towards the head as the hobo passed by.

"Price? How very mercenary," he replied with a netural tone. "I need..." momentarily, his eyes moved over to the rest of the larger battlefield they inhabited. The commotion from the newly-arrived cultists and the truck attempting to flee hadn't exactly escaped his notice. The truck appeared to be where the water was being stored. As much as he wanted to fight the actual robed cultists that appeared for the sake of satisfying his desire for cool comic moments in real life, he wasn't about to ignore his real reason for being here:

I need to make sure that water isn't lost!

But it was like Sovereign said: they had to beat these guys first before they could worry about that. "Need to stop that truck if our fellow Espers can't. Guns typically beat tires, so there's a mint condition Wonder Woman comic with your name in it should it come to that!" he offered, mentally patting himself on the back for finding a way to sate both his curiosity and his desire to serve the public in one moment.

_{@Ponn@ERode@Izurich}

Burning.

A burning sensation enveloped and raced across Lorenzo’s leg, the initial kick itself hadn’t even compared to him losing the strength from his limb. The weretiger lost his balance, something Ashley immediately took advantage of with a blast from her shield and a shot through the heart. Timekeeper had always aimed for the heart or the head for a reason. Lorenzo stumbled back a short distance, the shock only lasting long enough before he collapsed onto the ground. The Witch Hunter and the Knight of Tomorrow got a good look at the damages and the corpses painting the hall, and the chandelier still hanging high over it all. Everything’s finally quieted down. Guess that was all of them?

Well, all except for Spades McGraw, who shuffled over to the edge of the balcony to get a better view of the carnage. Don’t worry, he was still handcuffed. ”Well shit, Lorenzo too?” He spoke up to no one when he saw the dead tiger. These ladies mean business.

Angel went to assist Cerberus in obtaining the password in a rather eccentric matter. It must’ve been jarring to have your plans be hijacked by a winged redhead soaring at you with the speed of an olympian sprinter. Even more so seeing a cat girl willingly shoot herself in the head in order to boost herself even further and sink her claw into you. Honey Badger was forced backwards from his hostage before he could react, who quickly took the opportunity to free herself, grab the gun and swiftly kicked him in the nuts for good measure. ”Asshole! I ain’t gettin’ paid enough for this…” The teller scowled, and holding a hand over her wounds, slowly walked towards Angel’s direction. She held the weapon out for the winged esper to collect.

”Gah-!? What the fuck are you asking me for, I ain’t that-”

”Ah shut the hell up and tell ‘em, do ya’ really want ‘em to rip ya’ throat out before Tony does?!” She snapped back at Honey Badger before he finished yelling at Mika. The man groaned in annoyance.

”Fine, fine! The code’s 6137. Better you assholes getting killed for this than me!”

”You goin’ to th’ lower floors, eh?” The teller glanced back at the two. ”...I can lead ya’ where they’re keepin’ your friend, if ya’ want.”

---

_{@The World@Nyahahameha@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants}

If something had a hole in it, it meant that there was no material in that area. If something was severed, it meant all the material that held it together had been removed. By that logic, you could sever something by aligning holes the right way. That was Himiko’s logic as she fired at the pale guard’s leg. It looked like a slice of swiss cheese, at least until the white creature stumbled onto its face. It wasn’t dead yet, neither was its companion who had been shocked into submission. But they weren’t going to be moving very far without a leg. The black ooze seeping out of their wounds didn’t bode well for them.

Justin zipped left, then right. The shopping cart wielding zombie lacked the super speed that Justin had, but he was armed with a large improvised weapon. He shoved the cart at the blue blur, but that didn’t stop Justin’s fist from flying through his head. Ivory chunks and gray matter were launched through the air. But speeding in the opposite direction was the shopping cart. Without Justin there to protect her, she was struck by the runaway cart. She fell inside it, at which point it slowed its roll to a crawl across the parking lot. Himiko would need to hustle if she wanted that golden age comic.

Meanwhile, Kira seemed to have a change of heart. Maybe she hit her head during the tumble, or seeing the cultists woke something up inside her, but it caused her to attempt diplomacy. A difficult thing to do in the middle of a fight with someone you just attacked. But when she extended her hand, the palemancer took it and pulled himself to his feet.

”I’m glad you feel that way. However...”

Pain.

While the palemancer still held Kira’s hand, her arm had detached from her shoulder and was dangling out of the palemancer’s grasp. His scythe was stained with her blood, and was just finishing its arc through to air.

”My flock is tired of empty promises from the rich.“ Not that the palemancer needed the help of espers anyway. Once he finished blessing the water, he could grow his army of pale guards to something far more numerous. He prepared to swing his scythe a second time.

Bardo had been biding his time, but had found an opportunity to strike. He huffed on foot as fast as he could. While his speed surpassed human limits, so too did that of a semi. There were also fleeing homeless and cultists. He was nearly run over by the dispersing mob on his way towards the Semi. As time waned, the truck continued to accelerate. But not before Bardo could reach it.

He soared through the air, blade extended. It wouldn’t be enough to just slice into the tip of the outside tire. This had dual wheels on each axle, so Bardo needed to be close. His hungry sword cut through the rubber like it was styrofoam. What he hadn’t quite anticipated was the air pressure in those tires. They had been aired right up to a hundred pounds per square inch, and were taller than his waist. Specifically 315/80R22.5 tires to be precise. While the sword was hungry for material, Bardo was hungry for knowledge. Though neither were ready for the explosion of compressed air. The explosion only served to spin him, which cause him to slice into both tires on the second axle. This time, the tire that was exploiting was right next to him, and he was thrown clean away from the semi. Such an explosion might have been lethal to a normal human, or even an esper. But just like monsters, chaos weapons had a tendency to briefly afflict whatever they cut into. Only Bardo’s eardrums would suffer from the initial attack. But now he was flying full speed ahead towards a lamp post. Did he know how he was going to slow down?

Because the Semi certainly was. With all four of its left rear tires popped, it was forced to roll on its rims. This caused a loss of control at the front, as one side of the trailer was trying to move faster than the other. A rain of sparks flew out the back as the vehicle’s rear was slowly ground away. But most important to those on top, the sudden loss of tires caused the corner of the trailer to dip. The palemancer and Kira were thrown from the trailer, and the two paleguards hopped off as well. One tried to pounce on Kira mid air, while the other went after Bardo.

Things were getting intense with the cultists too. The homeless ranks had been broken and would become a problem shortly. This was evident to both Marrie and Finn, who shifted their attention to the new threat.

Finn released Eddy, who had little difficulty barreling through the cultists. As small as the puppet was, it had little difficulty assaulting the cultists. If Finn had ever watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” he might have compared Ed to the killer rabbit. But even with chaos erupting in their ranks, they wouldn’t break as easily as the homeless had.

With Eddy deployed, he then flung a bolt of glowing electricity at the grand wizard. The robe figure instantly noticed what was going on and shoved one of his followers in front of it. It burned clean through the cultist’s chest before he sunk to the ground. ”How cowardly!” He roared. ”I will deal with you once I catch your pet!” And with that, he waded through the cultists to deal with Eddy.

Marrie had a sound idea for launching herself, but it wouldn’t play out the way she wanted. She did get herself into the air, but then she started to spin. She was spinning quite fast, in fact. The pale guard had grabbed a hold of the chain and was swinging it around. The centrifugal force kept the chain taught, and Marrie’s body off the ground. She went around and around before the pale guard hurled her into the air.

Mission successful, right?

Marrie’s altitude made it a simple matter to rain her melody on top of the cultists. Drops of arcane water burned through the cultists, and many of them sank in a heap. The only problem now was worrying about the landing, as well as what Kira’s melody was supposed to be. She had demonstrated her formidable magic previously, and now Marrie was heading over enemy lines.

The cultist woman hadn’t done much since showing up. She’d occasionally glance inside her robes, but made no attempt to join the front lines or invoke a spell. Likewise, none of the espers had directed any attacks towards her in particular. But did turn to see the projectile and Marrie falling out of the sky. A crazed grin crossed her face when she darted towards the descending objects. With a leap, she caught Marrie in mid-air and drew a blade from her robes. It split the melody before it could activate, causing it to fade out of reality. When the woman landed on the ground, Marrie realized that she had seen her before. Pink hair, red eyes, a sword as dark as night, one that twinkled with the cosmic light of some far off stars.

The woman laughed.

The moment Cerberus' lithe body left Angel's embrace, time itself seemed to slow down, allowing any would-be universal observes - or "patrons" as Oros the Mad would call them - to see the gradual shift in the redhead's expression, her brows quirking in confusion as she saw a gun - her gun - in Mika's hands, then amber eyes widened in shock as the teenage esper performed a stunt that could only be described as a 'Kurt Cobain Impression', except with an SMG. What the fu-

*BANG!*

Shock rapidly shifted to relief the moment Angel saw the beastly spirit floating where Mika once was while the felinid esper herself was already soaring over Honey Badger and his hostage, right, she had that ability. Still gave her a heart attack tho, Geez, girl, a heads-up would be nice... and before anyone had the smart idea of pointing out her hypocrisy, Angel must assert that she did give Mika a heads up, twice. Yep, totally different case.

Meanwhile, as far as any average Joe could see, they'd see and hear nothing except for a single gunshot and then suddenly, a belly dancer catgirl had sunk her claws into your skin, and unfortunately for Honey Badger, he was an average Joe. Suddenly, he was on his back, pinned by a magical woman and kicked in the nuts by a not-so-magical woman, talk about rubbing salt on an open wound.

Not too far away, the Gunless Angel slowed down her momentum before shifting her body, angling her limbs in such a way so that her feet would make contact with the ground first. Right at that moment, her transformation forcefully ceased...



...and immediately, gravity embraced the now-blonde agent, though fortunately, she had prepared for it and stuck her landing by performing a forward roll, a simple yet incredibly effective parkour technique to prevent bruises and fractures after a date with Lady Gravity. "Fuh!" Now, Ellie could be annoyed at having her instrument catburglar-ed, but considering the results and everything, she'd be the petty asshole here so nah, she shouldn't be a sore winner.

Straightening herself, Ellie turned toward the trio, noticing that Cerberus was looking at her. "Keep ‘em like that for now, I'll deal with him real soon." She said while swaggering over to them. Though the teller was technically closer to her, the blonde decided to handle the mobster first by fishing out a pair of handcuffs - boring steel ones - then slapping them onto HB's wrists, restraining his arms behind his back, then for good measure, she brought her hand back... then chopped him on the back of his neck, knocking him out. "Sleep tight, asshole."

That done, Ellie properly addressed the only civilian in the vicinity, "Hey, thanks," she accepted the gun then holstered it next to her Glock, "And go get that wound looked at, you hear? Would love to take ya to the nearest hospital, but urgent pest problem and all, apologies." With a nod, both to the teller and Cerberus, the blonde agent began sprinting, backtracking to the door where they came from. Along the way, she picked up the glinting ruby gold pendant that was her Grimoire from the floor, then used it to immediately transform back to Esper state.



"Agents, the elevator’s code is six-one-three-seven, I repeat, six-one-three-seven, over." Angel reported via their comms as she once more began to take flight, her feet lifting off the ground as she closed the remaining distance on wings, returning to the bullet-ridden, vending machine-smashed, and blood-splattered Main Floor. "Let's get back our cabbage!"

@Majora @BrokenPromise @Ponn @ERode

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"

She wasn't even aware her voice could produce a shriek that high-pitched. But as the blood poured from her shoulder, so did the blood-curdling noise pour from her throat. She stumbled back a step, just from the shock of the sudden pain, and of seeing her arm dangling in the grasp of her adversary. Rage (and a healthy dose of adrenaline) soon quelled the pain - the first plan of action to form in Kira's mind was to grab her arm back from the palemancer and proceed to beat him to death with it, even as he raised his weapon for another swing at her. But she never got the chance to act on that idea and bring the mental image to life, as the next thing she knew, the trailer beneath her feet was lurching toward the side she was facing. She watched the palemancer get thrown from the trailer entirely, taking her arm with him, while the diagonal pull of gravity on her body caused her to turn toward the front of the truck and fall onto her back on the edge of the trailer rather than off of it completely.

The collision with the cold metal forced her mind to clear, causing her to register the wetness running down her right side. Fuckin' prick! Just haaaad to give 'im my right arm. Idiot! Next she registered the night sky above her, which was soon eclipsed by one of the zombie lizardpeople attempting to leap on top of her, the figure appearing upside-down in her vision. Acting completely on instinct, Kira performed a side roll, moving her not only out of the paleguard's path, but also off the trailer entirely.

Or it would have, had she not shifted her gravity to pull herself onto the side wall of the trailer. She'd gotten just enough airtime from the change in surface orientation to swing her legs under herself, allowing her to quickly get to her feet and stand sideways on the top edge of trailer's wall - placing her directly between the paleguard and the still airborne palemancer. Bending down to hold her torso upright, Kira held her left arm up in front of her and fired off a Melody.

"Fuck off!"

Kira then fell backward, bending her knees and using her left arm to hold herself in a bridge pose on the wall of the trailer, in order to dodge out of the way of the palemancer's soon to be airborne body.

"Yank!"

The projectile struck the paleguard just after it landed where she'd been laying, and the gravitational pull that acted on it sent it flying directly above Kira - putting it on a collision course with the palemancer. With the most immediate threat out of her hair for a moment, she quickly assessed the situation she now found herself in. She knew Espers were a hardy bunch, capable of regrowing limbs if needed, but not fast enough to avoid bleeding out from an untreated wound, and being down an entire limb would make her much less effective in a fight. She had to take care of her shoulder now.

Deciding the best course of action was to get the hell out of the fight for a moment, Kira dropped from her bridge pose to lay on her back, hugged her remaining arm to herself, and side rolled down the wall of the trailer. Her speedy little side roll carried her down toward the ground, though moving this way prevented her from even seeing what had become of her earlier Zone Melody. When she reached the bottom of the trailer, she altered her gravity one more time, pulling upward to keep herself from touching the ground. Even with the reduced space between the ground and the now dipped trailer, Kira was able to slip in and hide herself beneath the hulking mass of metal.

Finally, her rolling came to a stop, leaving her laying on her back on the underside of the trailer, facing the pavement. If someone looked under from the dipped side, she'd be completely hidden from view, albeit completely visible to anyone looking from the side that's now lifted. With hopefully a moment's peace, Kira reached under the hem of her now blood soaked white hoodie and pulled it up over her head, freeing most of her torso and her right shoulder from the garment. She also produced one of the several packs of medical supplies she had taken with her from one of the pockets lining the inside. Using her one remaining non-dominant hand, along with her teeth, she began the process of stemming, cleaning, and bandaging up her shoulder, which would have to involve bandaging across her torso and under her left arm.

No surprises here. With nothing between Mika’s claws and Badger’s flesh, he was more than willing to give up the elevator password. There wasn’t much else to comment on. Mika was right, and her hunch played out the way she expected it to. Barring Angelie making a fool out of herself, it all unfolded the way she knew it would.

But for whatever reason, Mika found herself paralyzed once she had gotten what she wanted. She hadn’t considered her next course of action when Angelie promptly knocked him out with a chop of her hand. Was that the textbook way to knock someone unconscious? It didn’t feel very reliable. But Mika was already convinced that Angelie’s combat training involved watching lots and lots of foreign action movies. There was something she wanted to say, but there were too many people around. By the time Angelie recovered her gun, she was already back in the lobby with the others. That left Mika alone with the teller and Badger. She looked at the side of the man’s head.

"’Are you really just a human?” No response, of course. After staring at the side of his head, She pulled out a taser and stabbed him in the neck with it. His body twitched as she held the device against his skin. After a few seconds, she pulled back. "’Guess so.” She dropped him onto the floor and stepped over him. "’You still deserve to die, but we’ll keep you alive a bit longer I guess.”

Mika was about to follow Angelie out the door when she turned back to look at the teller. "’Wait, our friend? Then you know about all that?” She raised an eyebrow while examining the teller. She could be a weretiger or a dark web esper. But then she had no reason to get dragged around by a regular human. "’Never mind, come with me.” she grabbed the teller’s hand and walked into the lobby. "’I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay?”

The teenage girl didn’t react to Lorenzo’s body or the eerie quiet that set over the place. As soon as she was in front of the other espers, she pointed at the teller. "’She says she knows where our friend is. The guy that had the password was using her as a shield. She kicked him in the balls. I think we can trust her. ” Mika spoke with the same deadpan expression she used during show and tell at school. "’But I think I should stay up here and guard the elevator in case more of them come. Witch Hunt would be more useful guarding Binky.”

With the burly weretiger (whose name was apparently Lorenzo) now undeniably out of action, things seemed to have finally quieted down in the casino’s main hall. After taking a moment to collect herself, Ashley took the opportunity to leap over the teller counter and take a closer look at the elevator controls. Sure enough, there was a security keypad barring access, but no sooner had she reached it, then Ellie’s voice called over her earpiece with the code. “Got it,” the Knight of Tomorrow confirmed. “Six-one-three-seven,” she repeated, pressing the relevant digits on the keypad. The high-tech heroine was grateful for how swiftly the code had been obtained, and she only hoped Ellie and Mika’s return to the elevator would be equally swift. In her mind, she could hear the ticks of a clock as each second elapsed, and as she held the elevator door open with one hand and covered the room with the techno-wand she held clasped in the other, Agent Orion kept her eyes peeled for the sight of the two agents returning from around the corner they had disappeared behind moments before.

Soon enough, the two agents reappeared, first Ellie, followed by Mika a few moments later. However, to Ashley’s surprise, the feline agent wasn’t alone. The teller the beanie hat bouncer had used as a shield was with her.

“She knows where Binky’s being held?” Ashley echoed, not exactly expecting a humble teller to be so knowledgeable, or cooperative. Yet, those thoughts were pushed aside when she noticed the woman’s bloody wound. “That doesn’t look too pleasant,” she noted with a frown as she clipped her techno-wand to her belt and held out her gloved hand. “If you move your hand, I can patch you up,” she told the woman with a reassuring smile. Assuming the teller did so, Ashley’s hand would become enveloped by a soft green glow, and, placing it over the wound, she would bathe it in healing energies for several seconds.

One might question the logic of employing a melody on a mere civilian, and one who worked for a monster-run crime syndicate at that, but Ashley’s reasons for doing so were twofold. Firstly, she wasn’t about to let a non-combatant die of blood loss, especially not after being used as a human shield. Secondly, and of greater importance to the mission at hand, it would simply be foolish to allow such a valuable asset to potentially bleed out before guiding them to where Binky could be found.

As she worked, the Knight of Tomorrow thought over Mika’s request to stay topside and guard their escape route. On the one hand, she would rather not split up what was already a rather small team, nor was she particularly keen on having the youngest and most inexperienced member be the one to stay behind, especially when said member was limited to melee combat. That said, Agent Cerberus's suggestion was still a sound one, it was just that Agent Orion saw a far better alternative.

“That’s a good idea, Cerberus,” she commended the cat girl. “But I think Angel is more suited to defending an open location like this,” she added. “Conversely, her ability to fly will be severely limited in cramped corridors, while your speed and skill at close quarters combat will be far more valuable in such an environment. Therefore, unless anyone has a serious objection, I’d like Angel to remain here, while Witch Hunter, Cerberus, and I head down to rescue Binky. Oh, and you as well,” she added, looking up at the teller. “I’m so sorry, but I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

---

While the Knight of Tomorrow opened the door, the Witch Hunter crouched over the corpse of Lorenzo instead and closed the monster's eyes and jaw, given them at least the barest semblance of a 'sleeping' state.

"Yeah," she said, turning up to look at Spades. "Him too."

And like that, she joined the others once more. It was a scene of carnage, a scene of unsubtle, brutal carnage, human and monstrous blood mixing together. Even if they were criminals, they were still sapient creatures, and Estelle had never believed in anything so simple as 'some are born evil'. There were philosophies that she could cite, but it was simply a gut instinct kind of thing for her in the end. Simply something that made her wonder if those weretigers could have become something else, if the circumstances were different.

Her instructor would've probably call her too damn wishy-washy for her own good. But there wasn't anything inherently wrong with a hesitation to kill, right? She was a civil servant, not a bloodthirsty murderer.

A sigh escaped her lips. The others were talking strategy and all. Focus. Focus.

"I don't have anything to add here," the Witch Hunter said. "But could you all huddle up for a moment?"

Her heel pressed against the carpeted floor, as sigils of holy light seared themselves upon it. Radiant lines carved out a territory for ritual magic around the blue-haired swordswoman and her companions, before a pillar of light shone upwards, bathing them all in a presence that was as warm, as comforting, as sunshine upon the patio, a lazy afternoon with all obligations fulfilled.

That warmth remained even as the spell faded.

"There." She smiled. "It isn't a shield, but it'll work as some insurance if there's some dark web freelancers down below."

She was lucky that she was used to flying around at this point in her esper carreer, or she might have lost her lunch. She even managed to fire off her Melody, in an even better position than she had planned! Silver linings, right? And speaking of silver linings...

"Oros!?" Marrie blurted out, once the shock had died down enough for her mind to process what had just happened. The rush from being grabbed out of the air before she could react was still running through her, causing her mind to run at a million Tails, er, miles an hour. At first, seeing Oros was mixed news. On the one hand, Marrie had no ill will towards the esper that everyone seemed to hate, but on the other, her being in the group of cultists was a bad sign. As she began listing off the other freelancers there, though...

God really does hate me, wow.

In all the commotion, she hadn't even noticed the exploding tires or the now crashed semi. As she looked to follow Oros' movement towards Finn, the truck entered her sight and she blanched. Did that mean the water was toast now? Well, if she assumed that, then the only remaining points of importance were defeating the cultists and keeping the other espers alive, not necessarily in that order. So seeing the debatably most dangerous esper in Pax rushing at the guy who saved her, and who she was pretty sure she had seen during the Diver fight, she subconsciously made a pretty simple decision. Chances were that she'd respond, but if Marrie was right about this, that'd work out just fine too, and so she cast a Melody aimed straight at Finn, right over Oros' shoulder.

{Silver Beam - Transplace}

A life for a life, huh?

The Timekeeper cackled in glee as he watched Big Ed tear into the cultists with ease, soon following to start fighting, himself. "HELL YEAH, EDDY! KICK THEIR ASSES!!" Even the Grand-Wizard-Guy using one of their own as a shield against his own attack didn't phase him, not when the killer plush was still at large. The others dealing with the Palemancer and his guards seemed to be having a hard time still, maybe if he can-

Uh... The truck got totaled. So he guessed that's a no-go. All they could do now was deal with the rest of the hostiles. Marrie took advantage of one guard flinging her into the air and rained an aerial melody down, which Finn quickly moved out of the way from. But before he could fire one to catch her though, someone, someone he hoped he'd never have to deal with again caught Marrie.

Oros.

Just his damn luck to run into her again.

Any idea to continue fighting escaped him then, the Timekeeper began backing away from the Depraved esper as she rambled on. She singled out all the other espers except Marrie in the area, and how they pissed the cultist off. Cult leader? Had to be. Who else but her would be behind this? And then she singled the Timekeeper out as the worst of them all. The reason?

"You don't understand, I-I had no other choice! If I didn't stop holding back, she would've killed me!" He argued back, in vain. Oros already bowed out of trying to kill him once. Who's to say if he'll be lucky this time? She remained determined to kill him. "But she's still alive, goddamnit! Howthefuckdoyouknowheranyways?!" Finn quickly tossed another bolt at the cultist, preparing to run even if it struck. He was just no match for her.

@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise@Nyahahameha@The World@TaintedMushroom

A comic book? That was a first for her, she had never been offered a comic book as a form of payment before. Though if it was in mint condition as Noble Spark suggested it had to have some kind of value tied to it. Especially if it was a vintage copy of one of the older series. She was willing to take her chances on it, finding it satisfactory as a suitable form of payment.

“Very well, but it better be as mint as you suggest, or you're going to owe me something else…..” Turning her head just in time to get her legs taken out from underneath her by the shopping cart. A small yelp as she went rolling away inside in a heap. Going for a ride as it came to a creaking halt, she quickly righted herself while still in the shopping cart. Rubbing the back of her head muttering a complaint underneath her mask. The last thing she had anticipated was being interrupted and taken for a ride by a shopping cart. Hoping that not many others witnessed what had happened as she hurried to untangle herself.

Yanking herself free as she leapt from the cart and landed back on her feet on the hard ground. Taking a quick look around to see if anyone had been nearby or watching. She took a moment to shake off what embarrassment she felt, before turning her attention to the far more important task of earning herself that comic. Her golden eyes narrowed as she brought her focus onto the two crippled pale guards that stood between her and the comic.

Without hesitation she brought up both of her revolvers, the mask covering her face, hiding the growing grin. “This is going to be some easy money, sorry losers but time is wasting and time is money” Himiko let out a small laugh as she began to channel everything into both guns. A golden glow emitting from her hands, as she had no intentions of going easy this time around. After a moment, both guns begun to emit a golden glow as she felt she had summoned enough energy to satisfy her needs. With one last laugh, she let loose a single shot from each of her revolvers, the two bullets emitting a golden glow they merged together into one golden arc as it hurtled towards its target.

Satisfied with her efforts she glanced over her shoulder towards Noble Spark “This should be more than enough for that comic you promised, I doubt they will be able to withstand that shot….so we should have a clear path to the truck” Himiko confidently remarked before the results of her attack had even been concluded. Feeling confident that in the current condition both paleguards found themselves in that she may have gone a bit overkill. But if it meant getting that comic, and subsequently the money it was worth, then she had no qualms about it.

Before she knew it, a muffled sneeze had snuck up on her. She gave a shake of her head to clear it up and get her senses back into order and getting her golden hair out of her face. “Well…that was unexpected, someone must be talking about me, hopefully about paying me…” Turning her focus back towards the commotion that was happening further beyond with the semi truck. Knowing that with all the commotion she was able to see and hear that they needed the help of both Noble Spark and herself.

This comic better be worth it, this job was proving to be far more intensive and demanding then she had anticipated. It still didn’t seem like it was even close to being finished either. Not with the primary targets still in play and the water still not secured. But maybe she would be able to barter her way towards a bigger reward in the end.

_{@Ponn@ERode@Izurich}

The teller gave Angel a side eye when she disregarded her offer and promptly sprinted back to the main hall to regroup with the others, but at least Cerberus actually acknowledged her offer. She looked back at the cat girl with a slight grin and was about to explain, but she was pulled by the free hand down the hall instead.

”Ey’, just a scratch. Guessin’ they didn’t expect ya’ ta’ be THAT strong.” She chuckled. The next scene only cemented the fact. These guys were never gonna stand a chance. The agents got the code, and now they got someone to guide them to Binky. The teller moved her bloodied hand away from her wound when Ashley offered to patch her up. Even if healing notes don’t work as well with normal humans as they did espers it should be enough to stop the bleeding at least. She nodded in thanks. ”Th’ name’s Elise. Boss gave a heads up that you’d be poppin’ in, an’ I ain’t exactly a part of their lot, as ya’ can figure…” Elise explained, giving the corpses a side eye. ”Down there though’s where Tony does his dirty work. Should warn ya’, it ain’t pretty.”

With Angel guarding the elevator, the rest could go down to the lower floors.

The ride down could’ve felt like ages. And the colder atmosphere they were greeted with contrasted with the warm and inviting casino. Elise immediately stepped out first.

”This way, girls!”

Navigating through the winding corridors, the agents could get glimpses of the gang’s inner-workings. There was a notable lack of guards down there, were all of them stationed on the main floor? Soon enough they would come across where the human trafficking victims were being held. Man, woman, and child, some even noticed the unfamiliar group walking down the cells and tried to reach out to them, begging them for help, begging for their freedom. ”Awful, ain’t it? Cat’s gotta eat, doesn’t matter who ends up his lunch.” Elise solemnly spoke up as they walked. ”Ya’ hadn’t done a terrible numba’ on the hall besides tha’ stiffs. An’ somehow I’m doubtin’ you’re leavin’ ‘em here too, ‘ight?”

However the agents would respond, Elise wouldn’t answer. It wasn’t her funeral if they did. She eventually stopped at one cell and knocked on the bars. Inside laid their target. Binky, at a cursory glance at least, was left unharmed. ”Rise n’ shine, Cabbage Patch! Ya’ free to go!”

”Ngh!” Unharmed, but definitely stiff. Binky rose to her feet. She almost jumped out of her skin when she noticed all the new faces looking at her. ”Orion? Good to see you again. And, and, I… I don’t recognize the others.” With a sigh, Binky fell against the wall. ”Maybe we can get introduced later. My grimoire, they’re keeping it around here somewhere.”

---

_{@The World@Nyahahameha@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants}

It was a good thing Kira practiced those one-armed push ups.

Few mundane humans could support their body without collapsing, least of all with a limb missing. But there was enough adrenaline coursing through Kira’s system that this was possible. While bending over backwards to avoid her opponent, she could see the palemancer behind her. He had his arm extended and was about to pull himself right back onto the semi trailer. But the pale guard Kira shot earlier was sling-shotted straight over her without so much as time to flail. The palemancer and his creation collided in mid air before tumbling into the street. Falling twelve feet to the ground was not an ideal situation for anyone, but falling from a vehicle that’s driving well over the speed limit The palemancer and pale guard seemed to blend together as they rolled across the pavement. But the semi kept driving, now with only Kira and its mysterious driver. Could the Semi be stopped?

Speaking of stopping, that was something Bardo felt might be a good idea. He conjured a slew of floating pages to slow himself down. Little by little, the pages slowed him down until he was suspended right beside a lamp post. This was good for Bardo,because his brain would remain in his skull. This was bad for bardo because it meant the incoming pale guard would have little difficulty targeting their suspended prey. They tumbled in place, with the pale guard biting and scratching Bardo, and Bardo retaliating with his sword. While his sword happily gobbled up mundane semi trucks, it didn’t have the same destructive power on monsters. It cut like a normal sword, but it still informed him about his target nonetheless. This pale guard used to be a human cadaver, but had since transformed into a full monster. While he could cut her, she was much more susceptible to arcane magic. He could also tell that she was dangerous to normal humans, but wouldn’t be able to do a lot of damage to bardo by herself. Her name used to be Peggy, and she was trying out a keto diet before being captured by weretigers. What actually killed her were some injuries she sustained during a human trafficking bust gone wrong. A gemini agent sniped the weretiger that was carrying her and she hit her head when the crate she was housed in was dropped to the ground. She later died from her injuries, and experienced her second death at Bardo’s hands. Bardo’s vestments were stained with his opponents blood, and yet, he didn’t have time to take it all in.

He could see the palemancer and the other pale guard rise from the ground. They were no longer separate entities. Tumbling across the pavement had worn away most of their clothes and flesh,and their bones were entwined into a single being. They looked like a mantis, with two bladed scythes for arms and their other limbs acting as legs. Even if they had no right being used as such. It tried to gurgle out something, but the way their throats fuzed together didn’t enable either creature to speak. The palemancer, or whatever they had become, hobbled towards Bardo.

The two remaining male pale guards at Himiko’s feet were vaporized by her melody. The heat alone was enough to do them in, but what little remained was set ablaze and burned into fine ash. She might have been stingy with her mana, but if the price was right…

Which just left the cultists.

Despite Finn freaking out over Oros’s sudden appearance, he flung his one melody at the monster cultist going after Eddy. He noticed the incoming projectile, but when he reached for his fellow “protectors,” they had all made the wise choice to distance themselves from their superior.

”This just ain’t right!"

The melody struck him square in the chest, turning his entire body into smoldering ash. His robes and golden jewelry fell to the ground in a heap. Between getting harassed by a sockpuppet and having one of their leaders just die, the cultists weren’t looking to stick around. It wasn’t like they could recover the water truck at this point anyway. They backed into the shadows, quietly uttering their lords name as they departed.

Though one was a bit more stubborn.



"Holy shit your aim is bad. Are you seriously trying to outrun me? " There were a few espers that could outrun Oros, but Finn wasn’t one of them. She had little difficulty gaining on him as the distance between them closed. But what could he do but run? She was strong, fast, had potent melodies, and could shrug off most anything that was thrown at her. But that didn’t even factor in her most powerful ability.

Oros’s eyes glanced between the back of Finn’s head and her sword. A smile crept across her face. Her eyes continued to glow more intense shades of red, going from pink to a deep crimson. She whipped around and pointed her sword in Marrie’s direction. The two fired their beams. A gust of wind and a snake passed each other mid-air.

Simultaneously.

Finn was struck in the back. He was immediately transplanted with Marrie, but Oros had used her melody to teleport closer to where Marrie had been. Finn blinked his eyes, and he was suddenly running headlong towards Oros.

"Time to get shorter, pipsqueak!"

A swing of her sword, and Finn was parted from both of his legs. He fell forwards and managed to stop his face from hitting the pavement by catching it with his hands. The brass cogs in his legs were exposed, and oil spilled out onto the pavement. When he looked up, he could see Oros approaching him. But also, there was something else floating just over her shoulder.

"I’ve gotta say, I’m a little disappointed in our final match." She held her sword over her head. "I’d have preferred no interruptions, but it didn’t seem like you were going to fight me anyway. Maybe-"

Suddenly, sand started to pour out of Finn’s ears. And his eyes, his legs, even the gaps under his fingernails. His head collapsed into a mound of sand.

"Hey!" Oros pointed at Finn’s head. "Talking is a free action! We went over this last time!" With a sigh, she turned away from Finn. "Whatever, we’ll have a proper duel later I guess. Unbelievable." The remaining cultist approached Marrie. "So, where was I?" She sheathed her sword. "Right, so, everyone around here, sans you, gets on my nerves. Since I managed to get through this event while only cutting off that psychopath’s legs, I think I deserve a reward, don’t you?" Oros folded her arms. "What do I get?"

He tried to run. Even when he ended up killing his initial target after all he still tried to run. But even with Marrie trying to help him, nothing Finn could do was going to stop Oros from killing him. The transplace note disoriented the Timekeeper long enough for him to not be able to act in time.

It was almost too easy for Oros to slice him in half. It didn't even register in the poor kid's head that it happened until he hit the ground. He felt... ḻ̴̡̙̼́i̶̢͈̐g̸͝h̶͔͂͌̋̉͝t̵̺̻̱̪̞̆̃e̷͉͓͇̕͝ȓ̵̛̰̰͌̃.

_"...Ah..."

Lighter. T̶̛̬̎͗ö̶͈ọ̶̳̏̓ ̷̝͘l̷͔̥͔̎i̷̧̘̖͌g̴͚̪̓h̶̦͊͆t̸̝̦͕͊͒̂.̷̯̥͆̈̕ He trembled as he pushed himself up by his elbows. He turned his head to look behind himself.

At least what remained. Finn was absolutely terrified to see his severed legs collapsed onto the ground a distance away, sputtering volts of electricity jumping out of his exposed v̵͈̀i̷̠̐c̴̪͘e̴͈͗r̶̥͠a̷̖̎ endoskeleton and h̸̳͖̏͑i̷͔̮̜͖̹͖̩̋̅̀̕s̸͖̩̝̀͠ ̶̛͈̙͉̃̃͒͑͑ͅb̵̹̻͙͈͔͎̓͐̋͗͂͠l̴̢̺̳̤̦̔̿̂̈́̄̾̍o̶̢͈͇̪̞̟̿͌̈̓̓̅o̷̡͍̹͕͋̽͐̌̾̉̃ͅd̷̝̬͈̞̎̔͗͝ oil pooling out onto the ground. And then his eyes followed to the stumps that remained.

_{"AH...AH...!!"}

H̶̢͎̋e̷̪͐̄͌̾ ̴͉̈́̅̒͝ͅd̵̳̫̄͜i̴̛͇̙̗̯̠̇d̶̨̢̥̜͚̅n̸̙̹̬̓̌̃'̵̭̺̫̣͇̋̑̅͋͠t̸̞̓̀̏͘ ̴̤̠̖̇̏ë̵͇͓͈̙͓́̍̾͑v̸̛̮͙̻̯̖̏̋̀́e̸̙̐͜ǹ̴̰̠ ̸̭͍͇̯̪͋̓̓h̸͎͇̱̄̾͋a̵̘̪̩̲͊̍́̒͝v̸̫͛̏ë̴͙́͛ ̵̖͎̝̜͗t̴̘̭̚h̷͇̗̋͗̐͒̋e̷̤͙̮̊ ̷̧̛͔̠̫͗̄̔̚s̶͇̘̣͊̾͐̃͆ͅt̸͎͖̤͆r̶̢͍̲͓͓̾̆̽̾e̵̼͔̅͜ṋ̷̻͙̦̾͋̔g̴̡̭̤̘̹̑̚ṫ̵̞͓͈̗͑̀͠ͅh̴͚̩̑̈́͋͂ ̷̥͛̇̂̚t̵͓̝̲̒͗̋̓͠o̶̟̠̤͔͂ ̴͔͆s̷̹̠̬͊͛͋ç̵͐̀̄͘ŗ̸̭̜͍̃̕͝ͅé̸͎͕͚̬ȃ̵̟̠̟̱ͅm̸̲̔̏͋̀.̶͕͍̫͗̓

This couldn't be happening. This was just a nightmare, right?

Finn's head snapped back to Oros approaching him for the final blow.

This couldn't be happening again. Ņ̴͉̬̤̀͗̆͊̈̈́͘͜͝͠o̵̻͑t̶̖̼͎͍̘͎͔̮̿̏̃̌̅ ̷͇̟̳͔̈́ͅą̸̗̜̜̰̫̖̮͛̒̽͝g̸̰̮̻̜̖͆̿̓̀̾̚͘͝á̶͙̭͌́̋́̕͝i̴̞̿̀̈́̌͒̾n̷̪̬̖͇̗͕̈́͜͝ ̷̛͈̜̂̍̿̿̑̉n̸̢̟̠͉̱͖̥̅̊̀̌̆̒͐͠ó̴͔̪͒̓ẗ̷̻̟̪̰̲̲̺́̒͋ ̸̢̲̺̹̋͛̑̾̈́à̷̯͈͓̩̗͒͘g̴̡̨̟̯̩̣̫̖̦̈́͆̓̕a̸̡̙͍͇͈͚͙̫̭̿̔̏͊͊̂̆i̷̦̝̰̅n̸̪͓̰̺̲͉̪͒͆͊̒͘͜͜ ̶͖͖̬͕̳̎̓̀̌̇͝n̴̡͎̠̺̩͍̚͜o̶̡̧̹͍̺̭̞̾̓̋̾̆̈́̀͆͝t̵̤̘̦̥̦̍͛̆̃͝͠ ̸̧͇̥͍̘̞͕̔̎͛̕̕ͅͅa̸̲̜̻̙͚̱͍̟̐͒̿̍͜g̷̢͕͓̻̝̦̰͐̿͆͌̽̕͜a̸͍͖̭̦͈̪̓į̷̡͖̹̘̙̌̑͗͂̐̎͐̊͠ņ̶̺̳̗̠̗͛̍͒͋̆̒̿-̵̭̺̤͙̝͗͊͛̈͐̚͘̚

But there was something else behind her too. His eyes widened.

Someone help.

S̵̹͗̌̃͛̏͘Ȯ̵̳̼̯̟̲̝̜̿́̀́M̷̼͍̓̂̍̆̾̚͠E̴̡̻̙̫̙̼͛͛͒̄͋͛̓O̸̳͍̪͔̍͠N̸͇̙͎̙͌̆̋̀͋͜͝E̵̢̩̰͙͖̱̺͂̌͊̓́̀̽͘͝ ̴̨͖̝̘̜͇̪̠͖͊̾͌̓̀̚͝͠P̴̺̍L̶͙͊̃̓̈́̕͠E̸̘͔͍͚͍̼̝̘̫͋̅̐͆Ą̵̝̈͒͌͂̽̉Ş̶̲̣̳͙̏̽̀͝Ě̶̢ͅ ̵̝̮̞̣̱̤͔͌̽̈́̏̈́̓͜H̸͙̯̲͙͚̤̥͌Ė̶͍̒͐L̷̼̃͆̕P̵̨͙̗̜̝̱̮̃̅͑̍̊͆̎͒͠!̴̧̛͎̠̯͔͍̙͌͂͌̕͠͝͠

That was the last thing he remembered before he collapsed with a thud. His weapon slipped out of his hand.

It took a minute, but Kira had succeeded in ensuring she was left alone long enough to get her emergency medical treatment applied. She looked across herself, appraising her work. Slinging the bandages under her left arm and around her right shoulder stump to keep the absorbing cloths pressed against it was about the best she could do. Slipping her bloodied white hoodie back on over her torso, Kira took another look ahead of herself at the pavement rushing by beneath her. A truck with half its tires missing should have come to a stop by now, but this rig just kept on truckin', even with the screech of metal on asphalt assaulting her ears.

"The hell kinda' psycho they got drivin' this thing?!"

Her vendetta against the arm-thieving skelly-hand man would have to wait; with her being the only one of the Freelancers aboard the truck - to her knowledge - she was the only one in any position to stop this thing from destroying itself and the water it was transporting. Forming a slapdash plan of action as she moved, Kira side-rolled her way out from beneath the trailer, opting to go toward the upturned side which faced away from all the action happening outside the MicroMart. With another shift of her gravity, she planted her feet on the vertical wall of the trailer, and took into a run across it, heading up to the cab of the semi. A quick visual assessment revealed that the passenger side door of the cab was still open, albeit not very wide given the speed the truck was moving. But it was enough for what she had in mind.

Upon reaching the door, Kira quickly bent down, grabbed the handle, and pulled it up. With a small hop forward, she threw herself down the widened opening she'd given herself, knees bent as she fell.

"'Scuse me!"

She extended both legs, aiming to drop-kick whoever it was driving this rig out of the driver's seat. Being that it was probably another of skelly-hand man's lackeys, or someone on his side, she couldn't say she rightly cared if they got thrown out of the cab entirely by the force of someone basically falling on their head.

The moment she felt her feet connect with a face, she shifted her gravity back to normal, letting her fall onto her right side across the driver side seat, legs hanging off of it. With a grunt of effort, she rolled herself onto her front and reached under the steering wheel with her left arm, slamming her hand on the brake pedal.

"Eh?" The redhead esper expected for Cerberus to follow after her, sure, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the teller being pulled along, the... bleeding teller. Yeah she claimed to know where Binky was, but what use would be a guide if she was just going to bleed out on them? ... Angel blinked, she had to admit that her very first instinct was to yell at Cerberus for being such a short-sighted idiot, but the trust she had for her teammates' competence put a damper to it, which ended up saving herself from embarrassment merely a brief moment later, Aaaah... right, Orion can do that, aha-... ahahahaaaaa... Thank God she didn't let her big mouth run off.

With the civilian no longer in danger of exsanguination thanks to Orion's magical band-aid, the mission could proceed. "Hmm..." Cerberus' idea of staying behind to guard the elevator had merits, but Angel felt like it could be done better... and then the high-tech heroine practically read her mind before she could voice it herself, "Yeah~ what Major Lazer said, unless those fuckers are immune to bullets, they ain't gettin' through me, and there are very few things impervious to being shot at, I can tell you that." Like those pesky ethereal spooky ghost monsters or something, but hey, no plan's perfect.

"Oh, sure stuff, Musashi~" Upon Estelle's prompting, she huddled up along with the others as the Witch Hunter's mystical light washed over them, granting them the ability to better resist the foul arcane machinations of monsters and depraveds alike, "Aaah~ that hits the spot." The side-effect of feeling like being snuggled by a big furry teddy bear was definitely welcomed. "Heh, about time, huh? Return in one piece, alright? Or I'll go down there and slay every single one of those goddamned demons just to drag you back here." Angel nodded with a firm smile as if she was more than ready to do exactly that should things come down to it.

Guided by Elise the Teller, the group - minus the Gunpowder Messenger - entered the elevator as Angel gave them one final two-finger salute before the double-layered automatic doors sealed in front of her. "Haaa...~" Now came the boring part, What to do...? Aside from overwatching, of course. Hmmmmm... Angel pursed her lips as she clasped her hands behind her head, while her legs lifted from underneath her as if she was sitting cross-legged on an invisible chair. A moment later, she noticed that this was not a solo party after all, leading her to curl a grin as she casually winked at one handcuffed Spades McGraw, "'Sup~ come here often?" The man could shoot, she had to give him that, and he wasn't a monster, "merely" working with one, so there was still hope for him. "Humor me, how high are the chances that you'll turn a new leaf after this?"

@Majora @BrokenPromise @Ponn @ERode

Ashley was all set to head down to the lower levels, when Estelle had the team gather together so that she could impart a beneficial melody upon them. “Good thinking, Witch Hunter,” the Knight of Tomorrow told the blue-haired agent with an appreciative smile as the melody’s comforting warmth washed over her. “And thank you.” Now that they were as fully prepared as they could be, the team entered the elevator, leaving Ellie to cover their exit.

To Ashley’s pleasant surprise, not only was the elevator ride uneventful (if a tad on the long side), but so was their passage through the subterranean corridors. If anything, she had been expecting even fiercer resistance here, and yet, there wasn’t a single guard to be found. What were in abundance, however, were the many victims of the weretigers’ human trafficking operation. Elise, their teller-turned-guide, had warned them to be prepared for this, but even though she had done her best to steel herself, Ashley still felt a spike of pain and fury pierce her heart at the tragic sight. Those fucking monsters… the high-tech heroine seethed. Awful doesn’t even begin to describe it… When Elise noted that the agents probably weren’t going to just leave the captives to their horrific fate, the Knight of Tomorrow’s response was immediate. “Right,” she confirmed, her tense voice filled with determination. Indeed, it was taking all her willpower to keep from breaking open each cell they passed. However, as much as she wanted to free the poor victims immediately, she knew their first priority had to be locating Binky. After she had been liberated, the rest would follow.

Soon enough, they reached the captured agent’s cell. “Binky!” Ashley called when she caught sight of the cabbage-haired esper. “Thank goodness you’re okay,” she added with a relieved exhale upon seeing that her mentor seemed to be unharmed. “These are Agents Witch Hunter and Cerberus,” the high-tech heroine told Binky, nodding to each agent in turn as she opened the cell door with a blast from her techno-wand. “And I agree,” she added when the freed agent mentioned holding more formal introductions later. “First we need to find your grimoire, and then free the rest of these prisoners. Can you sense your grimoire well enough to lead us to it?” she inquired, helping Binky to stand if necessary.

---

The cat girl raised an eyebrow when Ashley attempted to heal the teller, though she was far more interested in what their leader thought of her idea. Her suggested alteration had Mika raising her other eyebrow. "’You want the gun nut to stay topside?” If they were expecting the rent-a-cops to come back, sure, a spray of lead would be fine. But weretigers were monsters, and guns were not the ideal weapon to dispatch them with. That, and it wasn’t hard to picture the dimwitted esper accidentally spraying the elevator controls with her bullets. Come to think of it, wasn’t a narrow passage exactly the type of terrain that would be ideal for Angelie? Just hose down the other side with bullets? Oh! But this was a rescue operation. Mika had almost forgotten. And if she almost forgot, Angelie probably did forget. At least the likelihood of someone throwing her was lower.

"’Whatever.” Mika said with a roll of her eyes. "’Let’s just get this wrapped up.”

During the ride down, Mika looked at the corner of the elevator. The upper right corner over the elevator controls. There was nothing too interesting about it, but there wasn’t a lot of other places to look. The alternative was to talk with the other agents, but why? It wasn’t like Elise was trustworthy. Mika had initially thought she was just a teller, but it was becoming apparent she was involved with things a bit more than Mika had suspected. When the door finally opened, Mika was one of the first ones out. She didn’t bother looking into any of the cells. The blood from her enemies was starting to coagulate on her skin. There was too much to wipe away, and it would be impossible to ring out of her outfit.

They found Binky. Ashley’s shout initially got Mika’s attention, but this discovery didn’t stir anything inside Mika. It was just a woman she barely knew who was important for reasons she didn’t understand. It was hard to believe this was it. There was no big boss, no last stand from a weretiger army. It was almost anticlimactic. There was still the possibility that someone was hiding in here. Maybe…

"’If we are going to release everyone, we should verify none of them are weretigers in disguise.” That was exactly the sort of underhanded trick Mika would expect from a monster.