@Ponn@ERode@Vertigo

One last shot.

Ashley put everything that she dared into her next attack. It was going to be devastating, and it was going to be nearly unavoidable. Her advanced targeting protocols could maneuver her melody mid flight. It could avoid obstacles, track targets, hell, blast through them if that somehow didn’t work. All to deliver a payload of arcane armaments to their destination. The center of Orion’s wand glowed a hot white, and would leave after images in the eyes of anyone who looked at it. Her targets had no idea what was coming their way, only that it was going to be powerful. Boteg kept his sights straight ahead, doing his best to get as much distance between himself and the diner as possible. it simply remained with Ciri, who looked over their shoulder at the high tech esper. Amanda was still crying. She was still trying to digest the death of her father, or maybe she had given into despair already. It was hard to say.

“Uuh nyuuuuuuuuu!”

MDP rushed outside and fired a beam of candy, teddy bears, and unicorns at the escaping group. They would find themselves surrounded by a rainbow barrier, but would this be strong enough to protect them from what was coming?

Ciri had to nudge Amanda to get her attention. She took one hand off of her father’s remains and offered it to the oni. Maybe they didn’t know what the melody was, but Ciri could approximate when it would go off. That was a skill virtually every esper had. So when the light around Ashley’s wand collapsed, Ciri activated her own melody, just as the technobeam ripped through the air. The green energy passed through Amanda’s form without harming her, and flew on to hit what was behind it.

The back of Boteg’s neck.

While Ashley’s melody had missed its initial target, she was able to will it into hitting Boteg himself. A green explosion soaked everyone nearby in plasma. Ciri was thrown from the dragon’s back, it avoided the blast but jumped after her, Boteg fell out of the sky, and Amanda was there, still a shadow, wondering what was going on.

The dragon hadn’t gotten very high, but he came down hard. His body sunk into the asphalt road and folded it up where he slid. By this point, Amanda had rejoined the world of light and was thrown from the Boteg’s back. She landed face first on the concrete, tumbling into a nearby building and breaking through the wall in the process. But a monster would have little issue surviving contact with the ground, but the story was not the same for the precious glass sculpture she was holding. The only thing in Amanda’s arms now was shattered glass, whatever it used to be was lost to time.

With a grunt, she smashed her tiny fist into the ground and marched back outside. It wasn’t enough that they killed her father, they had to kill her too. She was still crying, but she was mad now too. Her face was red, and her hands were balled into trembling fists. But anger wasn’t a superpower regardless of how much you had. Without a way to harness your emotions, without abilities, it was nothing. Anger needed to be tempered to become a weapon. For all the anger she was feeling, she was just a confused kid. Such a tantrum would be laughed at by a true adversary. Her anger could not strike fear in the hearts of her foes. Despite this, she took a step forward, only to hop two steps back when Boteg crawled forward.

The golden dragon had a giant, smoldering spot on the back of its neck. The scales had blackened, and some had even fallen off to expose the pink flesh beneath. But boteg’s eyes did not display fear or pain. The only thing in his eyes was contempt for the one that had tried to kill them with such a cowardly attack. Now this was the sort of anger that could make someone’s skin crawl. Boteg’s present form was massive, but there was more to it than that. His kind had been hunted to near extinction. They are such a rare sight that Boteg believed himself to be the last of his kind. He had a lot of time to carry that realization too. All a human will ever experience happens between the beats of a dragon’s heart. He may run when the option presents itself, but if attacked directly? Then that might be cause to blow off some steam.

Or maybe monsters were inherently chaotic creatures.

Boteg stood upright, not looking unlike a small golden godzilla. He still towered over the structures on either side of him. It was possible that such a monster could be classified as a behemoth. His growl shook the streets, and a red fluid started to drip out of his mouth. It was too glossy to be blood, and had a mirror like quality to it. His eyes started to change color, he squared up his shoulders, but then his head twitched. It was standing at Boteg’s feet, holding a wounded Ciri in one arm while it wordlessly communicated with the dragon. While not all monsters could communicate with humans, most of them were able to communicate with each other. Though Ciri was able to “hear” the words of her friend. It was telling Boteg that they needed to go. That if they fled now, all of them could live, while a fight just invited more suffering on both sides. Maybe the GEMINI espers were vulnerable, but so was Ciri and Amanda. Reinforcements were likely en route, and leaving now was the best way to ensure everyone’s survival.

Though Boteg’s gaze never left the diner.

He pulled back his head and roared at the street. The red, chromatic liquid smashed into the pavement, uplifting everything in front of it. Everything the fluid touched turned to gold, then froze in a tidal wave of gold. Boteg had created a wall of suspended debris that looked like they had been touched by Midas himself. The quatro was quick to leave the scene. Boteg would revert to his “human” form and join everyone else as they descended into the Bastion.

MDP breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes fixed on the golden wall Boteg had made. The Pink Pounder had rushed back outside, but by then everyone had left.

“Ashwy…” MDP turned to look at the GEMINI squad leader. “As much as i wike uwu guys, i cawn't suppowt thiws type of behaviow any wongew. Pwease teww miss mowwew thawt i won't be wowking withyou in the futuwe. I hope she undewstands.” She didn’t wait for a response before departing with the Pink Pounder, who kept an eye on the GEMINI agents as they departed.

Elsewhere, a cyan haired esper observed the spectacle through her binoculars.

---

@The World@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants

And so, Marrie, ever the scientist, continued to experiment. She had either end of her weapon in her hands when she reached for the strange knobs. Though she wasn’t reaching for them the way someone would normally reach for a doorknob. To someone more perverse, it might even look like she was- Well, there are no such people present, so it shouldn’t be mentioned.

A mechanical button sounded with a click as each knob was pressed. The generator made many other unusual sounds as its mechanisms slid around. The hum of a hydraulic motor, bursts of steam, and a dull thumping could be heard from deep inside the generator. Before long, Marrie could feel a warmth spread through her hands. Her mana was steadily increasing.



Mika gave Marrie a glance. She was going to tell her to knock it off, but if she wanted to play with a mysterious device, that was her thing to do. It looked like everyone else was just waiting for Mika to leave, and she wasn’t going to keep them on the clock any longer than she had to. After scooping up Angelie’s remains, she departed from the building. Maybe she could offer to meet up with them later, but what was the point? This was just a chance encounter with some freelancers. Most of them did their job well, and they just wanted to get paid before moving onto the next thing. Jacqueline didn’t want to spend time with her, so why would any of these people?

She shook the strange thought out of her head before departing. A van would arrive shortly to extract Mika and pay the freelancers.

Unfortunately, but predictably, Ashley’s plan didn’t come anywhere close to working out as she had hoped. Even as her blinding beam of techno mystic energy streaked towards it’s target, MDP broke out of her stunned stupor and formed a whimsical barrier to shield the fleeing quartet from the Knight of Tomorrow’s attack. W-What…?! The high-tech heroine’s mind spun at the sight of this most unexpected of developments, but even so, her ostensible ally’s barrier proved no match for her own beam of annihilation. The neon green lance pierced the prismatic shield like a molten spike through tissue paper and detonated in a brilliant explosion. However, when its green glow faded, Ashley saw to her horror that none of her targets had been eliminated, but neither were they unscathed. Amanda was emerging from the broken wall of a building on the far side of the street, her visage filled with fury. The horned esper’s bruised and battered body was being held by its shadowy companion. And the dragon… The dragon had turned its enraged form towards the diner, towards Ashley herself, and although it had been visibly wounded, the Knight of Tomorrow doubted that she could withstand the full force of its monstrous might.

N-No… I… I didn’t want this… Ashley thought to herself as her heart began to pound like a jackhammer. I didn’t want any of this!

Despite the fact that they were dangerous enemies, she hadn’t wanted any of them to suffer needlessly, but despite her best efforts, that was exactly what had happened. Despite following Director Moller’s orders, all she had succeeded in doing was making this horrible situation even worse. Yet, instead of the anticipated attack, the dragon simply created a golden wall to cover his and his allies’ escape.

Even as she struggled to comprehend the dragon’s parting gesture, Ashley heard MDP's childish voice beside her. The pastel garbed girl proceeded to explain in her own, infantile, way that she and The Pounder would no longer be able to support G.E.M.I.N.I. operations in the future. Perhaps the girl really was too naive to do what needed to be done, to make the hard decisions that needed to be made, but even so, Ashley couldn’t help but find herself agreeing with the childish freelancer, couldn’t help but feel that this time, they really had gone too far. “I understand,” the high-tech heroine replied softly as the pastel-colored pair departed.

As she gazed into the gleaming, golden wall the dragon had left behind, Ashley’s thoughts turned to the pointlessness of this whole endeavor. While Dante had presumably been killed, Amanda had escaped and now harbored a fierce hatred of G.E.M.I.N.I. that made her a far greater threat than she’d previously been. Not to mention, they still didn’t have conclusive proof that Dante had been the one responsible for Finn’s hallucinations…

Finn. It all really boiled down to him, didn’t it? He was the reason they’d come here in the first place, and the reason things had escalated so catastrophically. Not only that, but because he had chosen to run off before the operation had concluded, they had been left with one less agent to prevent Amanda’s escape into either Maverick or The Hand’s clutches. Yes, Ashley reflected with grim certainty, Finn bore the greatest responsibility for everything that had happened here today, and the Knight of Tomorrow was determined to not only ensure that he knew just how much of a liability he had been, but that it would never be allowed to happen again.

---

Finn wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. He needed to be taken to a lab at HQ and scanned to see if his curse had been lifted. Fritzi had already mentioned that it was possible that Dante wasn’t the one who had cursed him. However, Finn thought it might be a good time to speak with Fritzi, since she had been rather short with him over coms. Even now, she wasn't her usual jovial self.

"When you first questioned me about my curse, I had initially left out a few details. The last time I passed out, I wasn't met with a demon with the intent to torture me, but Amanda. Apparently I had peaked Dante's interest for whatever that means, and she was supposed to have arranged me to meet with them at a later date. For what, I don't know. My original plan was to go along with it to see what their intentions were if they weren't intending to kill me on sight. She had also wanted to show me something but I dropped earlier than expect and- ... Well. Guess I'll never know now. I didn't know she was actually rea- was Dante's daughter. Much less that my theory of Dante being the culprit was correct."

Fritzi was looking at a computer monitor that was throwing up all kinds of data. Numbers, several bar graphs, all monitoring different aspects of Finn’s esper form. Most of it didn’t make any sense to him, save for the giant message that read “SANDCURSE_TRACE NOT FOUND.” Apparently, he was cured.

”Your theory...” Dr. Muller looked away from the screen. ”Well, I’m glad you were able to diagnose yourself. I’m a doctor, and you were even able to beat me to the punch.” She placed a hand on her chest. ”If I’m being fair, I’m not used to my patients lying to me. Least of all ones as young as you. But maybe you’re just unusually dense? You know when I said ‘did you have any strange dreams’, seeing a succubus who introduces herself as an acquaintance of Dante maaaaaaaaaaaay have been worth bringing up beforehand.” She tapped her fingers on the back of her clipboard. ”I don’t think you’re stupid Finn, and that’s a problem, because now you have to explain why you decided to hide that from everyone.”

The boy's gaze remained on the monitor for a moment. "They were well aware I was working with GEMINI. That was why they hadn't given me any specifics at the time." He still looked a little out of it. He looked downward in thought. "Earn their trust. Keep them complacent. See if I can get anything out of whatever their deal was. Rat them out soon as things take a turn. With Oros' attempt to kill me, I figured I might as well be resourceful in case she ever tried again." A tired sigh slipped through Finn's lips.

"Withholding information was what got Dante killed. I won't make the same mistake again."

”That's great Finn, but that doesn't answer my question. Why withold information to begin with?”

Finn furrowed his brows in confusion. "...I guess I thought if I told the whole truth and they learned about it, they'd actually kill me." The boy frowned deeply. "I mean Dante- Or Amanda, I guess, I don't know, already knew about my other screw ups somehow. Me leaving Betty behind only for her to get kidnapped, me siding with the Mavericks during the mansion raid, th-they knew about Lydia no less! If they were able to stalk me for that long then..." He curled up into a ball in his seat, hugging his knees to his chest. _{"I don't want to know what they'd do to me."}

Fritzi pinched the bridge of her nose. ”Ever since Betty got abducted, your life has been pretty public. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few dream demons could peer into your thoughts either.” She shook her head before refocusing on Finn. ”The second you give into fear, they have already won. Contrary to what you may think, I do not think the death of a monster bartender is a huge loss. He didn’t have to die, maybe, but he knew what he was doing. Had you met up with them, they may have done something even more depraved with you. No, the issue is that you’re a loose cannon that doesn’t respect authority. You need to have faith in your squad. Unfortunately, I do not think your squad has a lot of faith in you right now.”

Finn remained quiet for a second. She was right, for however they all wanted to think. He nodded along and opened his mouth to speak up again, but what came out turned into a dry chuckle as she brought up the strained relationship between him the other agents. "You really think it'd be that easy? I tried to follow your orders, Dr. Moller, but I might as well have been left for dead no thanks to them." He tensed and untensed himself up, picking at his sleeves to stay calm. "Agent Orion over-relied on the backup you sent just cause she didn't want to kill the patrons and allowed herself get swarmed as a result. Witch Hunter, while I can't argue against her as she focused on keeping the schoolgirls safe, practically ignored me when I called for her to redirect a fireball towards Dante instead and ended up setting herself and the whole place on fire as a result. I was left to fend against a monster I was at a disadvantage against. If I didn't put two-and-two together in time Dante would've still been alive. It's not even the first time I was left alone like that." He took deep breaths as he ranted to Fritzi, his fight against Betty crawling back into the surface of his mind.

"I know. I know I need to be able to work with them. But what's the point if they don't want to work with me?"

What's the point if they'll never respect him?

Fritzi rubbed her chin. ”You know Finn? I think those are all very good points.” She shook her finger in the air. ”But I think you’re forgetting a tiny little detail. Ashley initially wanted everyone to go around back. But someone decided to eschew discussion and took it upon himself to confront Dante directly, despite the fact that his cover had already been burned. This endangered everyone in a mission where the sole objective was to try and free you from a curse. Do you understand what I’m saying? Everyone risked their lives for you, you weren’t a team player, and now you’re pouting because Estelle chose to not incinerate you and Ashley along with Dante? And what even does Ashley’s aversion to killing bar patrons have to do with anything? After you ran out of the diner, she-” Fritzi stopped herself. ”You know what? This isn’t a discussion you should be having with me. I think you should tell your squad what you just told me and see how they respond to it.”

Leaving him to the sharks. So that's how it is.

"Fine." He quietly conceded, and wordlessly stepped out of the room. Everyone in this city really was fickle.

Everyone except...

Finn pulled out his phone to text Betty:

Date might be delayed. I'm so sorry.

Finn’s thumb missed the “send” button when Fritzi bumped into his arm. She lifted up her hand and started counting her fingers. His head snapped up to look at her in confusion. ”Number one, it’s ‘yes ma’am’, not ‘fine.’ Nothing is fine right now. Number two, I was not being serious. Finn, I can put every esper under my command into fighting a monster. I can assess your well-being and give advice, but I can’t change how you’re perceived by your peers. That's something only you can effect.”

Finn's expression softened in response.

"S-Sorry, ma'am. I understand."

@Ponn@ERode

”That’s better.” The door at the end of the corridor opened up, revealing Ashley and Estelle in the briefing room. As soon as Fritzi passed the threshold of the door, her smile returned. ”Well! That was a lot more difficult than it had to be, wasn’t it?” Nobody answered Fritzi, but she didn’t seem bothered by this. ”Anywho, Orion? I have something for you.” She reached her hand out towards Ashley and presented her with a small golden badge. ”I wanted to give this to you with a bit more fanfare, but then I’d have to wait another week. Congratulations! You’re being promoted to lieutenant. You’re officially leading the Pax Septimus squad now. Presently you outrank everyone but Binky and myself. We’re going to have fresh reinforcements coming before long, and I hope you’ll take the time to get to know them.” Fritzi was about to excuse herself. ”The other operation had some complications as well. Cerberus was able to complete her mission, but she’s going to be running a little late returning here. Angel was killed in action, and she’s insisting on finishing her report before returning.” Fritzi sighed. ”Please finish your reports as well, and get some rest.” was all she said before departing, leaving the three espers together.

---

@Vertigo

it could sense Ciri’s distress as they fled.Well, that she was distressed with its choice to flee. But it wasn’t a sure thing that Boteg’s attack would have petrified any of the GEMINI espers. They were fortunate that the princess looking esper had aided them, but it suspected that she would not have helped them should they decide to counterattack. GEMINI’s reputation was on the decline, but this wouldn’t have been the first time a freelancer had decided to bail instead of help mavericks out. Moreover, there were a few monsters still in the diner that seemed to know Boteg. It would be a shame to let him turn his friends into gilded statues just because he lost his composure. But it knew better than to talk with Ciri when she was like this. Upon returning to the Bastion, it made itself scarce until she cooled off a bit.

While Ciri was still wounded, she was free to change back into a human once she was inside the bastion. There was a zero percent chance of anyone here leaking her true identity, and it was a lot less painful to move around. That didn’t mean someone wasn’t going to insist on healing her anyway.

”Oh hi, Oni-chan” Ciri hadn’t been with the Mavericks for very long, but she had been with them long enough to know Trixy liked to give people dumb nicknames, and didn’t seem to care if they liked them or not. ”Did you get hurt out there? You know my kisses have special healing powers, so if you let me kiss your boo-boos I can make them go away!” It was probably just a touch based melody. ”Oh! But who are your friends?” She looked at Boteg. ”They look handsome!” She looked to Amanda ”And pretty!” Shortly after changing back, Boteg seemed to have regained his “composure” and was back to being a mostly skittish dragon headed man. He avoided making eye contact with Trixy and patted the back of his neck. Amanda had withdrawn inside herself. Her lips were quivering. Her body didn’t know if it wanted to fly into a rage or cry, but was too weak to do either. ”I see…” Trixy placed her hands on her hips, and her goofy smile disappeared. ”I’ll give you guys some space. But if anyone needs a kiss, I’ll uh, I’ll be over here. Right, over here, in the corner.”

As soon asTrixy stepped off to the side, Billy Black’s hulking form waded out of the shadows. The giant man with gray skin and an outfit that belonged to a dystopian road warrior might strike fear in most, but anyone from Maverick Alternative would think otherwise. He was probably the most charismatic man to ever dawn spiked leather armor.

”I say I say, Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that a golden dragon standing next to you?” Boteg adjusted his bowtie, but remained silent. ”Damn girl, I say damn, girl! I’ve been waitin’ for him to show up at my doorstep, and who'da thunk you’d be the one to bring him in? It’s official, you’re part of the team now!” The giant’s eyes drifted towards Amanda. ”Oh, who’s this?”

---

@The World@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants

Unlike the espers of GEMINI or Maverick Alternative, the freelancers were free to do as they wished. They could regroup at the great escape to tak with other freelancers, rush to the bottom of a bottle at their favorite dive, or sleep the rest of the day away. Pax was their oyster!



Mika was sitting in the back of a black van. She had covered the important parts of the operation with Fritzi, but was finishing her report so that she could turn it in. There was nothing stopping her from entering Gemini HQ, but it didn’t seem like a good idea. From what Fritzi had mentioned, Finn did a bunch of stuff that put the rest of his squad in jeopardy before deciding to go AWOL. Mika almost asked why she didn’t just get rid of him, but it sounded like she was busy and it wasn’t her place to make such suggestions. It wasn’t like Mika was told the entire story. For all she knew, Ashley had done something to drive Finn away.

But Mika didn’t really have the headspace to worry about that right now. Behind her seat was a viewport into the back of the van, where a body bag containing Angellie’s remains was stored. There was nothing more to do, but the operation kept playing over in her head.

With a groan, she looked back at her laptop. The Freelancers needed to have their performance graded, and she was the only surviving GEMINI agent to do it. Of course upper management would get involved. She just had to write a comment about each one, which Binky would look over before committing it to their Shimr profiles. She began to type. Writing on a computer was one of the skills her mother had insisted on teaching her. While she could type quickly without looking at the keyboard, her mother always found fault with how she structured things. But that was fine. Binky would make any necessary corrections.

Freelancer: Dead Head
Score: 5/5
Evaluation: Did job well, guarded VIP well, rushed enemies head first, not a coward, worked well with his teammates. Might be too cocky but he did well this time. Felt like I was being guarded by the secret service.

Freelancer: Noble Spark
Score: 4/5
Evaluation: Protected VIP with good foresight, was flopping all over the place, managed to knock down a target by falling on them. Can’t tell if skilled or lucky but seems quick on his feet. Kind of flashy, but did well. Felt protected.

Freelancer: Marrie Knight
Score: 3/5
Evaluation: Combat was intense, didn’t see a lot of her. Took a beating in my place and held back a skilled attacker. Did her job, not someone to hire solo. Might need some coaching, still a good kid.

It felt weird to call someone a kid. Was Marrie younger than her? Didn’t matter. She made a face before writing her last review. Though in hindsight, Himiko brought it on herself.

Freelancer: Sovereign
Score: 2/5
Evaluation: Knows how to use her pistols. Talks too much, VIP had to save her, not even sure if she knows how to use her melodies. Almost a liability.

After looking at what she wrote for a bit, she groaned and hit backspace until everything was gone. Then she typed again.

Freelancer: Sovereign
Score: 3/5
Evaluation: Knows how to use her pistols. Talks too much, VIP had to save her, not even sure if she knows how to use her melodies. Enemy tried to bribe her and she didn’t take it. Loyal to job, needs more experience.

"You owe me."

Mika mailed everything to Binky before falling back into her seat.

Ashley did her best to stifle a gasp when Doctor Moller almost casually noted that Ellie had been killed in action. The Knight of Tomorrow hadn’t known the young woman for very long, but she was a cheerful presence that would sorely be missed. There was also the fact that hers was a young life cut down far before its time, but with the staggering loss of life that she’d seen over the past few weeks, the high-tech heroine found herself becoming increasingly numb to the horror and sorrow that would normally be engendered by it. Instead, the frustration and concern that she had been feeling before the director’s announcement all too quickly returned to the forefront of her mind. Finn had been a major liability during the recent mission, and even if Dr. Moller had spoken with him about it (something Ashley knew was far from a certainty), the Knight of Tomorrow wished to ensure that she and her young subordinate would be on the same page moving forward, especially now that her status as team leader had assumed a more permanent nature.

Oh great. Great great great- As if Ashley didn’t have enough reason to reprimand him, now she has an excuse to exercise her new promotion over his head. Finn tried not to let his reaction be too obvious lest that add yet another reason to the growing list of complaints. He avoided looking the other agents in the eye. It always hurts being forced to look someone angry in the eyes.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ashely told the director as she took the offered badge. “I’ll strive to put forth only my best efforts in this new position. Finn?” she asked once Dr. Moller had departed. “I would like to speak with you for a moment.”

The boy quickly tensed up. He expected this, sure, but that doesn’t make him any less… He didn’t know what to call it. Anxious? Irritated? Some other third thing? Crossing his arms over his chest, Finn took a shaky breath and stepped over to the leader. ”Mm?”

“I’m not sure if Director Moller has spoken with you about your conduct during the mission or not,” Ashley began, carefully adjusting her glasses in such a way that the light now seemed to create a reflective sheen. “But I’d just like to clarify exactly why I’m so disappointed with your recent behavior. To be perfectly honest, the entire operation was a complete debacle, and while I can’t say for certain if things would have ultimately turned out any differently if we didn’t enter the diner directly, the fact is that you disobeyed an explicit order, putting the entire team at risk. Everything that followed was due to that rash decision, and to compound matters, you left the scene before the operation was fully concluded, leaving Estelle and I to handle the fallout alone.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “You were a liability today, Finn, and I can’t have you jeopardizing future operations in such a manner. Therefore, unless you can learn from these mistakes and promise me that you won’t make them again, I can’t in good conscience condone your continued presence on my team. Do you understand?” She felt like she was admonishing her little brother, and while she hated having to do it, a lot more was at stake here than just some bad grades or getting detention.

Finn quietly let her talk, nodding along to indicate that he was still listening. He frowned when she brought up him running away. Did any of them even care why he did? Of course he realized how much he fucked up, he wasn’t as stupid as they think he was. He didn’t want to kill Amanda. He never wanted to kill Dante, he hadn’t had a choice!

…And yet, he did. He acted rashly out of fear and recklessness. He wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of his co-workers regretted humoring his stupid theories. If they regretted protecting him. Was that why he was left to defend himself against Dante? Who knows. There was just no point in arguing back.

”...I-I understand, ma’am.” The boy’s gaze remained downwards. At least no one was yelling, that’s a good thing. Right?

There was probably a lot that Estelle could have thought about right now. There was the obvious part of being so out of the loop regarding everything that this branch of GEMINI was handling. There was the fact that there was a whole ass behemoth in Pax Septimus that apparently no one was even tracking until it swept in and aligned itself with that shadowy Esper. There was Finn, the perpetual fuck-up who turned the whole mission upside down for a curse that Estelle honestly didn’t even have a clue that he was really harbouring.

But all that really just paled in the light of Ellie being dead. Dead, just like that. Announced in a throwaway line at the very end of Dr. Moller’s briefing. Estelle wasn’t sure if she’d have gotten along with the trigger-happy Angel in the long run, but in the short run?

A death of a fellow agent just felt too heavy a thing to ignore in the face of getting angry at a child for messing up in a high-pressure situation. The boy couldn’t drive, couldn’t drink, couldn’t vote. At his age, all she had been worried about was homework and whether her parents were going to announce an impromptu family-friend-dinner that weekend when she had made (but not announced) her plans for heading off to the trampoline park with her non-family-friends.

Pax Septimus seemed sadistically short-staffed.

“You figured out your ‘curse’, right?” Estelle’s own expression was softer. “Do you need to keep working right now, Finn? I know you’re experienced and all, but it’s not going to get easier.”

Not now that there was cause for Amanda to be rightfully vengeful, not now that they’ve gotten the attention of a Behemoth.

The boy looked back up and over in Estelle’s direction at her question. He opened his mouth to speak; of course he can still work, he was fine, and yet no words came out. Finn would be lying if he said he knew. He had been second guessing himself and his own mind a lot lately. At the same time he didn’t really want to stop working.

_{”Damnú air.”} He cursed under his breath. ”I don’t know.”

“Well, I hope you figure out an answer by the time our next operation comes along,” Ashley told him. “This isn’t something to take lightly,” she added. “Not when people’s lives are at stake.”

”I know. _{I know…}”

Well, she recognized that expression anywhere. Words were basically pointless now.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Estelle said, clapping her hands together. “I’m sure we’re all tired and everything, so let’s split like a banana and get some rest.”

“Agreed,” Ashley concurred with a tired sigh. “Please think about what I said, Finn,” she told the boy as she headed out.

Hopefully he would have ample time over the next few days to do just that.

The moment the money hit her account after the mission, Marrie began the trip home. She'd spent the time between Mika finding whatever she found with the podium and the official end of the mission going back and forth between walking around to check for a new wave of attackers and further inspecting the generator. She did everything she could to memorize the feeling of her mana being recharged by an outside force. She didn't really have a great grasp of how magic worked, but if she could will into existence a beam that could sever limbs, maybe she could do something else? Before she left, she took a few pictures of the podium and the "blade diary" on it with her phone, just in case.

Once the traumatic mission was over and she was paid, she didn't head straight home, despite the overwhelming urge to do so. Instead she biked around Pax to pick up some surprise tools that would help her later. The moment she got home with her new loot she crashed on the floor, barely remembering or able to even lock the door. The last thing she remembered was turning her head to the side as she tried to bring her phone to where she could see it.

Awakening before dawn, Marrie picked herself off the floor and gathered her supplies from the previous day, putting them all into a carrying bag. Making sure she had everything she'd need she left her apartment and traveled to one of the many, many abandoned buildings in Pax, specifically choosing one that didn't have people around to notice her. The sun was just beginning to show itself over the horizon as she parked her bicycle and went inside.

Soon there were empty spray-cans littering the broken white tile flooring and several, different sized targets sprayed on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some were simply bullseyes while others were more human shaped, and several were notably in the vein of fictional monsters. The targets were scattered in random places, no two were level with each other, nor quite the same size. Satisfied with this first step, Marrie began hanging small bits of wood she'd purchased from any place she could fashion them to. Once all that she had was in place, she dumped out the last items in her bag; full metal jacket target ammunition for her pistol. She was ready to begin, and the sun was now shining bright in the morning sky.

Hours passed, spent throwing her Instrument at the different targets in every method she could find online. Overhand, underhand, sideways, flipped, from a reverse grip, straight on. She practiced each and every throw hundreds of times, each against every target she'd made. Throw it, strike the target, return it to her hand via the chain, make sure to catch it, swipe with it. Throw, strike, return, catch, swipe, throw, return, catch, stab, throw, return, catch. When her esper form's arm got tired, she simply switched to her left hand and began again. Throw, return, catch, swipe, throw, return, catch, stab. Over, and over, and over.

She lost further track of time as she went through the motions of her training, but soon enough it was twilight. Nowhere near satisfied, she took a short break for an hour, watching the sun go down as she rested her arms. But the darkness was good, it gave her a new chance to practice. With less light, she began again using just the light from her phone's flashlight, periodically turning it off for a few minutes and then back on to check her work. Eventually, dawn came and with it she collapsed, unable to move her arms enough to continue. Marrie sat down against a wall and set an alarm on her phone for six hours before falling asleep.

She managed to wake a few minutes before her phone went off. A quick cast of a healing melody brought some of her strength back, and she began phase two of her training. Each and every target she'd made had holes in them by noon. Periodically switching hands and use of her shoulder brace, she was definitely getting more accurate, but progress was too slow for her. By nightfall she was out of ammunition, and began once again training with her Instrument, beginning with basic damage melodies and then moving on to practicing melee combat. The wind-riding esper rested only long enough to watch videos on her phone of how to improve her footwork, trying her best to waste no time. By the end of the third day since leaving her home, she felt like she was at least a little better prepared for whatever might come in the future, but not prepared enough to feel content. But with all the damage she'd done to the building, no further ammo, and no mana left in her tank she didn't have much choice but to stop.

The next morning, having slept fitfully, she began to dispose of the mess. Once everything was packed up, the spent target ammo in a garbage bag to take for proper disposal, the empty spray cans and food wrappers put in the nearest dumpster, Marrie began to slowly bike her way towards The Great Escape. It was notably closer than her apartment and should be about as safe to rest at, even if she couldn't stay the night. Besides, if she wanted to get stronger, advice from those who were already there couldn't hurt.

The last operation hadn’t gone completely to plan, but Himiko had still gained something of value from it. Though one of the accompanying Gemini agents had fallen, she was able to glean some important information. She had gotten a hunch during her first encounter with Gemini that they were operating shorthanded and undermanned. The fact that they only sent one other agent with Mika to meet with potentially the most dangerous esper was telling.

Though it also got her mind working, it was also possible that Gemini had other motives to send such limited resources to protect Mika. If protecting her was their true objective, they showed it in a funny way. Leaving it in the hands of a bunch of freelancers with minimal Gemini support was not something you’d do if you truly valued someone. If it had just been any random small fry job, Himiko wouldn’t have batted an eye. The fact that it was a known piece of information that they may end up face to face with Oros meant one of two things. Either Mika was seen as expendable by Gemini, or Gemini wasn’t capable of operating in more than one place at a time.

Both would serve Himiko’s goals regardless of what the actual reason behind it was. But that could be left for later. There were more important things to take care of right now. Figuring she would swing by The Great Escape and see if there was anything interesting she could dig up.

Being in mid walk as she abruptly came to a stop, her thoughts interrupted by the feeling of a familiar presence. Himiko could feel that something was in the air, as she let out a sigh. It was about time she showed her face, especially after having been a no show at the meeting point.

"Seriously?" Oros called out from deeper in the alley. "You have a four paragraph starter and the entire thing is an inner monologue? Very well, I’ll set the scene."

Oros stepped out from behind a dumpster. The alleyway was filled with shadows, but nothing could truly hide the gigantic mop of pink hair on her head. The graffiti on the walls was layered like the pages of a book. Every time a new gang took over they had to tag their turf with something. The most recent addition was the name “Aigorost,” which was made of crudely sprayed tentacles that were strangling the tags under it. The paint was fresh, and there was an aerosol can in Oros’s hand. Perhaps that was what gave Himiko the impression that she was around.

Turning to face Oros, Himiko eyed the fresh tag left behind on the wall, the aerosol being all the evidence she needed for determining just who the latest artist had been. It appeared that there was some meaning behind the wording she had plastered across the wall. Despite being Mad, Himiko had found Oros actions to always have some underlying reason. She never seemed to do anything that didn’t have some reasoning behind it, she always had a rationale, even if the rationale would be considered insane by others. “Aigorost eh? I see someone has taken up a new hobby in your free time, I don’t foresee a future within the field of art for you, a bit of an endless quest, one that will be eclipsed by your other goals” Golden eyes tracing over the words plastered across the wall with the crude tentacles lacking any kind of artistic refinement. Oros was a lot of things, but a great artist didn’t seem to be one of them.

"Whatever you say, Goldie Glocks. Just tell me if you remember what I wanted you to do." She shook the rattle can.

Her eyes now shifted to meet Oros as she let out a soft sigh in response. “The better question would be, did you remember what you wanted me to do as I held up my end of the bargain and all I found was a group of naughty nuns, a bit of your fan-fiction list and whatever you presumably stashed within the hidden compartment, now as for your little nickname, I see you have been busy and stumbled across the rather vile title bestowed upon me” Crossing her arms over her chest, clearly not thrilled about Oros throwing that detestable name out into the open. It was time to get to the bottom of this, Oros had left her hanging once already, so now it was her turn to answer the question.

But the bigger question for Himiko was where had Oros been when the meeting time had arrived. Not to mention did she know about the group of Nuns activities and that they had planned the ambush.

"I’m asking you what I wanted because you did it wrong!" Oros whipped the empty can at Himiko. She tilted her head aside letting the can whizz right by her ear, her eyes tracking it briefly before it impacted the ground behind her with a rattle. "I told you to bring Mika Fang to the church alone. You brought her, the angel, and a slew of freelancers. You got all of GEMINI involved and someone ratted your plan out to the hand. If you want to know why things went tits up, it’s because you couldn’t follow instructions."

Giving a shrug of her shoulders, Himiko straightened out her head with a small smile clearly hidden beneath her mask.. “I don’t see what the problem is, one less GEMINI agent to worry about, besides I never thought you’d be one to be concerned about either GEMINI or freelancers being present, the more the merrier if you ask me, it just confirmed that GEMINI is more rotten to the core then I initially believed, since the information was spread so quickly with only a very select few being privy to that information” Not seeing much of a problem with anything she had done personally. Though perhaps she had misjudged Oros, she never took her as one to be cautious or hesitant. At the end of the day, Himiko had gained more profit than she had anticipated, even if that profit was information only.

After all, what did Oros have to worry about?

"You think I didn’t know the secret agents had a bad actor? The only thing you confirmed is that we can’t work together. I gave you a simple task and you fumbled it like a virgin dropping a condom between the cushions. Talk about killing the mood." Oros grinned.

Lifting up her left hand, she gave a wag of finger with her right hand on her hip “You and I have a different definition of what a failure is. It was quite successful on my end, even if you chickened out because of some agents and freelancers crashing the party, but your loss is my gain this time around”

"I’m a chicken? Does that make the rest of you ants, or grain?" The Mad esper didn’t stop grinning. "Doesn’t matter. IYou failure was so spectacular it brought a smile to my face. I might be willing to give you an extra chance, but you gotta earn it, alright?"

Pausing for a moment as she gave it some more thought. After mulling it over, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear out Oros on what she wanted her to do this time around.

“Now, we both have different agendas, but I’m willing to hear out what you have to offer when it comes to your ‘earn it’ task.”

"I think Pax Septimus doesn’t have enough relationship drama in it." She drew her sword and gazed into its surface. "Any time I eavesdrop on you guys, you’re always trying to kill this one, screw over that one, flex on another. When you’re nice, it never advances past friendship. Where’s the romance?" She slid her sword back in its sheath. "I want you to get into a relationship. Shouldn’t be hard with all the lonely losers around. If you can get someone to be your F buddy I’ll consider taking you on again. "

Narrowing her eyes as she looked Oros in the eyes, it wasn’t a request that Himiko had ever anticipated coming from someone like them. But at the same time, was it really such a surprise? Raising an eyebrow as she came to grips with the outlandish request.

“My, my….if you keep up that kind of talk, we might have to change your name to ‘Oros the Horny.’ What do you gain from this setup? Does it fulfill some deep down secret desire you hold dear to your heart? To relive the one that got away?”

"I have my reasons, that’s all you need to know." Oros folded her arms.

Being somewhat bewildered but amused at the same time by the request. It would likely be an easy enough task, she was right about one thing. There were plenty of suckers and losers in Pax Septimus. All as easy as the last to pull the wool over their eyes if you just knew the right buttons to push and the right strings to pool.

“You know, you have a point, in the world of espers there is never any room for romance, or a future to dream of, they act so dreary and just accept their inevitable and pathetic early death, very few have the greed, the desire and the ability to see the forest through the trees. Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.”

"Yas, yaaas!" She reached her hand out like a sith lord compelling their son to join the dark side. "But make no mistake, Goldie Glocks. This is not a mere excuse for you to hoodwink some pleb. You need to make an effort to form genuine feelings for them. As much as you possibly can, at least." The mad esper understood that Himiko would likely never love someone as much as she loved her ‘wealth,’ in whatever form it took. "Because if the world is filled with starving idiots, isn’t it about time you feasted!?"

“I’ve been feasting my entire life, whatever I desire, I make it mine through my own means, the only genuine feelings I have, are the ones that exist for my ultimate goal, some believe money is all you need, that money is the only thing that holds true value, but they are wrong, I come from money, I have had money, no…the true thing that I desire is ultimate knowledge, it is far more valuable than any treasure or money, to pursue objects of knowledge, or objects that hold some sort of special connection are the true wonders of this dreary world, do you really believe some piece of scum would ever be able to draw out even the smallest inkling of compassion from my golden heart?" cooly responding as Himiko saw very little value in love and in feelings. Emotions that often got in the way of her goals, and made those that she dealt with be much more troublesome than it was worth.

Sure she had a fondness for certain people, but they provided her with useful knowledge, tools or entertainment and had a value attached to them. A value that she set upon each and every person she ever met, it only took her a short time of evaluating before she labeled someone. Most of it was for her own personal enjoyment, and so far out of the espers she had come across only two had drawn serious interest and intrigue. Puddy and that Clockwork boy, which Himiko had noticed Oros also seemed to have some sort of interest with as well. A coincidence that Himiko knew had meaning, which only made her more interested in the both of them.

Especially Puddy, Himiko wanted to pull out the darkness within her, something buried deep within that tormented girl's heart and soul. To free her from her shackles, and let her experience the true greatness of life without the machinations of GEMINI looming over her.

"To believe anything about your ‘golden heart’ would require me to dedicate headspace to it first. I’m not even willing to untangle half the things you say. But your actions? I’ll be keeping a close eye on those." Oros turned around and dismissed Himiko with a wave. "You know what I want. Up to you if you go through with it. We’ll talk again, either after you cuffed yourself to someone or on a future battlefield." She walked away. Her hair swung behind her like a massive pendulum.

“I’m sure we will see each other sooner rather than later…”

Watching Oros leave, Himiko let out a sigh and gave a shake of her head. Dealing with her was always a hassle, but she at least gained something from each encounter. As far as going through with what she wanted, now that was a whole different situation. Himiko doubted she could ever truly have feelings of that level of intensity. It would always be a farce, an illusion to progress her ambitions further. Regardless of whether or not she went through with it would remain to be seen. But the one truth she did know, they would cross paths again. It was inevitable after all, especially with the current world events.

Himiko had some other business to take care of, turning to take her own leave. Mulling over the conversation and request that had been made to her.

Mika probably should have been back at HQ. But after completing her reviews of the freelancers and porting them over to Binky, her superior accidentally spilled the beans. Binky had mentioned that Ashley’s team had run into some trouble, and that Fritzi was thinking about promoting the high tech heroine. But Mika was no fool. She knew the doctor had wanted to promote Ashley for a while. On paper it made sense. She was the most senior member and did exactly what Fritzi wanted. But it was too early and unearned. A rank bestowed out of necessity rather than Ashley’s ability. Oh how Mika seethed when hearing her name. She knew she couldn’t keep her cool if such a thing came to pass. But as bad as returning to HQ would be, she also didn’t want to go home to an empty house with her thoughts. So she volunteered to join the clean up crew that Ashley had dispatched. Mika hadn’t been harmed during her last operation, and she had a bit of mana left if something happened. It was a hard offer for HQ to turn down. They still needed to recover cry baby Finn, and the other espers weren’t in the same fighting condition she was. Having an esper around to deal with stray monsters would be a boon. Her wish was granted, so long as she didn’t get into trouble.

But Mika wasn’t just trying to skip out on witnessing Ashley’s promotion. After her outing with Estelle, she figured it might be wise to visit the operation area before some monsters came and leveled the place. She had gotten a chance to look around the church, but she was sure that the agents at Dante’s hadn’t been the most thorough. Prior to her talk with Estelle, she wouldn’t have been either.

The non-esper agents immediately went to work surveying the diner for damage. Not just structural damage, but PR damage as well. Two men were talking about possible vantage points and one had mentioned a nearby orphanage that might have heard the battle. But none of that mattered to Mika. She was a slayer of monsters, and she was only here because there might be some clues that lead to bigger, more important things to kill.

Mika was cautioned not to disturb the scene, but there was nothing to disturb. It looked like a bomb went off. There were bodies everywhere. Along with blackened furniture that had all been overturned. Even the church didn’t look this bad, and that had been the home of a mad cultist before nuns fired smoke and fire everywhere. She wouldn’t find anything here, and she knew it.

But the back room…

The back room split off two ways, both of which seemed to be untouched by the skirmish out front. One door, oddly, led into a boy’s bedroom. Or at least it looked like a boy’s bedroom at a glance. There were posters for retro video games as well as some punk rock bands. But the longer she looked at the room, she noticed that the musicians were all from boy bands, and many of the games had cuter aesthetics that most boys wouldn’t be into. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, and the only appliance in the room was a giant flat screen TV that was wired to a game system. In truth, Mika was a little envious. Su never let her decorate her room the way she wanted to. Probably because it would look like a kid’s sticker covered lunchbox if she did, but that was beside the point. Though Mika did notice there was no computer, which gave her a strange sense of pride. Su had wanted to teach Mika about computers, and even went as far as building her one so that she could get acquainted with all of their parts. She wasn’t sure if she could build one by herself, but the one she had would be good for years to come.

The other path lead to an office, which also housed the security equipment. There was also a door leading out back, but there wouldn’t be anything out there. Mika went to look through the surveillance footage, but there was nothing interesting. There was no sound, it was all black and white, and the cameras inside the building were inoperable or of such poor resolution that she couldn’t see what was going on. Alls she really knew was that everyone was talking and then Finn entered the front of the building. Mika audibly groaned. Why had Ashley decided to send Finn through the front? It didn’t make any sense, and was just one more reason that this promotion was poorly timed. Why not go through the back? Of course as Mika asked herself this, she realized that the security system was pretty well set up for the back entrance. She didn’t feel this invalidated her question.

The only other interesting thing in the office was the fax machine, as there was no computer. Fax machines were really weird, weren’t they? Digital information was so malleable and easy to share, and with a fax machine you could take that digital content and print it on a physical piece of paper, at which point it lost its ability to be easily moved across cyberspace. That seemed like a negative in almost every way.

There was no paper shredder, but there was a waste paper basket, which Mika dug through. Something that had bothered Mika about her operation was that the nuns were able to prepare for her arrival. She didn’t know about her mission until just a day ago, so how were they able to prepare so fast? And if Mika’s operation had been leaked, then had Ashley’s operation been leaked too?

Mika found a crumpled up piece of paper in the waste paper basket buried under a half-eaten lunch. When she unfolded it, she could see a picture of Finn and Timekeeper printed at the top of the page, followed by a brief description of his abilities.

Yes. Yes it had.

Although much of Pax Septimus had been affected by the Diver’s attack, for the most part, the city’s historic district had emerged relatively unscathed. Whether this was due to some form of mystical protection, the Diver’s appreciation of Art Deco architecture, or pure coincidence was anyone’s guess, but it meant that the district’s various businesses and learning institutions continued to operate as if the recent, large-scale disaster hadn’t even taken place. Such was the case for the city’s historic library. An imposing, monolithic structure, it boasted several floors filled with books of all kinds, and even a basement archive that, rumor had it, not only connected to the catacombs below the city, but was also the home to several ghosts. Olivia Bell hadn’t seen any of them on her first visit to the library, but that was before she’d found a helpful guide who knew all the so-called “city of blood’s” myriad secrets. Thus, a return trip was most definitely in order, and so the bespectacled young woman found herself sitting on the ornate edifice’s massive steps, enjoying the crisp autumn afternoon weather as she waited for said guide to arrive.

And even if he still kinda felt like crap, Finn wasn’t going to just ghost her like that. Besides, spending some time with his new acquaintance might help take his mind off things! After a few moments the boy soon emerged from down the street, jogging over once he recognized Olivia. ”Sorry if I’m late!” He called out.

“Hi, Finn!” Olivia called back, her nasally voice filled with delight as she smiled and waved enthusiastically at the approaching young man. “And don’t worry!” she hastened to reassure him. “You’re right on time! Besides, it’s such a beautiful day, so I don’t mind sitting out here in the slightest!” she added with a giggle/snort. “The head librarian said she would be happy to give us a tour, but I told her that she didn’t have to trouble herself because I had a super knowledgeable guide of my own!” the bespectacled brunette explained, jumping to her feet and holding both hands out towards Finn. “Plus,” she added, leaning close and lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper (which, for Olivia, was about normal speaking volume). “I wanna try and sneak into the catacombs via the basement archives, since that’s where all the ghosts are supposed to be!”

The catacombs? Finn might’ve been around the block to memorize every nook and cranny possible, but he had never considered going underground. Even if they manage to sneak down there, it’d be unfamiliar territory from then onward. ”Ghosts huh? So, where’d you learn about that? The entrypoint through the library I mean.” He asked, walking up the steps to the front door.

“I read about it in one of the books I found at Mr. Torvald’s shop!” Olivia replied with an enthusiastic smile. “The head librarian also confirmed the rumors about the archives possibly being haunted when I asked her about it the first time I came here,” she added.

”Oh.” Torvald’s. Then this is going to be quite interesting. ”Then again you can argue that the librarian perpetuates the rumor to keep people coming back in hopes to catch any sign of hauntings during their stay. A lot of people like to claim things are paranormal when half the time they have a logical explanation for a lot of things, like UFO sightings for example. Who says that alien spaceship isn’t some sort of balloon some kid lost flying in the clouds? Who says those lights aren't some sort of commercial airplane making late night rounds instead of a squadron of space invaders?” Finn went on to ramble as he got the door for her. ”Yeah comparing alien sightings and paranormal activity are akin to comparing apples to oranges but it’s not like there’s any spike of dumbfuck teenagers carelessly opening portals to hell with a ouija board they stole from some shady alleyway trash dump recently. I hope.” He grimaced. He’s had more than enough demons this past week.

“Perhaps not,” a refined voice observed, its tone polite, yet still containing an unmistakable iciness. “But several adolescent hoodlums have nonetheless been causing no small amount of trouble by purposely misplacing manuscripts, speaking at an excessive volume, and using exceedingly vulgar language.” Finn would quickly discover that the voice belonged to a tall, bespectacled woman with light brown hair worn in a ponytail, and garbed in a rather antiquated ensemble, one which gave the impression that she had just stepped out of the early 1900s. “I trust, young man,” the woman continued pointedly. “That you will not deign to be counted among them.”

_”Eek!” Finn flinched at the sudden voice and presence that could only belong to the head librarian. He shrank back, instinctively adjusting himself accordingly. ”R-Right then ma’am, sorry!” He slightly bowed. Both in a formal greeting and to indicate that he understood.

“Apology accepted,” the woman replied with a slight smirk, before turning her attention to his companion. “Ah, Olivia. Am I to take it that this is the guide you mentioned earlier?” she inquired, gesturing to Finn.

“Yes, that’s right!” Olivia confirmed with an enthusiastic nod, doing her best to keep her voice at a respectful volume. “His name is Finn. And Finn, this is the head librarian,” she introduced, gesturing to the woman.

“Eleanora Everly, at your service,” the woman greeted with a polite smile, while holding out her hand to the boy.

”Nice to meet you.” The boy shook her hand, as was expected.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young man,” she continued. “Olivia here has spoken quite highly of you.”

”R-Really? Honestly, I don’t think I’m that worth the praise, researching stuff like this is just a s-sort of a side hobby of mine.” Finn nervously chuckled.

Facing it as Timekeeper was a different story…

“Awww…! Don’t be so modest!” Olivia told him with one of her trademark giggle/snorts. “You told me you have one of those super cool conspiracy boards at home and everything! So, obviously you’re knowledgeable about this stuff, and you were also nice enough to help me when most people would’ve just called me a freak and told me to go away!”

Finn sheepishly scratched at his cheek. _{”I suppose I do get a bit too into it sometimes…”}

“In any case, I hope you both enjoy your time here,” Eleanora told them with a gentle smile. “And please do your best to keep your voices at a respectful volume.”

“Don’t worry, we will!” Olivia assured the head librarian, before taking her guide’s hand. “Come on Finn!”

”O-Okay!”

With Olivia leading the way, Finn was guided through the library’s multi-leveled central atrium, the maze of shelves beyond, and finally, to the staircase leading down to the basement archives. He tried to provide commentary as best as he could with his limited knowledge, but for the most part this ended up with him going on another ramble about something entirely unrelated to the library. “Do you come here often, Finn?” Olivia inquired as she dragged the young agent along. “I just love libraries! Back home, I used to spend most of my time in an especially charming one,” the bespectacled brunette continued. “It was quite large, but nowhere near as big as this one! But it’s where I first met my darling Xolys, so it will always have a special place in my heart!”

”Uhm, yeah, sometimes.” Finn nodded. ”U-Usually when I wanna go somewhere less…much. Being out in the city alone can get pretty overwhelming for me sometimes, so it’s good to have places like this I can retreat to.” A light shrug. ”...Sooo, there any way I can meet this Xolys fella?” He couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.

“Well, I’d love to introduce you to him, but for some strange reason, people seem to get really frightened by him, so he said it would probably be for the best if he didn’t appear in public,” Olivia replied. “Unless, of course, I was in danger,” she hastened to add. “Plus, I have to be transformed, too, and that’s kinda supposed to be a secret, but you said you deal with supernatural stuff all the time, so, um, maybe once we enter the catacombs it would be okay?” the bespectacled brunette rambled, seemingly just thinking out loud.

Frightened? Finn’s brows rose when she mentioned how other people reacted to the presence of her companion. He glanced around to see if anyone else was in their vicinity. Can’t have anyone catching them sneaking downstairs. And something about having to be transformed. Was she actually an esper too? ”Well I mean, I’m sure he’s not as scary as people make him out to be. But why do you need to transform in order for him to appear? Does it work as a sort of conduit to summon him? Is he a part of your esper form?” He asked, stepping downstairs first.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking,” Olivia confirmed as she followed Finn down. “Although I’m not actually an esper,” she clarified, lowering her voice to the quietest she’d yet been. “I’m a magical girl.”

A. What.

The boy blinked at the distinction. ”Wh-What’s the difference?” Maybe she was just ribbing him? Or calling herself a magical girl was part of her act? Or she was a Chuuni?

“Well, I don’t actually know very much about espers,” Olivia confessed. “Although from what little I’ve heard, they do sound somewhat similar. But magical girls get their powers from mystical storybooks called grimoires, and I would imagine, based on the name, that espers’ powers are psionic in nature, correct?” she inquired, her voice taking on an exceptionally eager tone. “Oh gosh, do you happen to know any espers, Finn?! My neighbor says they can be dangerous, but I’ve really been wanting to learn more about them ever since I heard they exist!”

”Erm, more or less.” He shrugged with a faint grimace. ”F-From your description of…magical girls…they function similarly to espers. Except their grimoires can be anything. _{Like a pocket watch for example.}” Finn would go on to explain how espers worked to the best of his ability. Though he did stumble on his words once or twice because the whole deal with them was complex enough, but hopefully Olivia would be able to get the gist of it?

”Or uh, well, it might be better to just demonstrate.” The boy grabbed his grimoire from his pocket and transformed into the Timekeeper on the spot.

”...Yep.” The mechanical esper awkwardly rocked back and forth on his heels as he tried to measure out Olivia’s reaction.

“Oh gosh!” Olivia exclaimed, her wide eyes gleaming with excitement. “You’re an esper, Finn?! That’s so absolutely wonderful!” By this point, they had reached the archives, and the bespectacled brunette wasted no time in darting around to look her guide over from all angles. “You know, we don’t have magical boys where I come from, so seeing one transform up close is really extraordinary! What kinds of things can you do?! I just love your steampunk aesthetic! Oh, wow!” she added in amazement as she noticed the artificial-looking joint on the young agent’s neck (having throughly invaded his personal space in her unbridled glee). “Are you some kind of cyborg?! Or perhaps a mannequin?! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your grimoire was Pinocchio!” she declared with a giggle/snort. “Or maybe a steampunk-style alter,” she noted thoughtfully as she continued her rambles. “Oh! You probably don’t know anything about them! You see, alters are grimoires that tell a version of their story that’s been modified from the original in some way,” the babbling brunette explained. “For example, my grimoire is an alter of Beauty and The Beast!” In the time it took Finn to blink, Olivia had produced an ornate, hardcover book, upon which several dozen shimmering blue jewels formed the image of a rose. “My friend Chinami says that girls with altered grimoires are often picked on and treated as outcasts, but everyone at Marrywell Academy has treated me with nothing but kindness since my first day there! Which was really nice, since I’ve always been treated as an outcast everywhere else long before I ever became a magical girl.”

It took Finn a few seconds to process the sudden excitement and deluge of information from the bespectacled girl, akin to a computer taking a moment to load up a file. He blinked in dumbfoundment before speaking up once more,

”I-I guess that’s fair.” The way he was built did make him look like a puppet of sorts. He tilted his head at the book. ”So your grimoires all take the forms of storybooks, with some having the rare chance of being alternate retellings. There a power scale to it? Like do written mythos have more power than your typical fairytale? How different do these ‘alters’ have to be to be formally classified as such?” The mechanical esper went on to ask.

“Well, from what I’ve been told, any story that’s a deviation from the original is considered an alter,” Olivia replied. “As for power levels, there are three, based on how old a story is and its global impact. First are fables, then legends (which is what my grimoire is classed as), and finally myths, which are kinda rare. Of course, I didn’t learn any of that until I started attending Marrywell,” she added. “But what about you, Finn?” she asked, leaning in close to the young agent, her eyes seeming to sparkle. “What kind of abilities do you have, and how did you become an esper? Were you just born as one?”

”Espers aren’t really born. Their grimoires choose the wielders. You can argue the possibility of bloodlines being naturally compatible with them but no one really knows.” He began walking again, looking for the entrance to the catacombs. ”An esper’s magic follows the theme of their glamor, and their element. Mine’s lightning, and as you can probably guess…” Finn motions over himself. ”My kit revolves around time itself. The notes I use lean more towards supportive melodies- Uhm. Think of it like weaving a spell, but these days it feels like I’m…” The boy trailed off, his expression twisting to a frown. ”It’s like I’m more made to hurt people. And I hate it. It- It really sucks.” He shook his head in disdain.

“Y-You’re forced to hurt people…?” Olivia asked hesitantly, her once eager smile dissolving into a confused (and concerned) frown. “I thought espers fought monsters, just like magical girls do. U-Um, so, does that mean your grimoire controls what you do? Is it what makes you hurt people?”

Finn quickly shook his head. ”Nonono, I’m not saying I’m forced to! _{A-At least I don’t think…} It just feels like I haven’t had the best luck since starting out, y’know?” He clarified. ”Espers do fight monsters too but sometimes we have to fight people, magi, other espers, it’s all a bit too complicated to explain in one sitting. Just know a lot of espers have differences in ideologies and goals?” They’re all human at the end of the day, after all.

“I think I understand,” Olivia replied. “Back at school, there was a magical girl who could control monsters called Pageless and used them to attack some students. She had good intentions, but she still went about things the wrong way,” the bespectacled brunette explained. “Hurting innocent people, even if it’s to free them from some perceived captivity, is never right. That’s why we had to fight her, but, even so, I’m still willing to forgive her,” the nerdy girl added with a smile. “And I still hope that, someday, we can work together as friends!”

Glad at least one of us can still be hopeful.

Finn nodded with a faint smile. ”Though, bit of warning, it’d most likely take something drastic against her in order for her to see that her methods were in the wrong. I get not wanting to hurt her, using a more pacifistic approach, but some people just need a good smackdown in order to get their heads straight.”

“I guess you’re probably right about that…” Olivia conceded. “A-Anyways, it looks like we got a bit distracted,” the bespectacled brunette noted as she looked around the musty, dimly-lit archives. “Um, I think the book said there was a hidden passage behind that shelf there,” she added, pointing to a long shelf along the far back wall.

Finn walked over to the shelf and scanned over the books, occasionally pulling a few down to see if it was your typical secret-lever-disguised-as-a-book door.

Olivia giggle/snorted as she watched Finn search for some sort of concealed mechanism on the shelf itself, before stepping over to the young agent. “Um, I think we have to move it,” she advised. “The entrance is probably built into the wall itself.”

The boy stepped back with a huff. ”Figures. Right!” He stepped to the side of the shelf and began to push it away from the wall.

Once the shelf was out of the way, a faint rectangular outline could be discerned on the brick wall behind it. This was clearly the entrance to the catacombs. “Oh wow!” Olivia exclaimed in delight. “It’s just like the book said!” Rushing over to the secret door, she began examining it closely. “Hmmm… I wonder how it opens…”

Finn tilted his head in thought. ”There a secret button? Is the wall weak? I could try and break it open while I’m still…y’know.” He glanced down at himself, it had only occurred to him that he was still in esper form. But hey, might as well make the most of it, he’d need to keep Olivia safe once they reached the catacombs anyways.

“Maybe one of the bricks needs to be pressed in,” Olivia suggested. “Let’s see if there’s one with some distinctive markings on it.”

”Secret button then. Let’s see…” The timekeeper stepped up next to her and began feeling around the wall for any loose bricks.

Soon enough, Finn came upon a brick that sunk into the wall at his touch, causing the rectangular outline to depress with a burst of dust and swing open, revealing a stone staircase leading into the darkened depths beyond.

“You did it, Finn!” Olivia cheered. “Oh gosh! This is just like Indiana Jones!” she added with a giggle/snort. “Did you bring a flashlight with you?” she inquired as she peered into the darkness. “I brought one of my own, but it’s still nice to have a backup, just in case. I mean, I guess I could always transform and have Xolys illuminate things with his eldritch flames, but it doesn’t look like there’s too much space down there, and I wouldn’t want him to get stuck. Plus, he might scare the ghosts away! Wouldn’t that be awful?!”

”uh…yeah. I don’t have a flashlight flashlight, but my phone does.” The boy searched his pockets and pulled out the aforementioned device. ”Shall we then?”

“Yes, let’s!” Olivia agreed with an enthusiastic nod. “You know, this is almost as exciting as the slumber party we had in my school’s haunted music room!” she added with a giggle/snort as she started down the steps.

Haunted music room. Huh. ”Your uh, school sounds interesting…” Finn aimed his phone flashlight down the steps into unfamiliar territory. He was a bit tense, if he was being honest. But it should be fine.

Should.

“Oh, yes!” Olivia told him, her nasally voice filled with delight. “It’s a wonderful school! The teachers are so knowledgeable and kind! Well, Miss Valeria is sort of rough around the edges, but she’s still very encouraging! And I met so many wonderful friends there! Like my roommate, Suzuya, and Bonnie, who helped me organize the sleepover! Oh! And the sleepover itself was super fun!” she continued to happily babble away as they descended the steps. “Since it was October, we decided to make it a Halloween party, and some of the teachers and students actually wore costumes! Even Xolys dressed up as a bedsheet ghost so he wouldn’t scare away the actual ghosts!” she added with a giggle/snort. “But the very best part was how, when we got to the music room, it had transformed into a gothic castle! It was absolutely incredible, and I had so much fun exploring it! Did you do anything fun for Halloween, Finn?”

The boy hummed in thought. ”Think me and a few friends from school had a movie night last Halloween? Was pretty easy getting enough candy for all of us.” He shrugged. ”Horror movies don’t really phase me that much, to be honest.”

“They don’t really bother me very much either,” Olivia replied. “I usually find the parts other people are bothered by really interesting, which is probably why everyone at my old school always called me a freak and told me I belonged in a mental institution. I mean, there is this one that’s supposed to be haunted, but there’s no guarantee that’s the one my parents would have sent me to,” she continued. “And the rumor that it was haunted might not even have been true! Like with the Marrywell music room. Even though it was mysteriously turned into a beautiful castle, I didn’t get to see even a single ghost! Although, after the party, while darling Xolys and I were walking down one of the corridors, we met the most adorable little…”

Hello, Finn, a new voice spoke up. I’m pretty sure Olivia here is going to keep rambling for about… I’d say fifteen minutes at least, which should give us plenty of time to have a little chat. Oh, and try not to freak out, but only you can hear me. I know hearing voices might be a little strange… well, maybe not so much in your case, but we wouldn’t want Olivia to think you’re completely nuts. Of course, I could chat with her, too, but if I went around popping into the brains of everyone and their dog, it would cause some pretty MAJOR problems. So, for now, it’s just you and me, having a nice little chat in the cozy confines of your little mind, not unlike the stroll you’re taking through these utterly isolated and charmingly claustrophobic catacombs. Uh, you didn’t happen to annoy Olivia before coming down here, did you? Otherwise she might decide to stage an impromptu reenactment of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. The voice was silent for a moment. That was a joke. Anyways, as for who I am, let’s just say I’m a friendly ghost, but my name’s not Casper, or Oliver, for that matter. I mean, I’d love to just come right out and tell you exactly who I am, but I think it’s best if we preserve a sense of mystery here. Although I will say that, while my voice might possibly be mistaken for that of a prepubescent boy, such as yourself, I am, in fact, a woman, albeit one who has absolutely zero interest in joining that ridiculous little harem of yours, so don’t get any stupid ideas. That said, you don’t need to worry, Finn. I’m here to help you. I’ve been following your exploits for quite some time, and recently, I’ve noticed that you’re starting to resemble someone I REALLY can’t stand, so I thought I would step in to make a slight course correction. Full disclosure, I wasn’t initially planning on having this little intervention, and the mere fact I’m even talking to you right now is breaking some pretty massive rules, but desperate times call for desperate measures and I’ve always made it a point to give rules a middle finger whenever I possibly can. Look, I know you have problems, Finn, but closing yourself off isn’t going to make them disappear, and neither is getting ‘psychiatric aid’ from a perverted lunatic who runs around with buttered toast hanging out of their fucking mouth like some shitty anime character. However, unlike her, I actually am a doctor, and I actually want to help you. So just relax, and if all goes well, you’ll end up in a much better state than when you came down here, plus you’ll have a cool ghost story to tell Olivia. Okay? Oh, and, uh, just ‘think’ your responses. Otherwise things’ll get really awkward really fast.

What the fuck.

Frankly I’m not sure if I can trust a voice in my head after the Dante shit left me second guessing myself by the hour. Finn furrowed his brows. The voice could swear he mentally sighed. But then again, my job’s on the line, and my team probably hates my guts right now. I fear your worst might be better than the alternative at the rate I’m going. …Also what do you mean harem?!

It was mostly a joke, the voice replied. But I’m sure you haven’t failed to notice how girls seem to be drawn to you like moths to the proverbial flame, and not just in the romantic sense, either. For some reason, they like you, Finn. They’re concerned about you, and do you know why that is? Do you know why Mary and Betty are so obsessed with you? Why Klava and Ashley both wanted to fill the void left by your too-busy-to-give-a-fuck actual older sibling? Why Olivia made you her tour guide? Why Oros calls you Penny Jr.? It’s because, despite being a perpetual fuck up, you’re important. You matter. You have a unique, almost imperceptible, but still undeniable charisma, even if it’s only because you’re seen as cute, non-threatening, pitiful, or maybe even as having some hidden potential (which you actually do have, by the way). And that’s a good thing, Finn. A very good thing. It’s certainly not something you should be afraid of, or try to resist, even if it’ll bring a little discomfort along the way. Which is why I’m so glad to hear that you’re willing to have this little therapy session. If Ashley’s any indication, it’ll do wonders.

Finn subtly nodded along to the infodump, even if he felt slightly uncomfortable with how much she knew of him. Spine-chilling, considering the last time. But things that hadn’t even crossed his mind before. If I’m so important, why is my luck so shit then? …Hm, unless there’s some sort of penance effect going on here. A price paid for advantage elsewhere. Popularity draws in unsavory sorts, power brings about instability, love from others… He frowned. All eyes on you, watching your next move, ready to abandon you once you’ve gone against their perceptions. Right?

Wow, you sure are quite the pessimist, the voice snarked. Looks like you needed this chat even more than I thought. The fact is, Finn, someone in your situation is always going to face adversity, but it’s up to you if you’re going to put forth the effort needed to overcome it. Plus, if you’re creative, you can put your suffering to good use. Life is pain, Finn. The lives of the truly exceptional even more so. I may only feel physical pain exceedingly rarely, but I experience emotional pain more often than I’d like to think about. For example, I recently offered to help a certain someone, offered to bestow upon them all sorts of amazing gifts, only for them to turn around and SPIT IN MY FUCKING FACE!!! I don’t have to worry about you doing that to me, do I, Finn? For your sake, I sure hope not. Anyways, the point is everyone feels disappointment. Everyone feels pain. It’s what they do with it that matters. Look at Ashley. I gave her one of these pep talks a while back, too. Remember when you raided Justin’s mansion and brainwashed Betty kicked your whiny ass? I do. In fact, I replay that scene when I’m feeling particularly depressed and need something to laugh at, like when that individual I mentioned COMPLETELY FUCKED OVER ALL MY GLORIOUS PLANS FOR HIM!!!

The voice paused for a moment to catch her breath.

Ahem. As I was saying, while you were reduced to a mangled, sobbing mess in that corridor, pathetically pleading for Betty to come back, Ashley was having a bit of a breakdown of her own. She’d just escaped Justin’s literal shit hole of a dungeon, where he keeps all his cannon fodder thralls, innocent victims she had to kill her way through, only to find out that every last one of the hostages she’d been trying to save back at the entrance hall had all been slaughtered. I think we can both agree that was way worse than what you went through. In fact, it was enough to make her question why she was even granted the powers of an esper in the first place. Which was when I decided to intervene. And now look at her! Yes, she’s felt despair and heartache since then, but she’s always pushed through it! Even with all the crap she went on to endure, she never needed someone to hold her hand and help her through it. She was able to manage on her own. Meanwhile, what’s the first thing you do when things get a little too stressful? ‘Oh Betty! Please hold me and have ice cream with me so I can forget about the teammates I just abandoned and all the people I just murdered like a total fucking psychopath!’ Do you see the difference? You mustn’t run away from your problems, Finn. You need to stand up to them and kick ‘em in the balls! As I told Ashley, life may be pain, but pain is weakness leaving the body. Embrace the pain, Finn, use it to make yourself stronger. You want to be stronger, don’t you? Of course you do. You want people to stop seeing you as the pathetic little kid who always fucks everything up and then runs off and cries about it. That’s a very admirable goal to work towards, and one you’re fully capable of achieving. That said, the choice ultimately lies with you, so what’s it gonna be, Finn? Do you wanna actually learn from your mistakes, or are you just gonna keep repeating them?

Depends, are you ACTUALLY trying to help me or are you trying to kick me down and spit in my face? Finn bit back at the voice becoming more hostile in her words, her admittance in finding sadistic glee in a moment he was most powerless, and the weird grudge against this someone. Something in the back of the boy’s mind was trying to crawl its way back to the surface and between it and the tripe from this twat, it was giving him quite the headache.

One: I wasn’t being pessimistic, I was being realistic. Have you ever heard or seen how quickly people abandon ship and distance themselves from famous celebrities, creators, and social media influencers whenever they catch wind that the famous person isn’t as flawless as they make themselves out to be? Or whatever the fans led themselves to think? Not to mention some celebrities are actually vile as fuck outside of the view of their audience but there’s always people that don’t give a shit either way about who someone is outside of their ideal of who they are. As long as that ideal isn’t shattered, no one really cares about the real them. Get put in the spotlight and you’re expected to give a damn good show. He never understood why he became so popular. Two: Just because pain is expected doesn’t mean it’d magically hurt any less when it happens, so how the fuck am I supposed to use it to my advantage, hm? Yeah, I know, I need to get a proper therapist that doesn’t try to ask for my sister’s phone number and all that at some point but do you got any bippity-boppity-bullshit you can pull since you apparently know so much about me and Ashley apparently? _{I didn’t even know she had to go through all that…} It was like the universe was telling him to just shut up and bear it. Three: Leave Betty out of this. Christ alive, our popularity and Oros sparing me just cause I agreed to TRY and see if we’re compatible is bullshit enough, this is just getting ridiculous. Four: It sounds like you’re only doing this just so that you can get back at whoever-the-fuck apparently hurt you that badly, Finn sharply took a deep breath, despite not speaking out loud.

And lastly: If I’m such a irredeemable psychopath, why should I care about what any of you think, Doc? You could easily just focus on Ashley instead of bothering with such a perpetual failure.

The boy’s eyes suddenly widened, as if he’d struck an epiphany. Why should he care about what anyone thinks?

That’s an excellent question, Finn, the voice replied, sounding quite pleased with how things were proceeding, despite the young agent’s little outburst. In fact, that whole pissed off rant of yours shows that we’re making some real progress here. I mean, I would have been pretty disappointed if all you did was nod along and passively acquiesce to everything I was saying like some mindlessly obedient child. But instead, you’re actually getting defensive! You’re standing up for yourself, facing a challenge head on! Well done, Finn! the voice commended. This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. And since you made the effort to organize your points so neatly, I’ll address each in turn. But before we get to that, I’d like to answer your first question. Yes, Finn, I actually do want to help you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to coddle you. You don’t want to be coddled, do you Finn?

I want you to be honest.

Well, lucky for you, I am being honest, the voice told him. Now back to those points you raised… First, almost everyone I’ve ever met is less intelligent than I am by several orders of magnitude, so I couldn’t really give a single fuck what they think, and you shouldn’t care, either. That said, not everyone will be so quick to turn against you. Like I said earlier, there are plenty of people who genuinely care about you, and the fact that they don’t always pander to you like some fragile little baby is actually a good thing. But we’ll talk about that some more in a bit. Next, I’d like to correct a little misapprehension you seem to have. I never said you’d hurt any less, I said to use that hurt as a power source, as fuel. Turn that pain, that anger, into strength. You’re actually doing it right now. Clearly I struck a nerve, but instead of wallowing in self pity, you struck back at me! That’s great, Finn! It means there’s still hope for you. And I’ve got a LOT of ‘bippity-boppity-bullshit’ I can give you, but for now, all you’re getting is this chat, and, with any luck, it should be all the help you’ll need. But only if you agree to cooperate. I brought up Betty because she’s inextricably linked to your current situation. Your desire to save her, to defend her even now, is the source of a great deal of your motivation, so you better bet your ass I’m going to address it. And let’s get another thing straight, the voice went on. I’m not doing this to get back at that sorry piece of shit I mentioned earlier, I’m doing this to ensure you don’t become him! He was a total disappointment right to the very end, but you don’t have to be! You’re not irredeemable, Finn. If you were, I wouldn’t even be talking with you right now. Like I already mentioned, Ashley doesn’t need my help anymore, but you do. And I believe you can be helped, but only if you want to be. It’s like you just realized, you shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks. It’s what you want that matters. This is something you need to do for yourself, Finn. So, do you want to be helped, or not?”

If you’re not gonna turn-tail and try to kill me too, then knock yourself out. If they were talking in person he would’ve shrugged.

Excellent. In that case, let’s begin with your recent debacle at the diner. Tell me, why do you think things went as poorly as they did?

Finn mentally groaned. Are you gonna rehash that I disobeyed Ashley’s orders and caused a chain reaction that resulted in everything going up in blood, fire, and smoke? That I shouldn’t have expected either her or Estelle to work with me because neither of them want to work with such a loose cannon? Or are you going to mention that I put too much faith in Dante actually being willing to listen when most of these fuckwits I’ve faced so far have only looked out for themselves? I followed Dr. Moller’s orders to kill on sight, and yet SHE gets a quick promotion to second-in-command for doing nothing but being a punching bag? What a blatant ‘fuck you!’. She could hear a bitting, sarcastic laugh afterwards. And before you mention it, I know, I also fucked up by running off too. But that’s ‘cause I didn’t want to kill Amanda either. I didn’t know she was real.

He went silent for a moment.

... Perhaps I should’ve. You know, catch her in the moment of weakness? But I honestly think my co-workers would’ve frowned upon that too. Can’t win with them. That line of thought only served to further his epiphany.

You certainly have one hell of a victim complex, huh? the voice noted with what seemed to be a mocking smirk. The truth is, Finn, while this universe may treat you as its personal punching bag, not everyone is out to get you. Let’s address your various complaints one at a time. Yes, you disobeyed orders and caused everything to go to hell, but it seems you fully understand that, and are fully prepared to take responsibility for that particular fuckup, which is very commendable. I think your biggest problem is the second point you brought up, the whole, ‘nobody wants to help me’ bit. You see, Finn, contrary to what you might think, the reason your teammates didn’t come rushing to your aid was because they were dealing with their own issues. If you’ll recall, there were only three of you against roughly twice that many adversaries. And do you remember why that combat began in the first place? It was because you decided to play the hero and order your fellow agents, including your immediate superior, to save a group of schoolgirls. It might interest you to know that Ashley and Estelle were in the middle of actually doing that when you were mentally whining about how they had ‘abandoned you’. Oh, and they did their fair share of killing, too. In fact, Ashley took out almost as many hostiles as you did. The only reason she decided to be a ‘punching bag’ for so long was to give the defenseless civilians that you wanted to save time to get out of the building! As for Dante, why would he be willing to listen when you barged into his diner and acted so aggressively? You threatened him, Finn. How else was he supposed to act? If you’d gone around the back like Ashley suggested, maybe things wouldn’t have escalated quite so quickly. Instead, you walked right into a fucking powder keg. Of course it was gonna become a clusterfuck. Finally, it’s just a hypothesis, but maybe Moller promoted Ashley because she not only followed orders, but also stuck around to deal with the repercussions of doing so. I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to use lethal force on Amanda either, but she didn’t have much choice. It might have been hard for her, scratch that, it was hard for her, but she still did what had to be done and took responsibility for her actions.

The voice took a deep breath before exhaling it in a weary sigh.

Look, Finn. The real problem isn’t that you fucked up, it’s that you didn’t own up to it. You want to be the badass hero who calls the shots? Fine. But then don’t complain when you come face to face with all the hardships that role entails. I mean, it would have been one thing if you had said ‘I’ll handle Dante, you rescue the girls!’, but all you did was complain that no one was rushing to hold your hand when the Big Bad came after you. So here’s my next question- what do you wanna be, Finn? The whiny little kid who falls apart when things get too tough, or the epic hero who takes one look at adversity and kicks it in the nuts?

Oh if only she could see the look on his face. It took some considerable willpower to draw back the anger this “voice” was feeding. _Dickhead. The reason WHY I complained so much was cause I realized I was at a major disadvantage against Dante and expected my T E A M to actually coordinate and back each other up, you know, act like an actual T E A M? And, fuck, it’s not even the first time I’d been left alone like that, but hey! AT LEAST BETTY WAS A H U M A N! If Finn was facing the source of the voice he’d most likely attempt to behead her by now, wouldn’t he?

Undoubtedly.

I was even considering offering to step away willingly and help out around the workplace in a way asides active fieldwork, but now I’m starting to think I should cut my damn losses and get out while I still can, since apparently I can’t be assed to work in a pathetic excuse of a T E A M, why NOT go back to flying solo if I’m so apparently powerful enough to do so?

So to answer your second question, Doc, I don’t necessarily see a point in being an epic hero like I’ve for some reason became in the public’s eyes. I’m just trying to do my job.

I was afraid we might reach this little impasse, the voice said with a disappointed sigh. Sometimes, a team has to delegate responsibility. Did you want them to just abandon the helpless schoolgirls, Finn? Was their safety not more important than your own? You seemed to think so when you ran off all hot headed to try and rescue them in the first place, the voice noted pointedly. Anyway, if you truly just want to ‘do your job’ like a good little secondary character, then I would suggest that you actually be a team player yourself, instead of trying to steal the spotlight at the first opportunity. In case you didn’t notice, your teammates were trying to help you by getting answers about your little ‘condition’ in the least problematic way possible. But you’re right. If you want to be a moody brat who just does whatever he feels like, then you should probably just go back to being a freelancer. After all, you only joined G.E.M.I.N.I. to save Betty, right? Well, she’s safe now, mission accomplished, so why keep hanging around with people you obviously can’t stand?

The wryest of smiles formed on the boy’s face.

Why indeed.

That was a genuine question, Finn, the voice deadpanned.

And you think I actually have an answer…? He internally deflated. I guess I had high hopes for this job at first? But then Miss Fang died, then Miss Leroux and Mr. Howard got redeployed elsewhere, and now this. Feels like people everywhere are abandoning ship, from what I hear. More freelancers than otherwise these days. Finn couldn’t really say if that was a good thing, even they were strained due to dark web espers. Is it really gonna be worth grinning and bearing this shit, Doc?

Yes, it will, because you have the power to make a difference, even more so than my dear Ashley, but only if you stop moping around and murder this little victim complex of yours like you murder everything else that stands in your way! This isn’t the time for weakness, Finn! Major events have been set into motion, and you need to face them head on! Own up to your full potential, and you can be the greatest esper in this city! Or, you can go back to your old life, the meaningless life of a powerless child. Fuck quitting G.E.M.I.N.I., you can quit being an esper entirely! Just throw your grimoire and that other super mysterious pocket watch what’s-her-smug-face gave you down the nearest storm drain and watch all the big, scary decisions go away with them!

The voice paused for a moment.

Some might say that you’ve been given far too much responsibility for someone so young, that you’d be crazy to keep doing this, and that the only sane course of action is to walk away from this shitstorm as fast as possible. Are they right, Finn? Do you really believe that being an esper is too much for you to handle?

There’s only one logical conclusion from this conversation either way, is there? After a pause from his end, he “spoke” again: I’ll humor your and everyone else’s…assumptions of me for now, but I’m not gonna play into the good boy act while I do it.

And what, exactly, do you mean by that, Finn?

You know for someone who claims her intellect is above all, you’re really slow on the uptake. I meant if people wanna see me as a killer, I might as well embrace it.

I simply wanted to clarify, the voice replied. And that’s good, Finn. Fully embracing the identity you wish to create for yourself is one of the core lessons I’ve been trying to get you to take to heart. And speaking of clarifying, I want to make sure you fully understand what that entails.

Not really one he wished to create for himself, only what always came natural. Of course I do.

Then tell me, Finn, what have you learned from our little chat?

Embrace the hand I’ve been dealt?

In a manner of speaking, the voice conceded. But instead of just passively resigning yourself to it, you need to actively use everything that comes your way as material with which to build the future you want, and you can only do that if you have a clear goal in mind. So, what is your goal, Finn? What do you actually want to achieve by being an esper?

Finn blinked. I…actually don’t know. I’ve not really had a goal in mind besides protecting Betty. He admitted.

Well, my advice is to get one. Sooner, rather than later. Otherwise, you’re still that confused, lost child you hate people viewing you as.

Right.

(sigh) Y’know, I really wanted to believe that this little chat of ours was going to have a bit more substantial of an effect on your mental state moving forward, but I suppose that was never going to be the case. For what it’s worth, I really do hope you’ll take what I’ve told you to heart and actually succeed where that other fuck up I mentioned utterly failed, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

Wow, aren't you a ray of sunshine? I’m not just gonna suddenly know what my purpose is or whatever. I think as I work, go with the flow, all that stuff. You can say this little conversation of ours is a good nudge into one direction, but I hope you don’t expect any credit or anything. Whatever happens, happens. If I get hit with an epiphany, I’ll fax you or…however this works. Finn “spoke” up.

So yeah, wait and see.

And, after another moment,

_{I’m sorry I hurt you.}

There was a period of silence, broken only by the background noise of Olivia’s continued ramblings, and then…

Apology accepted, the voice replied. Although, if you really wanna make it up to me, you’ll prove that our little chat wasn’t a colossal waste of time and actually put the lessons I’ve imparted into practice, like Ashley has done. After all, while I don’t see us ever speaking again, I’m always watching…

“…and then she said that espers were really dangerous,” Olivia was saying. “And she told me I shouldn’t try to find any, despite my interest, but you’re an esper, and you’ve been nothing but the kindest and most helpful person since the moment we met! In fact, I couldn’t imagine you hurting anyone!” she added with a giggle/snort. “You know, we’ve been walking for quite a while now, and we still haven’t run into any ghosts! Do you think we might have taken a wrong turn somewhere?” the bespectacled brunette inquired. “I mean, this place is quite labyrinthian… In fact, I’d be really concerned about being lost down here forever if I didn’t have a guide with me!” she added with another giggle/snort as she gave Finn a big smile. “You probably know these catacombs like the back of your hand!”

”Oh, uhm,” With that out of the way, Finn could finally focus his full attention back to Olivia. ”Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever been down here.” The mechanical esper grimaced. ”I’ve been around the block so many times around the city but I’ve never been underground like…this…” He trailed off, voice growing quieter. He stopped walking.

”We’re- L-Let’s head back before it gets late!” The Timekeeper glanced back at Olivia with concern.

“Oh, gosh! Does something happen if it gets to be a certain time?!” Olivia inquired, her nasally voice filled with a mixture of concern and excited curiosity.

”N-Not really, just- just better safe than sorry-” Finn gently grabbed Olivia’s arm and started walking back from the direction they came from.

“B-But, you’re an esper, right?” Olivia protested. “Wouldn’t you be able to protect us from anything dangerous we might encounter? Since, well, if there is some kind of dangerous creature down here, I’d very much like to see it!” she added eagerly.

Finn sighed. ”Yeah, but I don’t know what’s down here. And frankly I had a long conversation with an annoying ghost that ended up distracting me, so…” He stopped to glance around, trying to remember the path. ”I just- Hopefully we’re not lost??”

Any worry Olivia might have felt about the possibility of Finn not actually being able to get them back to the surface was completely subsumed by the gleeful excitement generated by the prior piece of information the Timekeeper had almost nonchalantly revealed.

“Ohmygoshyouactuallytalkedtoaghost?!” Olivia exclaimed, her words coming out in a lightning-fast torrent as she moved her face to within mere inches of the young esper’s own. “Whatdidtheysoundlike?!Whatdidtheysay?! Wereyouabletoseethem?! Ohgoshthisissoooexciting!”

”S-Slow down!” Finn panicked in response, pausing to catch up to her questions.

”Right, uhm, it was a young girl I think, around our age? Hard to explain what she said cause it ended up turning into a bit of an argument in the middle of it, no I didn’t see her but she talked through some sorta mental link? Psychic? Whatever it was.” He did his best to explain.

“Oh wow! So, did she say if she was actually the spirit of someone who died down here, or if she was just an ectoplasmic entity who was drawn to this location?!” Olivia asked. “Oh, and, um, sorry for getting overexcited, earlier…” she apologized. “I just find this sorta stuff to be absolutely fascinating!”

”Er, guess you can say she was drawn here, yeah.”

“What else did she have to tell you?!” Olivia pressed. “And you said you had an argument with her? What was that about?! Did she come here just to yell at you?! Oh, goodness! Y-You didn’t kill her, did you Finn?!”

The boy chuckled dumbfoundedly. ”If I somehow killed HER? I’d eat my goggles.” He shook his head. ”Don’t worry about it, ‘k?” Finn gave Olivia a crooked smile.

“Oh, okay,” Olivia acquiesced. “I was just beginning to get worried that a vengeful ghost had started haunting you! I’m really glad to hear that isn’t the case,” she added with a relieved smile. “It’s too bad she didn’t want to talk with me though… So, um, anyways, do you really think we should start heading back now? I was hoping we could explore some more…”

Finn shrugged. ”Much luckier than I am in that regards.” The boy glanced around again, thinking. ”Well, if you insist we explore a bit longer we could-” He suddenly cut himself off, eyes glued to the quickest sight of the tail end of a royal blue cape passing by and disappearing behind the corner.

Well. Perhaps they can still catch a ghost! Without thinking much further, he began following the direction of the passing silhouette.

“Huh? Is something wrong?” Olivia asked. “Oh! Did that ghost start talking to you again?!”

”Different ghost!!” He calls back, with a surprisingly excited grin. As if to further his point, the two would hear a giggle echoing through the catacombs; one befitting of a young ghost.

”This way!”

“O-Okay!” Olivia replied as she hurried after him, her own grin having returned in full force. Indeed, the bespectacled brunette couldn’t believe her luck! Maybe she really would get to see an actual ghost after all!

Only time would tell…

It was easy for an esper in Pax Septimus to find themselves down in the dumps. With a few exceptions, most espers were regular people that weren’t accustomed to dealing with daily life or death situations. Their situations were often complicated, and they took the line of work they did out of necessity or obligation rather than a love for killing monsters or other humans. It involved a lot of complicated feelings, and seldom did an esper leave the operation feeling fully satisfied with the outcome. Often, what gave them the strength to keep going were the people who they surrounded themselves with. Maybe it was family, friends, or even a fellow esper who could understand everything the job entailed. A pillar for a weary soul to lean on. Trixy understood the importance of such a pillar, and tried to be that for as many people as possible.

Though Trixy might have wanted to be that for everyone, many people found her irritating to be around. Most humans at least. Perhaps her rampant flirting was just a bit too desperate. Maybe she had too many daddy issues, and was too ugly to be worth the hassle. Perhaps that was why she ended up joining Maverick alternative in the end. Monsters just understood her better than people did.

That seemed to be the case with the Bastion’s newest additions. Boteg was a golden dragon that seemed like he was scared of most paranormal entities, yet was fiercely protective of Amanda, another new addition. It wasn’t confirmed yet, but she was the offspring of two relatively strong monsters.Neither of them were fit for combat, but in time that would change. But Trixie wasn’t here to train them, nor did she really care about how strong they may become. She was going to be Amanda and Boteg’s friends. So far, she had been knocking it out of the park.

She felt, anyway.

Boteg, Amanda, and Trixy were all gathered around a plastic folding table. They were playing Uno, which was a game neither of them were very familiar with, but Tetrad had played it with Trixy a few times. What made this game special was that it was the first time Amanda had offered to play with her, rather than wait for Trixy to invite her to play.

”You didn’t say Uno!” Amanda tapped the draw pile while giving Boteg a firm stare.

The dragon, who was presently human up to his neck, folded his arms. ”Me thinks thou rule is most strange. Little scare heard me say ‘last’ did thou not?“

”But that’s not the rules!” She poked the pile again. ”Maybe you said something, but it wasn’t Uno, and it has to be Uno!”

Boteg gave Trixy a pleading stare, but he wasn’t going to find much help there. She gave the dragon a pained smile. ”You know Boteg, I think the way you sound is really cool, but you do have a habit of taking what people say and distorting it. We’re not picking on you, but it might be worth trying to say the right word as an exercise.“ The dragon only groaned in response before taking a few cards. He had yet to win a single game.

”Me thinks you made up that rule to prevent me from winning!“

Amanda laughed. ”No! It really is in the official rules!”

It was nice to see that Amanda was able to laugh. Unfortunately, living vicariously through other people was all she could do to feel happy at the moment. With a sigh, she played a card. ”You’re up, Amanda.“

”Are you okay?”

”Yes?“

”But you sighed.”

Trixy held out her hand. ”I’ve got seven cards, I don’t think I’m winning.“ she said before playing one. Not that six was any better.

”You sighed before I came to get you too.”

”I finished working out.“

”You don’t work out.”

”I just started.“

”Trixy…” Amanda lowered her cards. ”I wanted to play with you today because you seemed a little… Agitated? I don’t know, but I was hoping you could tell me. Boteg agrees with me.”

”Grinning scare is not grinning today.“ the dragon noted.

Trixy sighed, again. She had been cornered. This card game had been a way to get Amanda to open up to her, and it seemed like Amanda was using it to get to know Trixy better. She didn’t mind that, but of all the things to ask about…

”You sure you want to know?“ Amanda nodded. ”Alright, well to start, I’m not exactly lucky with my love life. None of my dates ever go anywhere.“

”I remember you coming to Dante’s a few times.” Amanda answered. ”We never met, but I was always in the back room. You came often enough that I remembered you.”

”Okay.“ Trixy decided not to bring up the fact that her waitress had been kidnapping her dates, many of which were still MIA. She also decided not to get into how the waitress was dealt with by Finn and… ”I met this girl though. Woman, I guess. Really cool person, super chill, and a total super cutie.“ Even now, thinking about Klava’s beauty brought warmth to every part of Trixy’s being. ”But she’s been MIA for a while. I think she might not be of this world anymore.“

Amanda froze, taking far too long to consider her next words. ”This wasn’t Klava, was it?”

Trixy knew that Amanda was aware of who Klava was, or more importantly, that she had assisted gear boy on a job. Denying the woman’s identity would have been the best for keeping the peace, but she cursed her weakness. ”Yes. That is her name.“

”She’s alive.”

Trixy blinked. ”Excuse me?“

”She’s alive.” Amanda repeated. ”At least, she was as of last week. My father placed a curse on both Klava and Time Keeper. I was in her dreams about seven days ago, so she might be missing, but she’s alive.”

”You didn’t get any hints to her whereabouts, did you?“

”Sorry, not really. But isn’t there a detective esper in Pax now?”

Trixy nodded a few times as a smile spread across her face. ”Well, I’m glad I decided to talk to you about that! Thanks Amanda! I’ll have to look into that detective later.“

”Don’t mention it. We’re friends, right?” Amanda played a card.

Boteg eyed the card for a moment, and then a devilish smile crossed his face. ”Thou hath forgotten to say ’Uno!’“

“My most sincere thanks for stopping by, good seeker!” Torvald Brellomee called out as his latest guest departed. “If you ever encounter another obstacle in your quest for knowledge, my door is always open!”

Ah, how wonderful! the bearded, wizard-garbed proprietor of Torvald’s Tomes and Trinkets thought to himself with a smile. Another satisfied customer!

Indeed, business was booming of late, with not even the Diver’s “visit” doing much to disrupt things. If anything, all the recent chaos had led to a dramatic upswing in the number of people interested in supernatural phenomena, like the charmingly excitable young lady who had stopped by a few days earlier. Yes, Pax Septimus was certainly a prime location for his shop, and the sage of sages was looking forward to several more months of prodigious profits. However, even as he envisioned the torrent of future knowledge seekers flooding into his humble shop, the ring of the door chime heralded the arrival of someone who threatened to bring that particular train of thought to a screeching halt…

“Good evening, Mister Brellomee,” a cool and dispassionate voice greeted before the chime had even stilled.

Having been shaken out of his reverie, Torvald stifled a gasp at the sight of the new arrival.

“W-Why, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Everly!” the tome keeper exclaimed as he awkwardly tried to compose himself. “Whatever can I do for you this fine evening?”

“You can stop selling manuscripts that lead impressionable and utterly unequipped children into the most perilous parts of this city,” she replied flatly, her visage stern and her glasses covered in a reflective sheen.

Of course it had to be that, Torvald grumbled to himself. These snooty librarians and their overbearing attempts to control the flow of information. He could see through Everly’s ruse. She didn’t care about safety she just hated the fact that his shop was so popular, and provided knowledge that she either couldn’t or wouldn’t convey!

“What any given knowledge seeker does with the insights they’ve gleaned is their business alone,” Torvald protested. “I merely provide the pathway to enlightenment. It is the knowledge seeker themself who chooses to walk it.”

“An almost admirable attempt at deflection,” Eleanora conceded as she adjusted her glasses. “Yet, while you merely provide said knowledge, you neglect to include any cautions as to the danger that knowledge may lead a ‘seeker’ into. This is especially concerning when said seekers are mere children,” she added, while fixing Torvald with a piercing glare. “And even more so, when they are led to my library.”

“I must beg your pardon, Miss Everly, but I fail to see how any of this is my concern,” Torvald replied. “If you are unable to keep ‘mere children’ from forbidden areas of your library, then perhaps you should invest in better security, hmm?”

“There would be no need to take such measures if you simply stopped selling the relevant manuscripts,” Eleanora shot back.

“I do apologize, Miss Everly, but I would never deprive any seeker of the knowledge they quest for!” Torvald declared. “To do so would be a complete violation of my most sacred duty! Furthermore, I do not believe a simple librarian is in any position to enforce demands upon me. After all, your kind has no power here!”

“Perhaps not, but the Pax Septimus Merchants’ Guild most assuredly does.”

At the mention of the guild, the color rapidly drained from Torvald’s face. This was getting treacherous, yet he still had one last hope to cling to.

“Ah, but you are not a merchant, now are you, Miss Everly?” he asked with a knowing smirk.

“Correct,” Eleanora confirmed, giving the sage a curt nod. “However, Brittany Todd, is, and she owes me a favor, one which I am entirely prepared to collect.”

Torvald swallowed hard. Of course she would have to mention that name… His face grew even paler. His heart began to race. Beads of sweat began to form upon his troubled brow. Finally, he sighed in defeat.

“F-Fine! I shall accede to your demand, but only in regard to information concerning the library!”

“That is acceptable,” Eleanora replied after a moment. “However, I would ask that you add a warning to any manuscript or informational pamphlet pertaining to any other dangerous location in Pax Septimus,” she added.

“I suppose that could be done…” Torvald conceded.

“Excellent,” Eleanora declared as she began heading for the door. Pausing for a moment, she turned to face the sagely shopkeeper. “A pleasure doing business with you, Mister Brellomee.”

The next instant, she had vanished into the night, leaving the stunned Torvald standing alone at the counter.

“Accursed librarians…”

The doors to the great escape swung open, and Raphael the Righteous Hearted filled the door frame. This was only his third visit, but he was already accustomed to bowing his head to get in the door. When he traveled abroad, he found that few doors were as large as that of a cathedral or church. That was to say he got a lot of practice not hitting his head on things. If anything, he was happy that the doors were so wide. Smaller doorways necessitated that he step through them sideways.

Once inside he found most of the usual suspects. It seemed like Regina was arguing with someone every time he came in. The little detective was giving another girl an interview, and there were a few other familiar faces he couldn’t quite name. But Marrie Knight was absent. They had spoken previously, but he had hoped to encounter her again. No matter. She was keeping him updated as requested. He trusted if it was important she would have told him. His main reason for being here today was to speak with Elroy, who was exactly where they met last time. He was seated in front of a giant table with a half finished cup of orange juice.

”Hey Ralph.“

”Please do not call me that.“ Raphael did not wait for Elroy to give him permission. He took the seat directly across from him and placed his massive hands on the table. ”Did any of the freelancers get back to you?“

”About what?“ After thinking a bit, he knew what. ”The Gemini operation? Just a little bit. Apparently it was pretty classified. So long as everyone got paid and a vampire didn’t get anyone, I’m not going to pry into anyone’s affairs too much.“

”You’re already joking about Patricia’s abduction?“

”She’s fine now.“ Elroy drank the rest of his OJ. ”Without a sense of humor, a freelancer won’t last long in this profession.“

”Then maybe you can find humor in the fact that a group of nuns attacked the freelancers. From what I understand they managed to kill one of the GEMINI espers.“

Elroy groaned. ”I know it wasn’t you, but that does sound like an Inquisition hit squad, doesn't it?“

”I wanted to tell you in person I had nothing to do with that.“ He folded his arms. ”I am curious about them though. To my knowledge, we haven’t had any rouge actors recently. Certainly not that many. From my understanding, at least one of them was in Pax Septimus before my arrival.“

Elroy leaned in. ”Old rogue actors?“

”Unlikely.“ Raphael shook his head. ”We do not take defectors lightly, for the very reason that they tarnish our reputation. It’s not all that common an occurrence really.“

”Don’t you have a database or something you can look through? I mean, you’re Raphael the Righteous Hearted. You’re pretty much the big cheese, right?“

”Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The Holy See has a large influence, but our reach is limited. It might surprise you to know that many of the Inquisition’s Espers are freelancers. Vatican City is small when compared to the world, and we can’t spread our espers that thin.“

”So if these nuns were just temporary volunteers, it would be hard to tell if they ever worked with you?“

”I am good with faces. If they worked with me in the past I would instantly recognise them. But I am not the only missionary for the inquisition.“ He sighed. ”And on that topic, I was wondering what you thought about working alongside me.“

Elroy sat up a bit straighter. ”You want to hire me?“

”I would like to hire a great deal of you.“ He placed his hands flat against the table. ”There are reports of two behemoths headed straight for Pax Septimus. GEMINI has designated them ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Peace Train’ respectively, and it sounds like they want to destroy them. From my understanding, these behemoths are not as destructive as others. It sounds like Maverick Alternative may wish to pacify them.“

”And you want something different.“

Raphael nodded. ”The Inquisition believes that Peace Train is an angel, and more importantly, a former ally of the church. We give our own designations to behemoths, and believe they might be ‘Holy Roller.’ Crazy Train however is a demon. As such, we would like to pacify Peace Train and bring them back to the Vatican. Crazy Train should be destroyed.“

Elroy exhaled. ”That’s not going to make GEMINI or Maverick happy.“

”It’s more than either of them deserve. In a way, they both get part of what they want.“ He balled his hands into fists. ”I’m not asking freelancers to fight other espers. I just wish for a certain outcome. “

”Tell you what?“ Elroy tapped the table. ”Regina isn’t much for letting stuff live, I’m more of a lover myself. If you put up a hunt on Shimr, you’ll get both of us. That said, I’m not going to personally advocate anyone join the inquisition over the other factions. If they want to join us, it’s going to be their own decision.“

”I suppose that is the best I could hope for.“ He opened up his phone and started typing up a hunt. ”It will be nice to see Patricia again.“

”It’ll be just like old times.“

”Only this time she’s going steady with you.“

”I guess some things change with time.“

---

Unless you were Estelle or a freelancer, most espers were never truly off the clock. This was especially true for Maverick Alternative. As much as they prattle on about their freedoms, they know you can’t spend all your time eating pizza and playing roller derby with automobiles. Recovering Boteg and Amanda was just one victory in a long war. They couldn’t rest on their laurels just because they were gaining momentum.

Ciri was on patrol again. This time she had been put in a team with Luna, who needed a break from monster searching with Stacy Stitches. They looked a bit mismatched, with one being a neon oni in a leather jacket and the other being an acrobat in an outfit inspired by medieval jesters. They hadn’t spoken much. Maverick’s forces were stretched thin, and Ciri was new. So this was their first time alone together. They stuck to the backstreets. As a pair of magical girls, the temptation might have been to run along the rooftops. But Maverick Alternative was safe closest to the ground, or in it.

”I heard you met Trixy already.“ Luna half smirked, half cringed.

You'd think that almost getting blown up by a goddamn plasma beam would've earned you at least a few days off. As it turned out, Maverick Alternative's health policies were about as progressive as your average American company's, so here she was, on another job.

At least this time, she had company. Company other than her partner, who she was still pissed at, by the way.

"'Was forced to meet', more like. But yeah." Ciri shuddered at the memory.

”She’s harmless, and I’d forgive you if you find her annoying. She was really excited about a date she met a month or so ago and they just kind of vanished on her. She’s been a little clingy ever since then.“

Ciri’s grimace quickly turned into a sarcastic grin. "Oh, totally, harmless like a grenade without a pin. She's batshit." The news about the... date were new, and she highly doubted the person in question actually knew they were one. Then again, remembering the dirty-ass nerd from the other day, she figured there were probably — definitely — people crazy enough to go for someone like Trixy, too. Hm. Maybe she should introduce the two?

"Who was the 'date', anyway?" She asked, still trying to somewhat pay attention to her surroundings amidst the gossip. "You know what happened to 'em?"

”A freelance esper called Klava. One of those ‘weeb with a sword’ types. I’m not a huge fan of most freelancers but she was one of the good ones. She was a little smug, but I guess she earned it.“ Luna sighed. ”As for her fate? Nobody really knows. You’re probably too new to witness the fiasco with Justin Von Carnage, but he was a sadistic vampire and, naturally, had an equally nasty butler. His name was ‘Baleful Sofron,’ and Klava reportedly fell out a window with him during some secret operation. For a few weeks I was hoping she’d wash up in the harbor, but no sign of her. On the upside, we never saw Sofron again.“

Damn.

"I mean, falling out a window can't be that much worse a fate than dating Trixy," Ciri drawled, only half-joking. Yeah, yeah, if she did actually die in the fall, that was all sad and shit, she supposed. But Klava had been a freelancer and a weeb, so... there were worse things to lose. "Hell, I'd take a vampire over her. At least they know they suck."

She grinned at her own joke, because someone had to — and judging by Luna’s expression, Ciri was pretty sure her fellow Esper wouldn't.

Luna batted her eyes before looking to the rooftops. ”If you like someone, hold onto them. They don’t call Pax the city of blood for nothing.”

Ciri shifted uncomfortably. She didn't feel her partner shifting in the shadows with her, that didn't mean It wasn't there. It was, as always, just avoiding her because she was angry. It held onto her, even when she didn't hold onto it.

"Well, lucky me," Ciri said dryly, following Luna's gaze upwards. "Don't have anyone I like, so don't have to worry about shit like that either."

Almost too quick, Ciri glanced at the other girl and redirected the focus back to her with a short, snappy, "...You?"

She rubbed her chin, still looking into the shadows. ”I think Billy is cool. Jezebel and Trixy are nice once you get past their overbearing nature. Though I don’t get to pal around with them a lot. I like a lot of the monsters, and Stacy Stitches is growing on me.”

Ciri didn't necessarily disagree with Luna's assessment of their colleagues, but it was pretty clear that liking someone meant different things to them. Like yeah, Billy was hella cool, and it wasn't like she actually hated Trixy as much as she let on either, but that didn't mean she wanted to hold onto them tight to make sure they didn't go jumping out a window and disappearing, or something. It didn't mean she liked them.

She would've voiced that thought, too, but then Luna started talking again, and the smile on her face was one of those sickeningly sappy ones she knew better than to interrupt.

”But for people I feel I have to hold onto, I guess there’s just Marrie. She’s another rare freelance esper that I’m pretty sure values her connections more than money. But that kind of checks out, doesn’t it? The only good freelance espers are the ones that don’t care to hide their true nature. I can’t say it’s too common for an esper to use their real name to begin with, but Klava and Marrie were that way.” She laughed. ”Are that way in Marrie’s case. Though she’s also a little green, at least she was when I last met her. I’ll have to meet up with her again at some point.”

… Once Luna was done, though, it was all fair game.

"A freelancer?" Ciri repeated, suspicious. "You know if any of them were good, they wouldn't take money from the government, right? Pretty sure your precious Marrie would bust a hole in some innocent monster kid's head the second GEMINI paid 'em well enough. They all fucking would. That's kind of their point."

”I’d normally agree with you, but I don’t know about Marrie. She’s kind of green and doesn’t fully understand the world of espers yet. How many freelancers do you know that would willingly keep a headless zombie in their home to protect them? That’s the kind of person Marrie is. She’s not some macho man who’s constantly trying to look cool. She really believes in helping people. I don’t think she’d hurt a fly unless she had to.”

Ciri rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated, but her tone lacked venom. The zombie comment had piqued her interest, somewhat. "You're really crushing hard on her, huh? If you think she gives two shits about monsters, why aren't you out there trying to recru—"

But Ciri was cut off by a cacophony of screams.

Abruptly, Ciri stopped. Everything; walking, talking, thinking about Luna's crush. She raised a hand to make sure the other Esper did as well — as if she hadn’t been able to hear the hysteric screaming otherwise. Something was going on, and close.

Luna eyed her partner. ”That didn’t sound good.”

"C'mon."

With a quick flick of her wrist, Ciri dashed towards the commotion, but made sure to stick close to the walls and, hopefully, behind Luna. She didn't know what sort of fighting style her patrol pair employed, but she assumed it was probably something close-range, considering her getup. Which'd suit Ciri more than fine; she'd stay a few steps behind, until she found whatever target she was supposed to fuck up. Hopefully a GEMINI, probably a monster. Or, if fate had any sense of humor at all, a freelancer.

Asher wasn’t looking for any excitement. He’d just gotten into town, took a quick job to get some cash in his pocket, then bounced. He’d chosen not to linger, perhaps he’d run into the other espers he’d worked with some other time but it wasn’t really something he’d concerned himself with too deeply. Asher liked to keep things simple, maybe that’s why things never seemed to stay that way. All he’d wanted was some cheap drinks and some cheaper tunes at a local outdoor venue. It was a nice place. The restaurant’s interior was high class, but the fenced in outdoor area was great for partying. In front of the restaurant were two giant speakers sitting on top of a patio, with steps that descended into a garden. There were enough trees and shrubbery to make one forget they were in the middle of a city.

First the tunes had been canceled and that seemed to really upset the crowd. Apparently it’d been some hot local talent that had a bigger than average turnout. Apparently they’d canceled, last minute. And to top it off, apparently the venue wasn’t offering refunds. A powder keg if he’d ever seen one, a powder keg that Asher unfortunately had found himself directly in the middle of.

Asher had only wanted drinks and tunes, but tonight he was getting a hefty serving of violence and mayhem. Asher wasn’t an expert, nor was he really the thinking type, he couldn’t tell you if the broiling pot of negative emotions had lured something in or birthed something fresh. What he could tell you was that it was big, it was angry, and it had one hell of a right hook. Asher had to pull himself free of the rubble of the wall that he’d been pummeled into. Asher dusted himself down and eyeballed his foe, a massive overgrown blob with arms and legs. Asher couldn’t really make heads or tails of what the thing was but it sure knew how to hit and had been seconds away from flattening some poor bystanders before he’d gotten in its way and got its attention. A handful of people were still trying to seek refuge under tables and behind the bar, Asher would need to distract the monster and find a way to get them out before he could really unleash some fire.

Asher was hoping that at the very least the first wave of attendees that had fled the scene screaming hysterically might draw some form of authority or someone that could help manage the bystanders. Then Asher could really focus on beating this thing down but for now his goal was to merely distract it long enough to formulate a better plan.

As the patrons ran away, Luna squeezed her way past them. Mighty esper she may have been, but being short always meant there was a risk of being swept away by a crowd. She pulled herself through the alleyway and looked around. It didn’t take long to notice the confused monster flailing about.

”A Shoggoth?” The words were barely heard by anyone. Most of the patrons had fled. Everyone that remained was trying to hide. Who knew what they were registering this event as? ”Uh, what would you do in this situation, Stacy?” She watched the translucent blob closely. Its eyes and all of its organs floated around in its transparent mass. Its stomach, notably, looked empty. ”Wait!” Luna waved her arms. ”It’s just hungry! Is there any food left? Anything we can feed it at all?”

When Asher had been hoping for assistance he’d been looking for some form of civilian police or at least someone that could do something about the remaining people trapped and trying to hide. Instead what he got was what looked like a couple of children, maybe they were espers too, but to Asher it just looked like a couple of kids in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of them began waving her arms yelling something about food, Asher of course was too focused to understand the query or anything about the newcomers. So he did the sensible thing, he put the two newcomers behind him and kept his eyes focused front and center on the big scary monster. “You kids need to get out of here, I need to get this thing outside and away from all these people so I can finally take care of business.” As if to accentuate the underlying meaning behind his words Asher conjured up a small fireball and sent it soaring towards the Shoggoth. Of course Asher was clueless as to the fact that the two newcomers were definitely not just children and would likely not agree with his aggression.

Thankfully, unlike her partner, Ciri wasn't short. She really wasn't. She was— not the tallest person around ever, but definitely not short. Hell no. Not even if... Luna was talle—

The point was that she didn't stay out of the crowd because she was afraid of being swept away, but because she needed some space to assess the situation and summon some help accordingly.

Which she would have been doing, if some freaky dude with a freakish hairdo hadn't shoved his way in front of them and— started blasting the apparently hungry Sloggoth with fire. Because of course this guy’s first instinct was to try and kill everything that didn’t look strictly human. Was he a GEMINI? A Freelancer? In the end, it didn’t matter; they were all the same.

"The he— are you deaf?!" She screamed from behind the apparent Esper, trying to kick him square in the lower back. "She said we gotta feed it! And not with fire! If you don't plan to actually help, just go feed your dumb ass to it!"

A swift kick from behind interrupted any train of thought Asher had going. It hadn’t really felt the kick so much as felt the force shoving him forward, for the reason it took a second to register that he’d actually been kicked. As it sunk in Asher’s anger rose and with a look of bewilderment on his face he whirled around, red eyes alighting upon Ciri who’d suddenly decided to assault him. “What the hell? Are you blind? What are you talking about, feed it? There’s people in danger here and you’re worried about feeding it?!” Asher asked, completely bewildered by the newcomers' priorities.

Asher took a step back out of caution, now wary of the monster behind him and the two newcomers ahead of him who very well could be hostile. He took a slightly defensive position as he started trying to reassess the situation. There were only a handful of people who hadn’t made it out in the first wave, probably the ones too afraid to move on their own. Asher wasn’t certain that they’d be safe if left alone but if these two actually turned hostile he wasn’t liking his odds, too many priorities.

All he’d wanted was a drink and some relaxingly shitty tunes tonight, somehow instead he found himself embroiled in a mess of epic proportions. So far that’s how things were going in this city, all in all he’d be leaving a nasty review on Tripadvisor at this rate.

God, this guy was a moron! Which was actually a shame, because it turned out he actually had a pretty cool getup. He had a skull for a face, too! Ugh, too bad that apparently made him a bonehead.

Ciri kept glaring daggers at him, apparently hard enough to make the dude back off - the first sensible thing she'd seen him do. "What do you mean ‘what am I talking about’, this isn't rocket science!" she jabbed a finger towards the monster. "Give that thing a goddamn snack and the people won't be in danger anymore! It's not hostile because it wants to be."

But she was about to, if this guy didn't start being helpful, like, yesterday.

Record scratch, ‘What?” Asher asked, dumbly.

"'What'"? Ciri repeated, angrily.

What seemed so simple to Ciri was in fact rocket science to Asher. In all the time Asher had been an esper he’d never heard anyone talk about monsters like they actually knew something about them. Admittedly, that was only for two years, and he’d spent most of his time traveling around. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that Pax Septimus was one of the more populated locations he’d found himself in recently. Asher had only ever seen monsters as angry dangerous creatures wreaking havoc, and then came along some shortie with horns talking some nonsense about feeding it instead. True to his nature, Asher acted accordingly.

She could practically hear all the little cogs in the guy's head turning, as he tried very hard to work out her very simple instructions. This guy had to be a freelancer, there was no way GEMINI had the patience for him. "Any fucking time now, Einst-"

“LISTEN!” Asher yelled as he took a more offensive stance. “You better start talking some sense because you’re not making any of it! I’ve barely been in this city a week and this is the second time I’ve been attacked unprovoked, I don’t know who you are or what you’re talking about! Start talking or it’s going to start getting hotter than hell in here!” Asher barked out. As if to accentuate his meaning flames began to gently kindle to life up and down Asher’s arms and the fire burning in his skull grew in intensity.

Oh, great. He was one of those guys who got a temper when they didn't understand shit. Which in this guy's case must've meant all the damn time. Did she really have to start throwing down with this guy in the middle of an evacuation situation? Cause she would. She fucking would. Unless—

Ciri narrowed her eyes. In his head, Asher would hear a clear whisper of: "Oi. Your fly's down."

If it was enough to distract him and make him look down, he wouldn't see what was coming next. If it wasn't, he would. Either way, Ciri bent her knees, pushed her head down — and launched herself into a horned headbutt.

Hopefully, if it connected, it'd be enough to knock some sense into him. Or, barring that, knock a few teeth out, or something.

Asher knew his fly wasn’t down, totally knew, he was totally wearing sweats tonight. He was also transformed, so that wasn’t really gonna happen anyways.

Didn’t stop him from instinctually checking anyways, it wasn’t even really a conscious decision so much as a habit ingrained into his subconscious like the need to giggle after a fart. But, as clueless as Asher might be, this wasn’t his first time around the block.

Ciri slammed into him unexpectedly but Asher was quick to react himself as he shoved her back just enough to make room before he met her head on, literally. Asher brought his forehead down to meet Ciri’s in a clash of wills as her horns scraped against his head and the fires in his eyes grew in intensity. With a frustrated growl Asher began shoving back against Ciri as the two locked heads like two mountain goats.

[i][color=#7e4393]Tch.[color][/i]

Ciri gritted her teeth as the two Espers' heads collided with a resounding crack. The impact was hard enough that had they not been transformed, their literal butting of heads would've likely resulted in at least a splitting headache. As things were, the resulting pain was more just a nuisance. Just like this fucking guy.

"Oww! You could've dodged it if you saw it coming, what the fuck kind of an idiot headbutts someone back?!" Ciri shouted, holding her forehead. "Are you a literal numbskull?!"

“Nah, but I’m pretty hard headed!” Asher quipped back with a grin.

While Ciri and Asher got to know one another, Luna seemed to be the only one addressing the shoggoth. It wasn’t too keen on getting in between the feuding espers. Meanwhile, Luna looked a bit more manageable.

”Seriously guys?” She said breathlessly. Rather than leaving the establishment, Luna ran inside of it. The hungry hungry shoggoth flailed its limbs as it gave chase.

While glaring up at the skull guy, Ciri happened to catch a glimpse of her partner behind him, heading deeper into the venue with the monster hot on her heels. Monster whose... existence Ciri had all but forgotten by now. Shit.

"Whatever, I don't have time for this. Just stay the hell out of my way," she snapped at Asher, before trying to shove past him and catch up to Luna. Hopefully, she hadn't been devoured by their target by then.

This time Asher made no move to oppose her as Ciri rushed after her companion and the monster who’d started this fiasco. Asher’s blood was boiling and he wanted to give chase, if only because he’d felt provoked, but one look around the room quickly reminded him of his actual goal as well.

The inside of the bar had been closed off for the outdoor venue, but there were still plenty of tables set up for normal dining. Or at least they were until the flailing monster knocked them over in its mad dash. Luna slid over the countertop and shoved past the double doors that lead into the kitchen. The shoggoth rolled over, pouring into place on the other side.

With the monster right behind her, Luna didn’t spend much time taking stock of the kitchen. She was next to a sub making station which had a shelf filled with foot long rolls, and below it were several refrigerated bins that held all the toppings. She used a spatula to slather mayo on an open roll before heaping on whatever she thought would be good. Should she have been wearing gloves? Probably, but she had washed her hands about an hour ago and had only touched Pit Boss and the counter since then. It would be fine.

The Shoggoth emerged. It reached towards her with a slimy tentacle, and Luna held out the hoagie. The tentacle prodded the sub a few times before drawing it into itself. The sub floated inside its gelatinous mass, slowly breaking down before Luna’s eyes. She held up her finger to the monster before preparing another sandwich.

With the two newcomers and the monster having left Asher behind as they rushed towards the kitchen he quickly took advantage of the situation.

“Listen up! If you haven’t left yet then now's the time to move your ass! Don’t make me tell you twice!” Asher yelled around the room. It didn’t take long for the few stragglers to put a pep in their step and finally rush from the venue. With business having been taken care of Asher turned his attention towards the kitchen as he debated intervening. As much as he felt like following behind so he could pummel that creature he also had to consider that the two newcomers had already shown aggression towards him when he’d attacked prior. Asher deemed it better to hang back and wait and perhaps the second of the two might be more apt to explain what was going on.

That was if they came out of the kitchen, Asher would take care of things if they didn’t of course. Just had to wait.

By the time Ciri got there, Luna was feeding the creature another sandwich.

”It seems to be working!” She started making a third sandwich.

"There you are! Thank fuck you’re still ali—”

”See if you can find a dessert, I think it’s getting tired of sandwiches.”

The shoggoth grumbled.

"Dessert?!” Ciri came to a halt at the kitchen's entrance, eyes darting between Luna, the sloggoth and the station for subs. Right. Okay.

A quick look around the kitchen didn't reveal any ready-made desserts waiting to be offered up, which was pretty weird. Did people order dessert before actual food nowadays? That was so wrong — and so respectable.

"I'll fix somethin’ up, sec," Ciri promised, sliding over to the closest countertop to take inventory. Alright, dessert. She didn't exactly have time to bake anything, so something quick and fresh would have to do. Like... like a smoothie? Weren't they all the damn rage nowadays? If influencers were to be believed anyway. Now what did they put in those things again?!

Greens. Right, greens—

Hastily, Ciri harnessed the might of her culinary skills, tossing pretty much any relatively healthy or green looking thing she could find into the blender. To her credit, she found some berries and a stray banana. Unfortunately, she also found celery, Brussels sprouts, and an unlabeled container of something so disgusting it had to be healthy.

"Bottom's up, big guy!" she shouted not a moment later, sliding up to the monster and chugging her suspicious concoction, container and all, straight towards its hungry maw.

Shoggoth must not have had taste buds, because they downed that in one go. Already the monster seemed like it was starting to calm down. Its stomach looked like it was at maximum capacity, and it ceased its erratic movements. One of its tentacles patted Ciri on top of her head before retracting it.

Seeing her dessert do the trick, a genuine, triumphant smile found its way on Ciri's face. See! She knew she was a good chef, no matter what anyone said.

The tentacle pat was too much, though.

”Alright!” Luna placed her hands on her hips. ”Now we just have to guide him down to the bastion without getting into any more fights.” She poked her fingers together. ”That big burly burning guy, is he still around? It looked like the two of you were really into it.”

"What? Into what?!" Ciri snapped, shooing away the already-retracting tentacle. "If you mean he was into being a fucking dumbass and I was into making him pay for it, then yeah, I guess."

_{”At least I didn’t imply you guys were dating.”}

Ciri shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant. It didn't last long; as they started to guide the monster outside, Ciri couldn't help but try and peer ahead. "... God I hope he's no longer around."

Asher wasn’t really the patient type, and Ciri had just looked forward with enough time to catch sight of the kitchen doors flying open as Asher strode in ready to whoop some ass. And then he stopped cold, a quizzical expression coming over his face. Not only had the big scary monster calmed down, it seemed like the two girls were leading it almost like a pet or something. Asher first looked at the girl he’d already had a run in with and was preparing to speak before almost seeming to decide better. Instead he turned to the other, who he’d not really spoken to yet.

“What’s…going on?” He asked, the confusion evident in his voice from twenty miles away. It wasn’t a long shot to say that Asher was a very readable individual.

Speak of the… Ciri glanced over to Luna. ”Congrats, you get to deal with him now.”

Luna had made a sub for the road, just in case the monster got hungry again. Her grip on the hoagie tightened and her eyes shifted side to side. ”Well…” She pointed over her shoulder at the monster. ”I noticed the Shogoth’s stomach was empty, so I led it into the kitchen to feed it. Now that it’s been pacified, we were going to take it to a safe place.” She blinked, unsure if he was understanding. ”Most monsters are like animals. They aren’t good or bad, they just exist in a world that doesn’t understand them. You don’t always need to kill an animal that seems dangerous. Sometimes you just need to pacify it and drop it off at the park.”

Ciri nodded. Luna was doing okay, actually. Good for her.

She smiled as her confidence returned. ”I’m Tetrad! Finding non-lethal ways to deal with monsters is sort of my job. Our job, actually,” She patted Ciri’s shoulder to encourage her to introduce herself.

“You don’t have to tell him everything!” Ciri snapped, “He didn’t ask for introductions!”

One could say that the fact they were Mavericks was pretty obvious if you thought about it, but Ciri firmly believed this guy had not and would never have thought about it, had Luna not just… blurted it out, so that sucked. Oh well. Tetrad did not seem to think this was a big deal though, if her raised eyebrow was anything to go by.

Ciri turned to Asher. “Yeah, as you can see, we got things handled over here. So scram.”

Asher looked between the two espers for a moment, a look of annoyance coming over his face as Ciri spoke, “Not a fan of your tone to be honest, if I remember correctly you attacked me while being the newcomer to the scene. You’re lucky I had the restraint not to decide to just whoop your ass in the moment.” Asher responded with a side-eye aimed at Ciri.

“Oh yeah, it was definitely your amazing restraint that kept you from whooping my ass. Sure.” Ciri rolled her eyes.

Asher’s gaze returned to Tetrad, “So…anyways…you guys are basically like animal control, but for monsters?” Asher asked as he absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. Asher couldn’t help but approach the pacified Shoggoth, all this time he’d spent beating monsters up and it had never crossed his mind that he could basically be beating on a wild dog.

“So are they all like that? Every monster? They’re just like wild animals?” Asher asked as he started trying to make more sense of things.

Luna’s smile grew. She nudged Ciri with her elbow before responding. ”They aren’t all like wild animals. This one is, yes. But there are smarter ones that are capable of communicating with humans, and smarter ones that just can’t speak. Not every monster can be saved, but we try to do what we can.”

Ciri raised a brow at the nudge, not getting why Luna was being all smiley. What, did she think she was getting through to this guy? That she was about to change his wicked ways, or something? Yeah, right. Wishful thinking.

With a heavy, tired sigh, Ciri joined in on her partner’s effort anyway.

“It’s more like… a bunch of them are like humans, pretty much. There are good ones, there are shitty ones, and there are dumbass ones.” She gave Asher a pointed look. “Humans are far more likely to kill shit just cause they can though — and feel morally superior about it after.”

The shoggoth twisted and pointed its “head” at Asher, clearly skeptical of the one it had previously been fighting. But it did not lash out. It stood its ground, waving its tendrils about.

“Well…” Asher started as he crossed his arms and locked gazes with the shoggoth momentarily, “I see, so even this world is more complicated than it seems on the service huh…”

Huh?

Ciri crossed her arms, her angry expression giving way to a hint of curiosity. She didn’t know what was going on in that painfully thick — seriously, she was getting a headache from the earlier impact — head of his, but if she hadn’t known better, she could’ve sworn he was… actually contemplating their stance. No way though, right? No fucking way?

Suddenly as if he’d made up his mind about something Asher gave a small clap and nodded to himself, “Right! Well you two really do seem to have this situation under control and I was only ever really here for a drink. I’m gonna leave things in your hands, go find me something to drink, and go find me somewhere to drink it. Look me up on Shimr, maybe. I’m kind of curious about this monster taming gimmick.”

With that Asher turned on his heel and made for the door, wordlessly throwing up one hand in farewell. Luna waved back to him.

Wait, was he just going to leave? Just like that?! Ciri blinked after the guy, contemplating on shouting something after him just because, when Luna piped up.

”Did you see that?” She tossed the sandwich to the Shoggoth without looking at it and folded her arms. ”I do think we got him to change his mind! That’s not something I’ve seen many freelancers do! I wonder if he’s available…”

“... Availabl—”

Before Ciri could respond, Luna nudged her again. ”I’m kidding, of course! Probably. You never know! That said, we should probably take him up on his deal to drink together later. All we need to do is look him up on Shimr!”

“Ugh, if you aren’t kidding, you need to seriously rethink your standards. Like ‘decided not to murder a newborn creature this time’ can’t be your only damn criteria for a dude. Yeah, sure, I guess his whole skull thing was pretty cool, but…” Ciri rolled her eyes. “... Whatever, might as well see if his Shimr has anything embarrassing on it.”

Luna blinked. ”Did… He tell you his name?

Ciri narrowed her eyes, uncrossing her arms. “Wait, don’t tell me he—

”I don’t think he mentioned it to us.”

“... Dumbass.”

Mika was still on the fence about telling the others what she had found. They had a spy among them that was privy to both operations. To her knowledge, there weren’t too many people that could be. In her heart, Mika was sure Ashley was the mole. Everything had been going great for her, and her actions as leader were a bit questionable. Or did Mika just want it to be Ashley because she didn’t like her? Whatever. It was late. Mika decided it would be easier if she remained at HQ for the night. There was plenty of stuff to do and Fritzi had given her a room to use. But first she decided to take a shower. It was always easier to think after taking a shower.

HQ wasn’t massive. There were only a handful of Gemini espers in Pax, and most of them could make due with a unisex shower room. Pax’s espers had been mostly female anyway, and presently Finn was the only boy in GEMINI. There were four showers, each one had its own privacy curtain and was seperated by a tiled wall. Mika had become quite familiar with them from all the traveling she used to do with Su, as they were similar to the ones you'd see at a rest stop.

She sighed. Mika didn’t even have to scrub to turn the water black.

A few minutes passed before she could hear the door open again, followed by someone sharply cursing under his breath. Usually Finn would just wait until he headed home for the night to shower privately, but he had spent most of the day trying to improve his fighting skills and didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of being sweaty. The boy figured he'd take a quick one when no one was using it then leave. Such was his luck that the sound of someone already present caught his ears a second too late.

"Uh, sorry, I can come back another time!"

From inside the shower, Finn sounded like a muffled, unfamiliar voice. In a flash, Mika transformed into cerberus before dashing towards the voice. She plowed into the privacy curtain with enough force to knock down the curtain rod. Mika skidded across the tile floor and threw the curtain out from in front of her face. She open her hand, ready to rake her claws across her would-be stalker, only to freeze when she noticed who it was.

Cerberus was standing in front of Finn, fully clothed, with a shower curtain thrown over her shoulder. Her hair was wet and stuck to her face, and her hand hovered a few inches over his head.

”Oh, it’s just you.” She relaxed her shoulders.

"Ffffffucking hell!" Not the worst hello, he figured. Just Mika, albeit a tense Mika, but it makes things a bit less awkward. Especially since she took the liberty to transform into a more decent form... "Should be saying that to you too. Sorry for the intrusion, I didn't think anyone was in here at this hour." Finn casually spoke as if she hadn't nearly scratched his face off.

”I’m here late most of the time.” she turned away from him and walked back over to the shower rod, which had fallen on the floor. It was a simple metal dowl that had been knocked out of a J channel. She slid the curtain’s rings back onto the rod. This wouldn't be hard to fix. ”You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He was too far away to be peeking, and he was young enough that Mika questioned if he was even interested in girls like that. ”Why are you here? Don’t you have a nice bath at home?”

He shrugged. "I didn't feel like going home covered in sweat. Feels gross." The boy explained. "Combat practice."

”Mmmhmm.” She tugged on the curtain to test its strength before turning back towards Finn. ”I haven’t gotten to work with you yet. I don’t think we’ve talked much either.” Ashley thought Finn was super important for some reason. At least, that was why she had assumed their great and glorious leader decided to take Finn and every able hand at Gemini. Which was just Estelle, but it would have included Angelie too if she didn’t come with Mika instead. Maybe she’d still be alive if she did. But maybe Mika wouldn’t be. ”Want to shower together?” She pointed at the adjacent shower with her thumb when she said this. ”If we’re loud enough, we can hear each other.”

"_Ah." Quite the blunt phrasing. It caught Finn off guard for a second. "Well uh, if you don't mind." Finn stepped around Mika, saying a quick "Excuse me" before stepping up to the other stall.

Once Finn had entered, Mika walked back into her own and untransformed. Now came the difficult task of finding a topic of conversation. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t really have anything to talk about. She was either too uninterested or didn't feel like sharing. Mika found herself waiting for Finn to say something. Though maybe letting Finn decide the direction of things would be a mistake.

"I heard about what happened. With Agent Angel and all?" And speak he did. "You have my condolences. If we weren't so tight on agents now I would've gone with you instead. _{I'm sure Ashley and Estelle regret not doing so...}" The boy uttered under the sound of running water.

”Alright.” Was all Mika could say. So far this was starting to seem like a mistake.

"But what I wanna know is what was so important that you had to fight through a nun ambush?"

...Yes, letting Finn guide things was not a good move on Mika's part.

”It was a coded message. I handed my report in earlier, so I’m sure we’ll know soon...” That wasn’t entirely honest. With HQ’s security compromised, Mika had decided that she could only share so much in her report. At present, only a few freelancers had seen Mika take the pendant. But Gemini? They should be totally ignorant of it. Given how none of the nuns could access the safe, the Hand should be unaware of it too. She’d have to tell someone though, eventually. Untill then, her report only contained the strange list of names that Oros had left out. That should keep GEMINI pacified for a time. ”I wish I had saved Angelie. The freelancers were good though. I didn’t have much to worry about once the ambush went off. Next time, they won’t get to escape.” Her voice lacked any malice. ”You use to be one of them, right? What was that like?”

All that for a coded message? Finn didn't exactly know Oros that much, and frankly, he'd rather it stay that way, but it didn't seem right that the Depraved would lure her into an ambush for a quick gaff. But he wouldn't voice his disbelief, for now. "Only for a short while. Some of the ones I've met are a bit eccentric, but they're good people. At the very least, they're just trying to get by without pissing off either GEMINI or Maverick." Finn sighed. "I end up having to help Binky stall a behemoth for a while before extra help arrived, then there was that job against a succubus I took with Klava that ended up fucking me over, and then the raid on Justin's mansion that went about as horrible as you'd expect."

After a pause, he added wearily: "Okay so being a freelancer wasn't as great for me as it is being an agent now? But that's just me and my crap luck."

”I don’t know who Lava is, but the suck-a-bus was from Dante’s, right? The clean up crew looked through the film from the diner, and I thought it was weird that Ashley sent you through the front first. Does she always have you do such reckless things?”

Finn sucked in air through his teeth. "I meaaan she didn't exactly stop me." Not a lie, not a truth. "But I can't say she would always, that was just our first mission together outside of the Diver. And even then everyone was so caught up in fighting elsewhere, I was left to fend for myself."

”Well my first mission with Ashley wasn’t that much better.” She didn’t hide the annoyance that crept into her voice. ”She pushed to have us charge in as fast as we could, which left us open when we needed a password for the lift. Nobody got hurt, but that was just dumb luck. If you’re not in her close circle of friends, you don’t matter. That’s what I think.” With her shower done, she dried off and got dressed before waiting just outside Finn’s shower. ”I get that she’s done this longer than us, but what makes her a good leader? I don’t get it.”

"I don't either, but every other GEMINI agent that started out here is gone. Guess it's natural the position goes to the last man standing." Finn surmissed. He did have an inkling as to how, but there's not a snowball's chance in Hell he was gonna be able to explain the unexplainable.

”I don’t think cowardly behavior should be rewarded.” Mika grumbled. But decided that complaining about their squad leader too much might demoralize Finn. That was fine. There were other things to talk about. ”What do you think about Estelle and Fritzi?”

"Hmm... I haven't been with Estelle long enough to form a strong opinion." Mika could hear him turning off the showerhead. "I'd like to say Dr. Moller's pretty cool, she let me borrow one of the unused labs for my own use, but after the Diner I'm gonna have to redeem myself in her eyes the next time we're out on the field."

”You sound like the main character in one of my cartoons.” Mika examined her new pendant before tucking it under her shirt. ”Are you doing anything tommorow?”

"Got a date, nothing much else." Once he dried off and got dressed, Finn finally stepped back out.

”Did you want to go on another one? There's a carnival showing up but I have no one to go with. You seem kinda cool”

Finn's eyes lit up. "Oh! Yeah, of course! I've been waiting for it to come back in town all year!" Granted he'd have to prepare in advance so he can go without being overwhelmed, but nothing Mika had to worry about. "Got a time in mind?"

”I think I have some training in the morning, but I should be good from ten onward.” Mika stuck her hands in her pockets. ”I don't know when all your other dates are happening, sooooooo, you tell me.”

"I'll have to run it by her, but if we'll be going around the afternoon then I should be free for me and Betty to go to the Great Escape at night!" He thought outloud, giving Mika a quick thumbs up after.

”That works.” She started to head out. ”You're going straight home then?”

"Yup." The boy followed behind her.

Mika rolled her arms. ”I don't know where your house is but do you need a lift?”

Finn's brows rose at the offer. "I mean, I usually go home on foot but-" Then again, no one really asked about that. He guessed cause they figure he could defend himself and all, he knows his way around the city, but if the two of them were gonna be spending more time together... Well, why not? And it'd be quicker this way too. He smiled at her. "That'd be appreciated, thank you."

”Don't mention it.” Soverign had warned Mika about getting closer to Finn, but what did she know?

Though she was new to the cursed city of blood, Noah Anderson decided to start somewhere small and take up a call for investigating supposed monster activity. Following the common pattern to a string of recent hauntings led back to an abandoned theater nestled in a quiet corner of the historic district. No one had ever been able to go near it even before the Holy Diver had rained ruin unto the city. Any attempts to repair the theater were apparently thwarted due to something attacking people. Sandbags and old props nearly being dropped near innocents, furniture being forcefully thrown and shoved about leaving bruises on those unfortunate to be in their path, doors locking people in, it was enough to convince the people of Pax Septimus that a phantom had haunted the once lively halls. Countless mundane civilians trying to investigate (or entering on a dare, if it was some group of reckless kids) on their own wasn’t enough to stop this, perhaps the Walking Church will have better luck in exorcizing this ghost?

Even then, it seems she wouldn’t be alone. Her and her temporary companion would meet up a short distance away from the theater.

Still, Noah couldn’t help but allow some sadness to take hold of her at seeing the state of the theater. Her mind returned back towards all of the advertisement she’d been able to see of it from before the Holy Diver had done it’s damage, it was all still up online. If she had to compare it to anything, it was very similar to watching the damage reports of those hurricanes hitting the south. Just… a whole lot more real.

She shook her head, and considering what would await her in the theater, her head turned back to the whole idea of ghosts and monsters in general. Perhaps another might find it strange, but she’d taken to referring to them as demons in her own head. It just seemed to fit, for creatures that survived through human suffering. Ghosts, too, would fall under that paradigm. Under God, spirits of the dead returning from the grave… is simply not possible. Such things are, again, often demons, returning for chaos and discord, and whatever other evil they may be aiming to perpetrate. After all, what better way to inflict pain upon a grieving man, then to haunt him as the recently deceased?

She could very well be wrong, certainly… but most monstrous things that she’d learned about this new side of the world did seem to fit rather neatly into the ‘demonic’ category of her own religion. So, until proven otherwise, she would be operating underneath that assumption. She may not be as… enthusiastic as her family, but if Noah saw a spade, she would call it a spade.

But, before she would walk into what was likely, as the media would call it, a ‘poltergeist’, Noah checked around again for any sign of her soon to be companion. It would be a bit rude to start early. And, given how she was quite literally glowing in the dark, she doubted it’d take much longer for this ‘Marrie Knight’ to spot her.

And spot her she did. Maybe it wasn’t wise to take on a mission immediately after training again, but this was supposed to be a simple job, and she got a partner along to help. The glow from what she could only assume was said partner drew her in towards the girl in the nun outfit, a-... a nun outfit? Why was an esper wearing a nun’s habit? Marrie shook her head to dislodge the question, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen weirder, and with the giant she’d met at The Great Escape, church-based espers weren’t a total surprise anymore.

”Hey,” she asked as she waved at Noah, now only a few yards away, ”You here for the ghost hunt too?” She tried to think back to the name of the one who had taken the job besides her, but she was still too out of sorts from her daytime activities to remember. ”And, uh… Sorry, but what do you go by, again?” Having stepped even closer, Marrie was trying to block the light from the other esper by holding a hand in front of her eyes. Probably less offensive in the daytime, she figured.

Noah blinked, hearing who she could only assume was her temporary partner, and turned around. She’d been looking for her in the opposite direction she’d arrived! “Ah-” A little embarrassing, but she brushed that aside and returned the greeting. “Hello! And, yes, I am.” She took in her new partner, who looked just as techy as she’d thought she did from her profile picture! Headphones so thick that Noah was left wondering if the girl could even hear out of them, and two strange pieces of metal were on the sides of her cheeks. A blue zip up long sleeve with a rather stretched turtleneck paired itself with a black skirt and leggings. An interesting outfit, to be sure!

And, from the sounds of it, Noah’s newness to the esper scene was rearing its head. “I’m No-” She coughed. “Ah- Walking Church! That’s it…” She said quickly, rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry, I’m a little new to all this… You’re Miss Knight, yes?” Noah asked, figuring it’d be best to make sure she had the right person. Or esper, as it were. Hah.

… And, some moments later, Noah realized she may be glowing a bit too brightly, judging by her fellow esper’s actions. “Oh, sorry about that.” She apologized, willing the glow to lessen to something a bit easier for the eye to handle.

Glad that Walking Church, as she was apparently called, had turned down the light, Marrie internally groaned once again at not having set up a good alias before her name got out. ”Yep, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” She had caught the near slipup, but not enough to guess at what Church’s name might be, just enough to recognize that she must be even newer than herself. With the strain lessened on her eyes she glanced around at the building, asking a question as she did. ”Do you have a battle plan to get in, or deal with anything hostile? I’m really hoping that we don’t have to fight anything, but I’ve yet to get that lucky here in Pax.”

Noah hadn’t actually been thinking of a way in and had been mourning the state of the theater while she’d been waiting, but she certainly wasn’t about to say that out loud. She brought her hand to chin for a moment, and thought aloud. “Well, with my own magic, it shouldn’t be terribly hard to avoid injury?” Her eyes widened slightly, and she clarified. “Ah, I mean, I can grant us some defenses, and heal us both, if needed. I’ve got the three enhancement notes, and a lot of, uhm… white magic notes.” It took Noah a moment to recall the precise term for her notes, but she got it in the end. “And with the Reveal and Magic Sense notes, I would think it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to spot the ghost? Or, at least, spot out its attacks before it can really harm us.” At least, so she hoped. She’d experimented a little with each note, and she still wasn’t entirely sure exactly what some of them did and didn’t cover.

But with the two of them together, Noah was hopeful that this job would go fine. Hopefully neither of them would get possessed like in those horror movies…

“And I was thinking that we’d just, ah, walk in? The entrance itself doesn’t seem blocked…” She trailed off, wondering if there might be a blockage on the inside. This ghost could move quite a lot around, according to the reports, so it was definitely possible they’d be stuck moving a couch or something out of the way.

White Magic, huh? That seemed to be rare, in Marrie’s experience. But Church was right, Magic Sense would probably be useful, and if they were going to try a peaceful approach, just walking in would be a good start. Though if it was blocked, that would change things. ”Sounds good.” She walked up to the door and tried it.

As the two had guessed, there was some form of blockage from the inside. But with a bit of elbow grease Marrie managed to pry the door open and slip inside. The inside of the theater was in as much disrepair as the outside. Holes in the roof faintly illuminated the main lobby, faded posters of stage performances lined the walls, there were worn seats and broken tables and lights long burnt out. It was a sad sight indeed.

And yet at the same time, it looked like someone was in the middle of cleaning it before they arrived. Asides from the Walking Church herself, there were a few lights barely struggling to stay alight despite their circumstances. Some of the pieces of what’s broken around them appear to be repaired constantly, after a closer inspection. Perhaps after scaring many intruders away? But whoever this ghost was, they seemed to take proper care of their haunting grounds. Whoever this ghost was, there was no sign of them. Yet. The espers soon had the feeling they were being watched. Closely. Carefully. Quietly.

”Hello?” Marrie called out to the emptiness and to anyone or anything else that might be there. ”We’re here to lodge a complaint. Well, actually, we’re just here to talk to any ghosts who might be here.” If the ghost was there, it would make sense to follow Church’s idea and use Magic Sense, so she cast a simple Self Melody of just that. [Silver Self - Magic Sense: 48]

As the newbie to the job, Noah thought it best to let Marrie take the lead. She silently stood a bit behind the techy esper and observed the inside of the theater, an undisguised frown making its way onto her face at the sight of it all. Noah shook her head, and refocused. Though the casting of melodies was still a bit foreign to her, she could still do it fine enough. Putting together a Self Melody just like Marrie, Noah lined up and played Magic Sense, Reveal, and Full Extend to be completely safe… And, just in case it was necessary, quietly prepped and composed a defensive Melody afterwards, but did not cast it. [Silver Self - Magic Sense, Reveal, Full Extend: 180] [Prepped: Silver Touch - Shield, AoE: 90]

Out of all the kinds of people that ever entered this place, it had to be espers. The blue one seemed harmless enough, but the walking glowstick, she seemed the type to burn heretics for breakfast. The being watching over them was prepared to strike back at whatever melodies it could only guess they’d conduct. Except their combined efforts only forced it into a more corporeal form. Exposed. The small figure let a quiet gasp slip, and quickly rushed away to the stage in the back. Just somewhere, anywhere it could hide. Somewhere it could bide whatever time it had to plan. It certainly did not expect someone to force it to reveal itself!

“Oh- There!” Noah exclaimed, pointing directly at the ghost’s form. Honestly, she hadn’t really expected the note to be quite so effective! The most Noah had been hoping for was a vague idea of the ghost’s location, but being able to see it was a boon she’d not take for granted, alongside the knowledge of its power. And then, instead of attacking immediately as she’d anticipated, the ghost… ran?

Noah blinked. “Huh, it ran…?” Well… she could only suppose that it was either as surprised as she was, or just didn’t like being seen- Ah, she’s on a job! “Uh-! The ghost went through that door!” She told Marrie, before starting to run after the ghost and taking the same door and delving further into the theater, with Marrie hopefully right behind her.

The slight hint of the ghost’s location was helpful, but more so was Church pointing out its exact location and running after it. But… it ran? Why? Marrie didn’t know a lot about ghosts, but she had to assume there was little difference from people, if it was actually a ghost. She sort of jogged, sort of walked after Church, trying to keep up but not so quickly as to scare the spirit further if that’s what was happening.

Once Noah and Marrie hurried into the main stage area they could spot a glimpse of the small figure ducking backstage, the undrawn curtains slightly blowing outwards as if it was just a gust of wind.

Noah herself wasn’t entirely sure on how to proceed. Her left arm had wrapped around back and grasped at the ethereal cross held to her back… but she didn’t draw it. Was she supposed to? Was this the time to fight? Or were they supposed to do something else, first? The ghost was definitely a monster, a demon, she knew. A really tough one, too. As espers, it was their job to take out a threat like this, right?

Why was it running away like that?

… Despite feeling the call to do something, be it from her religious roots or her newfound powers, Noah had never actually been in a fight before. She’d never initiated one, either… So some strong amount of trepidation and indecision overtook her. Noah was bound to the entrance of the theater. Her eyes focused on the curtain, but she didn’t make a move.

Unable to come to a decision, Noah elected to wait for Marrie to come up with something. Her temporary partner had been doing this esper stuff for a ton longer than Noah had, right? She had way more experience… She’d probably know what they’re supposed to do.

So, when Marrie caught up, Noah asked exactly that. “... It ran behind the curtain, what should we do?”

The blue-haired esper sighed. ”Well, that depends on if you’re the type to “destroy all monsters” or the type to give them a chance.” Marrie glanced over at Walking Church. If she had to guess, she’d bet on the former, but… ”I’ve never met an enemy that I didn’t at least try to talk to first, but if you want to go for the attack, I’ll back you up. You’re the one who can see it really well.”

“Mm…” Noah tilted her head in thought. Certainly, the existence of something that survived off of the suffering of others wasn’t something Noah thought deserved to live. Partially because it just sounded like a demon, and partially because the idea of something harming others mentally and physically, and even killing them, for the sake of its own survival was… well, the idea of it utterly repulsed her.

But, as far as Noah knew, and as far as the reports she’d been told went, this ghost hadn’t actually gone out of its way to kill people. It’d thrown a bunch of large and heavy things at many civilians, but in spite of its actions, she wasn’t aware of anyone who’d been seriously injured. In other words, despite how much her heart was telling her to get rid of it as quickly as she could, her head was saying otherwise.

And the idea of at least trying to talk with it first… Noah wasn’t against it. It didn’t sound like something she’d try with every demon, but with a case like this, and with Marrie implying she’d done it a bunch before… There was no reason to not try, right?

Noah’s hand released her cross, leaving it on her back, and it returned to her side. She nodded to Marrie. “I think we could give it a shot. But I don’t really know what to say…” She said, keeping a careful eye on the curtains.

Marrie smiled slightly, glad that Church was okay with trying the peaceful approach, not that it’d ever worked out before. ”Hmm…” She thought for a moment, and then spoke up towards the ghost. ”Hello? We’re not sure why you ran away, but that means we might have gotten off on the wrong foot? We’re hoping to have a talk about what’s been happening recently. People have been getting stuff thrown at them, dropped on them, stuff like that. Was any of that you?”

Backstage, the ghost was rummaging through its effects for something. The two could barely hear things moving from behind the curtains. It wasn’t until Marrie finally spoke up that the sounds paused. The figure cursed under its (his?) breath. At least they weren’t going guns akimbo on him yet. After a moment passed, Marrie and Noah can feel the presence return, but remain hidden behind the curtain. ”Funny, isn’t it? You try to scare intruders away from your home but they only come back with more determination each time, and now they’ve sent you lot to deal with me.” It looked like he was peeking through the sliver of an opening, if they looked closely. ”I-If you’re here for the same reasons as they are, I demand you leave at once!” The young voice commanded.

Oh no. The ghost sounded like a kid. ”We’re, er, I, at least, am not entirely sure what reasons they were even here.” She looked at Church. ”It’s just that the possibility of people getting hurt has made it so we have to try to prevent that. Hopefully there’s a way we can all just… coexist peacefully? But that’s why we want to talk to you.”

Noah’s mouth pressed into an ever thinning line the more noise came from behind the curtain. With the knowledge that Reveal had given her, Noah would not allow herself to be tricked by the demon before her. Not with its choice in voice, nor with its choice of words. The voice of a young boy to garner sympathy, and a phrasing that painted everyone else as the intruder… all to further sell the idea that it was some recently deceased child. Truly, a deceptive creature to the end.

But she did not voice such thoughts, however much her distrust of the entity might show on her face. Noah had said that she would try a peaceful approach with Marrie, and she wasn’t going to go back on that so soon. Instead, Noah backed her up. “From the sounds of it, I believe there may be some kind of misunderstanding..” Noah started, her voice noticeably tense. “I do not know exactly which ‘intruders’ you are referring to, but much of the recent ones have been innocent.” Noah had a small tendency to become a bit more formal in speech, in situations like this. Something she got from her mother.

Her head tilted slightly down, and continued with a firm tone. “If they were not here to repair this theater, then they were investigating whether or not you existed. I can understand either of these things being distressing, especially if you hadn’t known what it was they were doing, but you must understand that they did not mean harm to you.” Noah paused, recalling the state of the entrance to the theater. “... Before the two of us entered, it looked like the entrance to this place was in the middle of being cleaned. Would I be right to assume that you were the one cleaning up?” She asked.

Well. Suffice to say, he liked the blue girl better. The nun’s tone didn’t sit well with him. Of course, everything about her made him feel tense. The ghost was about to snark back at Noah saying no one meant any harm, when she brought the condition of the entrance. He perked up for a moment, then sighed. The small ghost moved away from the opening, then the curtains were finally drawn back, revealing a young boy with an elegant blue cape draped over his shoulders, and a book in his arms. His face scrunched up in a quick frown, but he turned it into a smile once he looked back at the two, ”It’s as I’ve said. Why wouldn’t I attend to my home?” He reiterated, confirming the Walking Church’s theory. ”I’ve never really hurt anyone though! At least- I don’t think I went too overboard, maybe some bruises but that can always heal. I always figured scaring ‘em enough. Dunno how it even got to this point...” The boy frowned.

This was good, for once there was actual conversation. Marrie grew even more hopeful that this could be resolved without fighting. ”Okay, that’s a good thing.” A genuine smile lit up her face, taking the boy’s word that there was no serious injury intended. ”So if you live here, could you tell us more about that? Do you know when you first got here? Were you elsewhere before, or did you… you know, here?” A hand went to her chin in thought. ”The bad news is that it’ll be hard to get legal ownership for a child or a spirit, so we can’t exactly just handle this that way. But! There’s other things that could be done. If you’re cleaning up, would you want people to restore this place?”

The young ghost turned more of his attention towards Marrie. ”I… I don’t trust anyone else to restore it. They might have different ideas, might try and modernize it, and it’d just- it wouldn’t be the same, you know?” He hugged the book in his arms tighter to his chest.

”It was my family’s. Me and my brother, we’d spend much of our time here, sneaking around to get the best view of the shows and playing pranks on the performers.” He wistfully smiled. ”But then, and I don’t know how but, a fire started and…well…”

Noah brought a hand to her chest and closed her eyes, offering a silent prayer for the deceased. Whether or not the demon before them was telling the truth didn’t matter. What did matter was that lives had been lost in that fire and they deserved to be mourned all the same.

But, then, a thought occurred. A callous thought, especially considering the words in the air, but an important thought. “… Forgive me, this is going to sound insensitive, but…” Her hesitation was clear in her choir of voices. “If your parents are… ah, no longer with us… Then ownership of this theater would fall to you, by inheritance, and I… don’t believe there would be any reason you wouldn’t have full control over how the theater would be restored?” Noah shifted from foot to foot, and sent a glance to Marrie. Hoping her fellow esper would pick up the cue to take over.

Marrie paused. ”It might be hard to convince people of that, but it sort of makes sense. Especially if you were left a will, or something. The hard part would be finding people who would accept a ghost as a boss.” She wasn’t sure at this point if Church was being genuine with her idea, but she saw no reason to doubt it at the moment. ”If we could find some espers who were willing to be go-betweens for you and whoever else, that might work. Or if you have a claim to ownership of this place, we should at least be able to set it up so you can choose someone you consider worthy to run it.” She thought for a moment. Did she know any lawyer espers? She couldn’t think of any, but maybe she could find one through those she did know? It was at least worth a shot, if the boy wanted that.

”That-” The boy dropped down from the stage to approach the two. ”Is a fair point. But you’ve seen how things are right now out there, and for all intents and purposes I’m…” He motions down to himself. ”Magi or not I still fall under the monster bracket with the whole undead thing, so even if you’re both right, not everyone may be as merciful as you two.” The ghost sighed, then his face perked up slightly. He snapped his fingers, the subtle embers of a cyan flame sputtering as if he was a lighter.

”Wait. Right. Introductions. My name’s Oliver.”

Noah nodded slowly when Oliver gave his name, tense from the demon jumping from the stage. An introduction… It wasn’t as though she’d be giving the monster her real name, just an alias, so Noah didn’t see a problem with responding in kind. “... I go by Walking Church, in this form.” She said, trying to regain her previous calm.

”Nice to meet you, Oliver. Hmm… Maybe Maverick will be helpful? I dunno what the legalese would be, but…”

Noah blinked twice. “... Maverick?” Incredulity in her voices, Noah was put off balance once again as her head jerked to Marrie. “Maverick as in Maverick Alternative? Like- the terrorist organization?” Wide eyed, Noah stared at Marrie. After a moment, her face twisted slightly, she coughed, shook her head, and recomposed herself. “I… I do not think the government would be eager to help an organization like… well, that, transfer ownership of property…”

Oh, right. They were technically terrorists, weren’t they? ”That’s a good point, but they’re the most likely way to get this done legally. I’m sure they have plenty of people in there who could manage, but…” Was there any other way? Surely there were Freelancer lawyers, but without a way to pay for whatever would have to be done, Marrie doubted that they would be jumping on the chance. She turned her attention back to Oliver. ”Maybe it would be better to go with the other idea and try to get someone you trust to be the legal owner? Preferably someone who can see you, unless you have an effective way to communicate otherwise.”

Oliver sighed. ”Ah, that’s the fork in the road, isn’t it? I can’t recall anyone that really knows me. Most I do is stalk the catacombs in my freetime and act as an ‘imaginary friend’ for the kids that live around here. I don’t really go far.” He frowned in thought, before looking directly at Marrie. ”Can’t you help me though? I mean if you want to, of course! You two are just the first I’ve revealed myself to in…years.”

Marrie nodded twice without a second of hesitation. ”Of course. I want to help, I’m just not sure what the best way to do so would be. Do you have any alternative ideas?” Nobody who could work as a go-between for Oliver and the world of the normals was a problem. Church was also correct to point out that bringing in those who were legally considered terrorists might not be a great idea. Maybe the espers at the Great Escape would have some ideas, if the three who were there couldn’t figure out an answer.

Unlike Marrie, Noah didn’t say anything one way or the other quite yet. Instead, she asked what she believed to be the only real question. “... Do you want us to act as that legal owner in your place?” Noah wasn’t even remotely close to familiar with the general esper scene, so she could only guess at things like this, but if trying to find another freelancer that would be willing to act as the go-between would really be so hard that Marrie suggested a terrorist group as her first alternative… Well, the demon before them probably didn’t have very many options besides the two of them.

Oliver seemed to pause at Noah’s question. He glanced back at the nun, an expression of slight discomfort crossing his features for a second. ”I…” The ghost shook his head. ”If anything, maybe you can help me find someone? I’m sure if I focus I can appear less incorporeal...” He nervously frowned.

”Even so I, uh, I’d rather go with her.” Oliver motioned to Marrie.

Noah sighed. “... Fair, I suppose..” As much as it pained her to say it, she felt similarly to the demon on that topic.

While Marrie didn’t know why Oliver seemed to prefer her, she was glad that he also seemed to like the idea of finding someone to help. ”If there’s no-one who knows you on a personal level, the next best thing might be to find out if there’s anyone who shares your vision for this place.” She gestured around at the theater as if Oliver had never seen it before. ”If you can’t think of anyone who showed up and seemed like a good start, then…” She put her hand on her chin in thought for a few moments.

”It could be dangerous to have you leave the theater to meet someone, both because I don’t know if that’s dangerous for a ghost and because you’d be more likely to get seen by someone who wants to be violent about the situation. On the other hand, staying here and bringing people in to meet you means possibly letting your situation slip to those who would try to exploit it somehow. It’s a tough choice.”

A lightbulb was nearly visible above Marrie’s head as she punched her fist into her other palm. ”Of course! The safest way to get you to meet potential partners is if you can latch onto someone. Can you possess people, preferably with, like, dual-control from you and the person? For example, then you could go out and meet people who seem like good leads without them knowing what you look like or entirely knowing the situation with you being here. It’s a little bit dishonest, but anyone who would get upset about that probably wouldn’t be a good match for helping a ghost in the first place.”

_{“Marrie you cannot be serious-”}

”Hmm…” Oliver thought for a moment, then nodded. ”Y-Yeah, I can do that.”

Noah could do nothing but shake her head in disbelief. There were many things that Noah would very much like to say in that moment, but most of those things were either quite rude or would most assuredly spawn some manner of argument. Something she was trying to be better about.

So, against her better judgment, with skepticism that may as well have permeated the room, Noah asked the obvious question. “... And who, exactly, are we suggesting Oliver should possess?”

”Well…” Marrie shrugged and scratched the side of her head for a moment as she considered the possible outcomes. ”I mean, helping out like this would be good for my mental health, so I could be the person, at least to get him into contact with someone who would, you know, actually be able to help with the larger problem of fixing things up here.” How hard could it be? If Oliver and herself spent a few days working at it, the Great Escape should provide some good leads for helping fix the theater in a way Oliver would like. She wasn’t confident in herself enough to have been okay with looking on her own, but if the one who was supposed to make the decision was there too… ”Hopefully it’s not a ‘oh, ghosts take over a person completely’ thing, but even if it is, you’re here, Church. Not that I think Oliver will do anything bad, but the buddy system is a great concept.”

For a few seconds, Noah stared blankly at Marrie. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath and muttered. _{“Lord, grant me strength…”} Her hand fell to her side, and Noah’s mouth formed a thin line before she spoke again. “Alright, we can try that, sure. However,” Noah stressed. “If this does work, I will be coming with you – both of you – whenever you two decide it’s time to start looking.” It was nonnegotiable. If it turned out that the demon could just force Marrie out of her own body whenever it wanted, and only pretended to not be able to, it would be for the best that Noah was actually there and present to do something about it outside of this singular instance. Better to have some kind of insurance than none at all.

”I mean- …Actually. At the very least I can just attach to you, that way I can still come without having to share a body. Hmm…” Oliver glanced around, before his eyes landed on the book he’s been holding the whole time. After thinking it over, he held it up for Marrie to take.

”My spellbook. It should suffice.” He explained.

Having Church come along was a good idea, to be sure. But Oliver mentioning that he didn’t actually need to literally possess her was reassuring, deep down. ”Sure thing.” Marrie reached out and took hold of the book. ”If you don’t mind me asking, why do you have a spellbook?”

”Magi.” Hadn’t he mentioned that to them earlier? Oliver pointed down at the book. ”At least I guessed that’s the term people use nowadays.”

Marrie paused, the book kept tightly in her hand. Magi? Ah well, hopefully that doesn’t mean things are going to be harder than otherwise. Why would it even matter, though, especially if nobody found out? ”That’s really cool. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to teach me any, heh.” She held the book in front of her face to look at the cover. ”So carrying this around will let you stick nearby? If it’s that easy, we can probably start now, if you want. I can only think of one place to start the search, unless you have better ideas already.”

At the mention of him teaching Marrie spells, Oliver’s eyes seem to light up. But then he remembered: ”I dunno if it’s possible for someone to be both a Magi and an Esper at once. I’d be glad to teach you a few tricks otherwise. But, yes, after you!”

The three left the theater together. Marrie led the group while her fellow esper and new ghostly companion trailed right behind her. Noah did still have one question left, though.

What was a Magi?

The rest of their trip, following that question, was occupied almost exclusively by Oliver’s very enthusiastic exposition.

It had been quiet for the past few days, but Faith didn’t mind. Being Fritzi’s gopher wasn’t exactly stimulating. This was more so when Binky returned and had resumed her role as the doctor’s right hand. But today was going to be exciting because someone new was going to be joining the squad. She waited by a pair of double doors until a woman with long black hair stepped through them. Faith immediately greeted the stranger and tried not to be too weird.

”You must be the new girl! I’m sorry but I don’t think anyone told me your name. It wouldn’t happen to be Hildie by any chance would it? You kind of look like a Hildie.” Hildie was a name she had always liked the sound of. Perhaps in a past life she had known someone by that name. Surely it wasn’t unusual to mention it here.

"Uh, everyone calls me Raven." The woman kept her hands in her pockets. "Is everyone on a first name basis around here?"

”Yup!You can call me Faith!” She extended her hand. ”We’re entrusting our lives to each other, so it makes sense to be as familiar as we can with our peers. You wouldn’t happen to be into anime, would you? Because if you ever watched One Piece, Luffy says 'nakama' a lot, which has a very special meaning to him. It’s usually used to title a friend or peer, but to him it goes beyond normal friendship. It’s like a true comrade who you can trust your back to no matter what! And I think all of us being on a first name basis creates a similar level of trust for each other, you know?” Oh yes, Faith knew she was nailing this greeting! There was no way someone could feel uncomfortable with her opening up to them like that.

"...Right." Raven shook Faith’s hand. "Is Fritzi or Ashley around?"

”Fritzi is around, but she told me that it would be a moment before she could see you. Very important business. Ashley was suppose to greet you but um, you’re here really early!” Ashley was actually preparing for the next big mission and Faith felt like she could handle taking in a new agent without bothering her.

Raven snorted. "I’m just supposed to wait here then?"

”Not at all!” Faith chirped. ”She instructed me to take you to the training room so that we can evaluate your performance! It’s something Fritzi does for all, erm, most of the new hires. It’s like in One Punch man where all the heroes need to go through a test to get ranked so that-”

With a snap, a swirl of feathers blew around Raven’s body. Her outfit changed, as did her hair and stature. She was in her esper form now. Her look could best be described as a japanese school girl posing as a secret agent. Though her outfit was all black, save for her stockings and some of the effects she wore.

"I’m ready."

Faith looked over the esper. ”Oh wow! You look really stylish! Ashley also has a colored visor like that when she transforms. If there were a bunch of you then maybe you could be like power rangers! Like they’re this group of people with different colored outfits, so you have a red ranger, a blue ranger, a black ranger, and a yellow and pink ranger. But then there’s also an extra ranger sometimes, like the green ranger, or the silver ranger. They do lots of martial arts and have these big machines that combined to form a-”

…

…

…

”...But even if we can’t get a squad like that, I think it’s nice that everyone is different anyway. It lets everyone be their own unique selves.”

"...Agreed."

”Your outfit says ‘paradise’ on it in several spots, what’s that about?”

After hearing Faith talk at length, Raven seemed more eager to talk about herself. "Well, my name is Raven, but my cal-sign is ‘Bird of Paradise’. It often gets shortened to Paradise."

”That’s such a pretty name!”

"Thank you, b-but I’d really like to prove my worth in the doctor’s trial."

”It’s still being set up. That said, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

"I have no doubt."

During their exchange, Mika walked up to them and waited for a break in their conversation. "Bird of Paradise? Like the Greater loppery-nah from the Superb Bird of Paradise family?"

"Why, yes, you are correct about that. The ones that do the silly dance?"

"Yes, the silly dance…" Something that Faith found strange about Mika was how dower she seemed. She felt like she was looking down on the new recruit. "They do the silly dance when they want to mate. It’s hard to do because there are a lot more guys than girls. They need to work extra hard to win the girl’s heart." She pointed at Raven’s outfit. "Those colors? That’s what the guys wear."

"Oh, well, you know, is that a problem? Because us espers don’t really-" But Mika was already walking away before Raven could get another word in. "...get to choose how we look."

”But they are rumored to represent our ideal self and innermost desires!” Faith added, like it was the most helpful thing anyone could have said.

"How about, you just show me the training room? I think it would be better if I waited there."

…

…

…



@Ponn@Majoraa

It was a horrible day for a drive.

If you were a normal person, the TV would be going on about two massive hurricanes headed straight for Pax Septimus. If you were an esper, you knew it was two behemoths that needed to be stopped at all cost. The Diver incident happened almost a month ago, and the city couldn’t survive if it kept taking shots like that from these oversized monsters. The situation became more complex when you figured in everything else that was going on at GEMINI. If there was a mole in their ranks, then their chance of success was already lower than it should have been.

Fortunately, Mika planned on doing something about it. Instead of having everyone join up at HQ, she offered to pick everyone up in her mother’s van. Anything they might need was in the back, giving them no reason to stop back at the police station. Mika’s plan was to get everyone together and share what she had learned. Maybe some of them had noticed something and could help her figure out who the mole is. The quicker they figure it out, the faster they can stop agents like Angelie from dying. Or at least slow down the rate at which they die.

---

@Vertigo@The World@Nakushita

If GEMINI was going to try to slay the trains, then Maverick Alternative was going to save them.

But that didn’t mean that they were going to let them destroy the city either. Maverick Alternative wept no tears for the Diver, but there was something strange about two powerful monsters uniting in the city of blood. They couldn’t be here just for the mana. What was their purpose for coming together now?

Maverick’s monsters were scrambling, but it was clear what the espers had to do: Investigate the trains and see if they could figure out why it was here. That would have been difficult in the past, but now?

Now they had a golden dragon to act as a mount. It sat atop a parking garage, wings spread, waiting for its passengers to board. Boteg had a silly little grin on his face as he waited for his passengers to arrive. He knew he was going to take up Ciri and a few freelancers, who should be arriving any moment. The other Maverick espers had other responsibilities, but would be cruising around the city on their bikes and leading the monsters. Amanda was still not ready to fight, and that was probably for the best. Things could get messy if they came in contact with GEMINI espers this operation.

The dragon’s tail swept side to side, eyes peeled for the espers as they were to arrive.

---

@TaintedMushroom@Kero

Raphael was not someone who liked to be idle. Though he also understood that patience was a virtue worth having. He had the Bates on his side, and hopefully more freelancers would join him shortly.

He waited for the freelancers outside a small chapel. It was one of the few left in the historic district, and while not as large as St Bianchi Church, it may have been older. Its white stonework had turned brown and dark over the decades, and was probably in need of a good pressure washing. The windows and front door were still a brilliant red, likely because they had been refinished recently. The striking colors were at odds with every other building that surrounded it, which all had a more modern art deco flourish.

The small building only further complemented the holy esper’s wide frame. While he waited for the freelancers to show up, he drew a bible from his coat and began to read about the great flood.

Ashley frowned when she saw Mika’s text about offering to pick up the various agents, rather than meeting at GEMINI HQ and moving out from there. While the Knight of Tomorrow understood and respected the need for caution in light of the deeply unsettling fact that there was likely a mole among their ranks, she had no great desire to have the perpetually annoyed Mika cross paths with her perpetually chatty neighbor. Thus, she had requested that Mika park a block away from her apartment in an effort to curtail such a meeting. As if to validate her concerns, no sooner had she stepped into the hall, then a nasally voice called out to her.

“Hi, Ashley!”

“Oh, hi, Olivia,” Ashley greeted the bespectacled brunette with what she hoped was a friendly smile.

Despite the fact that the talkative girl had been nothing but personable, if a little annoying, Ashley still couldn’t help but feel that there was something off about Olivia. While her recent mission to rescue the kidnapped Marrywell students had confirmed that her neighbor was in no way involved with said incident, Olivia’s interest in espers and anything related to the paranormal, to say nothing of the bespectacled brunette’s frequent talk of single-student field trips, magical girls, and her “darling Xolys”, seemed far more than merely the products of an overactive imagination. Indeed, when returning from late patrols, Ashley could sometimes make out the faint sounds of conversation emanating from the other side of Olivia’s door. One voice was female, but sounded far sweeter and more melodious than Olivia’s normal, nasally tones, while the second was male, and sounded quite polite and cordial. Still, Ashley wasn’t about to investigate this oddity, not when there were far more pressing matters in need of her attention…

“It’s really getting stormy out there, huh?” Olivia observed. “It’s a really good thing I remembered to bring my umbrella!” she added with a giggle/snort.

Ostensibly the result of two approaching severe weather systems, the worsening conditions were actually an early warning that a pair of Behemoth-class monsters would soon arrive in Pax Septimus. After the catastrophic damage the Diver had so recently caused, GEMINI wanted to ensure that this latest pair were stopped well short of the city, and Ashley had vowed to do all she could in pursuit of that goal. Yet, she couldn’t exactly tell Olivia that, even if the strange girl was more than she appeared, and so the Knight of Tomorrow forced herself to maintain a casual demeanor.

“It’s supposed to get a lot worse later on, so I’d recommend staying indoors for the rest of the day,” she advised.

“Oh, don’t worry, I will!” Olivia reassured her. “Plus, I’ve had lots of experience with extreme weather,” she added. “Like I was telling that person when we first met, my home town would frequently get buried under a considerable quantity of snow during winter storms, and it rained a lot in London during my time there, especially when this one Pageless that could control the weather showed up!”

“I see…” Ashley replied, not exactly sure what a “Pageless” even was. “So, um, how have your explorations of the city been going?” she inquired.

“Oh, they’ve been great!” Olivia replied with an excited smile. “I mean, I haven’t seen any ghosts or monsters up close yet, but with my tour guide’s help, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time!” she added with another giggle/snort. “Like, the other day, we went down into the catacombs beneath the historic library via a secret tunnel in its archives, and we almost saw a real ghost! Well, I think it was a ghost,” Olivia added with a frown. “I mean, we only caught a few glimpses of its cape and never actually caught up to it, but we heard the laughter of a young boy, and there wouldn't be any young boys in the catacombs unless they were a ghost, right? Then again, I suppose he could have been an esper…” she reflected, her visage one of thoughtful contemplation, before brightening up once again. “Oh! And speaking of espers, my guide actually is one!”

“H-He is…?!” Ashley asked, more than a little taken aback by this revelation.

“Yes!” Olivia confirmed with an enthusiastic nod. “I know you warned me about them being dangerous, but Finn is super nice, and I felt very safe with him!”

Finn?!

“It was actually rather fortunate, too, since if we ran into trouble down there, I don’t think darling Xolys would have been able to help much, since he’d have probably been too big to fit!” Olivia continued before giving voice to another giggle/snort.

However, Ashley barely heard her. The Knight of Tomorrow’s mind was reeling.

Finn?! Finn’s her tour guide?! And he revealed himself as an esper?! What was he thinking?!

Indeed, it was bad enough that GEMINI’s Pax Septimus branch had been compromised, but now a fellow agent who had already proven himself to be a discipline problem was also becoming a security risk?! This was bad. How much did he tell Olivia? Did he mention that he worked for GEMINI? Had he given away classified information about recent operations? Ashley had no way of knowing, other than asking Olivia or confronting Finn directly. Doing the latter right before the start of a pivotal operation was decidedly less than ideal, but asking her chatty neighbor was out of the question. Even if Olivia was utterly innocent, her naiveté, coupled with her talkative tendencies, made the idea of revealing herself as an esper a very bad move. There was no telling who she might go on to inadvertently reveal that information to. It was problematic enough that Finn was potentially compromised, and Ashley wasn’t about to add herself to that number…

“Well, he seems nice enough,” Ashley conceded, doing her best not to show the considerable annoyance and worry she felt.

“Yeah, he really is!” Olivia reiterated. “And he has such fascinating abilities, oh, and his esper form looks sort of like a jointed doll! Isn’t that cool?!”

“Uh, yes, very cool,” Ashley agreed in a slightly awkward tone she hoped Olivia wouldn’t pink up on.

“So, um, where are you heading off to?” the bespectacled brunette inquired.

“I’m helping some colleagues from work prepare for the storm,” Ashley replied with practiced ease. Plus, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Well, stay safe out there!” Olivia told her with a wave.

“I’ll do my best,” Ashley replied with a smile as she headed for the stairs.

She only hoped her best would be enough…

---

Two hurricanes at once. It was something unheard of, usually. Though one could suppose with the luck of Pax Septimus this wasn't surprising in the slightest. Certainly didn't surprise Finn. After his date went horribly awry he only continued to grow more distance from the other agents, sometimes even just other espers in general. Well, asides from Betty. He did take on a hunt with that vulgar imp girl that went...as well as you'd expect, he got a mecha out of it he could repair and polish up, and the two of them co-operated pretty well for what they could manage. But something seemed to properly snap into place in the boy there and then. A strange sort of awareness.

If that awareness was anything to go by, someone was going to die today. Or at the very least something was going to happen to someone. That he was certain. But who would believe him, after the one person he hoped to understand forced a smile instead? And his situation was much worse in the fact that he'd be partnered with one of the girls he yelled at for thinking he had been romantically interested in her, and the leader that was no doubt going to keep him on a tight fucking leash, whilst there was a mole hiding amongst them.

He didn't care. Not anymore.

As long as he plays his part, he'll be just fine. He was a killer resigned to his fate. T̶̨͕͓̙̜̺̻͎̳͕̔͌̌̅͂́́͊̀̾̅̍̽͝ḩ̷̨͚̗̙̪͇̭͔̺̹̤̅̿̄͊͋͒̕͜͝͠ͅͅè̸̯̲̜̹̻̺͔̗̄͋̾̃̀̂͐̈́̚ỹ̸̨̧̫͚̞̪͕̹̣͈̞̿̈́́̂̍̈͒͒́̆̅̍̀̂̕͜͝'̷̡͔̳͚͎̟̘͍̥̫̤̭̖̦̍̓̔͌͊̎̀͑̈́̆͜l̵̢̡̢̙̦͕̯̹̱̗͖͇̫̩̦̏͑̒̃̉̓̈́͌̐̚͝l̸̗̦͐̀͗̋̓ ̷̟̗͎̭̖͙͕̭̝̖̀͋̍͛͌̑͆̐͑̚͠u̷̢̘̰̲̠̦͇̯͊̈́̾̃̂͋́̈́̆̀́̾̑̀̒̓͠ͅͅǹ̴̡̨̤͎͉͈̘̣̟̮̦͛̓̈́̈́d̸̼̝̘̜̍̔̈́͐͐̾̄͗͌́͌̉͆̂͝e̷͙̭̹͎̥̺͍̯͇͚̬͍̬̠͍̣̓͒̑̀͋̚͠r̶͙̜͈̿̂̈̔̿̅́͂̑͆̒́͗̃s̴̭̪̣̩̪̻͖͉͖̘̩̗̰͍̫̲̞̑͌͆́̆͒̄t̵̢͙̯̦̦͇̀͋̏̑̓̇̐̈́̚̕͠à̷̘͌̍̐͒̓͊̈́̊̔͒̄̒n̶̩̝̹̖̻̱̰̱̍̽̈́̑͛͂̚͜͝d̸̳͈̖͖̖̺͍̑̆͗̒́̄̽͗̍̕̕ ̵̨̢̩̲̩͎̻̖̝̃̃̐̚͝ͅs̷̨̬͇̳̻̜̜̭̳̪̥̺͊̋̅̿͘͝ͅǫ̶̯̭̦̭́ǫ̸̢̖͍͖̰̙̩̫̥̣͕͓͉͚̽͐͋̈́̓̽́̓̈́̐̉̈́͐̐̓͘͝ņ̶̭̲̮̞̗͇͗̊͆͜ ̷̠̋̉̾̍̆͛̌͠͝͝ę̷͕̭̫͖̭͚̹̝͎̠̍̂͝n̷̞̞̗̍̎̓̽͋͊̅̇̕ơ̴̖̰͍̬̬̬̣̼͉͚̊̇̆̉u̷̧̳͕̣͈͔̙̘̼͈̣̣͐̄͆̋̓̿͊̿̂̔͊̎̕̚͘͜͜͝͝g̷̡̛̹̮̜̘̺͈̮̳̭͒̾̏̇́̌̒̋͜͜h̸̦̯͓̗̠͉̜̬̤̩̰̥̔̄̍.̶̟̗̼̾̄̑̔͗̏̒͐̈́͊̕͘̕

As it was, the Timekeeper was idly pacing as he waited for Mika to arrive, already transformed and letting the torrential downpour cool himself down before the fight. As much as he wanted to say that this time things would be different, he'd be lying. At the very least he'd be doing things different this time.

How?

Best not to spoil the show before it's even begun.