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Joseph was about to object to the idea, preferring not to leave Blast on his own. As easily as Gholem had seemed to go down, there was still a chance that the mad scientist had more up his sleeve. No, it was [i]especially[/i] because of how easily he seemed to go down, actually. It felt [i]too[/i] easy, and in Joseph's experience, that usually meant it probably was.

However, before he could say anything out loud, he got a message on his watch, his face going even paler than usual as he read it.

Megumi and Rupa's situation had deteriorated, apparently. He'd thought they'd be ok without him, considering the only threat he'd been shown during his interview was Rupa being held at gunpoint, something he'd assumed she'd be able to deal with fairly easily with her powerset. But now Megumi was saying it had devolved into a hostage situation of some sort, leaving them unable to act on their own.

[color=96EACE]"... I'll go on my own. Dahlia, you should stay with Blast for now. The way we beat Gholem felt too easy, and there's a chance he might have activated more than just these machines, or still had contingency plans prepared in case something like this happened. Even you'll have trouble dodging a bullet if you don't see it coming, better to have someone else to watch your back, just in case."[/color]

As he spoke, he pulled off his suit jacket and chucked it to Eva.

[color=96EACE]"Take this, just in case. The enchantments are running low on energy after that last fight, but it should be able to block at least twenty to thirty more bullets. That's only a [i]'should'[/i] though, not an [i]'is'.[/i] Don't rely on it for anything other than keeping you alive for more than one or two shots while you get to cover."[/color]

Finally, he pulled out another paper tag with a new runic array on it, activating it and handing it to them.

[color=96EACE]"Call me with this if something happens. I'll come running as soon as I know Gematria and Alchemist are ok."[/color]

And then he turned back and ran towards the door, pulling a pair of tags from his pocket and throwing them at the hinges.

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At first, it seemed his incantation did nothing, the tags themselves simply sticking to the hinges and glowing for a moment. That all changed however when he actually [i]reached[/i] it, the hinges tearing like foil as he pushed the door out of its frame without stopping.

[color=96EACE]"Al, can you take care of telling me where to go? I'm gonna try to contact Gematria."[/color] He asked the AI in his watch, before sending a quick reply to Megumi as he ran. [color=96EACE][i]"Safe to talk or being watched?"[/i][/color]

Finally, he took one last protective measure. Taking off the pair of round, dark glasses he'd used to keep up his blind facade, he pushed them into the pocked of his shirt and waved his hands upwards from the sides of his neck towards his head, as if putting on an imaginary hood. The gesture was accompanied by another incantation, and a series of bandages rose from the collar off his shirt to coil around his head, wrapping around it completely, only leaving a few random locks of hair sticking out from certain points. Their positioning was in no way random however, as a second incantation caused three eye-like arrays identical to the ones on his tags to light up on the front, each written across multiple bandages and yet still remaining perfectly aligned.

Sure, it wasn't exactly going to be 'blending in' with the other guests, but that didn't really matter anymore far as he was concerned. Their presence there was already well and truly exposed, so at this point, he wasn't going to worry about anything other than getting everyone else out alive.