There was an extensive list of things that Mathias never wanted to face within the confines the Dark City and it certainly was not an exhaustive one. However, if there was one thing at the top or at the very least close to the top of his list that he never wanted to encounter then it was a conceptual Manifestation. They were annoying, to say the least. Manifestations that leaned towards the conceptual end were hard to locate, hard to track, and their nature painfully difficult to decipher on case-by-case basis. Did that mean they were impossible to kill?

Well, in his experience it was very possible to kill a concept. 

[color=fff79a]"The objective hasn't changed. Keep your guard up."[/color] What else was there to say? They had a job to do, and they couldn't make a tactical retreat without reason so they could only push forward. He didn't like it though. There were too many strange occurrences happening all at once and it was keeping him on edge. 

And then static crackled in his ear and out of habit, he pressed into his ear as if there was an actual earpiece in it. Old habits were hard to kick. [color=fff79a]"We're intact, but this is far from normal. The City looks like a Dali, and we've got a rogue conceptual Manifestation lurking around. I'll keep you posted,"[/color] said Mathais. 

His focus turned to Dirk. Right, they spent enough time scouting the route. They needed to-

The sound of metal screeching caused Mathias to turn around and saw pieces of the carrier were torn away

[color=fff79a]"...Shit."[/color] 

The Manifestation got the jump on them. They were careless.

Mathias felt Rafael's weight collide into him and pushed him down onto the road. As soon as they met concrete of whatever facsimilia of it that the Dark World produced, Mathias heard an ear-splitting explosion tear through the air followed by the powdered debris of the building that surrounded them.

[color=fff79a]"Thanks Raf, I owe you one,"[/color] he said as he stood back up. In mere seconds, yellow energy crackled and twisted into hexagonal patterns, gathering into shapes as a clear image of what he needed came from Mathias mind. Just like that Mathias was holding an enchanted AK-47, pointing it forward as his eyes focused on what was being obscured through the debris. 

[color=fff79a]"Everyone, maintain positions! Stay alert!"[/color] Mathias ordered. The objective has changed. Kill the fucker and get out. 

He took a deep breath, and his eyes now shimmered with that hexagonal pattern from before. Mathias could see it, the structure of the smoke so to speak. One would say that the smoke was ever changing, but it had a natural flow, a pattern that it took. What he was looking for was the moment that the pattern would break.