[IC] ~ Phantom Thieves of London: The Calling ~

[FalloutJack]

ROMANI...

He'd gone and found it, an enemy stronghold. He'd done so, strangely enough, by letting go and allowing his mind to wander into the familiar and the routine. He felt like he was getting back to the school, and so it almost seemed like he was going there by pure instinct, despite his surroundings. Of course, once he HAD found it...he didn't wanna be there anymore. It was a motherfucking fortress with a bunch of strangely-clad figures wandering around on patrol. Furthermore, he had spotted what looked like Vice-Principal Ashcroft...but if it was him, he must've been insane. And if he was, so were his cohorts, because they all saluted his passing.

This...was where Romani would beat feet to try and find an exit, some way out of all of this, and here...he began to have some luck, both good and bad. After some twists and turns, he heard shouting, someone calling to that guy, Laurence, and then talking. All of this was rather urgent, and as he came closer, he found the light-haired student talking to, of all things, a bird. And the weird thing? The black-feathered avian creature perched on his arm was talking back. It had a girl's voice and was looking rather frantic. What Romani heard as he was coming across them was...

"...have to hurry! The way out is back the other way! I've sent the others ahead!"

"You're sure? What others?"

"The ones from Evergreen! There's not much time!"

"I know, it's getting closer."

All of this seemed to take away from the fact that Laurence had, in his hand, a machete. That was the most mundane thing about this picture, and yet it was about as incongruous as everything else. Laurence had already had a bit of a shock, having discovered a shapeless horror wandering this labyrinth, and he was only regaining a bit of mental traction from someone calling out to him and it turning out to be his feathery guide from before, actually capable of speech. For the moment, he was willing to accept anything as possible, including the fact that she seemed to know the way out of here. That was where Romani came in, and they both seemed surprised.

"Another? How many are in here? Nevermind, just follow us! It must be near the intersection by now! Hurry!"

Raven flew off of her arm perch and Laurence gave Romani a 'Yeah, it IS serious' look and a gesture to follow as he ran off, back the way he'd come. The scene of the intersection was... There had been shadowy creatures around, but right now what Laurence, the bird, and now Romani could see was this advancing sphere of doom, red eyes blazing as it hovered closer and moans quite audibly loud, even in their heads! As it drew closer to the intersection itself, it seemed to be sprouting red-and-black hands. Every single instinct would tell them all: Do NOT let it grab you. Down one street, they could just about see some kind of a confrontation with some amorphous shapes, like slimes. The ones dealing with that were...

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ALEX, AVA, and HAKURO...

Hakuro's mind was abuzz with all the possibilities he could work with, what he could do in this situation. He was just coming up with an idea to parkour around these slimy bastards, and then to get them to chase him around a bit so the others could basically follow after them, when Alex shoved past, saying he was going to make a path himself.

"Wait, that's not-"

A good idea? No. It didn't work. It did not work. And that left him open to attack by the creatures. Well, sort of... They all focused on him, and as he was attacked, Alex tried to swat them and...and...where did that gun come from? He'd whacked it with an old-style gangster machine gun! And then, he opened fire, leaving the boy with the hat and coat who LOOKED like he should be holding one of those just staring now. As Ava went over to help, Hakuro recalled Alex shouting something about needing a weapon. He'd been sarcastic, but he clearly meant it. Was...was that all they needed to do?

Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination...

He closed his eyes, and he thought, and he muttered to himself, that he needed a weapon. He needed a weapon... He needed... Hakuro thought of the creature coming up behind them and the path blocked ahead, of the necessity to move forwards, else they probably die. When Ava kicked back one of the blobs, shouting at Alex to keep firing, two bladed devices suddenly hooked into the mouth of the thing.

The blob was suddenly pulled on hard and the hooked swords yanked it HARD into a wall, plastering it there for the time being. Hakuro stood holding a pair of Shuang Gou, or Tiger Claws. This was weird not only for the fact that he'd manifested weapons out of nowhere like Alex, but that they were Chinese weapons, of all things. Why that? Well...why not? They worked.

"Ava, concentrate! You're in danger and you need a weapon. This place runs on the mind. You can do what Alex did."

So saying, as as the lot of them were hearing footsteps from the direction they came rushing this way - Laurence, Romani, and Raven - Hakuro swung his weapons like a pair of scissors and began to kick a slime below its mouth...which was stretched out like a freaky grin for now, the way it was hooked. And that just leaves us with...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

MIKHAIL...

It's funny, because Mikhail hit upon the big screaming detail of the Ashcroft before him that said everything about the man. He was not what he seemed. He was all pomp and circumstance and 'In my day', wishing for simpler times to be brought back, but really...he was a massive hypocrite. He was the sort of man who would consort with the devil to fight with the devil. He was not holier than thou. He was darker by far, and cared not for your tongue. He didn't care, really, about 'back then', except for when he was important, recognized, and in charge. Not that any of this was vocalized, but it was a very important point. This Shadow of the true Ashcroft was a broken mirror that showed the true self, especially as it spoke in open contempt at Mikhail's words.

"See how it condemns itself with its own words. The worm crawls and squirms for release from its fate, but the righteous shall not hear it, for it is unclean and fit only for the dirt from which it was born."

Good fucking god, he liked to hear himself talk... Then again, so did the REAL Ashcroft. This one, though... He was far more cunning. You may be wondering why he simply allowed Mikhail to talk his head off. That was because he was telling him oh-so-much when he did. Mikhail had spoken alloud his true intentions, not what he had spoken to the others, a confession of the wrath he felt in his heart. Every anxiety and concern seemed to come out. Finally, when he'd found the boy's weakest moment, the Shadow smiled, which was something the Russian boy had NEVER seen Ashcroft do!

"My intent is not for the likes of thee, fell creature. Mayhaps some of those things, I will do, but you shall not know the hour, nor shall you escape to tell any soul of thy misfortunes. For now, if the tongue of thy neighbor offends thee, pray remove it, lest the evil spread."

He raised his spear and a strange light - gray and purple = shown from it. A wave of it passed over Mikhail, and all his utterences were silent. No word or noise could be produced. He had literally been hit with a spell of silence! The Witchfinger General turned and walked away, laughing. Once outside, he called for guards to appear at the door that he'd entered. Mikhail was in for a rough time here. The only good news is that the spell would only last a few minutes.

[Letter Bee]

Mikhail Chekhov

Mikhail wanted to scream, but he could not. He wanted to rage, to shout, to throw a tantrum, but it was clear that his capability to do so had been removed. Was this permanent? If so... If so...

He cried.

Tears fell from his eyes at the thought of the words he can no longer say, words he can no longer say to Tyler and Hakuro and his Mother, Mina Chekhov. Mikhail was capable of love, even now, and the few people he had left in his life were his few remaining ties to sanity. But now, now that Ashcroft (Or Impostor-Ashcroft) knew about his secrets and planned to hurt and kill at least one of those he liked -

He was damned, that was true, damned to pursue a road of revenge that can only end with his soul burnt and scarred. But he knew what innocents were, still didn't wish them harmed in his quest. And he did not want Hakuro/Hatto-san to be one of the people hurt. Nor Tyler, although the real Ashcroft liked his friend for being 'proper' and accomplished.

Oh my God, were they worrying about him? Did they even know that he had disappeared? Or did time here run differently than in the 'real' world? If only there was cell reception in this dungeon!

He tried to see if his smartphone had cell reception after all - It didn't.

Turning off said phone, Mikhail opened his backpack to pursue his textbooks - Even studyiing was preferable to getting bored out of his mind. On instinct, he tried to say something, anything, and found out that the spell on his voice had faded like some JRPG when he let out a short, "I'm bored..."

A pause.

"I can talk again." Testing out his regained ability to speak, Mikhail said softly, "I need to find a way to escape. I can't let these assholes get their hands on Hatto-san. But how can I get out of their constant vigilance and that of Impostor Ashcroft's?"

His Keychains - The ones of a Beretta Nano and the Butterfly Knife - Glinted. On instinct, he grabbed them and they began to transform into an actual gun and knife. No reaction from the guards - Did they even see the glint and transformation? Whether they did so ir not, he hid the weapons in his uniform - These can be of use at the right moment.

They can't keep him in here forever.

[The Jest]

Tyler Blackmore

Wimbledon Suburbs, Friday Afternoon

"Exploration"

Hadn't thought much about it...?

Tyler blinked twice then tilted his head as he heard the boy's first response to what he says, not expecting such a...vague and unexpected answer from the boy. Hadn't thought much about what? About whether or not he's a student from Evergreen? Was it even as an answer to him at all, or could he have just thought aloud whatever he had on his mind at the moment before Tyler came over?

The boy then introduced himself as Alistair Parton. ...Alistair...Parton, Where has he heard that name before? As he looked away from Alistair and into the distance, he starts to remember...

"Alistair...? ...OH! You're that student from Dr. Brower's Lower-sixth Philosophy class? I'm in his upper-sixth Philosophy; he talks about you to us during some of his lectures. I think he's impressed with you; he sometimes even asks us the questions he hears from you. I've always overheard some students talking about you, wondering what kind of person you were to ask the questions you have. ...In a way, you're kind of a myth to us." Tyler said, a friendly smile trying desperately to inject itself with energy as he looked at the boy, though with a contemplative stare that looked beyond.

It may seem like an over-exaggeration, and in one way of perspective, it kind of was. But it was true that Alistair's questions were being asked by a curious teacher, one of those things that's to be expected in a realm like philosophy. True, for most of them, himself included, it was essentially treading old grounds they've already talked about a year before.

To Tyler however, Philosophy is like medical studies in a way: You can never truly finish with it, you can never study all the philosophies in school and expect to know all there is to know. It's ever-changing, ever growing and evolving as civilization and society changes over time, and one has to always study and understand it in any occupation that requires it, and is never really done doing so. In both cases, you are always a student even when you are a master; you never stop learning. The only difference is that Philosophy doesn't just encourage, but outright requires a personal touch to it, and only by going through individual philosophies of others can you define and make your own. As long as there is a different perspective on something, there is always something to talk about and learn. That's what Tyler always liked about it, there's always something to keep his mind occupied, to keep it busy...too focused to focus...

He immediately snapped out of his mini-trance and shook his head to get it back to reality the moment Alistair began to speak, this time about what happened between him and Mik.

As he listened to him, Tyler noticed his weak smile, and the brief pause in his speech, immediately taking notice. The way he interrupted interrupted his own train of thought told Tyler that he wasn't talking about what happened with Mik anymore. Maybe what happened with Mik was the context, but there was a different subtext to what he said, or at least that's what it felt like. What that is, Tyler can't say, not knowing much of anything about Alistair. But it does seem like this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened, and Al may not expect it to be the last.

At "carry on", Tyler nodded with a weak smile of his own.

"...I see. That's good to hear. Though, I'm sorry to say that he probably...did intend on violence towards you, at least at first. When Mik gets angry these days, when he's in a terrible mood, he tends to act out on others. Those he trusts he keeps his fists away from, but strangers like yourself tend to...well...it's unusual for him to hold his punch from one. There was a time where he wouldn't even hurt a fly, let alone another person, but then..." Tyler interrupted himself with a thought that came to mind...He never did see Mik ever since he ran off...rather than continuing with telling a story Mik probably didn't want him to tell a stranger towards - best he does it himself like he always does - maybe someone else saw him by now. It was a long shot but it was worth it to help ease his own worries.

"Oh, that reminds me, ...Have you seen Mik since this morning?" Tyler asked Al.

@Nimbus

[Savo]

Alexander Furst

---

Confidants:: Ava (@addamas), Hakuro, Laurence, Raven (@FalloutJack), Romani (@Sync))
Whereabouts:: The Metaverse
Day:: Friday Afternoon

---

Alex continued to lay siege to the blobs surrounding them, warding them all off as he glared at them with a ginormous, toothy frown, canines gritting as he swapped between holding down the trigger at times and tapping it. Regardless, most of his hits were connecting to say the least as he whipped the gun, stopping the gunfire for a split second before unloading into the face of some creature, who deformed and contorted when assaulted, hissing and growling as it flew back.

He didn't even hear Ava's cry as she shrieked for him to lay waste to them all, only really acknowledging her presence when he tilted his head to the side while switching targets to check on the two, only to witness her slamming her leg into a blob, causing it to fly directly at the boy.

There was barely any time to dodge, but he managed to do so by leaning back and letting it fly pass his face. This, of course, had the added drawback of causing him to fall straight onto coccyx; pain surged through his entire body as he felt his behind go numb as he bounced a bit onto the pavement. This was a small price to pay, as instead of tending to the pain, he fired on, blowing the creatures back.

As he continued mindlessly firing at the creatures while sitting on the pavement, legs splayed as he moved from one target to the next, he was brought back by that hat boy, Hakuro, calling out to her. Apparently utilizing your mind and focusing could give you a weapon, and it was that simple apparently. What wasn't exactly accounted for was his gun running out of ammo.

*Click, click, click, click, click, click.*

Alex could only stare down, completely brought back to this macabre reality as the bilious green fog came into focus once more and the miasma thickened once more, as if threatening to choke the life out of him. Maybe it was fear. As soon as no bullets came on, his breathing became slower tightened as he turned his head, looking down the stairs, the entrance to the subway behind them.

However, it wasn't long before Alex caught a glimpse of three silhouettes, two in the shape of a human, another gliding beside them - a bird. Looks like she found Laurence and someone else who was dragged in. With renewed vigor, Alex slowly rose up as his eyes flickered around as the multitudes of misshapen creatures, with a few new figures that looked to be shuffling out of the corner out of his eye. Even with these threats being drawn in, he still didn't forget that large beast that was bounding for them all.

"Plan, plan, plan, I need a plan," this was constantly reverberating and repeating in his head. Even with the obvious, get to the subway and somehow escape, there were still too many issues, too many stragglers in the way. Sure, he might of caused most of them to back off, but they were relentless, starting to encroach and even had a few who started to reform.

They were looking to get in the way of those three, but he wasn't having any of that as he swapped his grip to the barrel and rushed at the reforming, amorphous, monochromatic blob before bashing at what he assumed to be its head. Following that assault, Alex quickly pivoted around, watching as another sphere attempted a round two and looked to slam into him, only for him to counter by batting it away, swinging his empty gun like an American Baseball player.

"Hey, hurry up, we don't have much time, these things are closing in on us," he shouted as he ducked his head, only for one of the hovering creatures to woosh right over, "I really hope what you said is right bird!"

As soon as the three ran by him, Alex would begin his own retreat towards the subway, bashing, smashing, and kicking his way like some arcade beat em' up protagonist until he and the others made it to safety.

[Nimbus]

Alistair is taken aback a touch at Tyler’s comment. Of course, his thoughts immediately turn to the dark: If only they knew why… All that and I remain stuck. And then darker: Perhaps this is impassable. Perhaps the world is just… Irredeemable chaos by complexity, all cause and effect with no trace between them.

Hume. Ha.

Alistair sighs, closes his eyes, and then looks up again. For a moment, he clenches his fist, his eyes smouldering. No. The surface is barely scratched. Give up and…

You can’t. You can’t give up. You can’t.

It is in this state of mind that he listens to Tyler carefully step around discussing Mikhail – around his latent anger, his fragile self-control, his – his past… That… That could be useful. Shaking his head idly at Tyler’s question, his mind’s mechanisms suddenly slot into place, forging and throwing off ideas as a tempest throws off lightning: That implies broken processes, unintended consequences. Analysed structures alone to now, lacking context – focus on a specific case could be useful for clarity, to create and test theories, to break established patterns of thought. He raises a hand to the side of his head, fiddling with a strand of hair. Even beyond, another event akin to today would be best avoided. The ability to avoid or diffuse – could be gained through knowledge.

And thus, Alistair begins to entertain an almost heretical thought.

He looks at Tyler again, eyes flashing with worry. Do I know… Can I risk it? Do I have the right? He winces. Gah. Balancing long-term harm for short-term – but it wouldn’t be short-term, would it? Not potentially… Agh, this is dangerous! The fingers on his hand twitch, just a little.

Alistair shuts his eyes. No. No, you’re overreacting. This would be a tiny, tiny aspect of his life. It is time he is evidently spending anyway, you do not necessarily have to provide any input at all, he is even able to talk about something that concerns him. Which could also backfi- no. This will be fine. This will be fine.

Alistair breathes. Then he offers that same half-smile to Tyler.

“I’m currently walking up to Richmond Park… You can join me and talk on the way, if you’d like.”

[FalloutJack]

Strangely enough, the guards did not notice a thing, or they didn't care. They weren't even in the room with the cells or the next room with all the dangerous implements of pursuasion, most of the time, unless they were working on some moaning someone-or-other. So, he had pretty much the time to himself to inspect his cell - nothing in it but a bunch - his weapons - they looked functional, at least - and of course the general surroundings. Honestly, there wasn't much to 'em. They were meant for unarmed people, and MAYBE he could do something with his weapons to get out of this cell, but what? Even if the bars were so-so in design, the door out of here was a proper door with a lock, and the door out of the torture room was similar to it. (He'd have noticed all that on the way in.) The guards had the frigging keys, and they didn't look like the type to be easily intimidated. Realistically, he might...he might...

He might have to wait to be tortured to make any sort of break for it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bullets were annoying to the slimes, and Hakuro's slamming actions - while helpful - were not exactly doing much better. A harder recovery, but not by much. And worst of all, the bastards were multiplying on them, to the point where even as Alex shouted to the bird, Raven actively dove into the face of a slime, cawing and clawing at it, which was distracting as hell to it. Romani and Laurence pitched in, as well, but their progress was being hampered THAT FUCKING CLOSE to the finishing line as they were soon surrounded. And you'd think they'd be alright to go on, but a couple of the slimes flattened, and then launched up with fists on their heads to gut-check Hakuro and Laurence.

"Get out of our way!"

A bolt of energy actually shot out from the black bird, bursting the face of a slime, but another two moved in to take its place. In the meantime, Ava had been trying to calm herself to think about what Hakuro said, about the desperation of their need to defend themselves, but...but this wasn't working! It wasn't enough! There had to be something, somehow, some way! She couldn't stand this anymore! And then, a burst of energy released from her, one that was a little chaotic in nature. Hakuro and Alexander would hear voices in their heads. For Alex, it was "No, it's too soon...", and Hakuro heard "She isn't ready yet.". Something arose from her, crying out. It was a feathery woman, a deity of some sort, and it was manifesting a terrible whirlwing!

"I've had enough of this! Stop attacking us! Stop chasing us! Just cut it out!!"

Ava cried out, both revealing the power they could all have and...showing that when one is not ready for it, one my suffer for it. She was grasping her head in pain as the whirlwind became stronger and stronger! Slimes flew everywhere, people were knocked towards the subway with force, and debris was just everywhere! In the confusion, Romani was knocked out when he hit a wall and Raven was blown clear into the subway area, Laurence almost falling down the stairs to try and catch her if he wasn't pulled back by Hakuro. However, both of them STILL fell over and were sprawled down a couple of them as Ava herself had been flung by the vortex.

Whatever the case, Alex was the first to see what happened next. They were safe-ish, and then...they kind of weren't.

Through the dust and the debris, a black hand rimmed in red grabbed the arm of the mythical being who hung in the air where Ava had been. On contact, Ava herself grunted in pain. The wind subsided...and they could see the large spherical creature standing there in all its hellish glory. It was black-and-red, its many eyes wide open as more arms came out of the mass and grabbed the Persona, which resisted in futility against overwhelming strength. Ava let out a choked scream, reacting as though SHE were the one being throttled by the thing...and pulled into its dense expanding mass.

"What the- It's killing her! How do we stop it!"

From the bottom of the stairs, Raven called out.

"Get everyone down here, NOW! The train is here! HURRY!!"

They couldn't do anything to that large mass of evil. Not a damn thing. It swallowed up the Persona, and Ava went limp, unconscious. They had to carry her AND pull Romani out of there, heading for the train. The...Velvet Train?! It was here?! The doors opened on cue and all of them would get in, where they would see...

"All aboard! Next stop- Oh, this is bad. Move aside!"

-Amari, who had started out in their usual chipper mood, but immediately got more serious as Ava was laid out before them. Heading to her side, the Velvet Room Attendant looked her over with both caution and determination, at once. Finally, Amari sighed in relief.

"She's okay. Or...she will be. Looks like you got her in here quick enough, saved her life."

"I think she just saved our lives. What happened?"

At this, Hakuro looked down.

"I told her that she had to concentrate, to think of something to help defend herself against these creatures. Alex has a gun, you're holding a machete, and I'm pretty sure I saw something in umm...Romani's? Yeah, that's Romani."

Romani was out-cold and had dropped his things, so he couldn't exactly confirm it right now, but he had been, yes.

"I mean, it made sense. Once I knew it could be done, once I pieced together what we'd heard up until now. I thought she'd bring a weapon to the table and help out. Instead, she called upon a creature or a spirit or something."

"She called her Persona, but it was too soon. She wasn't ready for it."

Those exact words. Those exact fucking words were in their heads...

"Wait, what's a Persona? Also, who are you?"

"That's... Well, that's Amari, but we met hiii...heruummm...them in...kind of a dream. I guess it wasn't really a dream. It's a long story."

"Yeah, a very long story. You're the ones who sent me, weren't you? You sent me to help people."

Amari nodded, but then said...

"I beg all your pardons, but I must attend to these two here. Master Igor can answer all of your questions, including about Shadows and the power you all witnessed."

The Attendant indicated further down the hall, which would be very familiar to Alex and Hakuro, less so but still somewhat to Raven, and not-at-all to Laurence. That, of course, led to that big-nosed bastard himself, Igor...and hopefully answers. Lots of answers.

[Letter Bee]

Mikhail Chekhov

One of Mikhail's gifts was that he knew he wasn't always special or unique, and that what special things do happen to him happen to other people as well. So his first thoughts were, Others will probably rescue me or be brought in here. Probably the latter, and that meant he had potential allies. Although part of him hoped that Hatto-san or even Tyler had found their way into this place and had ‘magical’ weapons as well. Either way, for now, he’d wait, even if it was waiting to be tortured. After all, the room had only few furnishings and his phone had limited power.

Inside the prison room, Mikhail resisted the urge to reflect on his earlier actions. Philip and Alex committed crimes against him, damnit, not the other way around! He did not need to apologize to those two, not at all!

Obviously, that wasn’t the case, and Mikhail found himself yelling, ”I don’t want to apologize to Philip and Alex, even if I get out of here! I know I did wrong but it hurts my pride to apologize! Did it ever occur to anyone that what they did to me is worse than what I did to others?!”

He may - may - have drawn the guards’ attention to him because of that. Oh, flipping crap! Why did this happen to him?

And he also noticed the lying self-deception and hypocrisy in his own words. Why can’t he take refuge in those qualities instead of being repulsed by them?!

[Savo]

Alexander Furst

---

Confidants:: Ava, Hakuro, Laurence, Raven, Romani (@FalloutJack)
Whereabouts:: The Metaverse
Day:: Friday Afternoon

---

"Ava?"

Alex could only stand there, befuddled and bewildered as the rest of the blobs as the battle came to a standstill the moment Ava began shouting and generally appeared to be throwing what looked to be a tantrum. He could hardly blame her if that was the case, his heart racing faster than the speed of light. Strangely enough, he noticed that the blobs had stopped for a brief moment, a few even shivering, causing the young man to raise an eyebrow.

As much as he would curse himself for this later, for standing around like a dolt, there was something oddly mesmerizing about this all, yet equally haunting. A knot was forming in his stomach as something nagged at the back of his mind, telling him that there was something wrong.

Then, it hit him.

Quite literally in fact as a violent gust of wind burst forth from the girl, slamming Romani into a wall, and causing the bird to whirl, twirl, and eventually be flung into the subway. It was difficult to stand his ground, but with most of his efforts, he was able to dig his heels in, averting falling flat on his ass. He could only grit his teeth and close his eyes, shielding it with one arm as it happened.

The moment he was within the eye of the storm, he had witness possibly both the most beautiful and terrifying thing in his life.

For starters, the blobs had been scattered away, some flung into the sides of buildings like an abstract art piece, which was the good part to Alex, making him chuckle at the absurdity of this whole situation. The other thing, not so much, causing Alex to stop his chuckling completely as his eyes widened, with the boy frowning. Instead of his resting bitch face, his reaction was not so dissimilar to a character realizing they're about to be killed in a horror film.

Alex was shaking as he stared at the thousand eyed, million handed monstrosity that was floating in the in the air. It was like those spheres, except juiced up to an unnecessary degree. The eyes were of different shapes and colors and its hands were a slick redish-black hue, a few of which were wrapped around some creature that appeared nearby Ava.

On cue, he sprinted towards her with a wild look in his eyes, tommy gun held like a baseball bat. Who was almost ready to swing, until he heard another person cry out that creature was killing her. Her?

The world came back into focus, no longer consumed by the haze, Alex took a brief look around to realize that Ava was choking, being strangulated by some unknown force. Then, it hit him. "No fucking way, that... bird thing is her?" Well, it was some part of her, that was to be sure; his first thoughts went to stands, but that was a topic for another time as he jumped up, trying to swing at the limb dragging the creature that was apparently a part of Ava or something towards it.

However, it was all for naught as that limb was always out of reach; unluckily for Alex, the same couldn't be said about the others as one darted forward, barely giving Alex a reprieve to avoid the path.

Hoping to the side, he watched as the limb slammed into the pavement, causing debris and some mortar to fly past him before it retracted back, whipping as he watched another fly out. It didn't target him, but instead wrapped around Ava's creature. Slowly, more and more began to envelop it, embracing the poor soul.

There was nothing he could do left, besides look over to the side, looking at the fainted Ava. Clenching his fists, Alex could only opt to do one thing and rushed to Avas aid. Hoisting her up onto his back, he could only watch as the beast consumed that poor, poor creature as he hustled down the stairs and into the subway.

His heart continued pounding with each step he took down, looking to the duo who were helping the unconscious Romani down each step. Alex couldn't help but look back at his friend, a grimace forming on his face as he continued going down each step until he witnessed something that shouldn't be there.

Why was the bullet train from his dreams here?!

Alex blinked at the sight, raising an eyebrow and pursing his lips as he leaned in and squinted. Could this honestly just of been a dream? Did he actually pass out? "No, the pain was too real. Possibly lucid?" He would figure it out later as the doors open and he was beckoned in by a familiar face.

The next few minutes were just a swirl of events as the two unconscious members of their group lay on the seats, asleep, unaware of their locale. Alex did his best to take this all in, but he was fixated on Ava, biting his lip as he swapped between their discussion, Ava, and the window.

Alex was completely silent, with a morose stare that reflect of the window, lost in thoughts, trying to make sense of all this.

Is this all real?