[IC] A World of Progresssive Magic: An Arcane 2100s

[Letter Bee]

((Collab post between Joshua Tamashii and Letter Bee))

The Agency - Several Weeks Before E3

The Agency's HQ housed a couple of small, but hospitable and luxurious rooms, as well as a training chamber that was situated someplace else than what was used for the adults. This training room was filled with the required equipment, from dummies to targets to more esoteric items, such as drones and metal balls that absorbed magical energy. There was also two meditation mats, where those with more...mental magics can practice.

Ascot lay down on one of the mats, meditating on the nature of Timespace. He can see the past, the present, and the future of this building; he had been exempted from the wards. Of course, he can only see the future within reason, and said future was always changing, always changing with each move and action. Nevertheless, some things can be expected; soon, the Agents will move for another mission.

"Ascot." a voice said from nearby" When can we leave. Im hungry and you said we could go out today."

"Is it already an hour?" spoke the boy. "If so, I think we can go." And with that, he got up and began stretching his arms and legs. Pausing to allow Amelia to do the same, the Mage then put up the illusion of an adult, then began slowly walking out, expecting Amelia to accompany him. He had learned long ago not to move too fast when it concerned her, due to her relative fraility.

Once they reached the gates, two guardsmen saluted the illusion, before moving to open the gates. Then, the two (who looked to be three) left, looking for an organic place with high quality meals and yet few comers. In short, they were looking for something good, but obscure. Thankfully, that's where Nepotism and access to the Agency's records came in.

A few hours later, they reached the Brightvale Farmer's Market, where they can buy their food, and have it cooked in a nearby stall. Ascot selected several vegetables, some rabbits, and some beef since rabbit was known to be un-nutritious, before having his illusion pay the vendor with very real money (Timespace helped). A few people who were Mind Magi looked with Ascot at disapproval for using illusions as an excuse to go off alone, but, well, they didn't interfere. After a few minutes, Ascot then had the food cooked, then waited with Amelia and the illusion at a nearby table.

"Thank you for the food." Amelia said, reaching for the vegtables. Amelias close connection with death gave her a huge dislike for meat, so she stuck to a vegatarian diet." Hey Ascot, when are you going to get another mission? Its been a while since the last one hasnt it?"

"A few weeks from now," spoke the boy. "Uncle told me that, well, someone's planning to make a game that traps people in it, and, well, if they die in the game, they die in rela life." He sighed. "It's going to be the most dangerous mission yet; Arcana Unlimited is involved." Another sigh. "If my parents find out that I've been doing more than being educated, well..."

"... Ascot, why must people kill each other? Why must they leave behind so much pain and suffering, both for the living and the dead?" Amelia asked, looking slightly upset now" I hate people who kill."

Ascot looked pained; he didn't tell Amelia that he had been having...visions which said that, eventually, he would have to kill someone. Troubled, the boy spoke:

"There are many senseless killings in the world, even today. There are also many times when killing isn't necessary. But, sometimes, there are times in which the rot has spread too deep," even today, people can understand the metaphor; magic cannot eliminate all instances of decay, "times in which the infection has spread too far, that sometimes, what's needed is a scalpel and fire, for the rot to be cut out. Sometimes, one has to kill in order to prevent others from being killed, or abused." Ascot's eyes looked as though they've seen things...horrible things, while on his missions. And, there was that time in which he had taken longer to come home, a time in which Heinz himself had to bring him back, a time that, coincidentally, coincided with a major fire in one of NYC's seedier districts.

"Ascot... Ascot, you saw yourself killing someone didnt you?" Amelia asked

A slight smile, one that showed happiness, but also a mental exhaustion.

"Yes, Amelia," spoke Ascot. "Can't hide anything from you, could I?"

"Been together too long." Amelia said" Also, theres a spirit of an old man behind you. He wants your steak."

"He can have it," spoke the boy, who then brought out some magic herbs from hammerspace. If he cremated a nonliving object in them, that object would manifest in the Ghost Realm, allowing ghosts to partake in them.

Amelia gave a small smile before suddenly looking alarmed
"Ascot... we need to leave now." she said, sounding scared and looking around in a panicked manner.

"Good thing we paid beforehand, then," said Ascot, getting up and taking Amelia's wrist. He dispelled his illusion now, causing surprise in several onlookers, and then buffed Amelia with a Superspeed buff. "Let's run." And with that, he sped off; Amelia would be able to keep up with him thanks to his spell.

"Its not that easy Ascot. There alot of them here." Amelia said before an invisible force surrounded her and Ascot, blocking off their escape.

Ascot lit up a circle of fire around him and his companion, hoping to create a zone of safety around them while he called for help from the other Agency Agents.

"Wont work." Amelia said as the ring of flame vanished and the air around them became like a cold winters day" There are alot here for some reason and their all so... angry."

"Can you talk to them, Amelia?" Ascot hated putting Amelia in danger, but she was the only one with Death or Otherness right now. "Find out why they're enraged?"

Amelia shook her head
"Evil spirits never listen. Theyre to emotional to listen to me, even if I want to help. IF they possessed me they might act to take care of what made them angry or tell us what happened that way." Amelia said.

"Can they possess me, instead?" spoke Ascot. "I'm not willing to risk your well-being on this, Amelia."

They wont listen and you know spirits only go after sensitive people or those who use Otherness magic." Amelia said." So theyll only possess me unless you put something up other then fire to protect me. Some sort of holy magic."

Ascot smiled, and spoke:

"What some people call Holy is actually a combination of Law and a few other Schools. Few people know this, but 'Holy Light' is actually a combination of Law, Energy, and Death. That means that I'll have to borrow some of your power to create the light needed for that." Ascot then gently held Amelia's hand. "You're practiced combination spells with me, right?" he said kindly.

"Yeah but you know its very hard for me to use magic. I know I can but its like something prevents me from doing so." She said, sounding upset" Let them possess me but if things go too far, stop me and force them out. Promice?"

"I will," spoke Ascot, who then hugged Amelia. "Please, be all right," he continued as he pulled back to let the ghosts do their work.

Amelia gave Ascot one of her small smiles before suddenly falling to her knees and grabbing her head as if in pain. She would remain in this position for several minutes until she began gasping for air and falling to the ground, shaking and covered in a cold sweat.

Ascot looked over Amelia with worry, while at the same time, several surprised onlookers had ran away from the scene, afraid to come near the two crazy Magi. Some have even called the Police, but, well, Ascot would take care of that problem when it appeared.

Once she was feeling better, Amelia slowly got to her feet and barely managed to stay standing.

"We need your uncle." she said.

Ascot nodded, and he and Amelia began to move again, making their way back towards the Agency base.

[Letter Bee]

Heinz Harper reviewed the stack of paperwork set before him a by the Precognitive Division. Terrorism, potential terrorrism, and malefactors everywhere, more stuff that reminded him that his 'elitist' approach to things was wrong. Thankfully, there were consolations like being able to conjure up a cup of coffee; Magi can only conjure as much stuff as their own body weight a day, but that limit wasn't really a problem when you used your powers sparingly.

Other compensations were the presence of one's proxy family, such as Balthazar, Conor and their crew. They were good people, albeit a bit hardened and vicious like most people in Intelligence are, but still of a better stripe than most others in spywork. Heinz liked that; he may have humbled himself before the other agencies, but there was still a streak of self-rigtheousness in him, a streak of self-rigtheousness that years in the espionage business had only dampened.

Then, on one of the documents he was reviewing, the man found something incredulous, something that, though possible, was still unbelievable. Something that seemed closer to an Anime plot, no, closer to a specific Anime's plot, than Real Life. Of course, with Magic, Real Life resembled Anime, a little.

"Lizzie," he messaged his secretary, "arrange a meeting with Agent Balthazar, and our Unofficial operative, Conor right away. Tell him the business is urgent, as in, millions of people are at stake urgent." The emphasis was clear; Lizzie needed to move now.

Some Hours Later

Heinz had teleported himself, Balthazar, Conor, and the other agents to the briefing room, where he, with his own magical powers instead of technology, was projecting various holograms - holograms, not illusions; illusions can be broken by willpower.

"A few weeks from now, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is going to start in New York, with four MMO developers, Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, joining. Why does this merit Agency attention, you ask? Because one of those developers is trying to create an MMO that traps people in the virtual world. If people's videogame selves die in said virtual world, they die in Real Life, and that's a bad thing because MMOs have millions, or perhaps even billions, of users."

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find that fucker, and neutralize him, dead or alive, before he traps millions of people inside a videogame just to satisfy his own God Complex. You have free choice of gadgets and methods, just don't overly expose yourselves; you're secret agents, not superheroes. Don't drag the Agency through the mud, or further certain...sterotypes about us."

"The E3 Convention, thankfully, has been moved to New York due to the...personal preferences of the Convention's sponsor, Arcana Unlimited," he said the name with contempt. "This gives the suspicion that ArcU is somehow involved, which isn't surprising, as despite their dominions in the Developing World, their headquarters is still legally in Troy; close to New York City. This means that you have to be on watch for corporate goons."

"And, finally, despite the transfer, E3 is an exclusive convention; only people with a connection to the videogame industry are allowed to come in. So, your covers are as reporters for PCGamer Magazine. I trust that you two are good at cameras and creative writing?" he asked Balthazar, Conor, and their fellow agents. Heinz then handed them, through telekenesis, several dossiers. "Memorize them; again, you have a few weeks."

A Few Weeks Later

Akira Kariya was a genius; plenty of people were nowadays - or was it just that geniuses were more visible in this time and age? He entered university at 12, became a computer developer at 16, published his first game at 18, and it was a hit, incorporating both magic and technology to produce a realistic, immersive experience. And, yes, he was a Mage, and a powerful one. And, from his early life...

...From his early life, he had wanted to own a city and the lives of the people within it. As he grew up, he wished to own a world, not this world, don't worry, Earth was too mundane, but rather, his custom-made world, where he had power of life and death over people. He wanted to reign as a god over people, and with his new game, Realms of Gremania, he was going to do so, very soon...

[Letter Bee]

((Collab post between Joshua Tamashii and Letter Bee))

New York's derilict parts were holiday hotels by 2010s standards, but that didn't change the fac that from a technical sense, they were still derilict. The more unpleasant sort of society mixed with young men and women seeking adventure and transgressions, and, despite the veneer of prosperity that covered even them, dark elements flowed underneath the city.

However, the Morning Glory Bar was not one of those elements. Rather, it was a bar for the good and the neutral, for men hardened, but not cowed or corrupted. It was for the ones who remembered that, despite the darkness that still lurked, most of the last century was one of hope, of the demise of...certain prejudices, of the spread of prosperity across the world.

A person walked inside the bar, dressed in formal clothing that did not suit the atmosphere of this place. However, he was accepted, because his eyes showed that he had seen battle, and the guns strapped to his waist showed proof of that. Some of the long-timers of the bar recognized who he was; Heinz Harper, head of the Agency, taking an hour off from paperwork and bureaucracy.

Joshua sat at the bar, sipping his drink. It was nonalcholic, since the substance got in the way of his judgement and could ruin his aim if he got in a gun fight. Ever alert of his surroundings, he immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere. He looked around with his only good eye, seeing as how his right one was covered with an eyepatch. He immediately spotted Heinz but returned to his drink right afterwards. Unless the guy came with money, he had no buissiness with him and say no reason to say hi.

Heinz smiled, and sat next to Joshua, before deciding to speak:

"Joshua Tamashii, I presume? Let's dispense with the pleasantries; you know who I am, and you know that I want to give you a job. How's 50 Million sound, for what I'm asking?" Heinz was blunt and unsubtle; it wasn't that he had little patience for such, it was just that he didn't think it was necessary in the haven of...decency known as the Morning Glory bar.

Besides, the circumstances were urgent.

Joshua sighed as Heinz told him a price. Still he needed more then that before saying yes or no. Though the money was tempting by number alone.
"Give me details. I cant say yay or nay to a job I know nothing about you know." he said.

"All right," spoke Heinz. "You see, the E3 convention has been moved to New York by Arcana Unlimited, which is supicious enough in and of itself. However, what truly needs your attention is the fact that, there are four MMO Makers, and one of them plans to reenact the plot of Sword Art Online. It's an Early 21st Century Anime about an MMO that traps you in a virtual world, where, if your game self dies, you die too."

"Basically, such an MMO exists now, thanks to Magic, and I need you to help my Agents stop it from the shadows."

Joshua listened to the job
"Soooo... youre asking me and several other to basicly play a game... for 50 million?" he said.

"More like, stop the game from being played in the first place, actually," spoke Heinz. "If you can nab the MMO Maker before anyone can get a copy of his work, then that would be worth the price. And, yes, that is dead or alive, although I prefer alive."

Joshua finished his drink and let out a sigh
"Youre paying me to shoot things, blow shit up, and get out stress in the best way I know. Plus youre paying enough to let me retire on the spot then and there." he said before standing up" Where do we meet up with the rest of this group?"

Heinz opened a portal, and spoke:

"Right now, of course; Agent Balthazar is waiting with her crew..."

"You people and youre magic." Joshua said walking over to the portal. Well, guess we outa go then."

[Apokalipse]

Balthazar Carlton, or simply Thaz as she preferred, stretched in the sleek leather chair The Agency provided for her. She brushed back the blue locks in which she dyed in her wild teenage years and squeezed the anger management ball out of boredom until it split in half. When such boredom crept up on a person, they found themselves dwelling on the weirdest things. For instance, Thaz was currently speculating on the odds of how long she could balance on a log in the middle of a lake. It was a random thought that has no justification whatsoever and her mind continued to wander to queerer things until a knock on her desk drew her out. It was that secretary who worked for Heinz – like the ketchup.

“Hi, Karen, what can I do for you today?” Thaz asked, not bothering to put on a smile, but instead offering a friendly wave of her hand.

“It’s Lizzie.” The secretary corrected, crossing her arms.

“It’s irrelevant.” Thaz replied earnestly.

“Mr. Harper wants you for a meeting.” The other reported as quickly as she could as she had other things she needed to tend to and she still needed to contact Conor. “If you will excuse me, I should be going.”

“Okay.” Thaz shrugged, uncaring if Karen – Lizzie, she reminded herself absentmindedly – left or not. Once the woman was gone, she struggled into her jacket and brushed her blue bangs from her eyes and got a move on.

Balthazar had a few errands to run before the meeting, but eventually she found her way to Heinz who teleported her, along with the others, to a general debriefing room. Thaz sprawled into a chair and waited for the debriefing to begin. Heinz brought up a hologram, holograms were never easy to dispel, and began to explain their new mission.

“A few weeks from now, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is going to start in New York, with four MMO developers, Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, joining. Why does this merit Agency attention, you ask?” – “We didn’t ask.” Balthazar inputed though was otherwise ignored. – “Because one of those developers is trying to create an MMO that traps people in the virtual world. If people’s videogame selves die in said virtual world, they die in Real Life, and that’s a bad thing because MMOs have millions, or perhaps even billions, of users.”

He continued, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find that fucker, and neautralize him, dead or alive, before he traps millions of people inside a videogame just to satisfy his own God Comples. You have free choice of gadgets and methods, just don’t overly expose yourselves; you’re secret agents, not superheroes. Don’t drag the Agency through the mud, or further certain…stereotypes about us.”

“The E3 Convention, thankfully, has been moved to New York due to the…personal preferences of the Convention’s sponsor, Arcana Unlimited. This gives the suspicion that ArcU is somehow involved, which isn’t surprising, as despite their dominions in the Developing World, their headquarters is still legally in Troy; close to New York City. This means that you have to be on watch for corporate goons.”

“And, finally, despite the transfer, E3 is an exclusive convention; only people with a connection to the videogame industry are allowed to come in. So, your covers are as reporters for PCGamer Magazine. I trust that you two are good at cameras and creative writing?”

Balthazar answered noncommittally, “I’m good at bullshitting.”

Soon, many files were installed into her head and she mentally scanned over them for a few seconds, but she would revisit the dossiers later. “Memorize them; again, you have a few weeks.”

A few weeks later…

Balthazar had been organizing herself since the debriefing and had spent the time acquiring her favorite gadgets which included a nice, inconspicuous new gun model. Now, the day had finally come and she gathered all of the members of the mission. They all stood cramped around her desk and she knocked on her desk for their attention.

“We will be meeting in an hour to the meeting spot. The meeting spot is a small café called Parabola, if you’re late, you’re dead.” Balthazar informed, grinning ear to ear and the excitement of the mission. “Great.”

With nothing better to do, Balthazar teleported to Parabola in hopes of getting to finish a small meal before the others showed up. She sat down at a small table and began to dig in, but alas she was only half-way through when the hour was up.

[Krodin329]

((Collab with Letter Bee and Myself))
Enrico Hernandez was sending a telekinetic message with his powers of mind. There were only four targets, so it was relatively easy. After all, he was a powerful magician; leader of the security task force of the New York Mafia branch. However, he was still reluctant to send this message, he still felt like his men were more than competent enough for the job. His boss thought otherwise.

Well, the Boss is just that: the Boss, he thought philosophically. He then stared back into the dark ball of energy that was the focus of his message. Soon, it began to pulsate slightly, and broke off into four slightly smaller balls. He leaned forward, and spoke a name into each of the balls.

“Eise Varia, Silas von Wainright, Catherine Williams, and Omega”. The four orbs began to pulsate a little more rapidly, indicating they where ready to receive a message.

“Hello, My name is Enrico Hernandez. I am the head security officer for the Mafia of New York City, and, should you choose to accept my offer, your current employer. I’m offering you fifteen million dollars each, to find Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, and interrogate them. Why, you ask? Because one of them has a MMO that can kill those inside the game if they die. We don’t know which has it, but all four will be at the E3 gaming convention here. When you have tracked them down, you will split up, and interrogate each of them. Use torture if you must, but find the one with the game, and then kill them. Afterwards I want you all to meet in at the Statue of Liberty where I will be waiting with your rest of your payments. You will receive a third in a specialized bank account upon accepting the mission.
If you accept this mission, and fail, you will not be payed, or hired by the mafia ever again.

If you accept this mission, please press the blue patch on this orb, and then proceed to Carmelo’s Coffee shop by midnight tonight. Have a good evening”.

With his message recorded, he waved his hands and the orbs dispersed into different directions. He was curious as to how this would play out, but right now, he needed a smoke.

Conor
Conor walked out of the briefing room, thinking of the mission that lay at hand.

Huh, so now they’re entrusting me with millions of innocent lives. I don’t like it; it’s to much responsibility. When I agreed to run missions for them I figured it’d be small time raids and stuff, not full on espionage. But hey, I’ll get to fight, and UMBG is still a float, so I got no reason to complain. He whipped out his cellphone from his pocket and dialed Sylas, his best friend, and put the phone up to his ear.

“Yo, Sylas. Hey listen, I’m going to need you to cancel my spot next month for the cross guild tournament, I have work to do for the agency.”

“Well that’s sudden”, said Sylas.

“Ya, it’s pretty important though. Listen, I know you’re an avid gamer, and I know you’re bummed about not going to E3 this year, but that’s where the mission is. I can bring you back something if you want.”

“YOU LUCKY BASTARD!”, Sylas shouted. It was true that he loved video games almost as much as fighting, and was unable to secure tickets to the E3 convention that year. “Get me the four new MMO’s that are coming out, please.”

“That’s a no can do. That’s what the mission’s about, you see. You’ve watched SAO, right?”

“Ya, of course”.

“Well one of those game designers is trying to recreate that, and we don’t know which. I’ll get you the new Beyond the Grave. I gotta bolt, bye!”

A few weeks later
Conor rushed over the roofs of buildings, propelling himself faster with concentrated bursts of fire. He, for once, didn’t want to be late. He had taken the past few weeks of from the ring and had intensified his near inhuman training even further; even he realized that he didn’t want to be responsible for a delay. He had to be serious.

He kept going for another fifteen minutes, eyes scanning for Balthazar. At last he found her and hurtled himself down, flipping twice, and sticking a sliding landing on both of his feet.

“ Hello Thaz, you’re looking vibrant as always. Long time, no see, which is a shame in regards to you.” All of this he said with a slight smirk, letting her know he was kidding, but also putting himself out there, half asking if she wanted to go on a date. But, those chances were very slim indeed.

[BioHazard]

((Collab post between BioHazard and Letter Bee))

It felt just like any other day. Silas was working at his small firm, just looking through some papers of several delivery jobs. After the death of Raj he managed to get the company alive, and hired several people he trusted. As he was in his office, a small orb of dark energy appeared in front of him. Silas was confused as he never had seen a floating orb, or at least not in a very long time. The orb contained a message:

“Hello, My name is Enrico Hernandez. I am the head security officer for the Mafia of New York City, and, should you choose to accept my offer, your current employer. I’m offering you fifteen million dollars each, to find Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, and interrogate them. Why, you ask? Because one of them has a MMO that can kill those inside the game if they die. We don’t know which has it, but all four will be at the E3 gaming convention here. When you have tracked them down, you will split up, and interrogate each of them. Use torture if you must, but find the one with the game, and then kill them. Afterwards I want you all to meet in at the Statue of Liberty where I will be waiting with your rest of your payments. You will receive a third in a specialized bank account upon accepting the mission.
If you accept this mission, and fail, you will not be payed, or hired by the mafia ever again.

If you accept this mission, please press the blue patch on this orb, and then proceed to Carmelo’s Coffee shop by midnight tonight. Have a good evening”.

Shortly afterwards the orb disappeared. Fifteen million dollars.... each. That kind of money would really help his company. They could get better vehicles, more import and thus also more export. Declining this offer was something only a fool would do. And knowing it was the Mafia, he knew that he would get the money. Thinking about the subject, could he trust this person? He could very well be working with his father... but Silas decided to accept the job nonetheless. He then thought about the mission itself. The MMO sounded very very similar to Sword Art Online, seems like people don't have much creativity nowadays.

Silas headed out of his office and went to his second in command, Mike. "Mike, I need you to be in charge for the company for some time. I just got a very important job which could help the company, as the reward is 15 mill." Silas said.

Mike's eyes widened. "That's awesome! Why are you still here? Go there!" Mike said.

"Haha, I will. But the meeting is at midnight, so I'll be going in a few hours."

A few hours later

Silas walked into one of the many alleys in New York. He looked around until he saw a sign: Carmelo's Coffee. "This must be the place." Silas mumbled to himself. He proceeded to walk and entered the shop. He didn't really know this Enrico guy, as Silas never really got involved with the Mafia's business when he was still there. So he decided to take a seat at the table in the far corner. He grabbed his cellphone and played a bit with it until someone would approach him.

But then, time stopped; obviously the work of Magic. With his magical senses, Silas can detect that Timespace was being used, as well as one other School (with his Law Magic, Silas can sense all Magic, but not what School they are unless it was a School that he had). It seems that someone had come to interrupt his talk with Enrico. No, two someones, a tall, green-eyed man wearing formal clothing, and a kid in a T-Shirt and jeans; both had Timespace, Forces, and Law, while the man had six other unknown Schools (the boy, meanwhile, just had one).

Nevertheless, the point was that Silas was in a time-stop, cast by two powerful Magi who knew what was up. The formally-dressed man was the first to speak:

"Ever since the tragedy that befell you, we have been watching, waiting to make our own offers. However, it seems that the enemy was trying to get to you first, forcing us to hurry up." The man then sighed. "Anyway, I have an introduction to make: My name is Heinz Harper, head of the Agency, and I can help you find who you are looking for...as well as double the offer made to you by the dark orb."

"Yes, we've been spying on you," Heinz said curtly, to the disapproval of the boy beside him. "Deal with it."

Once the time stopped, Silas looked around suspicious and put his cellphone away. A formally-dressed man, who introduced himself as Heinz Harper told him some interesting things. Some of which Silas wasn't exactly glad about. "So you're saying that I must now go along with people who have been spying on me since..." Silas didn't finish the sentence because of several reasons.

"I don't know..." Silas pauzed and let out a sigh. "I'll do it because I had some suspisions of this Enrico dude, I never trust the Mafia, but I was willing to fight him. But this will do too, especially with the 30 million dollar reward." he said. "So tell me watcha want me to do." he said with a bit of a monotone voice.

Heinz smiled, and continued:

"First, we want you to go along with what Enrico wants...but only to collect as much information on the Mafia and your...compatriots as possible. We also want you to give our own Agents a bit of a challenge; they sort of need the practice. However," he then patted the boy's shoulder, "once my nephew, Ascot, makes his apperance, I want you to turn on the other Mafia hirelings in as quick and devestating fashion as you can. Considering that Enrico gives advance payments, this is the option that allows you to maximize profits."

Similar to Heinz, a smile appeared on Silas' face too. "I have no problems turning my back on the Mafia, trust me, I've done that before. How will I know who your nephew is?"

Another smile. "Oh, don't worry; Ascot here knows how to make a...spectacular apperance."

"Then I guess we have a deal." Silas said and held his hand out to seal the deal.

Heinz responded with a handshake. "That we do," he spoke as he magically bound the deal with Fate and Law; now, if either one of them broke the deal, they would suffer horrible luck for the rest of their lives.

"Cool. Then I'll see you around." Silas said after they sealed the magical deal.

[GreenGoat]

"So that's our marks?"

"Yuppers. We're gonna hit them like a hammer and bug off at the speed of light."

Catherine was wearing a blonde wig, topped with a large black magician's hat with a bow on it, complete with a black magician's dress. Today was Touhou day for the cosplay bar she worked in, the Nonbiri Corner, and most had taken to showing up in cosplay outfits of the game series in question. Adds a bit of realism when the clumsy newbie shows up as the canonically clumsy character Utsuho, a hell raven girl with a cannon for an arm.

Today they were going to hunt 4 people. 4 people thought to have... She didn't really know, but they were game makers and someone wanted them dead. Her best guess would be some rival game company wanted to off the opposition. All of four of them would have to go however, she didn't know which one to catch, and the orb thing never really specified that she couldn't kill all of them. As for the hyperactive girl squeeing over the details of her torturing methods beside Catherine... well, this wasn't even her contract to begin with, but Reimu over there, or Clarissa dressed up as Reimu the shrine maiden, wanted to come along for the ride. Not that she was complaining, an extra hand was always handy to have around. If she got lucky, they'd catch two of them and one of them will be the holder. Then they would squeeze what fun they could from those two before they kill them.

If both of them were the wrong person, she'd just catch the other two and put them together. Then torture them all for the heck of it.

"So.. now we need to find a good place to go through. This entrance over here opens once in a while for..."

"Stop." Catherine interrupted. "We'll go through the front gate."

"Eh?!"

"Trust me on this one."

Clarissa didn't look too convinced. That didn't stop her mooching off Catherine as soon as they entered a cafe however. They still had time. Plenty of time to let the convo start and for them to come in fashionably late.

[Lucek]

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Lucek))

“Hello, My name is Enrico Hernandez. I am the head security officer for the Mafia of New York City, and, should you choose to accept my offer, your current employer. I’m offering you fifteen million dollars each, to find Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, and interrogate them. Why, you ask? Because one of them has a MMO that can kill those inside the game if they die. We don’t know which has it, but all four will be at the E3 gaming convention here. When you have tracked them down, you will split up, and interrogate each of them. Use torture if you must, but find the one with the game, and then kill them. Afterwards I want you all to meet in at the Statue of Liberty where I will be waiting with your rest of your payments. You will receive a third in a specialized bank account upon accepting the mission.
If you accept this mission, and fail, you will not be payed, or hired by the mafia ever again.
If you accept this mission, please press the blue patch on this orb, and then proceed to Carmelo’s Coffee shop by midnight tonight. Have a good evening.”

Interesting Omega thought to himself. He sat there in a room far below a bar. The building belonged to him, even if on paper it had multiple owners, all reported to Omega. His room, or maybe it could be called one of his many hideaways. He cared not, still listening to this offer clicked a few times in his head. There was something not right with it. Normally he would decline the job but curiosity got the better of him. The blue button pressed…. By a shadowy finger…

Omega stood up, from his resting place, when he did all of the dark shadows seemed to retreat back into his own. He stood there, now in an empty room. The orb gone after the job was accepted. Omega went out, turning into his spirit form for faster travel, in seconds he went from underground to the rooftop of the bar. After returning to his own form, he invoked the two devices on his belt, the first of them, a magi-tech device, cloaked his form from peoples’ eyes turning him invisible to the naked eye, the second cloaked the magic emitted by him and the devices. Only his presence remained, but that also soon disappeared as for an assassin it was second nature to hide themselves.

He moved without haste, making sure to not leave any traces of his travel. He didn’t need anyone’s attention right now, not before a job. Reaching his destination, a rooftop with a good view of the café he was supposed to meet his employer. He preferred to be overly careful than be surprised later. He was about to turn off both devices as they sapped his own magic power when he felt the magic involved from a nearby alley. Still hidden he moved and observed the conversation down below. He didn’t hear anything as the conversation was already over when he got to the ledge of the building. Still something felt familiar about the man down there, Omega couldn’t put his finger on it but maybe they were from the Agency. If it was true making a deal with those people would be more plausible, after all Mafia was not someone he liked to work with.

Ascot looked up, but saw nothing. Heinz, however, was not the head of the Agency because he looked pretty. He knew that there were four orbs that appeared in New York, and that thus, there would be a maximum of four people in the cafe, including Silas. However, the latter was the only one present in the premises, which was suspicious. Heinz spoke to his nephew, once the conversation with Silas was done and the time-stop had ceased:

Ascot, get the motion detector, he said telepathically, showing no outward sign that he had been communicating. So, it would come as a surprise that the boy took out a device that seemed like a small telescope, and began scanning the area around him with it. His sweep detected someone who was moving to eavesdrop on the already-over conversation between the group and Silas (it was already over because said conversation was held in a time-stop), and, fast as lightning, he moved to intercept.

On the ledge, Omega (and Silas, who was still there) would suddenly be surprised as Ascot, moving so fast he left an afterimage in his trail, appeared over the ledge with a great Timespace and Energy-enhanced leap, before kicking out at Omega's right shoulder.

Omega was certainly surprised as Ascot, suddenly vanished and reappeared next to him, he didn’t expect someone to use timespace to get next to him, much less to attack, even if he felt magic being invoked a split second before. Kid is skilled He thought as he barely dodged the enhanced kick, only thanks to his body reacting before his mind did, jumping back to the center of the roof. Still he didn’t want to fight, not now. So he disengaged both of his devices and reappeared his hand palm up directed at Ascot. It was a gesture of nonaggression, even if he still kept hiding his presence out of habit.

Ascot, now with both feet on the ledge, looked curiously at Omega, before casually putting his hands behind his head in a gesture that was both non-aggressive and confident. The boy then smiled warmly, all guile dropping from his face like wet pain in the rain. He then spoke:

"Hello there. You're one of the assassins hired by those orbs, right? Glad to see you're not insisting on a fight; that means you're reasonable. Anyway, my name's Ascot Harper, nephew of Heinz Harper, head of the Agency; he's the guy below."

"Anyway," he continued, "We're here to hire said assassins to be double agents, and we have the money to do it as well. We can double whatever Enrico is offering, and do much more for you besides."

“Omega.” He stated his name, his voice muffled, giving it a genderless sound. “I don’t really care for money, but the rest of what you’re offering is interesting. I don’t like working for the mafia anyway.” His posture relaxed and he pointed to the alley below. “Shouldn’t we go talk to your Uncle now?” He tilted his head quizzically.

"Yep," Ascot nodded, "let's go talk to him." And with that, the boy floated down to the ground, before running back to Heinz and Silas, the latter who was still there.

"Preliminary negotiations successful," Ascot continued, before gazing back at the arriving Omega. "So, if you don't care for money, what would you want, then?" Heinz looked quizzicaly at his nephew, thinking: That's my line!

He would be a good fighter. Omega thought, shaking his head as that was not something an assassin in this situation should think. He followed the boy, employing his own magic to land near them, slowly walking up to the group, stopping a few steps away.
“Ever hear of the Lead Weavers?” That was his only question.

"A defunct organization of Mage-Assassins, situated in this city, but capable of operating worldwide. They were behind some cases that were tricky even for the Agency, but, in the end, they were eliminated by..." Ascot sighed, and quieted down. His next statement was said in a sorrowful tone:

"Mr. Omega, that piece of information will have to wait until you've agreed to have an oath bound by Fate and Law, courtesy of my Uncle."

Omega nodded to what Ascot said, however the latter part made him raise an eyebrow beneath his mask. Were these people already aware and in possession of the information or were they the ones who did it? Questions plagued the masked man’s mind, but he didn’t like the mention of an oath. Still if they were responsible he’d have a target, but the oath might be a hindrance. What was more important though, was to find out if there were any survivors.

“You realize, what I already heard, not to mention this oath isn’t to my liking. Still tell me what kind of oath it is, then I will decide.” His voice was cool and level, but there was something there only another person with his past would know.

Ascot looked deeply into Omega's eyes, and spoke:

"Simple. You go with the other assassins to E3, and help them for now. Then, once I make my apperance, you turn on the other assassins, quick as mercury. Not just that, but you're also instructed to give our agents a hard time before you change sides, in order to keep them alert and ready, as well as to test them. Simple as that."

Heinz smiled; his nephew was learning the tricks of the trade well.

Omega smiled. This kid has a bright future, must have a good teacher. Then nodded, after all he might as well agree, even if he didn’t care about money, it was good to have. Still the bait he laid out was easily swallowed, both by them and him. He knew he was being coaxed, but he didn’t mind, the kid was fun.

“You’re a great negotiator. But I have two things I will mention or rather ask.” He paused for a few seconds. “One, I’d like a bit of a partnership, after all, if I join with you, no one will want to employ me after. Two… Should I just be a nuisance or try to kill them? I take my job seriously, so I want to know the degree of a ‘hard time’ I should give them.” He crossed his arms. “Aside from that, I see no problems with this deal otherwise.”

"One, of course," spoke Ascot, "and two, well, I like the Agents, so, just be a nusiance." He then smiled, and turned towards his uncle. "So, wanna bind the oath now?"

Omega nodded, he didn’t see any problems anymore. “All right. I’ll agree to it.” No other choice to be had there.

Heinz then walked towards Omega, and held out his hand for a shake. Once Omega had grasped the Fate Mage's palm, the latter would then magically bind the oath, sealing Omega to his new duty...

The masked man took the offered hand, feeling the magic doing t’s work once he did. Now there is no way back .Let’s make the best out of it. He thought about the decision he just made. This was Omega’s new path, he only hoped he didn’t make a mistake in choosing it…

[Letter Bee]

The E3 Expo was in the New York Convention Centre, which had been demolished and rebuilt to a grander, larger structure, one that fit the larger audiences of the late 21st Century. In fact, E3's ban on people unconnected to the videogame industry had made sure that much of this space was unutilized, and had to be locked away. This left about a third of the building being left alone, something that suited Arcana Unlimited fine.

ArcU did help Akira Kariya develop his new 'Magical Virtual Reality' technology, but it didn't plan to let the man go through with his delusions. Rather, they planned to kill Kariya, then use his technology for their own ends, to make themselves gods of their own worlds in case they failed to take over this one. And, to do that, the MegaCorp had been using the unused third of the convention centre as a base for their invisible 'Ghost' troops, and much more; much more indeed.

For ArcU had a secret weapon, one that would turn the tide of any battle that should occur...

---

Just because the building was too large for the convention didn't mean that the E3 gathering was in any way small. In fact, it was fairly well-populated, with at least a thousand people connected to the gaming industry; software developers, hardware developers, single-player game makers, multiplayer game makers, and, of course, logistics and maintenance personnel, as well as snack booths. There was also security, the finest that the NYPD and the private security companies can offer. Oh, and Arcana Unlimited's finest anti-scrying, anti-teleportation, and anti-everything systems, which augmented the natural defenses of the building. Despite the throngs of people that now streamed throughout the building, everything seemed safe.

But why would Anya Tarnova, inventor of Midgard Online, felt suspicious about this particular convention; this had never been the case in Los Angeles? All right, so the move itself had been dubious, but she figured that it was just another way for ArcU to get rich, nothing more. So, why did she have this feeling in her head that said that no, everything's not all right, and things are about to explode soon?

If the 'reporters' would move to interview her, she would try and defy the cold 'Slavic' sterotype and talk to them warmly, answering questions about her game such as safety measures (Midgard Online was realistic, but players can control if they would feel pain at all, there would me measures taken to protect epileptic patients, stuff like that), graphics (she was proud to say that with Pure Technology alone, she was able to make the game look just like real life, without the 'Uncanny Valley' problem, gameplay (it was hack-and-slash, with a Magic System that's more limited than Real Life; now that Magic has been proven to be real, people have been saying that IRL magic was too munchkiny).

Ken Saddler shared the same suspicions; as the maker of Hope Online, the post-apocalyptic game based on the concept of 'A World Half Full', he was percived by many to be a wise and profound person. And, what he knew was that this was an unusual conference, what with the move, ArcU's involvement, and now the presence of one too many reporters. Thankfully, he and Lizzie (Elizabeth Cortes) knew enough magic to defend themselves.

If the 'reporters' would try to interview him, he would also greet the people warmly, giving the same answers as regards safety as Anya (only in his game, pain is automatically switched off when PCs are tortured instead of NPCs; as for how to tell when a PC is being tortured, well, that system was confidential, but magical), graphics (very, very realistic, but with heavy use of magic to save costs) gameplay (it was basically real life, with real world magic), and even a few words on his motivation ("I want to show that even in the darkness of the end, there is hope and renewal). Not just that, but when asked about his Magical Powers and the Magical Powers of his fellow MMO makers, he would be open about the fact that of the four, only Anya wasn't a Mage.

Akira Kairya and Elizabeth Cortes, meanwhile, were having a private argument behind the former's booth, meaning that the Mafia hit squad can try to nab them both; of course, since both of them were Magi and one of them was a supergenius, such an approach might cause difficulties. That said, though, people who've watched SAO would be most suspicious of the person whose initials are A.K...

[Apokalipse]

“Hello Thaz, you’re looking vibrant as always. Long time, no see, which is a shame in regards to you.” Conor Veradé, a nineteen year old thug – though, as a member of the Agency, Thaz is not supposed to acknowledge this because of the arrangement – approached the Agent of twenty-one.

Uninterestedly, Thaz glanced over at the rascal and frowned. “Conor, I don’t normally have the urge to hit a colleague, but you seem to be an exception.”

The café, nearly empty when she first arrived, had began to fill up and tables were given away. Carefully, Balthazar observed the room’s occupants There was ayoung copuple kissing at a booth – seriously, public displays of affections makes everyone uncomfortable – and a buisnesman talking loudly on his phone – how rude. By the large window – Thaz had avoided those tables as a precaution – sat a blonde woman on her laptop, writing, and a group of teenagers goofing off. Any one of them could be an enemy, well, except for the six month old baby being toted around the café.

Just that moment, the door opened to allow two familiar faces belonging to a tall, tanned brunette woman and a gangly ginger man-child. Agent Genevieve was an expert in Fate and was considered the lucky charm amongst her co-workers. The amazon also possessed Law, Mentalism, and Otherness. Axel, on the other hand, was proficient in Life and Death, his two specialties with slight skill in Energy and Matter.

Axel marveled at a giant coffee cup by the door and inspected it with a freckled finger. Genevieve had to literally drag the absentminded twenty-four year old man by the collar. Axel made pathetic choking noises while clawing at her grip.

“You’re late.” Balthazar spat and Genevieve scratched her cheek sheepishly.

“Axel got sidetracked, sorry. It won’t happen again.” The brunette apologized.

“No, it won’t. After this mission, I’m kicking your ass to hell.” Thaz smirked, the only hint she was “joking”.

With greetings or lack thereof aside, Balthazar became all business and gave another run-down of the mission . “Look, there’s no need to overcomplicate things. There’s no need to get caught in details we know. When it comes down to it, there’s someone bad and we have to stop ‘em. Simple? Me think yes. Now, don’t screw this up, okay?”

With that, Balthazar finished and Axel, who thinks nothing through, piped in, “Aren’t you supposed to tell us you believe in us?”

Balthazar scanned the room one more time, not a hint of hilarity in her eyes. “No, then I’d be lying.”

Silence.

"You're a bitch."

[IVIasterJay]

Eise was on his bike, a sleek machine of silver and smooth lines, waiting in traffic when a black cat manifested itself on his arm. He sighed at his dead pet. “Kuro, you can’t sit there. I need to use my arm to st-” The black cat cut him off with a meow. “All right, I get it,” he relented. Kuro was in business mode, not in the mood for anything but immediate compliance.

Eise had just pulled into a darkened alley and taken his helmet off when the cat spirit shifted into the shape of a dark ball of energy floating at eye level. The cat’s usual dark aura returned to its animal shape, the orb sitting where its stomach would be. The cat’s mouth opened, and a very human voice came out.

“Hello, My name is Enrico Hernandez. I am the head security officer for the Mafia of New York City, and, should you choose to accept my offer, your current employer. I’m offering you fifteen million dollars each, to find Akira Kariya, Elizabeth Cortes, Anya Tarnova, and Ken Saddler, and interrogate them. Why, you ask? Because one of them has a MMO that can kill those inside the game if they die. We don’t know which has it, but all four will be at the E3 gaming convention here. When you have tracked them down, you will split up, and interrogate each of them. Use torture if you must, but find the one with the game, and then kill them. Afterwards I want you all to meet in at the Statue of Liberty where I will be waiting with your rest of your payments. You will receive a third in a specialized bank account upon accepting the mission.
If you accept this mission, and fail, you will not be payed, or hired by the mafia ever again.
If you accept this mission, please press the blue patch on this orb, and then proceed to Carmelo’s Coffee shop by midnight tonight. Have a good evening.”

Eise reached out to press the blue section of the orb, his soft fingers shifting into black claws as they entered the cat’s aura that surrounded the orb. Kuro wasn’t asking Eise if he wanted to take the job, the mere fact that it was bringing it to the man’s attention said that it had already decided. The orb vanished, and Kuro recomposed itself into its usual lean physique before fading away. Where the spirit went when it wasn’t with him Eise didn’t know, and to be honest he didn’t really care.

The silver cycle weaved through traffic back the way it had come. He had plenty of time, but knowing that he was going to be meeting a member of the mafia to discuss a murder didn’t put Eise in the mood to ride through the countryside. In fact, it put him quite out of that mood.

Later that night…
A dark shape sat atop the roof of the building across from Carmelo’s Coffee shop. Sensing nothing, the thing leapt from atop the building, arcing across the roadway to land silently on the top of Carmelo’s. Black Cat let itself in, passing through roof and ceiling and floor and ceiling again, falling through the building’s inners until it found itself looking down at the main shop. Flipping in mid-air, it grabbed onto the ceiling it had just fallen through and pulled itself back through it.

Black Cat crouched in the space between the panels and the real ceiling, hearing the quiet commotion from below rising in the air, watching through a newly-cut hole in the weak panel. In the dark hiding space, Black Cat waited for the others to arrive. Paranoia was a reasonable trait for the spirit-hybrid to have given that its employer would just as likely see it dead any other day of the week. Who knows, if the job wasn't good enough, it might just kill the mafia man if he showed up.

[GreenGoat]

"Hi everyone, and welcome to E3!!"

As Catherine started on her (fake) intro on the floating camera (with no memory card to actually record something), Clarissa looked around eying all those who passed by her. There were a lot of people to be sure, from those really involved with the gaming industry to some of those game reviewers as well as those smaller more well known game reviewers, or youtubers.

It was easy enough to enter the place. They just waltzed in through the door like they owned the place and the guards barely even gave them a glance. The few who do didn't even bother to question them once they flashed the fake passes in their face. They had already taken a bit of time to scout out the place, planning escapes route ahead of time, just in case.

"And now, pass to Miss Reimu!"

As if by the flick of a switch, Clarissa's expression turned from mildly annoyed to highly ecstatic.

"Ahaha, hello there audience. I just wanted to say there's a ton of interesting things here and we might not be able to cover them all. So first will be Need for Speed: Limited Sky. Well after the flop they suffered with NFS: Wanted NEXT, I'm certainly looking forwards to see how this one will pull them out of that rut."

As soon as she finished speaking, the camera floated over to Catherine, now in front of the demo of the game in question. As soon as she got into the game, she did, with remarkable skill, a full throttle from 0 kmph to 200 kmph into a wall, turning the virtual car into bits of smoking metal on screen.

"Huh... You suck at this."

Catherine gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah, I kinda do."

"How bout.... something we're good at?"

"Good idea." Catherine threw her arms wide open, expanding a field of EMP, frying any and every piece of electronics not EMP shielded. Clarissa did the same gesture, but summoned up several razor sharp squares and launching them every which way. Screams and shrieks started to fill the air as several people were sliced up by the razor squares.

"Lets make sure to catch them. Limbs optional."

With that, Catherine went after the the two arguing over by a booth, while Clarissa went after the other two.

[Lucek]

The coffee chop business was concluded without a hitch, well aside from one of the people not being there, making it a bit problematic to coordinate, but it seemed they would probably go each for themselves anyway. All four of the ones called, Omega and Silas included, accepted the job. Still sitting there would be problematic in his usual clothes so he went in changing his clothes to jeans and a hoodie, using his abilities to mask his face or rather the mask he wore under the hood, masking his magic with the device as well as his presence.

As he waited there he noticed magic was used in the vicinity, thanks to what he was thought he sensed a trace of spirit. He faked stretching and leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling where he felt the small trace, still he saw nothing so he left it alone. It didn’t matter in reality, after all who cared about that, it might have been sent by the final hitman employed or just a wandering spirit. Omega just wanted to get this over with. So once the person from the Mafia arrived, he confirmed the targets, objective and the deal, taking the money he was owed with him as he left the coffee shop.

Day of the E3

Omega prepared for this day very thoroughly. Making sure all his devices and magic trinkets were working correctly. He knew this would be a bit of a problematic job, so being in more place than one was advisable. It was a good thing he had a way to do that. By channeling his magic he was able to create a clone, but only in appearance, of himself. As it was animated with his magic it would be detected but he had a way around that. Omega used the magic emission cloak that hid the magic he emitted by sapping his own power, but the clone was unable to use it as it was already being sustained by Omega. Instead he used a portable one, that used a replaceable power source, however this one’s flaw was that it wasn’t able to keep the field up for long. Making it only good for emergencies.

Still, this would be enough as he didn’t intend to stay there long. Go in, get the objective, leave. Taking care of everything he had to along the way. Looking at the clone he said in a female voice: ”I am Alpha and you’re Omega. That is how you will call yourself.” The clone nodded and replied. ”I am Omega, you are Alpha.” In Omega’s voice. Both of them emitting the presences of normal people. With the preparations complete, they made their way to the E3, where everything would be decided…

New York Convention Centre – E3

Both arrived as scheduled, Omega – now Alpha – went towards the front entrance, having both their badges ready. After all how Omega normally dressed looked more like cosplay than assassin attire. Not to mention there was at least a couple game characters similar to what he wore. No matter, as now they strode at a leisure pace toward the entrance, the clone having engaged the device, prior to their arrival.

As they went in they got into a bit of trouble at the gate, as their ID had them in costume instead of normally. Still thy passed, a few interruptions on the way, like people wanting to take a picture or just talk. When that happens they did a little choreography stunt that looked perfectly in sync, after all it was one person. Moving through the crowd they noticed or rather found their targets because of the booths and reporters. Despite the amount of people Omega noticed someone was already going for the mark, so he went after one pair his clone after the other, both gradually erasing their presence until it couldn’t be felt.

[IVIasterJay]

Black Cat sat and observed as each of the others arrived at the coffee shop, filing their faces away for memory. Hm, one was hiding his appearance with magic. That one was smart. It would need to be able to identify the other assassins during the attack, but two out of three would be fine. The third one would be the one that wasn't the other two. Simple enough. After the meeting, when the last of the hired killers had gone, Black Cat slipped from its hiding place and to the floor. After indicating its acceptance of the task and claiming its pay, the spirit-hybrid walked right out the front door like a normal person, its black skin quickly melting into the dark night’s shadows. It couldn’t very well have taken the money with it going through the wall.

At E3…
Eise was nervous, but that was hardly unusual. He’d always had distaste for what he did. Kuro muted that part of his mind. Black Cat, covered from head to tail in smooth obsidian-black skin, didn’t plan to make the jobs of the other three killers easy. Laying both palms on the smooth concrete of the building’s wall, it felt the magic that protected the building. Circling around the wall, it found the delivery gates at the back of the buildings. A solid blow and some delicate cuts made short work of the steel gates. A few sparks of magic shot out as it came in contact with the killer’s blue claws, but Black Cat ignored those. The magic protecting the place wouldn’t get in its way.

It slipped inside, finding itself in a large open space filled to the ceiling with piles of crates and boxes. Many were empty, their contents on display on the main floor. Storage. The stack closest to the gate had collapsed when he had punched it, making navigating through the room from where he was difficult. Black Cat leaped onto the ceiling and crossed the large room that way, slipping onto the wall and out the door. A dull hallway ran from the delivery site to the showroom. it made its way to the main space, the hired assassin was disappointed to see that someone else had already chosen to rampage.

The disappointment vanished in an instant as it saw two people standing together not far away. They stood closer to it than to the two rampaging little girls. And better yet, their attention, like that of everyone else in the room, was completely focused on the carnage. Perfect.

If the two heard the faint purring as Black Cat pounced, the warning still wouldn’t have been enough to react in time. Faster than thought, it had them both immobilized. It had struck from behind, arm reaching around to cover the woman’s mouth, blue claws cutting into the skin of her face, black tail pressing against the bottom of her ribs, threatening to pierce the skin and body at the slightest provocation. The man found himself in a similar situation, Black Cat’s right arm around his body, the claws piercing his chest just above the man’s heart, the thing’s tongue just barely pressing against his neck, the tiny amount of pressure already drawing blood. ArcU’s own defenses now turned to favor the assassin, instant teleportation being the only escape for one of the game makers. Any action from one would lead to the other’s death, assuming they could escape being killed as well.

If no resistance came, and the game makers did what they should, Black Cat would begin walking backwards towards the door it had entered through, trusting the two to have enough affection for their internal organs to follow his movements. He would use the two game makers like living shields, though the attack had happened so fast it doubted anyone had taken notice already.

[BioHazard]

NY Mafia HQ

Aldric was sitting in his big red seat, next to him was a little table which had several things on it. His cellphone, a drink, and some little bags which possibly had some kind of drugs inside of it. But of course there also was a pistol lying on it. He sat up straight as he had requested his top assassin, Jack, the Maiden of the Mist, presence to tell her about a new mission for her. It would be a little bit different than she would normally do, but at least she was allowed, or actually ordered, to kill one person at least.

Once she was present Aldric began to speak. "You know what to do, right? I don't care if those game developers live or die, as long as the 'assassins' make it out alive. Kill Enrico after you are done, he has been around here way too long. And I guess I don't have to worry about you getting in there?" he said with a smile.

---

Carmelo's Coffee

Silas sat in his chair, playing a bit with his cellphone until that Enrico guy arrived. He noticed that there were two other people, but didn't pay any attention to them. There apparently was missing one person, but why should he care? The mafia pawn explained their mission and paid them up front with 15 million. He knew the Mafia's business, so it was wise to execute the mission else you were going to be killed. This however wouldn't be the case for Silas, as he knew that his father would want to kill him personally instead of sending someone. He already knew that he was being watched, so his father could've killed him a thousand times already. Although he probably doesn't know the current location of his company.

Without saying much to the others around, Silas returned back to the company to get ready for the upcoming mission.

NY E3 Convention Center

Silas didn't encounter anyone who he met at the coffee shop the other day, at E3... yet. Silas took the most comfortable approach and just entered through the front door with the alias of being a writer for a gaming magazine. He showed his card with the name of his delivery service company, which oddly enough could pass for a game magazine name. He was allowed inside. Silas remained calm during his time inside the building. He was just exploring a little bit, but also was too lazy to immediately act right now.

Suddenly he heard screams coming from further up. Silas walked, in a quickly pace, towards the place the screams came from. He stopped a distance from it as he already could see what was happening. He saw several shredded bodies lying on the ground. It caused a huge distraction, so Silas assumed the others already had begun acting. Silas used his flowmotion to quickly exit the stage. His flowmotion in combination with the super speed were so quickly that he at least was leaving after images, but the normal game reporter wouldn't notice him. He quickly found Black Cat who was holding two of the targets in his claws.

"What the hell are you doing?" Silas said monotonously. "Aren't you going to share? We each have to interrogate one." Silas' held his voice down so that not too much people would hear him. "Let's first get these guys to a quiet place in the building." Silas raised his hand and a chunk of metal wrapped itself around the waist of the man and the woman. It would prevent them from using their hands or arms, and limit their magical abilities.

[Apokalipse]

Balthazar cursed under her breath when she had received the message. They had just been exiting the café, going over their cover stories when her phone began to buzz in her black jeans. It was a text message from an agent tasked with watching E3.

“Everybody, move out.” She ordered, standing back and summoning her magic to begin teleporting.

She felt every particle of her body moving and separating, falling into nothingness as her body dissolved. Thaz’s essence began shuffling through the universe until she reconstructed inside E3. It was pandemonium, people running every which way and magic exploded every which way. Her hands tensed as she aimed at a few of the slower patrons, beckoning a force field to envelop them with its security. Too many were attacking for just her to take care of and she didn’t know how long it would be until Genevieve and Axel appeared. At this moment, she had to choose who was more important. Two were congregating around a woman and a man – two of the game makers – and thus was given Thaz’s priority.

She sped towards them, her thighs screaming as she focused on every molecule that buzzed in that vicinity. Molecule manipulation was an inaccurate process and so it had to be given a larger range – there was always a possibility that the game makers would be hit, but Thaz was confident in her ability to strike. The molecules that were under her metaphorical thumb began to expand until small scale detonations exploded around the four, none hitting her targets but causing enough chaos to shake the terrain.

[Joshua Tamashii]

Jack

NY Mafia HQ - Day before E3

IT took Jack less then a second to reach her master after he sent the summons for her. She was never far away, usually in the same room but somewhere higher up, hidden by some object and/or illusions she made.
"Master Aldric." she said before hearing his instructions, which brought a smile to her face." We'll see that it's done Master and we hope Mister Enrico last a while. Our toys are no fun if they break too easily. At least that useless doll won't be joining us this time."

With that being said, Jack vanished after a wall of mist passed between her and Aldric. All that remained now was for the deed to be done.

Day of E3

Jack had entered the convention center through it's air duct system, the ones that ran through the unused section of the building in particular. Well it was supposed to be abandoned but it wasn't long before she began hearing things. Moving forward cautiously and bypassing any security she came across, which was very little, he soon found an opening and saw what looked like a group of soldiers getting ready for war along with something she couldn't make out from this angle. She had to suppress a giggle as she moved onwards. If there was some sort of security in this place, she was allowed to take them out. Infact, she would have to fine some wires linked to the security center of the convention center at some point.

But for now she had to get to the floor were E3 was being held. She sped up her steps but remained cautious and quiet and she moved closer and closer to the floor. When she heard the sounds of chaos ahead of her she had to take a second to keep her calm before moving forward in the same manner. The moment she found a grate that would allow her to exit out onto the convention floor she quickly removed it and jumped down and looked around, examining the situation and choosing her targets. The assassin's were to live, the game developers didn't matter, everything else was a dead man/woman walking in her eyes right now.

Joshua

Day of E3

Joshua, unlike most of the other, remained outside the convention center. If something was going to go down, as his gut said it would, best to head in then, help people out so the body count wasn't that hard, and then help calm the situation down... most likely in a violent manner. As luck would have it, only a few hours into waiting, while he was enjoying a hot dog and soda he got from a local vendor, all hell broke loose. People began running out of the building in a panic but progress was slow due to clogged entrances. Either way there was only one thing to do now.

"Yo Heinz you there?" He asked into an earpiece he had. It was something he had requested before leaving the head of the Agency behind last night. He did so much work for the damn organization, he figured getting a direct line to the head every once and a while. This job was delicate and seemed to require such a line" IF so, I'm heading in now. Also, try and get me some eyes in here, cause it seem like a lot of shit is going down very quickly.

Give me some clues and some targets and let's get this shit over with."

With that being said he headed towards the building, summoning two weapons from his gloves, which were enchanted with time/space and allowed him to store his weapons and other tools and gadgets. His weapons of choice included an enchanted katana and enchanted desert eagle. Long and close range in each hand. Best way to go into a battle in his mind.

[Mass City]

Washington DC

The President of the United States was a busy woman. The world was in a constant state of problems. It sucked being the most powerful woman in the world

"God was this how grandpa dealt with his problems?" she asked.

Right now her primary concern was the agency. They were dealing with some nut trying to lock a whole lot of people in a video game at E3 and she was not available to handle. She hated dealing with nutjobs but that was a part of the job. Now more and more people use magic for evil. It was just a strange strange thing. No one was happy with what they had or worked hard to change it, no they had to take the easy way out. She had no magic and by law magic was forbidden in use in elections. But the agency told her they would stop him. That was enough for her.

She wanted to get to work and think about the events on the moon. Moon mines had various metals that magic and other used for resources.The unions up there were on strike an no moon metals were coming to earth

The Agency better solve the E3 thing quickly.

[Letter Bee]

First up, Catherine. Once she approached Akira and Elizabeth, the latter sped towards the assassin with Timespace, before teleporting away once the two were near the point of contact. The MMO maker would then reappear on top of Catherine, flying, and smash her with a Gravity Hammer that was surprisingly good for someone who hadn't killed anyone in her entire life.

Akira, meanwhile, would assail Catherine with an illusion of vertigo, of the world around her melting and sloughing away into liquid. This would include the ground, which would turn into quicksand, causing the assassin's legs to sink and her dexterity to be harmed. He also placed a mental compulsion of artificial fear, in order to make sure that Catherine would not just blast everything away.

Speaking of illusions, Eise and Silas themselves were in one, cast by Kariya in the split-second he sensed the duo's minds with his magic. Of course, being a person of strong will, Black Cat would shrug them off in a few seconds, and Silas some time later, but by that time, Akira was already packing, leaving Elizabeth to take care of Catherine and Eise by herself...for now.

Clarissa, meanwhile, would be assailed be lightning bolts from Ken Saddler, lightning bolts as fast as well, light. If Clarissa managed to shrug them off, Ken would then teleport away - Timespace was the most common School for a reason - and reappear behind another booth, from which he would fling now-destroyed pieces of electronic equipment at the woman.

---

So, they have struck, thought Ascot, who, was in an in Agency Nanosuit, a piece of Pure Technology that cloaked him fully from Magic (and as EMP Hardened). Bringing his hand up, he cast several shields that protected several civilians from Catherine and Clarissa's attacks, but chose not to make his apperance as ArcU had not made its move yet...although Akira Kariya had.

Well, time to bring in the cavalry, the boy spoke to himself before activating a computer virus he had placed inside Arc U's security systems. This virus would shut down the Anti-Teleportation field, allowing Balthazar and her agents to come inside the facility without interference. Speaking of Balthazar, she certainy wouldn't like the two moles that would bejoining their side later in the battle; she barely liked anyone.

---

"Heard you loud and clear, Joshua," spoke Heinz from his mission control room, where he had been monitoring the situation. "As for clues, there are four assassins; two male, two female. The male ones are actually our moles - don't tell Thaz that; this will be good practice for her - while the two females...are most manifestly not. Several civilians are already wounded, but we're moving to reduce casualties."

"Right now, though, you're needed to rescue Ken Saddler - one of the game developers. He's the one on the right of the conference, trying to evade or fight off two of the assassins, one with Matter, the other - our mole - with Death, Otherness, and Law. Thaz is already reinforcing Akira Kariya and Elizabeth Cortes, and Axel and Genevieve are with her."

Conor, meanwhile, was attacking Omega and Clarissa, leaping into action, literally, and showering the two with fists that glowed with Law Magic, a silvery-white light that had as much penetrative power against magic as Eise's claws. This was followed up with kicks that raised the earth below them, turning it into floating projectiles that were launched at the two; Clarissa can cause them to break down with Matter Magic...

...While Omega cannot. Seeing this, Conor drew his Moro Binakulo, which still glowed with Law/Prime Magic, and began advancing towards the man. Omega would then remember that he was supposed to give this hotshot a rough time, and that he could, if he wanted to, match him blade for blade. That, or just blast him with Death energy (small-e), which would also work.

[Lucek]

Omega wasn’t surprised at the attack, it sensed the will or would it be malice. No matter, even though it directed itself towards the target it didn’t engage, observing Clarissa instead. After it witnessed the lightning bolts directed at the woman, it jumped back a bit, as to not obstruct the other assassin for now. However the earth projectiles were something it didn’t expect, still dodging them with a bit of leeway.

Connor taking out the sword charged with magic, this omega was the copy so it didn’t really have much for analyzing, made the now combative spirit get heated up. As Omega(copy) charged at Connor with two daggers meaning to take him on in a melee, it sent out a signal to Alpha(Real Omega) that there was a problem. He at the time ran in the direction of the signal, deciding not to lose this little helper he made.

Alpha arrived at the moment when Omega and Connor clashed, positioned behind the agency’s agent. Shaking his head he charged up several spells, most having to do with his general use of magic. The spells were a combination, one was a bolt intended to strike at Connor, the second was a shadowbind spell he created that triggered in tandem with any other spell he had, making the target wrapped in chains which were a type of fiend, which having a mind of its own would chase the target at least in the close vicinity. The last spell, which was meant to be kept as a reserve, was one to call forth shadowy fiends charged with all three of his magic types, making it a summoning spell, that would normally overwhelm an opponent with sheer numbers, as it utilized shadows in the vicinity of the caster.

Alpha made sure that the first two spells weren’t lethal, but only damaging, as he didn’t want to kill Connor as per agreement. He also signaled for Omega to pull it’s punches as to not to damage the agent. While Connor was distracted, Alpha threw the bolt and bind spells at him. Preparing to get into the melee if needed, still keeping his magic cloak up. This drained his power, making it another failsafe so he wouldn’t kill his opponent.