[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

"It seems that this subject requires a more thorough understanding of these 'feelings' you speak of," Alexis replied, clearly not blaming Isaac for not being able to explain more to her. "My core functions do not come with an ability to acquire these emotions. I neither understand the concept of human emotion nor experience 'feelings' and I do not see any functional use of such irrational and volatile factors humans normally possess. They are a hindrance to effective decision-making."

[Daxam]

"That might be," Isaac says, "but those feelings let us do things that we'd never be capable of doing otherwise. If we someone we love in trouble, our feelings make us capable of doing anything we can to protect them." Smiling, he adds, "For example: I'd gladly risk my life to protect Hayley. In my opinion, that's a pretty good use for emotions."

[Vocalia]

Alexis listened curiously and found herself becoming more and more intrigued. "How interesting... It would appear that I require an in-depth study into human emotions to ascertain your claims. Neither of us have any way of currently proving or disproving this theory. I shall record this and consider it during my observation." Looking back at Isaac, she said, "Thank you for your time. I shall not waste it anymore as I believe my operator wishes to speak to you." Closing her eyes, she soon pushed Hayley back in control. "Well... That was weird..." she muttered and rubbed the back of her neck.

[Daxam]

"A little bit," Isaac agrees with a chuckle. "But, you can't blame her for being curious. She doesn't seem like us, after all." As he spoke, Isaac found himself noticing that Vincent was oddly quiet. Something wrong? he asks his counterpart. No, comes the answer. I'm just thinking, that's all. Isaac couldn't help but chuckle at that and asks, You? Think? It must be the apocalypse! However, Vincent doesn't respond, instead deciding to drift further into the back of Isaac's mind. "Vincent's acting strange," he says, his brow creased in confusion.

[Vocalia]

"Define 'strange'," Hayley replied in a deadpan manner. "Isaac, this is Vincent you're talking about. I can't tell what's normal and what's strange when it comes to him and his choices in companions... It's already weird enough that he gives a damn about my 'other self', much less give her a name. Not complaining about that part though. It did make it easier for us to refer to each other." Sighing and looking at Isaac, she said with a stern tone in her voice. "Oh yeah, this isn't about you, so don't worry about it, but you might wanna keep Mister Psycho on a very, very short leash. I don't want him doing anything with Alexis at all!"

[Daxam]

"I'll keep him on such a short leash, I'll practically be holding onto his hair," Isaac swears, lacing his hands with Hayley's. Surprisingly, Vincent doesn't say anything in response. "You won't have to worry about him trying anything." The next few moments pass in silence as Isaac laces his hands with Hayley's, leaning against her and resting his head against hers. Eventually, he breaks the silence by saying, "We should probably head to the store sometime today. The fridge is starting to run pretty low."

[Vocalia]

"Yeah, we probably should..." Hayley nodded, her mind thinking about how they could tighten their budget for a while. "I think we might as well go today and see if we can get anything cheap. We don't have a lot of money to spend this time around, so we really have to start planning ahead," she replied, wanting to be honest and open with her housemate and boyfriend, seeing that they would live together for a foreseeable future.

[Daxam]

Isaac nods and replies, "We may as well get it over and done with soon as possible, then." Lifting his hand with Hayley's, he kisses the back of hers and rises to his feet. He then walks over to the front door and grabs his overcoat, as well as Hayley's jacket. "I made a note the other day of what we need," he says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a square of folded paper. "We'll head to the store and see what all we can afford and cross them off of the list."

[Vocalia]

"Great! Let's get going, shall we?" Hayley replied, grabbing her jacket from Isaac. Closing the door behind them as they left, the blonde stayed close to Isaac, as if still nervous about any danger that could come their way. "Sorry for dragging you like this, especially after the Vincent and Alexis fiasco and stuff" she chuckled. "I suppose something good did come out of it. I now have a name I can call my 'other self' with and it's not such a bad name, all things considered. I wonder why Vincent gave her that name though..."

[Daxam]

"I don't know why Vincent does half of the things he does," Isaac replies as they step out of the building and begin walking down the street. As they walk, his hand reaches out and curls around Hayley's instinctively, his other hand slipping into the pocket of his overcoat. A few moments of silence pass until Vincent says, Heads up. I feel something. Instantly, Isaac's senses go on high alert as his eyes begin scanning the shadows. Quietly, he asks Hayley, "Does Alexis sense anything?"

[Vocalia]

Alert! Multiple biological threats detected in your vicinity. Hayley frowned and nodded quietly. "She just sounded the alarm," she hissed, cautiously looking around. "Looks like we might have just crashed someone's party and here I was hoping that we wouldn't have to be a bunch of troublemakers today. Guess fate loves proving me wrong." The blonde moved closer towards Isaac as they walked down the streets, ready to pounce on anything that moves towards them.

[Daxam]

"Tell me about it," Isaac replies, protectively wrapping his arm around Hayley, a faint mist of carbon beginning to form around his arms. "Nice to see you two out and about, today," a familiar, accented voice calls from behind. Turning around, Isaac sees Nigel standing in front of a line of black-clad men, each pointing an assault rifle at him and Hayley. Each one bore the same emblem, a three-cornered Celtic knot on their bulletproof vests and helmets. "Don't even think about moving," he warns. "My new colleague behind you and her men will gun you down as well as my men, here."

[Vocalia]

"Colleague?! What the-"

"Buongiorno~!"

Hayley felt her hair stand up on its end as a teasing, horrifyingly familiar Italian accent reached her ears. Turning around, she growled as Arlia, clad in a more appropriate scarlet sleeveless silk body suit with black camellia patterns around her partially revealed chest, black gloves and black open-toed shoes with heels. Behind her were her own men, each wielding a shotgun aimed at the ambushed couple. dressed in sharp vest and pants combination with bulletproof garments underneath. "Well, you certainly have been doing well, Hayley Summerland, and that's a good thing. After all, it wouldn't be fun to dispose of you without any sort of resistance," the auburn-haired woman taunted, then looked at Isaac with eyes of a hungry vixen, adding a playful wink and a flirty smile. "And it's good to see you again, Isaac Ryder. I still haven't given up on you, just so you know~!"

"Heh... Who knew the two of you would end up joining forces? I thought you'd prefer going off on your own," Hayley snarled. Should've seen that coming...It's just a matter of time, really she mentally muttered to herself. "All is fair in love and war, Summerland. We happen to share a mutual objective, so why shouldn't we join forces?" Arlia casually shrugged. "Besides, I will do anything to achieve my goals. I'm perfectly happy to play even the most despicable role if that means I get something of value in the end."

[Daxam]

Isaac looks between Arlia and Nigel, trying to find a weakpoint in their forces, but was having a hard time doing so. Maybe if we tried going through Nigel's left side? Vincent suggests, but Isaac says, No, Arlia's men are probably pretty good with those shotguns. They'd take us out before we made it halfway. "Just remember, Medici," Nigel calls, interrupting Isaac's thoughts. "Don't kill Summerland. She has a promise to keep." Turning to his girlfriend, Isaac opens his mouth to ask what he meant, but is cut off by a loud voice from up above. "Hello, down there!" the familiar voice says moments before the person who owns it crashes to the ground, cracking the pavement. Straightening up, Sean looks from Isaac and Hayley to their adversaries and asks, "So, am I invited to this party?"

[Vocalia]

"Of course I remember, my dear colleague. I should say the same thing about you and Signor Ryder," Arlia calmly replied, slightly displeased that Nigel really meant it when he said that he wanted Hayley alive. Hayley herself bit her lip in disdain, her buried desire to cut him up to pieces resurfacing despite her budding friendship with Sarah, but before either of them could say something else, a loud crash forced them to shield their eyes. While Hayley had a mixture of relief and incredulity in her eyes when she saw Sean, having landed from the skies above smack dab in the middle of the battlefield, the auburn-haired woman certainly didn't expect his arrival. "Mi dispiace, but who are you? I'm not terribly fond of gatecrashers, I'm afraid," she replied, clearly unhappy to see an outsider in her affair.

[Daxam]

Sean looks at Arlia and bows, saying, "Sorry, ma'am, but when I saw a couple of friends in trouble, I couldn't just sit back." Grinning, he says, "I'm Sean Anderson, Elementalist Extraordinaire! And, I just happen to be buddies with the guy you're trying to kill and the guy who's helping you. Ain't that right, Nigie?!" Nigel growls and says, "If you know what's good for you, Anderson, you'd get out of here. These matters don't concern you!" Sean sighs and shakes his head, saying, "Sorry, but I'm making them my business, now. You have a problem with that, then you're gonna have to kill me."

[Vocalia]

Hayley began to see connections between the feuding parties in the battlefield, most of which led to either her or Isaac. "Do I look like a give a damn at this point? Let's just massacre these bastards and go home," Hayley said to Isaac, loud enough for Sean to hear. "Combat mode engaged. Initiating hybrid control." Alexis promptly held partial control of her body, namely her four limbs, and removed limits to their current powers. Let's get this party started, Lex, but remember that our friendly neighborhood Elementalist Extraordinaire's on our side, Hayley relayed to the 'other her' as she felt a cold chill down her arms, smirking as black mist clouded her fists. "Affirmative. I have updated my database as of this point in time. Given our disadvantageous situation, priority has been set on survival and routing of enemy force." "Sounds good to me," Hayley whispered, watching as Arlia assumed her angelic form without further ado. "Focus, Signor Howland! Do not let this gatecrasher deter you from your mission," she said, rallying her new colleague whom she had taken an interest in.

[Daxam]

"I know, Miss Medici," Nigel says quietly, signaling for half of his men to take aim at Sean while the others keep their rifles trained on Isaac and Hayley. "Last chance, Sean," Nigel says, "turn back or we'll open fire." Sean smirks and, seeing Hayley gear up for a fight, says, "Don't worry, you two. I got this." Using speed Isaac didn't know existed, Sean quickly takes out Nigel's men with his bare hands. Holding out one hand to Arlia's, he sends a fork of electricity towards them, which branches from man to man as soon as the main bolt hits the first man. His arm still sparking with lightning, he says, "Then, there were two..."

[Vocalia]

Arlia easily dodged the electric attack, but her men weren't so lucky and ended up being electrocuted and promptly taken out. "This is getting interesting," she murmured and fired several light arrows at Sean, only for Hayley to retaliate by crashing her own shadow arrows with hers. "Hey, pasta bitch! Your beef is with me!" Unfurling her jet black wings, Hayley let out a battle cry and charged at Arlia head-on, locking the two in a close combat battle. While Hayley had Alexis to back her up, Arlia was clearly much more skilled at wielding her powers and her wings, making Hayley look like a fledgling chick in comparison. Still, the two battled fiercely, one clearly intending on having the head of the other on a silver platter.

[Daxam]

"Arlia!" Nigel calls. "Don't forget, you are not to kill her!" At the last moment, he manages to dodge an attack by Isaac, his claws sweeping through the empty space Nigel's head was just in. "Your fight's with me," he says, swinging his leg in a roundhouse kick, which Nigel dodges. Fire enveloping his body, he says, "Fine, if you wanna die so badly, be my guest!" As Nigel charges, Sean suddenly steps in front of him, grabs him by the fist, which was on fire, and slams him to the ground. Turning to Isaac, he says, "You just take a seat, Isaac, and I'll handle this." Turning back to Nigel, Sean cracks his neck and says, "Well, you limey Brit. Bring it on."