BrokenPromise

Why I Roleplay Female Characters (As a Cisgender Man)

One of the reasons why I roleplay is to see a world from a perspective I can't normally experience. Because I'm a dude, it's easier to do this with female characters. Though I do play both sexes. But everyone is attracted to this hobby for different reasons.

Alty Chan Fan Club

_{Enlarged picture using sub-optimal waifu2x settings. Will try for a better one later.}

This is the Alty chan fanclub where we can talk about Alty chan, share clues that we have discovered about her, and speculate about her personality.

I've enlarged her picture so that we can look at bit closer at her physical shape. She seems to be on the bustier side, but given how baggy her hoodie is it's possible she's smaller than she appears. She does seem to like baggy clothing, and her hoodie makes it difficult to tell what her actual hair shape is suppose to be. I'm not sure if that's a small bun or part of a pony tail. She's also giving us a sly glare and is holding wither a card or piece of toast with "Alt + F4" written/burned onto it. I feel this eludes to her mischievous personality.

Symphony of Espers

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah! The end has come for sinners and sons! Ring the bell and paint thine doors, or into the altar sheathe thine swords!

Against the darkness that accompanied the Holy Diver’s advent, neither Fritzi nor Binky could see the monstrosity that lurked within, slinking over rooftops like a monstrous snake. But they were experienced Espers, and their sense for the supernatural warned them even more assuredly than the sudden loss of mana in the atmosphere around them.

Cataclysmic rituals, arcane and terrible, scored the blackened sky and revealed the silhouette of a thing with too many hands and too many eyes, lines of pure gold tracing its beautifully sinuous form. The sky would soon be blotted out by one behemoth, but another one, older still, reigned upon the skyscrapers, wielding a spear to break the world and a staff to remake the world. The intonations continued unabated and hymnic, resounding like the clarion of the apocalypse. And before the aces of GEMINI, concentric halos formed, resounding with the brilliance of daybreak.

The end was nigh, and against the beast that rattled the stars, it would take everything they had to survive.

…

And within the echoes of the Dawnraiser’s song, the sleepers woke once more. Following the oracles of the Morning, they found each other, opening up hidden cabinets, forgotten lockers, abandoned warehouses. Armed themselves with what lay within, armed themselves with an arsenal of weapons meant solely to inflict the worst damage they could. Chaos fomented suffering, and suffering birthed trauma, and trauma…

…became the most wonderful source of mana.

Under the omniscience of the all-seeing eyes of the Machine Child, the agents placed their cathode-tube masks, offered up their eyes, and proliferated into the chaotic mess that had become Pax Septimus. Stalking. Coordinating. Aiming. Assassinating. What killed Espers the most often were bullets, and in the chaos of the weretigers’ war, in the frenzy of the Mavericks’ death-race, in the hurricane of the GEMINIs’ spelldance, the willful puppets took their marks, stilled their hearts, and pulled the trigger.

Flesh rent and blood splattered within the millisecond. There was no need to aim for the head. A surprise attack would lead to a fatality even if the bullet itself wasn’t lethal.

As a matter of fact, Morning preferred that.

…

Yet at the pier, recording the sounds of the ocean, observing the detritus of the foul tide, the Bookman cared not for what laid behind. There would be accounting to be done at the end, and contracts to be written, annulled, fulfilled. Scarlet lapped at his leather loafers, his four horns tinged by the break of Dawn and the breath of the Diver.

He closed his book.

THE BOOK OF SOULS IS MISSING YOUR NAMES

THIS TOWN AIN’T BIG ENOUGH

BEGINNING OF THE END

FIND THE JUSTICE.

---

Justin first turned to “look” at Jacqueline, who managed to get her quip out while Finn was still brewing. ”I do not feel that those two outcomes are mutually exclusive, are they?” His grin was wide enough that the skin at the corner of his lips was starting to tear. ”These two ladies found my offer very convincing, and this one was as mouthy as you before she changed her mind.” Justin stroked Pac-A-Fist’s hair, but his eyes were on the gear boy that was shouting at him. He looked on with mild amusement as Finn vented at him. ”I would have been fine staying at my mansion and letting my minions take care of this. But your lot sacked it and I haven’t been able to find a buyer for what remains.” He slammed his palm on the railing. ”Taking it out of your flesh will be pittance, but I expect the process to be… therapeutic.” He leaned in to Betty and dragged his tongue against the side of her head. Her lips crooked into a smirk as the tip of his tongue wandered around her ear lobe.

There was no better time for Marrie to strike. She dove off the roof towards her target,

But she did not dive alone.

As soon as her feet left the edge of the roof, a hole opened up in the sky. For just a moment, GEMINI and Justin’s arena was bathed in sunlight. But that sunlight was soon obscured by a massive entity. The halo of light made its shape impossible to identify, but its silhouette was massive. Marrie descent could be measured in feet per second, the diver miles.

Marrie had thought things through. She was quiet, it looked like the right moment to strike. But then the apartment building betrayed her. The brick work seemed to come alive and shoved her off course. Not a harmful attack on its own, but she was going to miss the balcony and land on the pavement below. Then a gunshot rang out, and the building seemed to change its mind. Brick and mortar coalesced into a serpentine dragon just in time to catch the rooky esper.

The end of Su’s gun smoked.

Gunther peaked out from a wall.

”Well darn it!” The poltergeist grinned. ”Seems I was expected this time.”

There was hardly time for anything else. Something else was about to make landfall.

Pax Septimus roughly translates to “Peaceful Seventh.” Originally the city might have been named after the seventh heaven referenced in the Talmud: the place where the throne of god resides. Regardless of the case, god certainly wasn’t in Pax Septimus now.

The holy diver slowed their descent as they reached their destination. Everyone on the ground could feel a wind storm kick up as the air was displaced by the Diver’s sudden arrival. The espers and even Justin needed to brace for the mighty behemoth’s arrival.

Oros had described the Diver as looking like a christ figure, but it looked more like a cultist pretending to be a christ figure. An onyx robe hid onyx flesh, and the Diver’s eyes were covered by a crown of thorns that were wrapped around its head. It even held a coal colored cross, but it was not burdened by it. Rather than carrying it like it weighed as much as the sin of all mankind, he wielded it like a hammer, a tool to punish all the sinners in Pax Septimus and beyond.

By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hands I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.

— Exodus 7:17–18

Once the air settled again, the rain continued to fall from the sky. Only now it was bright crimson.

There would be no working taps in Pax Septimus.Its water supply clouded over red. The toilets, tubs, and sinksl filled with blood. Showerheads clogged with coagulating vermillion. The dead hadn’t even started to pile up and the city already smelled like a slaughter. No windshield wiper was enough to clean away all the red. The city was filled with screams, but the Diver was just getting started.

But the GEMINI espers could not reach the diver at this time. It was hovering a block or so over, and Justin was ready to push his attack.

Gunther’s souls fled to take residence in some cars parked on the street and elevated them up to the balcony. Justin, Betty, and Pac-A-Fist rode them like magic carpets to the other side.

Betty screamed Finn’s name as she made a bee line for the boy. Her opening move was almost generic at this point: a giant crescent slash that threatened Finn, Jacqueline, and Ashley by virtue of how large her sword was. Her body was radiating a black mist, tipping everyone off that she was casting a melody on herself.

Pac-A-Fist rode her car clockwise around the side of the building, to Gemini’s right flank. Joining her was a dumpster one of Gunther’s souls had taken control of. The lid flipped open and The espers were peppered by debris. Su put her shield in the way to keep the larger items away from her squad, but she could only do so much. A pak-man head started to grow in Pac-A-Fist’s palm. It grew to the size of a basketball before she threw it over Su’s head. It made digital om-nom sounds as it soared homing in on the espers as it flew.

While all that was going on, Justen stayed back. His closed eyes were turned towards Marrie, who was still on the dragon statue.

”You said you were only going to hunt me down if I hurt her. Didn’t you hear me?” With all the blood falling from the sky, almost everyone was coated in crimson. But not Justin. Instead, the blood seemed to swirl around him. There wasn’t a single speck of blood on him. ”I don’t mind your vain attempts to end me, but to stab me in the back? To go back on your word? At least have some nobility.” The blood raining down on Marrie suddenly stopped. It was coalescing into an array of bloody spikes. One by one, they started to fly towards Marrie's head.

At least Justin seemed occupied for the moment.

Grimoiric Heart

Like any student would, Stripes was enjoying the hell out of blowing apart the Pageless. She enjoyed having eyes on her. She didn't enjoy Ozma assisting. Since everyone had kept their distance, it would not have been difficult to turn into a tabby if she got surrounded. But Stripes wasn't going to complain. Ozma was still the coolest cat at the academy. But she was starting to warm up to the others too. Tutoring Lupin had paid off, Nessie was discouraged but made interesting observations, Burning heart was holding her own, and her teachers were... amusing. Olivia was annoying but at least Xolys had stayed away from her earlier. She wasn't sure if the big guy did that on his own or if under Olivia's command, but she was thankful for it. Maybe Olivia wasn't all bad.

But the fighting didn't last long. Before things could build to a crescendo, they stopped. This was less a lesson and more an attempt to stop someone Stripes hadn't ever seen. She had been away for a few weeks, so she was unaware of who they were trying to catch.

But it clicked when Roma revealed herself.

She had only heard about this magical girl in hushed rumors. Of which they were too varied and numerous to really inform Stripes of anything. But the mask was a dead givaway to what they were dealing with. She couldn't tell if the chill she felt had been brought on by a magical effect or just just the dread of deing with something so alien and unknown as this woman.

But stripes was apathy incarnate, so it was probably the former.

She had several questions, but it seemed like Ozma had the basics covered. There wasn't any reason to add anything else at the moment. But she did have to question if talking was the right move right now. They were in a bubble and everything, but what about what Nessie hinted at earlier?

"Keep your guard up." Stripes looked at her allies as she spoke. "Our enemy can turn invisible. Who knows what else they can do." Stripes did, at the very least, believe that trying to get to the bottom of things was the best option here. But there was no way this evil magical girl would give away her secrets unless it was advantageous to her. How was she even controlling the pageless?

---

_@McFazzer

Mika was power walking her way to the minister's office when she was suddenly hit by a cold chill.

"Hmmm? Is the AC unit on?" She wondered out loud. But there were no vents around that would cause such a thing. It seemed to be magical in nature but that was all she could really tell. There was no way of knowing if it was an incoming ice spell or the cold grip of Aigorost reaching from behind the veil of reality. Regardless, it was a simple enough thing to figure out. She just needed to inquire about it from her sword.

Except there was a complication.

A student was calling for her help. As easy as it would be to resolve where the chill was coming from with her sword, drawing a weapon in the halls was not a good thing to do. Certainly not in front of a student that faculty is suppose to be setting a good example for. It seemed that resolving what was causing this chill would have to wait. The sword remained hidden as she turned to face Tesni. Mika put on a warm smile and nodded her head. She continued to walk to her destination with Tesni.

"Tesni Edris, right? Magical girl Dynasty Queen. I suppose I've heard a bit about you." Out of everyone, Mika was probably the least bothered by the antics of the students. The faculty? probably, but never the students. They were here to learn and better themselves regardless of how eccentric they might be. What teenager didn't feel like they were some special case with larger than life problems? And speaking of, Tensi was already talking about scheduling an appointment! Mika's smile only widened at the remark, but she refrained from laughing at what was clearly a struggling student. It was a common misconception that a student counsellor was some sort of specialized shrink, but they were more the sort to listen to a student's school related problems. They offered guidance and acted as an emotional anchor. Mika might suggest a student see a therapist, but wasn't really trained for untangling deep seated emotional trauma. But that didn't mean that Mika didn't occasionally have to play therapist a little bit. Jenny was one case like that, but even then Mika just gave her some exercises to do and recommended a real therapist if she needed it. Mika did not anticipate Tesni's case would be so dire. Though the student's problems probably felt enormous to her. "I am scheduled to see students, usually. But I can talk with you if something bothers you." As they got closer to the minister's office, several chairs came into view. The hallway leading into the office had been turned into a waiting room for busier days, but at present all the chairs were empty. It was a quiet atmosphere with few distractions. "Let's have a seat right here."

Regardless of where Tensi sat down, Mika sat across from her. She folded her arms in her lap and leaned forward. Her eyes moved up and down Tesni's form before locking onto her eyes. "Go on."

And then Tesni talked. Her issue was how the school felt. This was well within Mika's realm of expertise, and a common issue she had dealt with in many students. Though the solution to this problem was a bit different for everyone.

"Feels empty." Mika propped her head up with one of her arms. "Are you familiar with RPGs? Like video games? You take your avatar inside a tavern and there's tons of people to talk to. But out of, say, twenty patrons, maybe the bartender and two other characters have anything to say. Everyone else just spits out a one liner that's quickly forgotten." She waved her hand in a dismissive fashion before propping up her head again. "Marrywell Academy is certainly not empty, but it might feel devoid of, mmm, 'content' at times." Mika sat upright. "Your entire class is out on patrol, and you're here by yourself. Your adventuring party has left you. Being surrounded by a bunch of NPCs isn't going to make you feel any less alone. Your classmates aren't here." With a chuckle, she tucked her hands behind her head. "But this isn't a videogame. There's no reason to avoid talking to students from other classes. It can be beneficial to have connections outside of your usual group. Outsiders that you're less familiar with but still enjoy the company of. You're pretty cute, I don't think you'll have any problems making friends." The smile ran from Mika's face. "Though it might be hard if you have a reputation as a troublemaker. Mind telling me more about that?"

Grimoiric Heart

Are we posting again? I may be able to get something up for Stripes in a few days.

Grimoiric Heart

Had some time, so have another post.

I don't have to write her meeting out with Liliana. It would be funny, but I'm fine with just focusing on the fight for now.

Grimoiric Heart

"There's something alluring about secrets. The number of things someone knows will always be greater than the things they don't. Most of those things are not of interest to a lot of people, or they simply wouldn't think to acknowledge that which they don't know. If you could see in the dark, what color would it be? What object is exactly 200 feet to your left? How many stones are in your lawn? These questions feel trivial because the information is irrelevant to most people. More interesting questions pertain to things in one's environment that affects and individual. What will you have for dinner tomorrow? Where is the remote? What is your friend doing between text messages? These questions are more interesting. Someone may even know the answer to them.

But secrets are not merely questions. They can all be framed as questions, but their answers are known by few. In fact, some people work very hard to keep cesecrets hidden from others. Take a child for instance. Maybe they stole a cookie out of the cookie jar, but were careful to cover their tracks. When their parents came home and toll them what a good girl they've been, they flashed a brilliant smile. Smug superiority masquerading as joy. Ahh, but what's this? The parents are no fools. They noticed the cookies have been disappearing. They kept count this time. Mother made twenty cookies. She had served a total of nine but there were only five left. Someone had been eating them, but there's only three people in the house. Father rushed off to get his belt, and mother leaned into her daughter to press for a confession. She can't believe her daughter would lie to her like this. She cryed over her betrayal, and her daughter continued to deny any allegations. But her excuses are all crap. She can't defend herself from-"

“M-miss Fang?”

"Hugh! Yes Jen?" Mika Fang, student councilor at Marrywell Academy, had just been roused from her monolog by a student she was working with. Mika might have looked human enough, but she was using some of her grimoire's magic to give herself beastly features. Her eyes were almost feline in appearance, and there was something feral about the hair that seemed to lift off of her head. She had been on a month long vacation and just returned today, so she was a little out of it. "Is there a reason you stopped me?" She stood out of her chair and dusted off her dress before sitting back down.

“I just don't understand!” The student's voice was cracking as she spoke. “What does this have to do with why I'm like this?”

"Did my story make you uncomfortable?"

Jenny was a gifted student that showed a lot of promise, but was having some issues working with others. She was unusually cautious during team exercises, bordering on distrustful. No matter how potent her abilities, a magical girl that couldn't work with others was no magical girl at all. Or at least that was what Marrywell Academy would have you believe.

“Sort of. I mean, I guess it bothered me the way you were talking about the daughter. You made it sound like she really did eat all of those cookies.”

"Didn't she?"

“I-I mean, she could have!” Jenny confessed. “B-but she also couldn't have!”

The corner of Mika's mouth curled into a smirk. She reclined in her chair and tucked her hands behind her head, throwing one leg over the other. "I didn't finish the story."

“S-sorry-”

"I think it's more important that you tell me how you think it ends." Mika nodded at the girl. "What happens next?"

“I think-” Jenny took a deep breath and shook out her hands. “The daughter isn't able to convince her mother. So the father comes in with his belt and slaps her hands! A-and then they send her to her room!”

"That it?"

“Yes!”

"It sounds like the daughter got what she deserved."

“No!”

"Did you leave out any details?"

“M-maybe.” Jenny rubbed her chin. “Dad, I-I mean the father didn't hit her as hard as he could! He wasn't as rough as he could have been!”

"Was he just taking pity on her?"

“No!” Jenny shook her head. “He's never easy on me-the daughter! He wouldn't have held back!”

"Why would he hold back then?"

the flustered girl rubbed the side of her head for a moment, but then it clicked. Her pupils shrunk as the realization sunk in. “He knew I didn't do it!” She stood up. “He must have eaten the cookies!”

Mika's grin only widened as she closed her eyes. "Jen, you've been having difficulty working with others. All of your teachers sing your praises, but you constantly underperform when you're asked to work with others. You don't function well as a team member, and I think I understand why that is now." Her eyes opened up and she leaned forwards in her seat. "This is not the first time you have been lied to, Jen. You know that. And because you were lied to by the one you should trust most, you can't trust others. Does that make sense to you?"

“S-sorry!”

"There's nothing to apologize for." Mika picked up a notepad on her desk and jotted something down on it. "I'd like you to focus on your ability to trust others. Do some falling exercises with some nice classmates, and try asking them questions that you know the answers to. Don't isolate yourself. Have some fun with them from time to time. That may be enough, but if it isn't-" She tore a sheet off of her notepad and handed it to the girl "You can make an appointment to talk to someone a little better at this than me." A gentle smile spread across Mika's face.

“I'll try!” Jenny said while reaching for the paper. “Thanks Miss Fang! Thanks... Thanks for believing in me.”

"Fare well, Jen! Think nothing of it!"

Once Jenny left the office, Mika pulled a scabbard out from behind her desk. It was made from black lacquer and had a red ribbon wrapped around it. Anyone who saw the scabbard would know it belonged to a katana. Though even they might be surprised if they saw the blade. It was black as the night sky, and shimmered like the stars. When Mika looked into the blade, she could see a time long ago. Jenny's mother was sitting on a couch with her husband got the munchies. She got up and walked into the kitchen to get him something to eat when she came across the cookie jar. She pulled out two cookies, one for her and one for him, and prepared to put the lid on. But then she froze in place. After marking the two cookies that she had taken, she reached into the cookie jar for a third cookie and plopped it right in her mouth. She chewed it exactly twice before swallowing and taking the remaining cookies into the living room.

Secrets were special after all. And Jenny hadn't earned the answer to that one yet. But Mika had spent the past few days catching up on lost time. Now she wanted to do something fun. It was one thing to try and figure out students, but it was more fun to drop in on wildcards like Ozma, who always knew how to have fun!

The image in her sword changed to that of a run down mall. There was a barrier, students fighting pageless, a drunken teacher, and Ozma orchestrating the chaos! It was woman like this that made Aigorost proud! Even the mother brain of Kos would sing its song of carnage as its floating eyes trembled in delight!

But, where did this leave Mika?

She could tell the Grand Minister about it, but what was the point? She probably let this happen knowing full well Ozma would do something like this. Not to mention Mika tended to have one of her clones out at all times acting as a free agent. Reporting Ozma's actions would be like the pot calling the kettle black! It would be like the fork calling the spoon pointy! It would be like Agrophis complaining about Dentogin's dog-shaped head! Though maybe she should see the Grand Minister anyway. But she wasn't going to be left out of this either. With a snap of her fingers, two portals opened on either side of her and out stepped two clones.

"Go visit the barrier. If it goes down, you know what to do. I'll send another one by if the situation changes."

And with that, the three Mika's departed. Two to stand guard outside Ozma's barrier while the real one went to have a talk with the Grand Minister. She hadn't seen her since she left a month ago, so she was probably due to at least greet the weirdo before too much time passed.

Symphony of Espers

The police station was busy on the inside. The hallways were all filled with personnel moving to and from rooms. Orders to evacuate the city due to unusual weather patterns didn't convince the population to evacuate. Most did not have the means to leave their homes or were concerned about what would happen to their homes. A wind storm might do some damage, but any number of criminals would jump at the opportunity to raid an empty home. The police force was stretched too thin to assist with evacuations, causing the general populace to stagnate. Once again, it would be up to Pax Septimus’s espers to contend with the Holy Diver.

But before Su contended with the Holy Diver, she needed to contend with Mika.

"The storm is big!" The teenage girl wasn’t her usual bubbly self. The lights flickered overhead and they might lose power any moment. But Su just flashed her a reassuring smile.

“Mommy take care of things soon. Her friends upstairs!” She pointed over her head.

"Even Jack-O-Line?" Mika curled her fingers together.

“And more!” She spread her arms so that Mika could hug her. Once Mika’s small hands curled around her body armor, she closed her arms around her child. The world around Su fell away as Mika’s embrace continued. She could feel her breathing, and was in tune enough with her heart beat to feel it through her kevlar. It was a bit faster than normal, and her grip on Su only became tighter as time went on. “Oh Mika. She looked down at her daughter. “I must go. I protect them so they protect you.” She moved her hands onto Mika’s shoulders and gently pushed her back.

The safest place for Mika was probably not the heart of the city. But the only people Su trusted with Mika were here in the police station. Just knowing she was nearby would make Su fight that much harder anyway. There was a non-esper GEMINI agent nearby to escort Mika to the underground lab, which would be a more secure location if they managed to lose the police station.

Once they were apart, Mika dried her eyes. She looked at her mother without saying a word. Su shot her a grin, patted her shoulder, and headed upstairs to join the others.

---

Mundane equipment wasn’t the most effective thing to use against behemoths, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, mounted machine guns would be useful VS whatever thralls decided to attack during the diver’s descent. Binky sat in the middle of a convoy headed towards the Diver’s drop zone. Meanwhile, Fritzi had entered the esper state and was using a dining room table to bat aside some wargs. They looked like wolves, only bigger and uglier.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round!" Fritzi sung as the table was stained with more and more blood. As cumbersome as the table looked, it looked like a formidable weapon in the hands of Vermillion Veronica.

Binky did her best to ignore Fritzi for the moment. This wasn’t even the real conflict.

But it would involve her shortly.

A giant fireball flew out of the darkness and smashed into the front-most armored truck, turning it into molten scrap. With a sigh, Binky put her head set back on. ”We might be a little late. Engage the Holy Diver at your discretion!”

---

Elroy marched out of The Great Escape with a small army of espers behind him. His sister was to his right, and Cthulhya walked just behind the two. The Immortal Volcano’s heat was such that the rain didn’t bother him for long, and that wasn’t even considering the Ruinous Meteor’s presence beside him.

“Unfortunate Gear Boy isn’t one of us anymore.” Elroy mused.

Regina snorted. “Who gives a shit about lover boy? We can can kick plenty of ass without that heart throb getting in the way!”

Danny shrugged. "He still hangs with us. And he’s got my brother to watch over him now. "

The group of espers stopped when a vehicle drove out of a side street and obstructed the path. It seemed to be from some landscaping company. Cthulhya raised an eyebrow. “Is someone cutting grass here?”

”Not quite.” A blond man dressed in white stepped out of the driver’s seat. He was holding a tiger plush in one of his hands. ”We thought you might want to warm up a bit before you fight the Diver.” Weretigers began to climb out of the nearby windows and drop onto the street.

Regina erupted into laughter. “You think I give a fuck about some furballs?”

”Maybe.” The man shrugged his shoulders. ”Though I know at least one tiger you won’t just brush off. Tony?”

That was when the largest weretiger anyone had ever seen burst out of a wall. Freelance espers were thrown about with a shower of brick and mortar. They had been ambushed, and needed to defend themselves.

---

GEMINI might have outgunned, but Maverick Alternative wasn’t going to stand aside while the Holy Diver cursed Pax Septimus. They just needed to keep their distance. Shouldn’t be too hard with such a massive target. Billy and Luna cruzed down the streets. It didn’t matter what was done to bar Billy’s path, a mecromancer’s ride was a hard thing to stop. Abandoned cars were sent rolling out of the way as Billy cleared a path for his gang of biker espers.

”I say I say, it’s a fine day to have the hood down!” The monstrous man laughed as rain pelted his mask. ”We’ll take to the roofs shortly. Just gotta find a good place to park.”

Luna pointed ahead. ”How about where those guys are parked?”

Sure enough, there were a few more bikers parked ahead of them. But one of the bikers pulled off their helmet and allowed their bright turquoise hair to flow down their back. The Mavericks slowed their approach as both gangs raised weapons at each other.

”You know.” Afterglow started. ”If you don’t want to press on any further, there’s no reason for us to fight.”

”And if we do?” Luna stepped off of her bike and aimed Pit Boss at the dark net espers.

”Then we’re going to get wet with a lot more than just rain.”

---

Sharr cracked her knuckles. ”Should we join in?”

Oros sighed. "Judging by the last few scenes, I don’t think we’ll get a chance. "

”And that is, why, in English?”

"She’s probably talking about me!"

Sharr and Oros turned their heads to see that they were not all alone on top of Axis Mundi Enterprises. Standing nearby was a blond woman wearing… Hands. Just hands as black as night with vibrantly colored nails. They seemed to be coming directly out of her back, but it was hard to tell. The amazing part was that she wasn’t overexposed anywhere. Her torso was sparsely covered, but rows and rows of hands locked together from her waist down to make a skirt that reached her ankles. There were also arms coming out of her back that reached out to nothing, almost looking like a pair of black wings.

Oros took a step in front of Sharr and pushed the pink haired girl behind herself. "Glex… I was wondering when you’d show that ugly mug of yours." Oros raised her sword.

"Ugly? Have you seen your sprite work?" Glex’s grin only widened as they spoke. "Like anyone would pick that on character select! "

"The Grand Magistrate-"

"The Programmers did what? " Even more hands came to Glex’s defense. "I know you’d just love to spend the next few rounds tossing banter around, but Holy Diver is going to spawn soon!" She closed her eyes. "Wanna see which player is stronger? It’s been a while since Aigorost and Glexaroth played a game together, we should probably have a fight right now!"

"Sharr." Oros kept her eyes on the newly arrived, but spoke to the girl behind herself. "It’s impossible to under buff me for this fight. Don’t save anything for later."

"We’re fighting then?" Two massive fists hovered over Glex’s shoulders. "Round one: Start!"

---

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End@Ponn@FamishedPants}

“I am!”

Su answered Jacqueline as she joined everyone on the roof. She didn’t have an umbrella, but she was using her shield as one. That was until she had gathered with the others. It would be a bit sad if they got taken out because Su had her shield pointed towards rainwater instead of projectiles. Besides, once the blood started to fall, they’d be glad the water had soaked into their clothes first.

And so they waited. Minutes ticked by like hours as the sky continued to darken. But it would not be the Holy Diver that showed up to greet the Gemini agents. It would be someone else.

Just across the street was aresidential building that towered over the police station. There was a long balcony that ran the length of the apartment complex. Though less interesting than the balcony itself was the people who were on it.

Justin Von Carnage being the most notable person there.

”Well look at the lot of you!” Justin waved his hand over the Gemini espers. His eyes were shut, but there was a crude smile on his face. ”I’d have loved to meet you all at my mansion, but Binky and Billy are horrible house guests. They just destroy everything, and I’m told they turned on each other after I departed. About what I expected from that rabble.”

“You!” Su pointed her gun at Justin.

”Not ‘just’ me, of course.” Justen extended his arms and put them around the two girls that were standing beside him. Betty stood to his right, and Pac-A-Fist stood to his left. They didn’t say anything and just glared back at the Gemini espers. But Finn could feel a bit more of that stare from Betty. ”A little bird told me that neither of them were going to make it here. You have no backup. It’s just going to be the lot of you, against me, my woman, and the Holy Diver. I don’t think your odds are very good.” His fingers curled around the girls hips as he pulled them closer. ”It’s not too late to change sides. These two certainly haven’t regretted it.”

And no one could be sure, but it seemed like some of the rain drops were turning red in color.

_{@The World}

Marrie was only one girl, but she was tech savvy enough to follow the trail that Justin's offshore silk plants had for her. The silk was primarily sold to a processing factory/dye house in the USA. From there, the dyed silk parts were stitched together in sweat shops to save costs by artisans before being sent out for distribution. The interesting part about this was that a single company called "Apex" handled the entire process and did not sell to most retailers. They produced apparel for high end shops that didn't demand large quantities or were too specialized to be mass produced. Despite this, it seemed that Apex was sending a tractor trailer filled with their clothes to Pax Septimus, despite there being no retailers there to sell them. Just the other day it was spotted being unloaded at an apartment complex right by the precinct #11 police station.

Which was where Marrie was now.

Maybe Marrie was in the streets, maybe she had entered the apartment complex, but she hadn't been spotted by anyone yet. Most were too concerned with the storm to pay a young woman much mind.

Grimoiric Heart

@FrogRFlowR So she is an official teacher, but only recently. That would explain why I thought she was a new temp. I was a little confused back there trying to get Stripes back into an RP I had been out of for 5-6 months. Doubt it'll happen again now that I'm mostly read up and understand the situation. But you are correct. She hasn't done anything too interesting deplorable yet, so she gets a pass.

Grimoiric Heart

Joke’s on you, Ozma’s not a teacher.

@TheWendil

Could have sword she was. Dunno what you wanna call someone who takes people on live drills. She's at least faculty, right?

@FrogRFlowR
I seem to recall Maria getting recruited to help with classes "last week," so I figured she wasn't a teacher in any official capacity.