kapuchu

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

An audible growl made its way from Lily's throat, entirely at odds with her gentle and warm appearance. Those gentle, green eyes became awash with both incredulity and fury, as every pretence at civility vanished like dew before the morning sun. The insolence. The arrogance. Mighty protectors, they claimed to be. Defenders of the weak. What a load of shit. Here she was, a demon, creatures thought to be universally evil and chaotic, caring for nothing but destruction, and was actually trying to defend the earth!

But no, all the angel wanted was to be right. Cared for nothing but what he thought himself. He had already decided that they were enemies the second they refused to blindly obey him. If it was a fight he wanted, it was a fight he would get.

"If you wish to jeopardize everything, then so be it," she said in a low voice, calm despite the wrath flaring in her core, "Fenn, kill the angels and make sure they don't open that door. Do not hold back." She then turned towards Souta, her expression softening into something apologetic. "I'm sorry, I tried."

Turning back to the angels, she gripped her spear tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. The anger within she turned into power that flooded her body; causing her right eye and the scar that would normally be there, to glow with a deep, orange light. And as it receded, gone were the gentle eyes replaced by the fiery iris and slitted pupil of a dragon.

Once more she assumed the form of a half-dragon, spreading her wings wide and brandishing her claws. The angel had been given a chance. She had offered them the chance of cooperation, something that few other demons would have done. She was trying to save this world, and this was how they responded? By stepping all over it and once more acting like the righteous ones. As always.

Fire churned in her gut, eager to escape. She could taste the smoke.

She would enjoy teaching these arrogant children a lesson.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

Lily vs Smiler - Round 1

Wrong.

That was the first word that came to Lily's mind as she gazed upon her opponent. Something about him... it felt universally wrong. She couldn't tell if it was just a general feeling or a quirk of her nature; a sort of sixth sense she had not known she possessed, but she knew without a doubt that the thing in front of her was not natural. It could not be.

And she, a creature of magic and science, both human and inhuman at the same time, felt shivers crawl down her spine as she looked upon this amalgamation. It should not be, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth. She had witnessed demons tear lovely fey creatures apart, seen those of inhuman beauty turn into terrors that could break minds. She was someone who could induce such terror that an untrained mind threatened to rip itself to shreds. And yet, knowing all of this and having witnessed it multiple times before, something about her next opponent struck her as utterly wrong.

"Ugly sunnovabitch."

The words came from beside her, from Brucie who was peeking out at the thing again. He tucked his head back in and looked down at her. She removed her glasses and put them back into the coils of one of her tails, turning them off. She had to agree with Brucie, in one fashion or another. He was ugly in a way. They might've not see it the same way, but nonetheless she found herself nodding at his assessment.

"So whatcha wanna do?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

"I'm not sure," she whispered, placing a hand between Mouse's ears, digging her nails into his fur. For some reason she always felt calmer whenever Mouse was near. He appeared to be a normal dog, if very trusting and quick to bond, but his mere presence seemed to bring tranquility, doubly so when one took the time to touch him. All things considered she suspected that Mouse was no normal dog, but so far had little to go on beyond vague observations and ideas. "But one thing is for certain, he is ranged, so don't try to get close before he is distracted or he'll gun you down."

Brucie nodded, absentmindedly checking his water gun, or what remained of it. "Speaking of range, d'ya think we could find some missiles? Used up all mine against you. Would like to be able to blow people up from a distance."

She gave him a nod but spoke no further, taking this chance to look past the boulder, but briefly masking her own presence.

He was looking straight at them.

"Your souuul...I need it. Give it, sooo tasty. Won't ask nicelyyy... I must feeeeeed"

He was worse than a Bakasura. And - she got the sense - more cruel than a Redcap. And he knew where they were. The drone, she suspected, had given them away. The low whir of its rotors was hard enough to hear from a distance, but whatever this thing was evidently had better than human hearing. Much like Lily herself.

And it only got worse from there. An extra set of arms, a helmet that screeched with awful music, and black blood flowing from the corners of his mouth.

The more she saw of him, the more she was convinced that whatever it was, wasn't natural. It was than that she decided; she wouldn't leave him standing. Brucie might've been unnatural in his own way, but he was more like her, a creature of science and magic. This other thing was not right. And she would burn it to cinders if she had to.

Glancing up she found the drone easily enough, still hovering behind the rock, pointed directly towards the thing on the other side. Now that she thought about it, why hadn't Oren announced the beginning of the fight? They were both here, and were ready to fight. So why hadn't he-

Gunfire interrupted her, making her ears pin themselves against her skull, tails whipping behind her as she instinctively made herself as small as possible, pulling back behind the boulder. Blood dripped down her cheek from where one bullet had punched clear through one of her ears. It hurt, but it wasn't anything new. No, she turned the pain into fuel. As her tails roiled behind her, she brought her hands together in front of her, and started conjuring a ball of intensely blue fire.

"No announcement yet, and he attacks? Fuck it then. Brucie," she muttered through clenched teeth, "take a few steps back."

He nodded and did as told, giving her a few paces of clear space, though he remained in the cover of the boulder.

When she had enough space she stood up, thankfully still covered by the boulder currently being besieged by the things rifle, and spread her arms out. The singular orb of cobalt fire split in two, which then became four. They continued to multiply until more than a score of orbs hovered in the air around Lily.

She took a deep breath, holding it for a few moments, eyes closed and ears strained for any sound.

The firing stopped. Her eyes flew open.

Swinging one arm in an arc in front of her, twenty orbs of blue fire curved around the boulder and rocketed towards the abomination beyond. A remaining few, directed by Lily's other hand, crashed down on the ground around them, throwing up a dust cloud from the ensuing explosion.

Beyond the boulder came an unearthly screech; a roar of anger and pain, as well as several shouted threats. Two things that Lily didn't pay attention to as she ran out of cover using the dust cloud to obscure her whereabouts. Mouse had been left in safety behind the boulder, and Brucie remained there as well, waiting for her to give new orders.

As she ran, more and more orbs of fire formed around her, and every few metres she slammed another into the ground, creating another dust cloud that mixed with the first. Her goal - to create a place where both dust and darkness masked her presence. He had robbed himself of his hearing with that awful music, so she would complete the job and take his sight as well.

She caught glimpses of his form, small burns covering it, but he had avoided the majority of the blasts. One of his gooey arms had been blown clean off, but even that was regrowing as she circled him.

She clenched her jaw and kept running, completing the circle with a last few fire balls sent forward, striking the ground between her and the boulder, and finalizing the dustscreen. A flex of her will sent the light around her curving around her form, hiding her from view.

"Dust wooon't saave yoouu~" the thing in the centre sing-songed in its macabre, disgusting voice; like bubbling tar. It spoke slowly and moved little, all tell-tales of being in pain gone from its voice.

So it can heal... Or it's very durable. She took her x-ray glasses from within her tails, turned them on, and placed them on the bridge of her nose. Immediately the world around her came into clear view - the dust screen not longer a hindrance to her sight.

It stood in the middle, slowly turning with its sabres at the ready and rifle pointed forward and held close to its body. It smiled wider than should be humanly possible, and she couldn't help but imagineits eyes wide and insane. What was most important, however, was that It couldn't see her. The smoke screen worked. Its ruined arm had healed and, while still standing tall, it reached down to pick up the dropped blade, extending like a piece of rubber.

So how to defeat it? She thought. It could evidently heal, was inhumanly quick for having avoided almost all of her fiery orbs, and it seemed capable of extending its limbs. The range was, as of yet, unknown. Proceed carefully.

She directed her gaze to a spot behind it, pulling the image of a bakasura from her mind, conjuring a copy of the black chitined monstrosity; crouched over with blades for its hands. She made it hiss and pounce, causing It to jump to the side, firing a short, concentrated burst of lead at the creature while pulling a grenade from his belt and threw it at the ground. A vague fuzziness clouded Lily's vision in the following seconds, the smoke grenade taking effect but no completely robbing her of her vision thanks to her goggles.

She had the bakasura-illusion mimic the sound of a pained one, adding a series of small bullet holes and black blood oozing from each. Nevertheless, she had it pounce again. This time it was met by a pair of sabres cutting at its exposed belly, the rifle raised to block the bladed arms.

Lily dispelled her own invisibility, focusing now entirely upon the bakasura and, by extention, her opponent. The blades seemed to hit the rifle with the clang of metal striking metal, a little tweak to the perceptions of the Abomination had its arms strain under the force of the blow. Nevertheless, the swords struck true and bit into the carapace of the bakasura, spraying black blood before it slumped to the floor, unmoving.

"No phyyylacteryy," she heard It say. "Not my meal." Underneath the helmet she saw its mouth widen impossibly, its jaw even extending down cartoonishly. It bent down and scooped up the remains of the illusory monster, and deposited in its mouth. It then closed with a horrible, squelching sound. Only now did she dare dispel the illusion, making it vanish as if it had never been there. And it hadn't.

It perked up and looked around, as if something had peaked its interest. "The little meal vanished. Summoned pet. You dismissed it!" He called out. "I know what kind of fighter you are. Coward! Sending pets instead of facing me yourself."

He was trying to get to her. To anger her and make her make mistakes. Too bad, she wasn't some green recruit.

She almost snorted. You're just another monster. And like any other monster, she would break him. Mind or body, it didn't matter which one came first.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

Lily and Brucie kept to the darkness as she had decreed, moving slowly and with as little sound as they could muster. For Lily, soundless movement was easy. She had already been good at it as a child, but the enhanced body she received upon becoming one of the Shifters had only hightened her potential. It was a challenge for Brucie, however. Though he knew not to charge ahead and make a cacophony where there didn't need to be any, he was still as much metal as he was flesh, and the sheer weight of the contraption that was his limbs caused more noise than Lily was content with. Because of this, not a minute had passed in their trek before Lily demanded that he wait while she get something to lessen the sound he made with each step.

"Stay here, Mouse," she had crept ahead and gone to the first oversized mushroom they came across, much to her own chagrin, using her illusory powers to mask her own presence. She couldn't render herself invisible while moving, but she could at least make herself blend in better with her surroundings. A few colour changes could go a long way. Once there she had broken off several large pieces of the fungi, wrapped them in her jacket, and moved back to Brucie.

"Put these on your feet," she told him as she met back up with him, dumping out two of the largest pieces on the ground. They should, if all went well, mask most of the sound he made when he moved. There was just one problem...

"With what?" He asked. "Ain't got no string or rope. So unless you got some magic string 'tween your tails," he let the statement hang in the air, and Lily found herself needing to sacrifice.

She sighed and started undoing her skirt, letting it fall to the ground and leaving her only in her t-shirt and leggings. She bowed down to pick up both it and her jacket. "Lift your feet, I'll tie them to you." Brucie did as told, lifting first his left foot, allowing her to attach a piece of fungi to the underside, tied to his metallic limb with her skirt. She then went on to tie the fungi to his right foot, taking the feather from the inner pocket first and putting it down the front of her shirt. No pockets left, she thought and finally tied the knot around Brucie's right foot.

"All done?" He asked, looking down at her from above.

"All done," came the reply. She stood up and dusted herself off before asking, "how does it feel? Can you walk normally?"

Brucie looked down and tried to take a few steps. The sound he made was markedly lessened, but the fungi had, as was to be expected, been squashed in the process. Luckily for the both of them, there still remained enough trapped in her garments-turned-knots to reduce the noise. "Feels a bit weird," he said after he walked back to her, "but I'll make do. Sorry 'bout the clothes though."

"I'll live," she said and turned away from him. She, in particular, turned her attention to something she had just briefly caught sight of when she was gathering the mushroom. It was the wreckage of what looked to be a train. Oren had previously mentioned that her next opponent had crashed down here in a train while still fighting. Whoever she was going to go up against next would most likely be in there. "It won't be lack of clothing that kills me down here," she muttered and headed off, trying her best to ignore the drone hovering near them, pointing forward and to their left. She would have been tempted to shoot it down if not for Oren's last message, that it would be the last drone they got, and it would guide them towards their next opponent. As it was she was forced to let it stay, lest she get rid of a major advantage.

---

They had taken a roundabout path to the train wreckage, avoiding the fungi to stay in the shadows where there was the least possibility of being spotted. Even if her coming adversary knew in which direction was was, he would not be able to garner any more information if he could not see her.

They had, however, arrived with no commotion. The drone now pointed almost directly to her left when she stood faced with the ancient city. They turned up little in their search there. Of their meager findings a disgusting trail of black slime was the most prominent, and aside from that only bits of broken plastic, wood and metal.

Following the trail with her eyes, however, Lily noticed that it lead directly into a tightly packed forest of mushrooms. A concoction of volatile irritation bubbled in her core, but she forced it down, telling Brucie to stay a ways behind, as she and Mouse moved forward. She had no intentions of entering the death trap that this forest was. It had far too many places from where an opponent could get the jump on her, and she had not survived this long just to stupidly die in an ambush.

They followed the trail only so long as it was out in the open and she knew there was no chance of any ambush. She relied on her superior eyesight to peer farther into the forest, straining to spot even small bits of the black ooze between the stalks and caps. She knew little of who she was going to fight, but based on what objects had been strewn about on the part of the track before the mushrooms began, one was humanid, and the other was not. The slime could either be blood or the very body of some creature. Other options included it being the drool of a much larger creature, or the slowly decomposing remains of said humanoid, however the lack of any evidence to suggest a large beast left her to believe that both were around her and Brucie's size.

She glanced behind her and saw Brucie still following, but keeping his distance as told. She waved him a bit closer, waiting for him to approach before she told him in a low voice. "Most likely humanoid-sized target. Don't know much more than that. I can see the edge of the fungi ahead. Approach slowly."

Brucie nodded and followed, as did Mouse. They made it to within a couple dozen metres before Lily held up a hand, signalling for her companions to stop.

"What is it?" The shark asked, peering over her shoulder at the luminescent fungi.

"A handprint," she whispered, "on one of the caps. Right side, near the ground." She glanced around, ears twitching this way and that, straining for any sign of strangers. So far, nothing. A quick look at the drone showed it still pointing towards the forest.

She again looked around, this time for cover rather than intruders. Off to their left was a boulder, larger than most in this area, but hopefully didn't stand out too much. It was likely from the explosion that caused the hole, and since the train had come almost all the way here it wasn't much of a stretch. Or maybe that bird? Lily jerked her head towards it and headed over to it, huddling behind it with Brucie and Mouse.

She would not go into so obvious a death trap as that fungal forest. Her opponent had a drone as well. They could come to her.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

About to go to bed, but will get a post up tomorrow. Even if a small one.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

@Lugubrious
I have some stuff I am going to spend by weekend doing. Other writing stuff (need it done by Monday). So by Tuesday or Wednesday I should have something up. I hope that's early enough. Sorry I've been slacking off <.<

The Crucible - Winner Take All

The click-clack of loose stones hitting the ground accompanied Lily's final landing. She had spent the last two-or-so hours alternating between jumping and sliding down rocky earth, thanking the World-Drakes that her tails were actually useful for more than just decorations, and actually helped her keep her balance. All the while she carried Mouse, somewhere in the back of her mind being equally thankful that he was a small dog, and so easily carried. She gently put him down, giving him a few, quick scratches behind the ear before rising to her full height, surveying the area.

Around her was mostly rock and dirt, the odd clumb of asphalt and metal pipes. Truly the ground and bedrock had been blown to smithereens, leaving only pieces left of whatever constructions had been above, and below, ground prior to the explosion. Mouse took particular interest in a piece of red rock that might have once been part of an impressive artefact from one of the now-destroyed buildings. Or it might have just been a red brick. In the distance, behind and above her, she could heard the sound of metal against stone, which told her that Brucie was not far behind, even despite the obvious difference in their levels of mobility. A glance confirmed what she heard, the shark clumsily making his way down by going from handhold to handhold, forcing his metal claws into whatever narrow crevices he could find, whenever there was a lack of better places to grab hold.

While she rested and waited for her companion to catch up to her, she began looking for routes to take. Ahead of her was the massive city constructed of metal, stone and light. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. From the sprawling cityscape of the Academy, to the yet wild and untouched areas of the alps, Lily had seen nothing like this in her own homeworld. Just looking at it gave her the feeling that this was something entirely alien. In a way, it was obvious as everything in this world was alien by mere definition, but more that this was neither human nor mythic of origin. It was more, and yet not. I have a bad feeling about this. And yet, she couldn't afford to let herself be unnerved by something she got a strange vibe off of. She was a Kitsune, one of the best illusionists among the Mythics. She had walked through nightmares and come out unscathed. She shouldn't be scared, not when she herself had the ability to conjure up things that would make even the Titans turn tail and run. She let herself close her eyes for a few moments, and breathed in, bringing her hands to her chest. Then, opening her eyes, she breathed out and stretched her arms out in front of her: Palms crossed and facing forward.

With her composure reasserted she fixed her eyes on the area between her and the as-of-yet distant city, already planning the route that was both the most direct and safest. There were the remains of the stone columns the giant bird had demolished, those she would have to clumb over or between. She had been able to see gaps in the colums, through which some of the light from the city had penetrated, which meant that there should, at least, be enough space to squeeze through. Slender as she was, it should be possible, though the tails could prove an issue. Brucie, however, was another problem entirely. He might have to climb over, rather than between, the "roots" of two of the destroyed columns. With luck, the debris of said columns would have falle in such a way that it allowed Brucie to scale it with ease. She looked over her shoulder at where Brucie was now sliding down the slope, struggling with his balance. She briefly eyed his metallic claws, deciding that he would have little trouble climbing if it came to that. He had made it down here, after all, which was arguably a far more challenging endeavour.

She turned back to the expanse before her, and finally decided which route to take. There's enough ambient light to see by down here.
For me, at least. And with an opponent being nearby down here, I have to be careful. Avoiding the fungi will leave me with the best chances for getting the first strike. Although... She grimaced. The announcement from a while ago said that the drones will now point us towards our next opponent. So even keeping to the shadows won't guarantee going unseen. But there probably aren't any contestants with better senses than me, so I should at least be able to get the jump on them regardless. I'll spot them first, even with the drones being a dead giveaway. She would avoid the water to the best of her ability, knowing well the dangers that came with wet tails. Even if the chances of getting soaked were small, it was not a risk she was willing to take. After that, it was as simple as just going forward, while keeping eyes and ears out for any strangers.

Speaking of eyes.

Moving one of her tails in front of her, she took the pair of child-like toy glasses from it. She had received them as a prize from her previous fight and had yet to test them out. For the most part they looked just like any other set of goofy eyewear, with some sort of button in the middle of the front, between the eyes. It was not too far a stretch to assume that the button might have something to do with whatever effect the glasses had. She pushed it and held the glasses as far away from her body as possible, the glasses facing outwards in case of spontaneous death rays. Never know with this world, she thought when, after several moments of waiting, nothing had happened. When it became evident that there was no immediate threat to them, she carefully put them on, fully aware of how utterly ridiculous they made her look. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Everything looked much the same, yet still a little bit different. She still saw rock all over the place, as well as errant pieces of bent and broken metal. It was only when she looked down at Mouse that the ability of said glasses made itself evident.

She still saw the dog that he was, but she saw so much more at the same time. His skin and flesh had become transparent, his bones exposed to her eyes. She could still see the flesh, however, as if it was an imperfect x-ray. It was like a slightly dirty piece of glass she saw it through. Still somewhat hesitant, she clicked the button on the front of the glasses, and found her vision return to normal. As it turned out, the button was like a switch. On and off.

"Huh," she said taking off the glasses, "interesting." She let one of her tails take it again, keeping it safe while she moved about. At this point, Brucie had finally made his way down to her, and looked surprisingly tired for someone who didn't really have to move his own limbs to get about.

"Rock climbing. Couldn't it have been running?" He asked, glancing about.

"No, it couldn't have been. Take a piece of bread to eat if you need to regain some strength, but for now we're off." She called to Mouse and told him to stay near, then turned to face the distant city. "We have about a kilometre and a half before we meet that city there. I don't know what we'll come across, or if it will be dangerous or not. We'll stick to the dark, avoiding the water and fungi, and stay low. I've been able to get the jump on every opponent so far. I want to keep it that way." She let out a low whistle and started forward, Mouse at her side. Behind her, Brucie followed.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

@Lugubrious
Mine is primarily a wrist problem, as always. I hate to use it as an excuse, but such is the reality. Honestly, I was just waiting to see if I had a decent day where I could write. Plus, well, had an assignment due yesterday that used up my mana pool writing-without-pain-metre.

I'll see about getting started tomorrow (need today to rest). After that, two days, max 3 I hope.
Edit: The days is with tomorrow included. So 5th or 6th should be my update date.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Lily and Fenn powered through the forest, foregoing helicopter and portals in favour of her own legs, when returning to the Seal's entrance. She had fought through what resistance remained, and finally made her way into the antechamber where the strange door yet remained locked. Returning to her elven form she had worn before their mission had demanded a form more suited for combat. Scales gave way to pale skin, muscles seemed to deflate, replaced instead by soft curves. Where previously had been horns were now elfine ears, and what coarse hair she had possessed lengthened, regaining its silver-white sheen.

She stretched her arms above her hand, fingers interlocked, feeling the pleasant sensation of muscles tensing, then relaxing as she let her hands fall to her side again. The movement, however, brought her attention to her clothes... Or what remained of them. She had deliberately dressed in baggy clothes earlier that day, knowing that she would otherwise shred whatever she wore, if she adopted her draconic guise. However, even if it still covered her, she had underestimated her own size, as well as the amount of damage it would sustain during the fights. Her pants remained relatively intact, albeit marked where a few blades had cut through the fabric. Her shirt, however, was something else entirely. The right sleeve was gone in its entirety, and thanks to the scuffles she had been in, much of her shirt was torn and cut. Perhaps the only damage to the shirts inflicted by Lily herself, were the two slits on the back that had been made to accomodate her wings. Every other cut and hole was from some weapon, tooth, or claw. She was lucky that there was still enough to retain her decency, even if she did not personally care about it.

She sighed and was about to head inside when the rumbling voice of Fenn beckoned her. "Imp," he said in a low voice, jerking his head to the side before wandering off, to a more secluded place, Lily following. "This meal did not sit well with me," he rumbled, pulling back his teeth in a sneer.

"You are unwell?" The demoness inquired, walking up to him and looking him over, brows furrowed.

"You should know, as Warleader," he elaborated. "I am no longer keeping my fire contained by choice."

A slight parting of her lips was all the surprise she showed. She moved to circle him, paying particular attention to the places where his fire would originate from under normal circumstances. Just as he had said, there were no flames to speak of. Not even embers or smoke. "Will it be a great detriment to you? Do you want to be rid of it? I imagine it wouldn't be hard to get out, if you desired."

She caught his nearly baleful glare out the corner of her, a knowing smirk on her lips as she predicted his response. Well, the tone and pride in it, at the very least.

"I hunted for a long time with no fire or chains before venturing to yonder corner of the underworld. It makes no difference," he announced, the rumble in his voice becoming a little more pronounced.

"if you insist that you can do well without, then I trust that you do." She cocked her head towards the entrance to the ruined structure, in which the seal yet remained. "Come, time to join the others," she said and started walking, Fenn dutifully following.

They entered the ruined cathedral in short order, meeting with the Nephilim, the Angelic champion, and her other companions; Souta and Akoni, the former of which she sent a warm smile. Before she could do anything more than that, however, her attention was diverted by the arrival of two new, one somehow more nauseatingly self-righteous than the rest of their ilk, looking more like a spoiled prince than a warrior—the mere sight of him brought a scowl to her face—as well as a familiar angel, whom Lily recognised as the one she and the others had met earliar that day. She decided to ignore him, instead favouring Wrath with her gaze, eyeing the orb he held in particular.

So he has the last of the keys, she mused, glancing towards the door that still held one of the three artefacts. Fenn has the other, I wonder what th—

"—Hand me the orbs."

The demand came with such unexpected conviction and surety that Lily actually laughed, giggling as if she had just heard the funniest thing in the world. That is, until all mirth fled her face, and she and Fenn spoke in perfect unison: "No."

The Crucible - Winner Take All

@Lugubrious
For now.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

The sound of hurried footsteps coming from above, and between Brucie’s jumps, stopped Lily from taking her third jump before the awkward voice did. Above her, Brucie was seconds from taking his second leap when someone called out to them, prompting him to turn and come nearly face-to-face with a… man.

In the time it took Brucie to tilt his head in mild confusion the air had become balls of fire, each cobalt orb as dangerous as the next. “Who are you?” Lily said with dangerous calm. “James Teller, or Smiley?” The blue, inhuman eyes of Lily met the green of the newcomer. Behind her, covering for Mouse who was now on the ground, her tails moved rapidly; twisting and churning.

Samuel stopped in his tracks, though he made sure to keep trembling. He had to sell the act. It certainly helped that there were glowing orbs in the air now, ones which probably threatened his life for real if he pissed this woman off. Threatening someone unprovoked. Punish her. Terrorize. His soul called out in hunger, demanding action. No, he would resist. Even if the horror within him could justify the action, he had no intention of starting a fight. As fulfilling as it would be to terrify the bizarre duo below, it would be just as wrong. Not wrong. Teach her a lesson. Knock her into the hole. Sweet, delicious fear. No.

“T-teller? Smiley? W-who?” he stuttered out, looking between the energy orbs, forcing himself to sweat. “I don’t understand. Who are they? And who are you? M-my name is Justin. I just want to know how I got here. Why do you have tails? Why are you a robot shark? Please don’t hurt me!”

Lily’s eyes narrowed, suspicion clear as day on her face. “Justin, then,” she said, speaking slowly, and making it clear just how little she believed him with just those words. “Let me be clear that the only reason I am not in the process of burning you to cinders, is because that prick of an announcer has not signalled the beginning of yet another round.” The tension in her body loosened, and she adopted a less threatening posture, though her tails still moved behind her like the currents of an ocean. Her fire, however, remained. “That means that you are not a contestant. Or, at the very least, not my current opponent.” Her eyes didn’t move from Justin as she added, “Brucie, would you kindly see if he has a phylactery?”

The shark in question grinned as only a shark could, rows of razor teeth suddenly becoming much more prominent. “Aye sir,” he said and reached out with one, large claw. While not gentle, he was definitely not rough either, as he grabbed hold of an apprehensive Justin and pulled him down beside him, holding him fast with a hand around his shoulders and neck. With the other he poked around his torso, pulled open pockets and the like.

After a few minutes, Brucie was left with nothing, and Justin had acquired a few new pricks and bruises, where the metallic fingers had accidentally broken his skin.

“Nothing?” Lily asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Nothing,” Brucie echoed, then hesitated. “Well, except for a bunch of random junk. And playing cards. No rubber-heart.”

Lips pressed together in thought, Lily looked over this Justin as he nervously stood before them. “So you’re not a contestant,” she finally said, the number of flaming orbs gradually decreasing as the movement of her tails lessened. A dozen, however, still remained afloat around them. “Then how did you arrive here?” She added, even as a thought occurred to her. He’s not a contestant, nor a college member. Is he from the third faction? If he is, then he must know of the things happening in and around the city. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly, one ear flicking in irritation. It doesn’t make sense for one of them to act so afraid at the sight of Brucie and I, not with the level of backup he must have. Let’s try to see what’s behind the facade. “And for the love of Inari, drop the act. I’ve seen proper fear. Yours is not it.”

Samuel trembled and recoiled as Brucie reached out for him, but he allowed the shark man to grab him and search his person. He put up only the minimal struggle one should expect from a frightened man being restrained by a hulking creature from the depths, confident that his more dangerous items were well enough hidden. After a couple minutes of being poked and prodded, Samuel was proven correct, though he found himself highly agitated that half a deck of cards had spilled out onto the rocky outcropping. Phylactery, huh? That’s an object liches use to trap and feed on souls. Do these two hunt liches?

Samuel listened to the kitsune’s questions, hiding behind wide eyes and a slack jaw. He had fully committed himself to the act. That’s when she brought his behavior into question, and a fire lit within his mind. Seen fear? You have seen fear? I am fear! No, keep it in. Do not act on impulse. Just act.

“I don’t-I don’t know where I a-a-aaaam!” Samuel forced himself to cry. This woman was sly, so he’d have to make this an experience unforgettable to sell it. Show business required sacrifices, so that is what he’d have to do for this particular piece of art. The magician moved his body around, struggling against Brucie’s grip until he got what he wanted. Samuel’s movements caused one of his many hidden knives to stab lightly into his side, piercing the skin and coming to a rest against a rib. He was thankful for the thick clothing he always wore.

“P-p-pleeease! Don’t hurt meeee! I j-just w-want to know w-w-what’s happening!” Use that pain. Force it through your emotions. He winced as the blade scraped along the bone, and used that to express a large sob.

Something… changed. Lily couldn’t quite tell what it was, but something had definitely changed. He was still acting, of that she was certain—nothing else made sense—but parts of it had taken on a more realistic quality. Can’t see well enough from here, she thought, then gave Mouse a quick command to stay where he was. Five metres was a tall order for a normal human. Most could hardly jump two. However, Lily was no normal human. Running at the speeds she could required, not only fast reaction speeds, but stronger muscles than normal. And though she could not jump five metres straight, she could take the less impressive approach of jumping from foothold to foothold, never staying in the same place for more than a moment before jumping for the next.

She landed in front of Justin seconds later, finding that though he looked small compared to Brucie, he was ever so slightly taller than she was, if one did not count the few centimetres her ears added to her. “Provided that you are telling the truth,” she said slowly, eyes never leaving his, “then I can tell you this: You are in the city of Echoes. You do not have a phylactery, so you are not a contestant in the tournament.” She clicked her tongue, and started slowly circling him, her movements sleek and graceful like a predator stalking its prey. “And if you are not a contestant, that means that you are with them—” with one hand she points towards the sky, and the black helicopters occasionally passing by “—and that is why I don’t believe that you are this wimpy little pile of tears and snot.”

City of Echoes. That sounded rather ominous. Ok, so something supernatural was definitely happening, then. Some kind of tournament was going on, and the contestants had phylacteries. So this was a tournament for liches? He could believe the kitsune was a lich, but doubted the cybernetic shark could possibly be one. Perhaps her thrall? Fascinating. So it was likely a tournament that involved taking the souls of your opponents, Sam concluded. Such an event was ripe with sin to punish. His soul cried out in legion, hundreds of individual and distinct voices singing in a choir of the hungry. She had committed this crime. He could see it within her, see the sin of soul stealing. Maybe this kitsune was worth the effort then. Still, he’d have to be certain. Just because the Murder within saw her as punishable, didn’t mean that he couldn’t justify her actions rationally. That thought aside, he didn’t care for how she was circling around him. Raven was predator. Ugallu are the ultimate predators. Maybe she’ll learn that. Time would tell.

“I h-have no idea who th-they are, I swear! I don’t know how I got here! I had a show last night in New York, went to bed, and then I I I woke up in this place!” Samuel took a moment to open the blazer jacket of his suit and produced a deck of playing cards, then held it up for the other two to see. “I’m a magician, not a… Soldier or someone that’d be in a helicopter! Let me show you.”

He spread the cards out, showing off the different suits and numbers of the full deck. Grabbing one at random, he made sure that he never saw which card it was, showing off the six of clubs to Brucie and his fox-like companion. Then Samuel crumpled the card in his hand, making sure to ball it up real good. Next he tossed it aside, into the massive hole. It clearly fell beyond line of sight. A moment later and the magician placed his hand behind Brucie’s back, then pulled from it a single playing card. The six of clubs. He held it up for Lily to inspect, and sure enough it was folded and creased randomly, as though it had been crumpled.

Unimpressed was about the only word to describe the expression on Lily’s face. To Samuel’s credit, however, Brucie did seem somewhat impressed. Even then, he was the only one. “A card trick?” She asked, stopping in her track in front of him, watching him with as deadpan a stare as she could.

She sighed and turned her back to him, ears still twisted backwards to hear him. “I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t believe you for a second. You don’t arrive here without a reason. But in the off chance that you’re telling the truth, then I have no need for you.” She took a step towards the edge of the small platform, “let’s go, Brucie,” she added and let herself fall down to where Mouse waited.

“I, uh, heh, I admit it’s not my best trick, but I don’t, uh, you know, have much prepared since I just sorta appeared here…” Sam feigned sheepishness at the criticism. It was something he could expect. A kitsune should be, according to the legends, a very powerful magical creature. If she were also a lich participating in a tournament to steal souls, then it was only natural that she’d be unimpressed by simple sleight of hand and basic tricks. He briefly wondered how she’d react if she knew the full extent of his real magic, but focused on the task at hand.

The kitsune deigned to release him and carry forward with Brucie, down into the hole. That, he thought, was probably that. Following would be pointless and make no sense if he wanted to keep up the charade, and there was no way in hell he’d be revealing his true nature. “Oh, ok. Uh, well then I uh… I hope someone can tell me what’s going on…” he trailed off, mumbling the last few words. With both Brucie and the fox woman gone, he shed the persona of cold, scared, confused Justin. His entire body language shifted into a more comfortable, contemplative one.

You don’t arrive here without a reason. Those were her words. Then something chooses to take people here. Interesting. He spared a glance upward at the helicopters. And these people are apparently uninvited, meaning they are not part of this contest. A separate group with a stake in this city. But what is the goal? A contest has a prize, so what does that lich want?

Samuel Raven grinned to himself, adjusted his top hat, and began to slowly walk away from the massive hole. He held a single lump of bread up to his face, nicked from Brucie’s backpack while he was performing that simple card trick, and ate it. He would have preferred something more enlightening, but it’d do. If I choose, we will meet again, kitsune. For now, I had better see if there are any other “contestants” out there. I’m getting… Hungry.

---

Below, Lily had stopped briefly when she knew a normal human could not pierce the darkness. She looked up, watching the man that had claimed to be named Justin. She did not need supernatural senses to see the change in his posture and expression; to see the lie unravel at the seams, whether intentional or not.

A slow, self-satisfied smile spread across her lips. Never try to trick a Trickster, “Justin”. The piece of bread he’d snatched, she decided, was inconsequential. His primary trick she had seen through.