KillamriX88

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Desert Outpost · Morning · [&.canaryrose]Desert Outpost · Morning · @canaryrose _ Even with their ability to earthbend, walking through the windwhipped desert wasn't exactly pleasant. There was only so much even they could do to make the journey easier, juiced up bending or not. There wasn't much to talk about along the way, especially when one of them wasn't even capable of speaking. Especially when, as the hours wore on, Chae-Won saw Weiyuan refuse to rest. Resting would mean most likely his other personality taking over again. A personality that had no idea what was going on and, in his mind, that lacked the fortitude to deal with their current situation. Chae-Won didn't like to admit it, but she was thankful the current Weiyuan was sticking around. She was still anxious about confronting the other one with how things had left off between them. What was worse, this was a very bad time to try and resolve things. There was so much to try and explain. Once arriving at their first destination, CHae-Won immediately got to work. There was only so much she could do, but after eyeing the vehicles, she at least came up with one thing to keep her busy: make sure she and Weiyuan were placed on the Kyoshi. She was not having it all go to shit now just because they got put on a rustbucket that was about to have its wheels fall off in the middle of the desert. When fate didn't go their way, some careful manipulating got things back on track for them. It was not easy, consdiering she had very little to work with, but she made it happen. "OK, kid. Looks like we got a few people starting to group up. Might be stuck with them for a bit. Wanna go say hi?" Weiyuan looked over at the Kyoshi and the people begginning to group up around it, and then back at Chae-Won with a stern scowl. Part of him wondered if she'd known who else was assigned to the Kyoshi when she'd been so adamant about them riding on it. There was no denying it was the superior choice, but still... Chae-Won put a pleasant smile on her face, ignoring the pointed look coming from Weiyuan's baggy eyes, and marched over to the vehicle with him trudging along after her. "Hey there!" she greeted the two women who'd gotten there before them. "Looks like we're riding with you!" She gave a somehwat nervous laugh, trying to pass it off as her just being friendly. Her facade was crumbling, and the longer she stood near the two the faster it fell apart. "S-so, uhhh, who are you? I-I mean I'm Chae-Won, your names are...?" They would all hear the sound of Weiyuan's palm smacking against his face in second-hand embarassment. He just stared at her tiredly, simultaneously wishing he could form the words to yell at her and yet happy he had an excuse to stay out of it. "Oh right! Um, this is my friend Weiyuan! He's also, uhh, gonna ride in the car. Truck? Wh-what would you call it? Ahahaha..." She regularly worked for people who would kill her if she breathed wrong. Why was this so hard!? She was pretty sure she was older than them and everything! Weiyuan didn't even spare the other two a glance as he continued to just stare at Chae-Won in a mixture of disblief and disappointment. Finally he just pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging his tired eyes and shook his head. Chae-Won grimaced at that, glancing back at the two women, "OK fine! I'm sorry! I totally know who you two are, I just didn't wanna be that person right now!" she blurted out her shameful admission, face flushed not just from the sun and heat at this point. "Uhh... b-but we really are on the same ride... so... umm... yeah." Weiyuan, feeling a little bad at this point, nodded that Chae-Won was telling the truth, finally fully acknowledging Kanna and Chu Hua. "Oh yeah, and Weiyuan can't talk, so don't think he'd being rude or anything." Funnily enough, talking about the kid suddenly had her talking calm and steady again. Again Weiyuan nodded. In that moment of clarity, Chae-Won noticed the other guy wandering around the modded Kyoshi. He didn't seem like another passenger. One of the drivers, perhaps? Well considering the sate of the other vehicles, it wasn't so hard to believe he'd be curious about something so much nicer. That said, she couldn't quite let her guard all the way down. Anything that might threaten their way out was going to stay firmly on her radar.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

@Crowvette@Scarifar@Dezuel

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Vera didn't get the chance to make her exit before scourge interruption occurred. The weirdo from the bar began running his mouth again after but having been at all useful earlier.

"Oh, go fuck yourself you cryptic asshole!" Vera shouted at him, now devolving to naught but sheer profanity and insults. "Congratulations, fuckhead, you got my name. Now go get bent for all I care. I hope you choke on it!"

She spared Alex one last glance, her angry facade cracking for only a moment before she finally made her retreat into the night. She couldn't do this, not tonight, not around those people. She wondered if she could ever do it, or even what "it" was for her at this point.

Alex was back and she should have been happy, but Vera wasn't the same person Alex had left behind. She wasn't sure she could ever go back to that. What she'd twisted herself into to get past it in the first place might not be capable...

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

@Crowvette@Scarifar

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Vera was stunned into silence by Alex's sudden exclamation. By the time she could have formed a response, the other girl had already launched into a nonsensical rant about why they hadn't spoken to each other until now.

"Well how was I-" but she was still fated to not yet get a word in edgewise, as Michael interjected himself into things once again. And there it was once more, boiling back up without delay, Vera's comfort zone -- a red haze of spite and indignation. "Like I said," Vera spoke coldly as she turned her head to acknowledge Michael's presence. "Nosy. If I wanted you to know my name, you'd know it. I don't want you to know me, and I certainly don't want to know you!" she snapped at him.

"But sure, everyone seems just fine," she scoffed. "Since I'm to blame, I suppose I should just get out of your hair, Alex. Wolfram goes to Clausewitz now. Maybe you can go track him down later and tell him everything he did wrong, too. He already blames himself anyway. Might as well make it official."

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

@Crowvette

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"I never made it out," Vera told Alex with a tired sigh. "And relax. Everything has been handled. It's just us now," Vera told her. "I ran into our replacement, by the way. Your new pal Michael. He's a nosy little shit, that's for sure. I don't like him."

What the fuck was she doing?

"At any rate, I'm glad you're awake and healthier than ever, but I'm tired, Alex. You have anything to say? Because I think I've spoken my mind for now. I can see well enough where your priorities are these days. I get it, really. Something like a coma must really get you thinking about life."

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

THE FUCKHECKING END OF MIDNIGHT ALREADY

@AtomicNut@Dezuel@Crowvette@Letter Bee@Spin The Wheel@RoflsMazoy

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The hulking mass of muscle pushed itself to its feet. It turned around… and took a table to the face. It looked down with its beady eyes and almost gently reached down to lift the table. It inspected it… and then hurled it with hurricane force back where it came from, flooring the brave individual who’d sought to help out.

However, their act of bravery seemed to spark courage in the few patrons who remained. Mystical projectiles, chairs, and empowered fists all flew at the hulking being, slowly driving it to its knees.

“Ha! I got it!” One woman cried out, rearing her fist back. “Take th- . . . Oh.” She then realized that its meaty fist was now around her lower leg. A moment later and she was the next projectile to fly, slamming into two others who tried to catch her, only for all three to be left writhing on the ground, none having the supernatural durability to weather such an attack.

More concerning was the darker, maroon hue its skin was beginning to take. If anything, the muscles seemed now to be shrinking back down, taking on a taut, glossy appearance. Seeing this continued evolution, the “heroes” that remained on their feet paused.

“Oh to hell with this!” One broke and fled. Even then, numbers were still on their side, but one person giving in began to erode the resolve of the others.

Soon, the only one left to challenge it seemed to be Suzakura…

Meanwhile… “What?!” Vera shouted at Alex. Oh, right. It seemed they were both equally deafened at the moment. “OK, OK, wai-” Vera reached out, but Alex was already making for the back exit. It was the right idea, but… well communication was impossible right now, so Vera gave up. “Ugh, come on!” she turned to her passed out friend, pulling them from their seat, but couldn’t keep a grip on the girl’s dead weight as she just flopped to the floor. “Dammit! Wake up already!”

CRASH Vera’s eyes widened as a projectile body, that she vaguely recognized as the creep known as Suzakura, went flying past, through the big, front window, and then slammed into the wall of the building across the street. Vera glanced up at the berserk muscle fiend, and then back down at her friend.

“Wake up, wake up, wakeup!” Vera shook her violently with redoubled panic, but she just wouldn’t come to. On the bright side, as the creature that was once human roared, it seemed consumed by its own evolution, its muscles shrinking and condensing down, tighter and tighter as its body took on a deep, purplish hue.

On the down side… there were scarce few people left to distract it once it was finished.

. . .

Mina was sad. She had lost her baby, who had proceeded to backstab her. Stupid stupid Mina. She could not read the mood. She wanted to cry, but then she saw a figure flying outside. Even Suzakura.

Something deep stirred as she squeezed the last out of her magical power to create Miracle Milk. One of such flasks was for herself, which she drank. The other was sent flying all the way to the bar, landing softly near Vera.

"YOU, YOU BAD PERSON. YOU HURT MY BABY! YOU HURT MY SUZA. YOU WILL PAY".

She said as she dug her heels and wrenched an entire handrail as improvised melee weapon from some nearby stairs. She mooed somewhat menacingly as she waved the big metal bar, aimed at the freaks head.

The improvised weapon easily reached the back of the monstrosity’s head, driving it to a knee, the force enough that it had to use its hands to catch itself from falling further.

Up close, one could see that nearly all its clothes had been shredded by its explosive growth earlier, and yet it had nearly no visible anatomy aside from its swollen muscles. Even its lips were peeled back, leaving only gnashing teeth and enraged, bloodshot eyes visible.

Blood spurted from its head as its veins bulged. When the inevitable second swing came, its hand shot up to grab the metal rail, crushing and twisting it in its grasp. It then slowly turned its head to shoot a seething glare at Mina before wrenching her closer and reaching out to grab her.

"NO GRABBY, ONLY SUZA CAN DO THAT!" Mina yelled as she jumped out of the way, her clothes getting torn at the front by the barely effective dodge, spilling out all the goods. She eyed the giant with fury, and prepared for a gore charge…

As Mina prepared for her charge, the chaotic symphony of the battle was cut through by a firm, calm, and commanding voice. “Twelve, versus twelve.” Suddenly a stick, formerly a part of a bar stool, slammed into the giant’s arm with enough force to shatter the wood and had it been a head shot, pulverize a normal man’s skull into mush. The thrower was a young man who was standing near the bar, his face obscured by a cheap plastic rabbit mask. “Hey, how about you stop trying to hit a lady, and pick on someone your own strength?”

Mina’s charge was successful, with the stick embedding itself in the hulk’s arm like a ballista bolt. It was left draped over Mina’s shoulders… but then its muscles bulged once more. The stick was sent rocketing back out of its body by the pressure, and its other arm went to wrap around Mina’s neck.

For Mina, hitting him would have been like hitting a solid, rock wall. Her horns pierced him, but did not gore him through…

Vera, at this time, was left with a strange vial of liquid and a chaotic battle between perhaps the two beefiest individuals in the world. She held the liquid, having an uncomfortably good idea of what it was.

However, things were desperate. She opened it… and took a sip. Almost immediately her hearing came back. She then looked down at the unconscious girl next to her.

“That’s it. Drink it or choke on it, bitch!” She pried her mouth open and upended the rest into her mouth. A few second later, the girl began to choke, but then rocketed up to a sitting position gasping for breath.

“Wh-what the fuck is-”

SLAM! A moment later, as was becoming distressingly the norm, another figure went flying past, though this time colliding with the doorframe and remaining in the building. The recently awakened girl stared at the fallen Mina, blinking in confusion before Vera clamped her hand down on the girls head and spun her around to face the freakish being of twisted sinew.

“THAT is the fuck! Now can we go?!” Vera shouted. To her dismay, the other girl narrowed her eyes ponderously.

“Nah, I got this.”

“Wh-”

“My high is gone and I’m pissed!” The girl shoved herself to her feet, shoving a lock of her dyed green hair behind her ear before marching over.

At the same time, the beast had its bulging eyes locked onto the man in the mask. It took a lumbering step toward him before a piercing whistle hit its ears.

“Hey, buddy, eyes on-” It immediately turned and uppercut the girl straight through the ceiling and out of sight. The young man in the mask watched in horror as this happened, and gripping onto part of the bar flexed his body, using the entire thing to rip a long piece of it off to swing like one may a sword. This time, three numbers would flash above the boy’s head, two ones and a five. Then, another set of numbers, a 13, as he attempted to slam the piece of wood into the hulking freak’s neck as if to break it.

Mina for her part, was hurting all over. She focused on bringing more miracle milk out of the source. Yes, even if her bones were broken a dozen times, she would be fine if she still had the panacea.

Which she just ran out. Her powers were waning as she got the mother of all splitting headaches. Her body seemed to change as her figure…became more trimmed, her bovine attributes reduced in some parts.

"Ugh…" Mina said as she staggered to her feet. "Mina is not feeling well."

The brute’s head snapped at an angle, the thing stumbled around, but not falling. The absurd mass of muscle and sinew simply wouldn’t let the bones beneath break, or its neck to twist far enough to do lasting damage. However, it was left momentarily dazed, shaking its head.

And then a moment later its attention was captured by a rain of dust and drywall as the girl came back through the ceiling, having finished her parabolic journey through the rafters. She landed in a heap, unmoving. The beast tilted its head curiously, but then seemed to detect nothing further worth attacking, so its rage quickly returned to the masked man.

Until she did move. Almost like a zombie rising from the grave, she shambled to her feet, head still sitting at an awkward angle and her joints creaking. However, her veins began to pulse under her skin.

“That… fuckin’ hurt…” she groaned, straightening her neck with a crack. “If it wasn’t for you… I’d still be nice and numbed up…”

The beast rounded on her again, perhaps most fixated on her now that it thought it had defeated was somehow moving again. It parted its jaws and bellowed at her.

The girl grit her teeth and then roared back, but suddenly a thick cloud of noxious gas spewed out, consuming the thing. One could hear it screeching and flailing within the cloud, before it then burst back out and brought both arms down on the girl in a double-hammer blow, flattening her to the floor.

That said, before it could right itself, her arm flew out, grabbing it by the neck of the head and slamming its face into the floor as well, leaving them both face down in a crater of cracked floorboards.

It pulled itself back, but as it did, the girl also shoved herself to her feet, slamming her head into its face, toppling it onto its rear. It sat there, suddenly gasping for breath, an increasing amount of sweat pouring down its body.

“Heheh…” The girl grinned viciously, veins pulsating, even as blood ran down from her nose. “I got you for five minutes motherfucker.”

The thing rose to its feet, shaking its head angrily and bellowing in fury. The two rushed at each other, but… the girl made one mistake. Whatever advantage she might have had, it was not in her reach. Shrunken down or not, the being was still nearly twice the size of the man it had grown from, and its fist reached her jaw long before hers could reach its.

She was sent skidding across the polished, bar floor, face first, leaving a smear of blood in her wake. During this time the masked man grabbed what remained of the pipe Mina had been using, and readied himself for battle, letting out a loud scream towards the beast which cracked the mask. “Come get some, you misshapen lump of roids and rat shit!” Two threes and a six appeared over the boy’s head, and his scream slammed into the beast, not a proper attack but it could feel the sound against its purple skin.

A last flask of Miracle Milk rattled gently beside poison girl face, the now drained Mina facing the beast. "Rend unto Caesar." The cowgirl muttered, in a more measured inflection than the simple girl seemingly could do. She eyed both opponents. Then the girl in the floor.

Then… she jumped. Out of sight. Up and up into the rafters, using her bovine leg strength. One could be forgiven by confusing her for a goat at this point.

"So, you are proud of your muscle armor. Well then." She put her chin on her arm. Mina…was thinking. It seemed almost surreal. With ease, she reached out for one of the thickest power wires she could grab, creating a show of sparks and a blackout.

Before people could even react to what was happening, the cable was already connecting with the giant's muscle mass.

"Muscles are conductive." She said as she watched electricity do its job and turn the muscle power of the giant into a chaotic mess, therefore turning his great boon into his greatest weakness.

The wave of sound hit the thing, effectively shorting out its simple mind for a good few seconds. It was left standing there, chest heaving from seemingly inexplicable, mounting exhaustion. Before it could bring itself to move again, it suddenly only knew a world of indescribable pain as every muscle in its body convulsed and flexed to the max and beyond. Its back arched and then… a sickening series of cracks could be heard as its inhuman musculature overcame the structure beneath, shattering its own bones.

Smoke rising from its now slackened muscles, it slowly teetered over and collapsed onto its back, completely still.

A moment later the girl with the green hair’s head popped up, “Where is he?! Where is he?! I’m gonna kick his-!”

However, Vera just walked over and kicked her lightly in the ribs, “Chill, superhero, it’s over. Mad cow already fried him.”

“Is he…?” The masked boy asks, implying about the lump being dead.

“Who knows…” Vera rolled her eyes, not terribly concerned at the moment. The fate of the psychotic being that had just ransacked the bar was pretty low on her list of concerns for the night.

“Hey, what’s this?” her friend held up the final bit of “miracle milk” that had been thrown to her while she was face-down earlier.

“Some sort of super healing potion.” Vera shrugged.

“Neat.” The girl went to open it, but… suddenly Vera snatched it away. “Hey!”

“You don’t need it.” Vera then tossed it to the masked man. “If he’s not dead yet and you care, try that. Might even bring him back to almost normal. Dumbass here was high as a kite when I fed it to her and now she’s stone sober.”

“Wait, that’s your fault!?”

“You stole my shit in the first place. Nothing more than you deserve.”

The masked boy for a moment looks up, as if expecting to see someone looking down at him, before he walks over near the lightly fried lump. Taking a moment to wrench open the muscular jaw of his former foe, he then begins to pour the milk down their gullet, massaging their throat to help them swallow.

"Tis a blessing of my cow nature. Miracle Milk. I craft it… in the way you craft your poison." Not-Mina replied as she stood up. "But it seems my power waned. Now I can use my full brainpower. I should thank the miscreant. Well then, so long." The cowgirl said, before looking at Vera. "Hey, Goh. Do you think Tech Stocks are a good investment now?"

“I… don’t know,” Vera blinked, baffled by Mina’s sudden, mental awakening. Vera didn’t really do investing, she just leeched off her parents. She shook her head, “Ugh, whatever. I’m out of here. This isn’t my mess and I don’t want to be a part of it anymore.”

Meanwhile, the muscled hulk had begun to shrink and its wounds to close as its bones also slowly cracked back into place. Before too long, one could have gone back to referring to it as him once again. He didn’t wake up, nor did he go back to normal entirely, but it seemed that perhaps given time he might be restored fully, just that the extent of what had happened to him was beyond what a single drink, even from Mina, could fix all at once.

. . .

Vera stalked off toward the back entrance, grabbing her purse from the bar as she went.

“Where are you headed in such a hurry?” her friend asked.

“None of your business. I suggest you get out of here too. And don’t follow me,” Vera told her, barely sparing her a glance. She made for the door, but was halted.

“Hey… are you OK?” the other girl asked.

Vera just pulled herself free of the girl’s grasp, glaring back at her. “I’m fine...”

“O… K…” The girl frowned. “Sure you don’t want me to go with you? Tonight has been crazy.”

“Fuck off, Anna! I said it was none of your business!” Vera snarled and turned her back on the girl. However, before she could make it through the door, she halted. “And don’t fucking disappear on me. You owe me money.”

Anna just rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I hear you.”

With that, Vera finally made it out the back door into the alley behind the bar, her head on a swivel. She needed to find Alex. “Hey! Alex?! You still here?!” she called out.

. . .

Before Anna and Mina could fully vacate the scene, the masked man tossed both folded pieces of paper. “I owe you both for the assistance. If you ever need help, just call, no questions asked. However, Miss…Anna was it? You took some really nasty hits. Are YOU ok?” He asks, seemingly worried after Anna had been tossed around like a rag-doll.

Anna blinked as she was given the piece of paper, “You’re fuckin’ weird, dude, but ‘aight.” She then snorted at his question. “Nah, I was pretty amped up myself. He just got a lucky hit and I blacked out for a second.” She rolled her neck, a surge of some sort seeming to flood through her veins momentarily. As it did, her bruises began to fade. “Almost running on empty after that one, though, so if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go home and sleep for a week.”

“Alright, well, be safe Anna.” He says, and as she walks away he turns up towards the rafters above, trying to see if Mina was still hovering about.

Mina sighed as she made a modest bra out of cloth, now covering her much reduced attributes. Her eyes rested on the masked man. "That mask is lame. Are you a middle schooler?"

“No, but I am supposed to be somewhere else.” He says, before tossing a shirt up to Mina. “As for the stocks question, I’m not a gambling man but I’d avoid pharma and pump into agriculture. Call it a magically infused hunch.” He tells her, as the faint image of a four leaf clover appears above his head.

Mina tilted her head. "Okay…" She then took the shirt and wore it snuggly. "Might as well go grab some food and see if Suzakura has gotten his head out of his ass. Are you coming, Rabbit Kamen?" The smart sounding cowgirl said, before fetching a drink.

"A last one for the travel. I'm parched. Bottoms up!" Mina said before downing it without mercy…immediately afterwards she began to cough. "Alcohol! Damn…high calorie content… many thoughts… head full.." Mina began to stagger as an explosion of meat threatened to burst through her shirt.

"Mooo…?" Mina said, confused.

“Aww crap baskets. Let’s go get your friend from the nearby wall he was put through and get you home.” The rabbit man says, as he leads her off, leaving the scene barren except for one rather bruised, and fully spent, former lump.

"Rabbit." Mina said as she grasped the masked youth in a hug, warm and tight.

---

The MC of the tournament cautiously stepped out of his glass safety booth now that the fight was over. He looked around, and then ran a weary hand down his face. The place was trashed. The ring was toast. The attendees were all but gone. Either the next tournament would be huge... or a bust. Mind you, that depended on whether or not the bar ever opened its doors again after this.

His eyes fell upon the one tournament goer who was still there, sitting at one of the few tables still standing. Michael.

"Fuck it." The man walked over and placed a gaudy, cheap trophy on the table before him. "Congratulations, now get out."

Lastly went to the door, flipping the sign from open to closed. The sign promptly clattered to the floor as the string holding it snapped.

The winner of the tournament by default is Michael. The Midnight Bar closes its doors for repairs.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

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Soup Kitchen · Later Afternoon · In collaboration with [&.Exit] & [&.Abstract Proxy]Soup Kitchen · Later Afternoon · In collaboration with @Exit & @Abstract Proxy _ “Vasra…” Sonam began quietly, a look of fear passing over her face as her mind finally caught up with everything that had just happened. “I think… Did you know you’re a…” As if unconsciously afraid to put that thought into the world for fear it would somehow be more true than it already was, she refused to finish the sentence. However, her own body wouldn’t allow her a chance to think as when she’d finally brought her hands down, she’d inadvertently summoned a gust of air. Dust, debris and water was gently pushed away from her. “What the fuck…” She said, her voice shaking. “Is that what that was? I suspect you might be right,” Vasra said, her voice measured, her bearing collected, and her expression distinctly clinical. She paused, casting a thoughtful gaze over the returned stranger. When she spoke, Vasra spoke carefully, and it was clear that she was conscious of the amount of uncertain witnesses, “I have worked with a number of interesting substances in my medical career, but I cannot say that I have ever noticed a personal capacity for bending in the past.” Her eyes shifted to the still struggling young man. Vasra frowned, her face contorting into an unfamiliar shape, full of anger, as she stumbled towards her medical bag. Retrieving a metal syringe, she fit a needle, and drew up a pale liquid from a glass bottle. Approaching the mindlessly failing youth, she coolly jabbed him with the syringe, pressing once the syringe was buried deep in his shoulder, “Enough, this ends now. Rest, be at peace, you have no reason to keep fighting.” As the youth faded into heavy sleep from the sedative, Vasra turned towards Sonam, “None of this is normal. Something happened. Something is happening. The explosion.. This poor boy. Bending. Something is wrong. Very wrong…” As Weiyuan stepped into the soup kitchen, he was immediately struck by a feeling of deja vu. It was a sensation he’d gotten used to. His other self had almost certainly been here very recently. Then again, it was shaping up to be a strange day, so it was hard to say anything was truly certain. He didn’t get much farther than that moment of deja vu, however, as a second later someone was blasted into the wall by a torrent of water. There was something uncomfortably familiar about the person on the wall, but he couldn’t place it. Maybe it was just the glazed over eyes that they shared with the rabid person he’d planted into the street outside. ”What the…” The little girl had her hands in her hair now as she looked from her pinned brother to the collapsed area of the soup kitchen where the temporary medical wing had been set up. Her eyes were red and her breathing uneven as she tried to cope with what was happening around her. The flames at the other end of the room had spread, eating up almost a third of what remained of the dining hall and water had risen to about an inch. ”This is the Republic Security Force.” Came a more mechanical voice from outside. It was loud and echoed as if from a speaker, heralding another arrival. ”Please remain calm.” ”Shit.” Sonam carefully maneuvered closer to the door and spied an RSF vehicle drifting down from the sky. Blue and red lights illuminated burning streets, panicked faces and the eerie pink glow that had blanketed the entire block. As it approached the ground, a bay under the chassis opened up and something humanoid was dropped some fifty feet to the street below. It landed hard and without assistance, breaking up the asphalt upon impact and paying little attention to the force applied to its metal frame as it shouldered a rifle and began scanning the immediate area. It was slightly bulky and bipedal, with angular and blocky limbs, body and ‘face’. Dressed as if military and carrying on itself a number of easily visible crowd control devices. Although the padded armor marked it as an RSF officer, the thing was clearly not human. From the center of the metal frame that was its head, a thin, nearly translucent beam was emitted like a cone. It swept horizontally, drawing a red line across every surface and every person within its line of sight. It stopped on a woman who had stumbled into the open road and she froze, but as she tried to remain still, the ground beneath her began to tremble. The AI officer played a pleasant, two tone melody, not unlike one played for children, and shot the woman in the face. ”Benders. Please give up peacefully. I will not harm you.” It said flatly, continuing to scan. It turned toward the kitchen just as the RSF vehicle touched down not far from the robot. ”S-SHIT!” Sonam pressed against the wall. ”Get away from the door!” She yelled at Weiyuan, waving an arm at him. A violent torrent of wind was thrown in his direction, kicking up more water and debris, much to Sonam’s surprise. The beam immediately fixated on the open doorway. Weiyuan stumbled back, arms thrown over his eyes against the dust and debris thrown at him. It turned out to be overall fortuitous, as it left him clear of the AI’s scanner. He quickly pressed himself against the doorway, just barely out of sight. This was bad. He couldn’t move unless it looked away. Somehow he had to make it look away. He shot a look at the other people nearby. There was the doctor who was a total unknown, and the wind-bender who had pushed him clear… but had also been the one to draw attention their way in the first place, so she didn’t seem terribly reliable. He squared his body as best he could while staying flat to the wall. He just needed a single pebble and maybe he could get a bit of breathing room. He could feel what he needed on the opposite side of the wall, out on the street. Dozens of pebbles, rocks, and old chunks of asphalt that had been shoved to the side of the street over the years. He knew what he needed to do, but could he do it? He needed to be precise, and right now precise was hard. He had power, but it wasn’t stable. OK, so then he just wouldn’t bother with precision at all. He swung his left hand, the one farthest from the door out, and he could feel all the little rocks and pebbles outside try to follow it. He then swung it much harder, back toward the wall, pushing them all away again, sending them scattering across the street to clatter against the wall of the building opposite the soup kitchen. Hopefully the thing outside would find that commotion more interesting than what had just happened inside. The sound of rock hitting metal and the whining of overworking gears could be heard through the door as pebbles, stones and an entire slab of concrete were lifted and thrown at the AI. A wall of dirt cascaded over its frame like a wave and buried it in loose earth, ripping the thin red line tracing the kitchen away and opening up a window of opportunity for those inside to move. But just as one obstacle was removed, another was revealed. ”I… I can’t move…” Came the panicked whisper of the girl. She stood frozen in the center of a small cluster of suspended water droplets, her arms out and her body leaned forward as if she had been in the middle of moving out of the way of the door frame. Only, she hadn’t been allowed to. ”I…. can’t…. bre….” Sonam’s eyes widened in fear. ”B-...backdoor… Backdoor! RUN! RUN NOW!” She screamed, pushing off the wall and bolting. Ignoring the girl or any measure of cover from whatever was tracking them, she vaulted over a small wall of fire and landed, or crashed, near a door just as shots from outside rang out. Bullets pierced the wall near Vasra and whizzed past Sonam’s head, burying themselves in the same door as she tore it open. ”GET IN!” Weiyuan’s jaw dropped slightly. He… hadn’t meant to do that. Well it was fine. Now he just had to find Chae-Won and… what the hell was going on? Adding on to a long list of unfortunate and distracting events, the little girl suddenly found herself in the grasp of… something. Weiyuan shook his head. Problems for later! Chase-Won now! Then the shooting started. He dove to the floor, arms over his head and curling up. He cracked one eye opening, just trying to figure out where Chae-Won was. He’d crawl if he had to. Meanwhile, it seemed gunfire was what would finally shock Chae-Won back to her senses. She rapidly blinked her open, suddenly wide-awake, though completely disorientated. Everything hurt, her ears were ringing, and she was struggling to remember where she was. Then her eyes fell upon the kid, curled up nearby, trying to avoid being shot. Something in her immediately just snapped. It was clearly past time to be cautious. She threw an arm out, intending to raise as much of a wall as she could to shield her while she got the kid and got out. A moment later, and a massive wall of earth burst up, tearing through the floor and battering aside tables. It careened forth, plowing through the outer wall at an angle and tearing it apart, leaving the massive, jutting slab of earth in its place. Traditional gunfire wouldn’t be piercing that anytime soon. “GAH! FUCK!” Chae-Won recoiled in horror at her own actions. She hadn’t meant to do that! “SHIT!” However, in her surprise, her startled motions caused two more slabs of earth to burst through the floor at odd angles, further adding to the earthen barricade. “Wh-wh-wh-” She scrambled back, pushing herself to a sitting position before staring down at her trembling hands. What the absolute fuck was going on?! And then a pair of hands grabbed hers, holding them steady. “K-kid? Wh-what the hell-” However, Weiyuan just shook his head. Clearly, this wasn’t the time for explanations, and, while she’d just given them ample cover, she’d also made ample commotion. “Right. Run first, talk later. Got it.” It was a strange, strange day when she wasn’t the one in control, but for the moment, Weiyuan had had a few more minutes to make sense of things than she had. So far no sense had truly been made of it all, but… it was what it was. The two got back to their feet and looked around. The room was on fire and falling apart at the seams, but it was mostly empty. It was them, the girl frozen in place, the doctor, and one guy nailed to the wall. At the back, they could see where Sonam had thrown the door open for them to escape through. “GIrl, come on, what are-” Chae-Won tried to get the girl to run with them, but she just wasn’t budging. “What the f-... Screw it, they’re gonna surround the building if we don’t hurry! Everyone out!” Chae-Won hurried ahead, waving for Wieyuan and the doctor to follow her… but Weiyuan hesitated. Could he really just leave someone behind without even trying to help? He knew he was barely even a real person. He only existed to handle problems for his other self. It wasn’t his job to protect anyone else. But… he would’ve tried too. He shook her gently, then tugged on her, but nothing. He had no idea what was wrong, but… his only guess was that, maybe, if he could move her from that spot it might break the grip of whatever had a hold of her. It wasn’t like there was anything else he could try. He took a few steps back and then, like back in the street, threw himself at her full force trying to just tackle her free of the spot. However, unlike outside, he wasn’t trying to spear the girl to the ground. If he got her to move, he’d try to roll and cushion the fall for her. With any luck he’d be pulling her out of the room with the rest of them. Weiyuan collided with the girl with enough force to move her, freeing her from the mysterious hold and pushing her to safety. But as she fell away and Weiyuan attempted to grab and roll with her to cushion her fall, his body suddenly froze, suspended in the air, exactly where the girl had been standing before. She hit the ground and began scrambling away, but Weiyuan remained where he was. Oh no. He’d messed up. He couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. Now what was he going to-!? PLASH! He hit the floor, landing in a puddle of water. He momentarily wondered what had just happened, but with another cry of urgency from Sonam, he decided that, indeed, these were all questions for later. He pushed himself to his feet, attempting to haul the girl to her feet when he reached her, but between adrenaline shakes and his now wet shoes, he struggled. He wasn’t strong enough to lift an entire other person on a good day. If they weren’t in such a rush, maybe, but as it was… He could have tried to use his bending, but after last time he was, quite frankly, afraid to even try. However, a pair of hands dragged him and the girl along a moment later. “Next time you want to play hero, warn me!” Chae-Won shouted, shoving the two toward safety. She’d already peeled back a section of floor to create a gap in the fire, because at this point, what was a little more indiscriminate property damage? Once they made it past Sonam, they took a second to breathe. “OK, listen kid. Err, sorry, not you. Little girl. Once we’re clear of this, you get the hell away from us, got it? You don’t wanna be anywhere near us right now. Unless you wanna get shot for associating with benders.” Chae-Won told her while panting. Everything still hurt, her head was throbbing, she was pretty sure she had wood and glass splinters, and she still had no idea what the fuck was going on. She then looked to the others, “Assuming I don’t black out again… I think I can get us out of here…” Her whole job was to know the streets, after all.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

___________________________________.......

Lower Ring Soup Kitchen · [&Exit][&Abstract Proxy]Lower Ring Soup Kitchen · @Exit@Abstract Proxy _ Weiyuan opened his eyes, though his vision was initially blurry. His ears rang and his whole body seemed to buzz. He slowly rolled his head to the side, trying to see what was going on. When his gaze fell upon Chae-Won, he froze. She too was on the floor, but she wasn’t moving. Panic finally began to overtake him until he finally saw the faint movement of her breathing. He’d have felt more relieved, but the muffled sound of a commotion reached his abused ears. He saw the one person in the room he desperately didn’t want anywhere near him coming straight for him. So, rather than relief, his dread and panic were redoubled. On the bright side, it did wonders for getting his limbs moving again. He crawled and scrambled away and to his feet, just in time to avoid their grasp and make it out the door. The few people he could see nearby were already fleeing, wanting to be anywhere else after the explosion. Certainly no one would be seeking to help him. He doubted they would have even had the world not just blown up around them. Instead, he ran a few feet down the dingy street, found a dumpster, and climbed over a few damp cardboard boxes to huddle behind it, pulling his knees up to his chest and throwing his arms over his head, clamping his eyes shut, trying to be as quiet as possible. In that moment he heard a strange rumbling noise and felt the ground beneath him tremble. He feared it was another explosion, but it was both too close and too quiet. He cracked an eye open only to see slabs of stone had risen out of the ground around him, up to his waist, almost forming a cone around him. For a moment he was confused, but then it hit him. Earthbending? Had he done that in his panic? No, no, no, he couldn’t do that! More than anything else, something like that would get him killed! He had to go somewhere else! If he was found like this, even Chae-Won might never speak to him again… or worse. He frantically clawed his way out of the little, earthen fort he’d inadvertently created, but in his haste stumbled and tripped, sending himself sprawling back into the street for all to see…

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

@Dezuel@Crowvette

---

"Uhh... huh..." Vera slowly nodded in response to the strange, strange man speaking to her. She then slammed her hands over her ears when the nearby fight went completely off the rails and resulted in gunfire going off, leaving her ears ringing. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she screamed in a mix of panic and confusion. Speaking of screaming, a few moments later she thought she heard her own name.

She glanced around to see Alex literally flying at her. She blinked once in surprise, but then jumped to her feet. She side-stepped the girl, but grabbed her wrist in the process. Flying as she was, in a way she was almost weightless. Vera flipped Alex around, almost like whipping a towel, to cancel her momentum and then tugged her back, landing the girl in Vera's arms.

"You've tackled me enough today, thanks," Vera looked down at her before placing Alex back on her own two feet. She then rubbed her ear, glancing back at the fight. At the moment, a few others had the berserk contestant busy, and the gunfire had ceased for the moment. "We should get out of here while we still can. Could probably sneak through the back behind the bar and avoid the idiots rushing toward the front door..." Vera then glanced back towards the chaos. "Unless you need to go back for that friend of yours."

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

The Last Avatar - Killamri and Exit Collab

---

SCENE:
Weiyuan and Chae-won arrive at the soup kitchen, one leading the other on a mission to find a certain someone. While Weiyuan is unaware of this, his alter is not. As they enter, a strange, dirty child is paying especially close attention to them. On the far side of the kitchen is a woman who is only just now picking herself out from a crowd of admirers. She’s being seated in front of a bowl of soup. There is a stethoscope around her neck and she is currently being chatted up by another woman.

If Chae pays close enough attention, through the crowd will be a boy matching a vague description given to her of one of the Weiyuan’s bullies. He’s sitting on a bench against the wall alone near an open door and is looking particularly downtrodden. A pale boy with dark brown eyes and dark hair that is combed over to one side. He’s got black jeans on and a simple white shirt under a denim jacket. He’s tall for his age and seems only a year or two older than Weiyuan.

@Abstract Proxy

---

Chae-Won realized upon entering that… this was going to be difficult. The kid had been attacked years ago, and she hadn’t been there. She kinda had a description, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to pick one scruffy bastard out of a crowd of scruffy people. It didn’t help that she was being stared at by a little girl and it was really distracting.

Weiyuan noticed the staring as well and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. He lifted a hand to rub his neck, covering up the scar there in the process.

“Uhh, hey there, little girl,” Chae-Won said and bent over a bit to speak to the child. “You know it’s rude to stare. Something I can help you with?” she asked, doing her best to sound upbeat. She and Weiyuan might’ve been from the Lower Ring, just like presumably everyone else there, but they definitely weren’t quite as downtrodden as the rest of those present. It wouldn’t serve them well if she accidentally scared the girl. People would probably assume the worst.

“Maybe I can help you?” She said, eyeing them both again. She pointed at Chae with the still open end of the bottle. “Delivery.” She then pointed at Yuan. “Quiet boy. I think my brother beat you up.” She took another casual sip, keeping her eyes on him. “Why are you here? Hungry?”

“Uhh, yep, that’s m-” Chae-Won froze mid-sentence, jaw hanging open as the girl continued. She hadn’t been quite prepared for that. “Wh-wh-what do you mean by that?” she laughed anxiously. “I-I-” She couldn’t stop herself. She couldn’t help it. She glanced back at Weiyuan, risking giving herself away.

“Hungry? Cause it’s a soup kitchen?” The girl stated simply, slightly confused.

Weiyuan was also standing stock still. That feeling that had been bothering him was back. His mind flew back to their conversation the night before. The end of it which had been fuzzy in his mind could now be recalled in stark clarity. She’d told him she’d found one of them.

“Um, w-well, girl, your brother sounds a little scary if he goes around beating people up. He’s not here is he?” Chae-Won swallowed hard, at this point starting to hope he wasn’t. She wasn’t in control of the situation right now. She was starting to think she never could have been. She hadn’t thought this through well enough.

“He is here actually.” She said, turning around to look through the crowd. “He’s over there if you want to talk to him.” She pointed to the far end of the room where, barely visible through throngs of people, was a boy sitting alone on a bench. He wore a denim jacket over a plain white shirt and dark pants and was staring intently at the ground between his feet. “He’s a lot less scary today.” The girl turned back to the both of them. “Did you want me to take you over to see him?”

“Is he now?” The confirmation sent a wave of mixed emotions surging through her. The first was the feeling of the blood draining from her face and that floor-dropping-out anxiety. The second was anger. This guy had hurt the kid and until now gotten away with it. Finally, she just felt paralyzed.

What was she going to do? Beat the guy half-to-death in front of everyone? In front of his little sister?

She then quite literally felt a hand grab her elbow tightly. It was Weiyuan. She could feel him trembling even as he gripped her so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“Hey, uh, don’t worry about it, OK? You just run along,” she told the girl, shooing her away. She straightened up, turning to face Weiyuan fully. She went to put her hand on his, but he flinched away. “Kid-”

You lied to me. He signed to her rapidly.

“What? No! I-” But she was cut off by him repeating the motions. She reached for him, but again he flinched away. Shakily, he turned his head to glance furtively over his shoulder at the guy the little girl had pointed out. It had been years, but the more he looked the more he could pick out familiar features. Honestly, at the moment it might not even have mattered if it was actually one of the people who had hurt him. He thought he was, and he mind would fill in the gaps.

Chae-Won watched the tears slowly welling up in his eyes and deep down, part of her was just begging for his other self to snap into control. It didn’t happen, and then she just felt guilty for wanting an easy out to the mess she’d made.

“OK, kid, listen to me. I-” She actually managed to get her hands on him this time, but was unprepared for him to bat her arms away and then physically push her away. “Whoa! Hey!” She tried to step toward him again, but she wasn’t used to this kind of behavior from him. He pushed her again, this time hard enough to make her stumble, rocking back on her feet almost losing her balance.

Go away.

“I… what?” Chae-Won blinked, now thoroughly shell-shocked by the rapidly deteriorating situation.

You lied to me. Go away. Leave me alone.

Her voice caught in her throat. She knew she’d screwed up. She knew she’d betrayed him, even if she’d told herself this was for him. She was still unprepared for how much him losing faith in her hurt.

“O-OK, OK, I get it. I messed up. L-let’s just get you home, and-”

No. Go away! He backed away from her.

“What, no! I’m not just leaving you here-”

Go away! Go away! Goaw- The motions of his hands became too frantic and wild for her to make sense of, though she didn’t really need to. What he was trying to say to her was plenty clear. But how could she listen? THe man who’d hurt him was literally right there and even if he left after she did, the streets were a mess.

Worse, what if he was followed?

“Come on, kid… don’t make this hard,” she pleaded. He just backed away again.

The entire time, the girl was simply sat where she was, sipping on her juice bottle and watching the two go at it. That was at least until things got somewhat physical, at which point she quietly stood up and began to back away, stealing glances in the direction of her brother and the doctor.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

Ft. Chae-Won

---

@Exit@Abstract Proxy

---

. . . The Night Before. . .

First floor. Fifth floor. Tenth floor. Eighteenth floor. Some days he wished for an elevator. Most days he was happy the temptation wasn't there. Any elevator installed in a building like the one he lived in was an elevator you shouldn't trust. Besides, eighteen flights of stairs were a solid source of cardio.

His home would've given him a great view were it not for the others buildings crammed in all around it. In theory, he should've been able to see over the walls, but those now had buildings on them too. Oh well, it was nothing but desert out there anyway.

Even so, he did have one view. It was the reason he'd grabbed the apartment when he'd found it. In his bedroom, right over his bed, was a window that looked out. Everyone else with a room on that side of the building would just see the next building over, but he'd gotten lucky. The next building over had a big, square hole in it. Even better, that building sat on a street corner giving him a decent view down that street. He couldn't say why it was there, but when each high rise was the work of ten different construction jobs done by seven different contractors, weird things happened.

OK so it wasn't that exciting, but it was better than nothing. At least he got actual sunlight coming through in the morning.

He opened the door, beginning to slide his jacket off, when he got a jolt.

"Surprise!" A voice called out to greet him. "I beat you today!"

When his heart slowed down and he could unclench his teeth, he turned his head and aimed a deep pout at the person who'd startled him so badly.

"Sorry, sorry," Chae-Won apologized, but then held up a bag laden with groceries. "Tomorrow's gonna be a bitch, so I figured I'd give myself an early night." Weiyuan just crossed his arms and scowled down at the woman who was sitting at his dining table and expectantly dangling a bag of food before him. "What? I said sorry! OK, fine, I get it, I'll just cook dinner tonight mys-"

With a huff, Weiyuan stormed past her, snatching the bag from her as she just sat there with a catty, knowing grin, empty hand still outstretched.

"You only have yourself to blame, kiddo!" She slid around in the chair to follow him with her gaze. "You got so good at cooking that I got lazy! Now I can barely boil water without help!"

After his second "incident," Chae-Won had become a much more common sight in his life. She'd effectively become his caretaker. Eating dinner together had become a tradition, and once he'd been able to move he'd insisted on helping. Then he'd insisted on doing all the cooking. At first they'd used his food, and she'd try to pay him back for it. When he'd proven too stubborn for that, she'd just started bringing her own food for him to cook.

After a while, he'd just accepted that status quo and decided that everyone was happier that way.

He was already over her little prank, but seeing the food she'd brought would have made him forgive her anyway. For some reason she was spoiling him with his favorites. Well, he still had to make it himself, but it was food he couldn't afford to buy on the regular.

About an hour later the food had been both cooked and consumed. Chae-Won drooped herself over the table letting out a contented sigh.

"Ahh, it's better than sex," she murmured weakly. Weiyuan just raised a mildly disturbed eyebrow. He didn't think his steamed buns were that good, but then he didn't have the same, erm, context to work with that she did. "Yes, that's right kid, your marvelous cooking is helping protect what remains of my-"

Stop. he mouthed, pleading with an increasingly disturbed twitching taking over his eye.

Chae-Won just chuckled and then pushed herself to her feet with a tired groan, "Alright, alright, fair enough. I'll stop defiling your home with my filthy mind, then." She made her way toward the door, but then turned to look at him again. "Oh, and did you remember to take tomorrow off?" He nodded. "Good. Like I told you, it's gonna be a circus out there. Well, more so than usual. You don't go anywhere without me, got it?" Another nod. "I'll be back tomorrow assuming I don't get crushed to death in a crowd surge." She moved to head back toward the door only to suddenly find her wrist with Weiyuan's hands tightly clamped around them with a distressed look on his face.

"Hey, hey, I was joking!" She smiled and patted him on the head with her free hand. "You know damn well a noisy crowd isn't going to stop me. I know all the good shortcuts." Placated, he slowly let go of her arm. As she turned to collect her boot, she heard him walk deeper into the apartment toward the kitchen. Once her feet were dressed, she looked up to see him returned, standing there with the same bag she'd brought over.

Leftovers.

She smirked, reaching out to take it. "You're going to make an excellent wife someday, you know that?" His response was an unimpressed frown.

You think you're funny. He signed to her.

"I do think so, yes." She bobbed her eyebrows. "All right, get some sleep, huh? I'm heading out."

She made it all the way to the doorknob, her hand starting to twist it before she stopped. She grit her teeth, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Hey, uhh..." She looked over her shoulder to see Weiyuan still standing there with a puzzled look on his face. He'd seen the conflicted emotions running through her, even standing behind her. "If... if I found one of the guys that hurt you... what would you want to do?"

His eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpoints. His mouth opened, but nothing came out, nor did his lips form the shapes of any words. His hands balled up into fists and he began to back away, trembling.

"Whoa, whoa, look at me! Kid? It's just us. We're just talking, OK?" She moved toward him, but she could tell his mind was elsewhere. This was his biggest problem. He didn't know how to deal with things like this.

He bit his lip, clenching his eyes tightly shut, taking deep, rapid breaths.

"Kid? You listening?"

Finally, he cracked an eye open.

Nothing. Do nothing. I... don't care, he mouthed hesitantly.

Chae-Won let out a long sigh, "Kid... I know he doesn't want to. I also know you too well, so what do you want? Good morning, by the way."

Weiyuan's arms relaxed and his other eye opened, though he avoiding meeting hers, his lips scrunching into a tiny frown. He then began signing to her, though a bit more sloppily than before,

They can't hurt me. Haven't tried either. No point.

"Yeah, they can't hurt you, but you can't just pop out preemptively to protect him." She crossed her arms. "And don't you think they should be punished."

He didn't respond immediately, lips twitching as he tried and failed to fight off an angry snarl. Every now and then they'd part just enough to show tightly clenched teeth. 'Yes...' a faint, hoarse whisper finally escaped.

"Well all right then," she said and breathed out. "Look, for now, just go to bed. Leave a note if you want, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow I'll take him out and... we'll see what happens."

What happens if we find him?

"We scare him half to death and then drag him to someone who's OK with making an arrest on a coerced confession." She shrugged. "Or we can just break his legs. Whatever you prefer." She could see his whole body tense up at the idea, as if he was imagining doing it in that moment, but a few seconds later it flowed back out of him.

Too much. Just scare him.

"Hey, you got it. Who knows, we might not even find him." She held her hands up in capitulation to his choice. "You, uhh, gonna be able to sleep at this point?"

He just shrugged weakly, He might be a little tired tomorrow.

. . . Day of the Anniversary. . .

While it had started slowly, for what did the lower class care for such things, in the end, hedonism won out. Maybe those in the lower ring didn't really care about the source of the festivities, but they also had more problems to forget, so soon enough the streets were packed with those seeking food, fun, and alcohol... among other, more illicit pleasures.

By nighttime it would be a truly raucous affair. The streets would be a mess for weeks.

Weiyuan kept a tight grip on Chae-Won's wrist so as to avoid being separated. He knew his way around, sure, but on a day like this he wouldn't feel safe alone. It wasn't like he could call out to her.

"OK! Here we are, kiddo!" Chae-Won gestured with her hand to a building with people filing in and out in a... mostly orderly fashion. More so than most other places at the moment.

Soup kitchen? he mouthed, giving her a curious look. We have food.

"Yeah, but it's a place with people, but no partying! Calmest way I could think of to enjoy the day while still being out and about!" Chae-Won threw on an exaggerated grin and nodded. "Come on! If you're feeling out of place I bet they'd let you volunteer or something. I'll bet I know at least a few people who are in there. I know everybody! Ohh, maybe they'll have a TV playing the big game!"

Weiyuan just frowned anxiously and followed her in. Something was off and he didn't like it, but he didn't want to insult her by doubting her. Even so, he couldn't quiet his nerves. She was the only person he could trust, but right now she was making that hard.