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Recent Statuses

5 mos ago
Keep calm and carry on.
2 likes
10 mos ago
WAIT HARAMBE DIED ON MY BIRTHDAY?!
3 likes
10 mos ago
I have now been alive for 20 years. How in the fuck.
3 likes
11 mos ago
would've loved to explore the concept of a Marshmallow Marshlands.
2 likes
11 mos ago
The only time I've shown interest in a Nation RP was something based off Candyland of all things, but it was dead in the water before all of us were able to submit CSes. A shame too,
2 likes

Bio

Current Haunts:
Symphony on High - Finn/Timekeeper (Co-GM)


...Yes that's it. Literally in nothing else atm, sue me.

Most Recent Posts

Nice.
Not being able to try out another RP forum cause a bitchass cunt and their merry enablers are already housed there and I'm trying to avoid said bitchass or otherwise I'll be on the news. 🙃

"Timekeeper Tuesday, y'know what that means. ...Seriously though, who's bright idea was this?"
Ours.
"Ah."

Days after he had deserted GEMINI, Finn seemed to vanish without a trace.

His account on Shimr was deleted, and no one; not even friends or family, had seen him after the storm that was Peace and Crazy Train passed. No matter the search efforts of those who cared, or the speculation from the esper community, the boy continued to lay low and away from the public eye. That woman from before told him she'd come back around to let him know whether or not any of her superiors agreed to meet with him.

...Well, it definitely wasn't as easy as it sounds. Hell, Penumbra had to even convince her boss not to go with the quick and easy route of just brainwashing him outright. At this point GEMINI would've already caught onto what they did to Binky, so to her, doing it a second time would be a waste.

After all, better to have a willing collaborator than yet another thrall.

But it'd been too long and Finn hadn't heard back at all yet. Maybe he just got his hopes up for nothing? Unfortunately not surprised. He thought to himself as he slipped back into the city through the cover of night time. Even if he grabbed what he could from his home, he still had to leave a lot of his stuff at GEMINI's headquarters behind. He needed to figure out how to get the important ones back. At least.

But before Finn could explore another one of his long, brooding tangents, his phone vibrated. He might have been tempted to let it ring, but this was an E-mail notification. Naturally, he looked to see if it was spam or another desperate attempt from someone he knew to contact him. But neither of those were the case. The sender was “Bookman” and had one of those custom extensions that was only afforded to wealthy individuals who bothered to spend the big money on custom domains. Even his parents used them, even if Finn didn’t know what they were. The E-mail had a single word title.

Offer.

What prevented Finn from writing it off as spam mail was the lack of bold text, excitement marks, and the fact that the E-mail began with:

Penumbra sent me.

What followed was an embedded video that was part of a news report. A pretty blond reporter was standing in front of Torvald's and pointing behind herself at the bookstore.

”Bookman has just entered Torvald's Tomes and Trinkets and is signing his new book ‘Needful Things.’ We’re going to play back the interview I had with him earlier, but you can catch him in the fur anytime between now and midnight.”

There was a brief shot of a tall thing walking into Torvald's before static obscured the image. Then the video looped around and played again.

Subtle and straight to the point, gotta give credit where it's due. The news report had to be recent, and depending on how popular this mysterious author was a crowd may not be avoidable. How grimmly ironic it had to be at Torvald's.

After a moment, he'd sent a short message back.

On my way.








Torvald's was not crowded. It was just as silent as it always was. Aside from the cheerful store owner there were only a few people walking about, and none of them looked even slightly familiar. Two out of shape boys were in one corner talking about the occult, and a frail looking goth girl was looking through a book of spells.

There was no sign of anyone else, though it did look like there was something of a book signing. There was a table set up with a few copies of “needful things” stacked on one side, but there was no “Bookman.” An empty seat was positioned where there would normally be a line of adoring fans, and in front of it was a tiny sign that read “out to lunch” in big bold letters. It was 3:24 PM.

Finn stared down at the sign.

"Huh. That's surprising. Must've pulled a few strings." He mumbled to himself, glancing down to the lone seat most likely left for him. The boy carefully stepped around to sit down, plucking a copy of one of the books to pass the time.

Time would pass swiftly.

At least if his swirling surroundings were any indication. The image of the bookstore seemed to bend and fade into darkness, like paper burning into ash. Everything but the chair, table, and the books and floorboards within the immediate area remained. Finn was floating through a void on a tiny wooden island.

Then he would make his appearance. A chair appeared on the other side of the table, and before long the Bookman himself faded into reality. He was a tall lanky goat demon in fine robes. Though for a goat, he had awfully sharp fangs, and had a nose that belonged to a wolf. His eyes left red neon trails as he swayed his head, but with a blink they turned into black orbs with diamond shaped irises. His elongated limbs seemed to fill the space. Bookman sat down. Even if Finn stood up, he likely wouldn’t have been able to see eye to eye with the creature.

"Finn.” For something so inhuman, it had a very soothing voice. Most would describe it as velvety. "I am Bookman. I’m not sure if you are familiar with my YourPipe channel, but my other job is to help people in positions such as yours.” He pressed the tips of his fingers together. "I understand you’re serious about joining the Hand. What makes someone such as yourself put your lot in with your old foes?”

The boy sharply inhaled through his teeth. Of course he was dealing with a devil. But he steeled himself almost immediately, hopefully things won't go ass-up this time.

"To be frank with you, my real goal isn't to replace the late Justin Von Carnage in the long run." He told the Bookman, taking a deep breath. "Lately I've been becoming more...aware of my circumstances. Patterns in even the most minute of things, and I can't even tell anyone without being disregarded as a lunatic." Finn frowned "Couple that with my recent bad luck streak, and the concerning fact that violence seems to be only thing I can do right...well, one would eventually have little to lose, wouldn't they?"

He slightly leaned forward.

"I need to escape this place. Not even just Pax, I need to escape this reality as it were. Even if I have to scorch this shithole on my way. I know it's possible, but I need help."

"To leave this reality...” Bookman didn’t seem too bothered by Finn’s confession, or the seemingly impossibility of his wish. "It’s possible, maybe, but it’s no easy feat. Most interdimensional travelers tend to be monsters for a reason. There’s no record of a normal human doing it in this world, lest you consider Oros the Mad. Though it might be fair to say that she paid for such powers with her sanity.” He cleared his throat. "I believe I can help with that, but is that really what you yearn for? If it’s your bad luck that’s holding you back, wouldn’t that just follow you to whatever new reality that you decide to visit?”

Finn chuckled. "Perhaps it might, perhaps it might be for the best. But it feels like something here is making my life a living hell, and somehow I doubt I'll be able to kill it as easily as the common man. Much less other espers."

"It's also why I'm alright with just offering whatever services you may need in exchange for resources, instead of being a member outright. Who's to say I won't end up jinxing you all too? Better to keep a reasonable distance. Don'tcha think?" He shrugged.

"Let me go about this a different way.” Bookman tapped his chin. "I am a broker, Finn. I have many things that I can offer you. Even things that most would not think could be given. I can give skills, experience, and even luck.” He tapped the books beside himself. "And I can get you out of this reality too. We’re just negotiating right now. Once I know what you want, I will determine what I want from you, and then we can work out the particulars. Knowing that, you still wish to leave this world?”

Finn nodded.

"Fair enough.” Bookman placed a hand on the table, and an old piece of parchment paper rose out of it. "Your karma is on the unfortunate side. I will grant you some luck for the duration of the contract, but only to make you a more effective mercenary.” Without moving his hand, a quill levitated over the parchment and started to write out the details. "You said you wanted materials. What is it that you are seeking?”

"Tools, any sort of metals and electrical parts that are capable of channeling mana, gonna need a power core of sorts for it that won't go out after a single usage too." The boy listed off. "I have the blueprints for this drawn out and can get the shell for everything easily. Perfecting everything to working order's gonna take longer though." He admitted. "I know such a thing sounds farfetched in theory, but isn't it better to try than not at all?"

"I already implied what I would do in your position. A deal can only be struck if both parties accept it. If you really want to build a Syllogismobile, you will have the tools and materials to do so. You have your reasons I’m sure.” With a wave of his hand, the pen started writing faster.

"As long as this contract persists, Finnegan Vanhorn will be considered an ally of the Hand. He will be granted fortune so that he may complete his duties. Should he fulfill his mission, he will be granted the materials and tools needed to finish his project.”


The quill started to slow down as it came to the end of what had been discussed.

"I’m not sure why Penumbra felt you would be a good stand in for Justin. None of us liked him very much, and we only kept him around because of how wealthy he was. As you pointed out yourself, you are good at fighting. That will be why we contract you.” He licked his finger before turning the page of a tome that materialized in his hand. "Before I can discuss the Hand’s plans with you, I need you to agree to two conditions. The first is that you don’t turn coat until your contract is complete. While under contract, you are one of us, and our enemies are your enemies regardless of previous affiliations. If you turn on us, you forfeit your payment and will be forced to relinquish your magic. You will no longer be an esper, just a mundane human after that. One totally unable to leave this world.” He raised two fingers, making sure to show a finger that had a sapphire ring on it. "Your dreams of leaving this world make you a threat to some of the Hand’s interests. Your desire to leave, building a Syllogismobile, and other extra dimensional goals are not your own unique ideas. We believe someone is guiding you, and we need to protect ourselves from them should the need arise. The particulars of which will be discussed later. Like the last condition, you will relinquish your magic if you break contract. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

"Believe it or not I don't hear any downsides to this." If anything, going back to being a normal human would be another form of escaping it all. "I accept your terms!"

"We can discuss the particulars later.” The pen sped up, but Bookman didn’t stop talking. "I have not seen the blueprints you speak of yet, thus I am not aware of exactly what you need. Perhaps it is only fair that your mission is equally nebulous? Your former allies may have acquired details about one of our members. If that is the case, I cannot see them letting this opportunity to cut off another finger slip by them. You will protect Dragon Fruit with every fiber of your being when the assault happens. Regardless of how big or small the assault, you will be granted what you seek in full.” The devil extended his hand for a shake. "Simple enough?”

"I'll have to bring them with me next chance we meet. But yes." Finn admitted, nevertheless reaching over to shake hands with him proper.

The devil’s grip was firm, but not painfully so. "May all your dreams come true.” Once their handshake was done, Bookman leaned forwards and placed his hands together. "Since you’re one of us now, there’s no need to scrounge around with everyone else.” He placed a business card on the table and slid it towards Finn. "A room has been provided for you. It’s safer than anywhere else in the city, for people like yourself. There’s even enough room to build any contraption your heart desires.”

The boy picked up the card and pocketed it after glancing it over. His brows rose when Bookman mentioned they'd give him a place to stay. Admittedly he hadn't expected the extra hospitality, but he felt grateful.

"Thank you, Mister Bookman." Finn lightly smiled. "And extend my thanks to everyone else too."

"Why not take the chance to do it yourself?” He adjusted the ring on his finger. "Either way, I’m not expecting any more book signing for a bit. The world will return as it was as soon as you stand up. Though if you have any questions, I can answer them for you.”

Finn shook his head. "No need, thank you again."

"May your place in the new world be to your liking.” The goat man waved to the boy as he stood up and faded out of the pocket dimension. "I wonder what she sees in him? There’s ample potential, but will he ever reach it?”

This had been the first time in a long time that Bookman had signed a contract with someone who fully understood the consequences of breaking it, but seemed indifferent to how that would affect his own fate. And rarer still were the souls that seemed like they would relish either option. But this had been Penumbra and Dragon Fruit’s idea. He was just the contract maker, and had done his duty as was requested. The boy’s fate was someone else’s problem now.


"Womp womp."
- Finnegan Vanhorn
Corruption:??????????%


If he wasn't marked as Depraved yet, he had a feeling he will be inevitably.

Whatever sort of God-Entity that was setting him up had the power to do so after all, just as it did fucking up every other part of his life thus far. It was almost laughable to think anyone in this plenum place would spare enough empathy or common sense to realize something was wrong. No, instead most of everyone he thought would understand either turned their noses up in disgust, disregarded him like some lowly insect, or tried to hide the fact that they thought him a lunatic if it wasn't obvious from the get-go. He was right. God, he was right. All of these people didn't see him as a person. Just an object to use as they needed then discard when he outlived his use. The machine was half tempted not to break his fall. To just put himself out of his misery there and then.

But knowing his luck, God-Entity wouldn't let that happen. At worse he'd survive somehow and be left writhing in pain as punishment.

At best...



”What's better than a devil you don't know?”

— “Penumbra”


Finn's fall abruptly stopped. He found himself landing in the arms of...a monster? Some sort of ghost made of darkness???

"Hah. It really is raining men!" Penumbra chuckled to herself at her joke, tilting her head as she looked down at him. "Though you're a little bit young to be falling to your death. You're... Timekeeper, aren'tcha?"

Oh brother.

"Eugh, if you want to kill me too at least don't pussyfoot about it?" Finn groaned, squirming to get out of her hold soon as they were close enough to the ground.

"Why would I wanna do that? You were a stroke of luck for us!" The assassin slowly returned to her physical self. Though before she could explain further, she noticed the boy still had his earpiece. She tapped her own ear to signal him about it. Finn reached up to pull it out of his ear, then dropped and stomped it into the ground until it was nothing but pieces. He didn't have any more use for it now. Penumbra nodded in approval and continued talking:

"Someone was trying to pull Miss Meteor off Tony back there, but your attack helped him escape and kept her from recovering? You got some skill, kid!" She grinned at him.

Though Finn did perk up when, for once, someone had told him he had done something right, he sighed in response. "You do know I hadn't meant to do that, right?"

Penumbra tilted her head again, folding her arms behind her back. "Well I mean... maybe part of you did."

"I don't follow?"

Maybe it'd be better for the two of them to talk somewhere less likely to be eavesdropped. Penumbra nudged the Timekeeper forward, silently urging him to walk with her.

...

...

"So I maaaay have overheard your little argument back there. You don't see eye to eye with the rest of the little scraps of GEMINI that still call themselves a team, don't you?" She spoke. "And yet they still believe they can gain the upper hand in this turf war of ours, it's almost cute. Doesn't seem fair for them to put so much blame on you for them not being able to co-operate with each other though. Or for matters of circumstance."

...Right. He was only doing as he was ordered. He was just trying to do the right thing. And yet either way he was still blamed either way for the simple act of trying?

"If it's any consolation, you did do a good thing protecting the trains. And about that Dante guy-"

"I ACTED OUT OF SELF DEFENSE-"

Penumbra quickly raised her hands up at the Timekeeper's quick response. "Heyheyhey- Not saying you hadn't! Jesus, no wonder you're so tense. No one's really cared to listen to your side of things, am I right?"

Finn's silence said enough. Penumbra nodded. "Sounds to me like the community that once glorified you was ready and willing to throw you under the bus. I don't blame you for going against them." She shrugged.

"...How much do you all know about me?" The boy couldn't help but ask.

"Enough. You have been a person of interest for some of us since before Von Carnage was slain." She explained to him. "Me, well, I'm just catching up on things." She glanced back down at him with a smile. "But let's skip to the chase. If it's alright with you, I can put in a good word with you with the higher ups and arrange for you to meet."

Ah. Finn did have a feeling this was where she was going. He quietly thought for a moment. This was the path he was supposed to take, wasn't it? He already got on Maverick's bad side for siding with GEMINI; even before he join for real, GEMINI ended up treating him like shit, and him attacking Regina wasn't gonna bode well with the Freelancers no matter how they decided to twist his actions.

The Hand was the last option he had beyond pure depravity.

... They all really wanna make a monster out of me? Fine. Let's make this more interesting.

"Honestly can't I just go after- ...Okay, the peanut gallery has informed that they don't want me to get hurt. Right."
- Finnegan Vanhorn
Corruption:75%



The Timekeeper didn't know what was worse, the fact that Ashley seemed to agree that Crazy Train was still the problem, or that she believed she could down something as swole as Big Fuckin' Tony. "I still think that is a bad idea! Not like anyone's gonna listen to me...." He grumbled under his breath. On one hand, orders were orders, and he swore he would play nice despite how he felt. But on the other, it didn't really feel right just...leaving the Bates at the mercy of the Hand like this. The fact that they were easily knocked out by those two was testament alone to their strength. The Knight of Tomorrow was wasting time and mana on a pointless gambit.

After a moment of deliberation, Finn sighed. After Ashley had fired her beam at Tony, he followed up with one of his own. Even if it didn't do much, maybe it could give someone else a chance. He just hoped she won't give him a damn earful for not letting her play the lone hero act.

"More questions than answers."
- Finnegan Vanhorn
Corruption:74%



"Well that was a waste!" Finn called out to Ashley soon as he understood his speed boost did jackshit. Or even if it did work, who's to say the effects were significant enough to notice anything. What a waste of mana. But that wasn't as important as the results of them sparing Peace Train as it crossed paths next to its counterpart. Its apparently wounded counterpart. The Timekeeper's brows rose. "So the reason the trains met here was cause one of them was wounded..." He hypothesized. "But by what? And I mean- I know Elroy said Crazy Train's the 'devil' of the two, but is it possible the two of them are...how do I put this...related? Somehow?" The machine looked back at everyone else as he spoke. Then his eyes flickered to Elroy. "Holy Man got anything that proves Crazy Train's the destructive one?" Even if Ashley was trying to ascertain that herself, it couldn't hurt to ask.

Of course the other fight ongoing on the aforementioned Behemoth was another concern. Though as much as he tried to see who was all on the other side, he couldn't make out any clear details beyond knowing Elroy's sister was among them, and a familiar blue haired girl farthest from the conflict. Finn just gave her a light wave as hello.

"So...what now?"



”Call me Ishmael.”

— “Penumbra”


@TaintedMushroom@Kero

Something that Asher failed to realize was that ignoring the problem wasn’t going to make it go away. As such, when the berzerker esper aimed a beam to intercept Penumbra and assist however that may be Raphael, Monstro loomed towards him undeterred. It tilted its head to the side and bit down on Dead Head, teeth sinking into the the front of his chest and the back of his shoulder blades, and holding him hostage in its jaws. If only a brief moment. His lucky shot had paid off. He was freed, and closer to the two initial targets, but goddamn can he not go a moment without getting bit by something? If he spared a moment of clarity amidst his anger he’d see there were two options presented to him now. Either he could tear that ugly-ass whale a new one and give himself some temporary breathing room, or he could continue his warpath to see the ringleader beheaded. Was there a way to do both? He wouldn’t have long to decide. The monster was circling around their battlefield overhead, priming itself for another try.

”....Mm.”

Ramona on her end could only press her lips into a thin line as she observed everything. He didn’t even react, to anything from her in fact. Why was he even so…angry to begin with? Was he always like this during jobs? People like him were so boring to deal with. The demon sighed. ”How long do we have to keep this up again?”

Doberman however hadn’t been as fortunate. Maybe she could just excuse it as her not being as well of a melee fighter as she was a marksman, or perhaps despite the Walking Church being terrified, she was more of a competent fighter than the sniper had initially assessed. Noah took advantage of an opening to slam a potent melody down on her.

SHIT-! The sniper tried to dodge out of the way as quick as possible, but with how close they were to each other, and how far Noah’s spear could really reach, she was bound to hit something. The weapon cut across Doberman’s back, causing her to hiss in pain and recoil further away from the nun out of instinct.

”Having a bit of trouble back there!?” They could hear Penumbra call out to Doberman, who growled in response.

”You’re more of a little pain in the ass than I thought. Hey, Ramona, a little help here?!”

Ramona tilted her head in confusion. From where Doberman was standing there wasn’t enough shadows to really do anything. But the girl did seem more fun than skull-for-brains. ”’Kay.”

Monstro’s shadow now loomed ominously over Noah.

The preacher and the scantily clad assassin exchanged more blows, though neither of them seemed to have an edge. Or at least, the assassin’s edge wouldn’t kick in until later. Even espers grew weaker when wounded. Raphael was strong for the moment, but that would wain the longer the fight dragged on. Not a single one of his destructive blows could fell his nameless opponent. Though no annoyance showed on his face. His eyes flicked upward. It was hard to make out with the storm raging, but the trains were already overhead. The calm on his face broke when he grit his teeth.

”We need an opening!” Raphael couldn’t be too specific with any orders. Even if he found it easy to talk while fighting, his opponents would surely react to his words, and he had not trained with the espers present long enough for them to understand covert instructions. ”If we can even down one of them, that’s all we’ll need to push through and join the others!”

"Predictable."
- Finnegan Vanhorn
Corruption:75%



They're actually hearing each other out. The Timekeeper internally breathed a sigh of relief. Good, so there's still some semblance of reason amongst them. Amidst Elroy's, he gradually ceased attacking the spirits that still lingered on his side of the train, opting to simply keep moving out of their way. Then Elroy seemed to respond to his quick thinking. "Holy man's your employer I take it?" Finn would've asked just how much information the Holy Man had on this behemoth himself, if not for his own perusal, but considering how effective the pendants (backups? Holy Man possibly an esper too.) had been as mentioned, then their adversaries had more weight to their reasoning than Gemini. He couldn't help furrowing his brows in confusion at their answer for why the ghosts moved to surround Cerise of all people. Wasn't she aiming for one of the nuns?

Wait. Yeah, it'd probably make sense if the pendants protect them by tricking the ghosts into believing they're one of them. Or allies of a sort at least.

And then, like clockwork, Mika stepped up to question Orion's decision to trust the Immortal Volcano. Well. More like to trust the nuns that murdered Angel, the three were akin to cats and dogs waiting for the first move from the other. Maybe it was cause the late agent was nothing more than a stranger, but he couldn't exactly sympathize with Cerberus' vengeful warpath for her. Her mother's death, that was reasonable, she could be grieving her for days on end and the effect Su's death had would still leave a scar long after. But...

"Since when have monsters ever been able to do good?"

Mika's question didn't exactly bode well with the machine, and the blood he could still feel on his hands. He tried not to let it show. She was going to end up going down as dark a path as he was. If not worse... Finn wouldn't have time to retort though, Ashley gave him the order to give Peace Train a speed boost while she reasoned with her. He shot a sharp grin back to show he heard and glanced back at the ghosts.

"Gentlemen."

With his free hand, he focused a melody hopefully strong enough and quickly dropped down to press his palm onto the roof of Peace Train. "AAAAAAAAALL ABOAAAAAAAARD!"

"Can you not wax philosophies right now??"
- Finnegan Vanhorn
Corruption:77%



Once again the Timekeeper had found himself engaged in combat away from everyone else. A most ironic danse macabre. But for once, he saw no issue with it. He did force the ghosts to split in half after all. For what good it may do, it'd at least give everyone else less to manage. In the corner of his eye he could briefly see the other half surging to attack Cerise, specifically. If these things were drawn to light, would lightning result in the same effects? What could he do here? The machine wouldn't have much time to think.

The train was coming up onto the city itself now, where destruction and ceaseless carnage were expected, everyone was met with...

Nothing. Peace Train was just vibing along through the streets. "Huh!" There was actually nothing to worry about after all.

...

Oh wait. Elroy was still an issue.

Finn could overhear the Immortal Volcano's high-and-mighty grandstanding, questioning why GEMINI would go after an apparently peaceful (Hah.) behemoth instead of the actual threat. Asides from the crap weather these things are causing? He sarcastically thought to himself. Of course he didn't know. He was just doing his job, following the strings of fate that wrap around him like a hanged man's noose. But Elroy can't really think he knew more than the rest of them, right? Then Finn heard Ashley's response.

Good fucking god, were they all acting on whims here?! Taking a brief window of opportunity, Finn snapped a bolt of lightning to hold the ghosts back while he thinks.

"What are any of us doing at this point? So, Peace Train is, shockingly enough, peaceful. That should be great! But if Ashley's right, there's the chance this thing'll go berserk and that'd be the fault of the Freelancers' head honchos for enabling it. On the other hand if Elroy's right then we're fighting a pointless battle in which either information has been purposefully omitted or this is clear negligence from the higher ups. But fuck if I know, we don't even know why it's even..." Finn's eyes widened as he thought outloud, keeping himself clear from the edges of the train. His eyes remained on the ghosts in case his melody worn out and they continued attacking him.

"The freelancers are trying to save Peace Train and yet kill Crazy Train, but the two of them are bound to run into each other soon enough, right? Are we trying to impede that? Is it a bad idea to kill one train but let the other live? If that's the case, either both will need to die to ascertain minimal causalities," The Timekeeper readied himself to strike at the ghosts again, more out of self-defense, and so he can stall for time. "Or we need to let whatever comes happen. No one's gonna agree on anything, so I'm just gonna test some theories while they argue. Hope that's alright with you, gents?"

It was probably bad that he was rambling to a bunch of ghosts that were trying to kill him, but his standards were low enough.


”Wow, two rounds in and already you both went through half your shit?”

— “Penumbra”


@TaintedMushroom@Kero

The fight had barely begun and already the freelancers seemed to be growing desperate. Dead Head was pouring his bountiful anger and mana into a berserker’s rampage, whilst the Walking Church, though more level headed, couldn’t help the fear threatening to overwhelm her. If they weren’t careful, they’d run out of energy before the trains even arrived.

Asher fired Hatred into the eldritch void beast, again, and again, and again, and again. Though his shield melody was able to keep him safe to an extent, there was still the glaring issue of getting himself out from the abyssal maw of the damn thing. Though relatively thoughtless aside from the primal urge to hunt, the beast remained stubborn. His shielding melody could only last for so long. Seemed the best of them were trying to be patient. Something Dead Head couldn’t afford.

A surge of Dragon’s Breath ignited the monster into a glorious blaze of fire, giving Asher the window of opportunity to free himself. It let out a distorted howl as it seized and began to melt, the shape desperately trying to tear itself apart and reach out and escape and kill, melting and bubbling into nothing comprehensible. Not anymore.

And then it sunk into the ground, like a puddle of oil. Was it dead? Maybe he could double tap it to be sure it was dead. But what would that matter, it barely did anything to it normally.

What were they fighting?

Meanwhile, Raphael had little issue pushing through the sniper fire. He used his massive cross-shaped club as a shield and charged towards the dark esper. He belted out a war cry as he closed the distance. The club struck her black katana, and their weapons flew apart in a flurry of sparks. It was always risky to engage an unknown foe, but he believed the sniper would not hit him when he was so close to their frontman. And because of this, he pushed forward again, this time swinging with all of his might. Yet the golden-haired woman seemed to dissipate into wisps of darkness before his weapon could hit. Had she blinked away? Turned intangible?

Well, not exactly. She was the wisps of darkness. She quickly floated around Raphael, aiming to slash at his back while he was still distracted.

Out of reflex, the giant threw himself into a forward roll as the blade bit into his back. He came up with his club drawn across his back, which was now pointed towards the sniper. He winced as the heavy cross pressed into his wound. ”Interesting trick, but it won’t work more than once.”

”Doesn’t need to,” She responded, eyes narrowing at the priest. ”We’re all just doing our jobs in the end, what’s a few losses for the greater outcome?” The shadow wisp lunged again at Raphael before the duration of her melody ended.

Noah remained on the defensive, applying a new shield as the sniper continued to pursue her, throwing yet another dispelling melody in the darkness she hid in. The remaining amalgamation suffered the same fate, melting in a horrific fashion into puddles to be washed away. There was nowhere to hide now, and the sniper knew it.

”Ssssssssshit….” She hissed under her breath, backing away, eyes darting around in a panic. ”Spamming shields is a cheap play, ya know!” Was probably a bad idea to provoke the nun, but Noah still seemed less of a threat than those other two and she’s rushing in to wack her with a cross oh fuck

The sniper quickly raised her gun over her head to knock Noah’s spear away as hard as she could, following up with a roundhouse kick aimed at the nun’s head.

With all the chaos that was going on, the trio had yet to notice another girl boredly stalking everyone by the dumpsters. Ramona originally had hoped to keep her summons up for longer, but the two espers flanking the priest seemed to think they were a more immediate threat than Penumbra or Doberman. Her power had gone to waste. What could be more annoying than that? Ramona couldn’t help but groan. The angry one was gonna notice her soon enough, if he hadn’t gone to help the frightened one or Raphael of course.

Hm…

Maybe she could still make it interesting. Ramona quietly reached a hand out towards the liquified shadows, drawing them back to her, reconstructing them into a large whale. It was about the size of an orca, something that could gobble the common man up in a snap with its razor sharp teeth.

”...Eh, you already know your orders." She waved it off, the tentacles from her back picking up one of the dumpsters to throw at Asher. She didn’t expect it to hit him,

Moreso she wanted to get the knucklehead to notice Monstro swimming up to take a bite out of him.
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