Rina

Over

Gris 7

Geko 6 (5+1)

Cade 4 (5-1)

Rikka 6

There, Geko still have friends

Over

AJ: "Kill the weakling"

Gris 5
Geko 4+1=5
Cade 8-1=7
Rikka 6

Over

Midnight Sun

“What a waste of time.” AJ scoffed as the duo walked out of the ship to see the end of the battle happening between the waiting Asylums. With the mission's priority focusing on the safety of the Bloodlines, he couldn't see how stripping in front of the Peraltas' abode was even an idea someone would contemplate as a good way to spend their time as they waited for the ship.

“If they have nothing else to do but wait, why not. Don't you think a sparring match is a good way to gauge people's skills and get to know who you are working with?” Keith said with a shrug. He was glad to see that AJ was back to his normal self after the man had some time to gather himself before the ship arrived. Although his partner was an odd person to be with, the breakdown AJ experienced was far worse than anything he experienced even during the nearly two crazy years they've been with each other. This was something new. Keith could still visualize the blood and the torn off fingers laying limp on the deck of the ship and the cries of the young heir as she clung to her mangled hand. With the way Apate was muttering the word monster and the state AJ was in after he finally found the man, it made Keith wonder what exactly AJ saw while he was prisoner to the hallucinations.

”Not when we are supposed to be bodyguards. I don't see the professionalism in this.” AJ said stubbornly to emphasize that he wasn't going to let his partner's logic derived from Keith's pelvic region cloud his own sound opinion of his comrade's choices. As they neared the gates and joined the others AJ turned the conversation inwards and continued with Keith through their link. 'It's highly unprofessional to be unclothing yourself while on the job like this. We are at work, not at a strip club.'

A look of surprise crossed Keith face as he watched the gates open and took in all that the sinful pleasures the Peraltas had to offer. A chuckle escaped Keith as he briefly glanced at AJ before letting his eyes continue to take in his surroundings 'Your idea of professionalism might be a bit off here Spock.'

'It isn't my concern how the Bloodlines handle themselves in their day to day lives and their business unless AMRO decides to make it so.' Shrugging Keith's pestering aside, AJ slowly looked around the estate. Unlike his partner who was busy rating the scantly clothed women, AJ was calculating the new totals concerning the unimportant personnel and as he worked on memorizing the places someone could easily conceal themselves as well as weak points in the security, Keith was trying to figure out the routes of the nearby butlers to work out which one would come close enough to snag an alcoholic beverage before AJ could stop him.

A sigh crept out of AJ as the snippets of his partner's thoughts seeped into his mind through their even open link. It was times like these AJ wondered if Keith would purposely get sidetracked just to pester him. They had a job to do and instead of focusing on the important things he was busy letting himself get consumed by the pleasures that filled the estate. 'Can you at least put half the effort you are taking to ogle these wome-' AJ mentioned before suddenly pausing when he noticed the distortion in his field of vision.

As he watch his partner's composure stiffen and a great uneasiness could be felt through the link, Keith watched with curiosity as the distortion grew worse and Angel's voice explained the void. During the five years he was forced into joining AMRO and learning about the world of alchemy Keith has seen many things he wouldn't have thought to be possible and although he wasn't close to forgiving AMRO of the past, he was still amazed about the powers and wonders he has seen from time to time. ”This is actually quite neat.” Keith said as he looked around the library and brushed his fingers alongside a few books on a nearby shelf. Not only were the visual details quite impressive but even the feel of the books seemed to mimic reality with great accuracy.

”No, not neat.” AJ muttered as he shot a glare at Keith. 'Definitely not neat.' Keeping still in his place, AJ looked at Angle as he continued his thought to Keith. 'The mind, consciousness or whatever he wants to call it is a dangerous place and isn't something that should be meddled with'

“The Delacours are all dead!” The Chrono suddenly chirped, interrupting further conversation the duo were having between themselves.

”Well this mess will be interesting to deal with.” AJ muttered out loud to no one in general without a hint of surprise or sorrow as he waited to hear the rest of the details however was unimpressed when the Experimental Team got the debriefing derailed with Cade's overly emotional outburst. 'Are they seriously going whine and complain about the mission given to us?'

'Can you quit being you just for five minutes and be sympathetic? People have died AJ.' Although he didn't know the Delacours personally or even much about the bloodlines in general besides the things he read and heard over the years he knew that the bloodshed of that many people wasn't something to take lightly and Cade had the right to act the way he was.

'Deaths happen all the time. What makes this one so bad compared to all the people out in the world that die every day? Besides, the bloodlines have been at each other's throats recently so I don't see what is so sorrowful that more people have been added to the list'

It's not just the random killings that have been happening within the bloodlines but rather a whole bloodline has been annihilated. Innocent people were killed AJ and it doesn't end there. A second bloodline will follow suit by our doing.'

'And justice will be served so I don't see the problem.' Giving a shrug, AJ tuned their discussion out knowing that things wouldn't end with Keith and focused on the Experimental Team as Samad tried to reign in Cade before leading them to the door. The good news was that at least another overly emotional Asylum stepped up and gained Angel's attention before Keith could even get a chance to blurt out stupid nonsense and that he wasn't in Samad's shoes and making his way out the door with his partner.

Hearing voices above, Keith looked up in confusion and was surprised to see where Cade and Samad ended up after going through the door.“What the hell?” Keith muttered as he looked between Angel and the duo above. “If these doors leads us to god knows where, why didn't you putting the effort into stopping them or starting off about the dangers of the void when you first sucked us into here?”

”It's their fault they ended up there. They were being stupid.” AJ scoffed as he looked up at the duo. ”There are reasons why the mind and things like that shouldn't be tampered with.” AJ said, breaking his gaze upwards to look briefly towards Angel before continuing.”It's a dangerous thing to tamper with and they are lucky that they've only made a fool out of themselves rather than anything worse.”

”Whether you think of them as fools or not, we can't just leave them on the ceiling like that.” Keith said as he walked towards the door the duo walked out of and grabbed the handle.

'Don't.'

He wanted to help Samad get Cade right side up again or at least help point them in the right direction but as aggravating as AJ could be, he trusted the man for the most part and didn't open the door. Could he guarantee that the same door would lead him to the same exit? With very little knowledge of how the void works he couldn't be certain. But there was someone who did. Turning around to face Angel, Keith took a few steps away from the door.

'No, don't do that either.'

”Hey Angle,” Keith said, intentionally messing up Angel's name after the countless mistake the lost number had made throughout the day with their names.

'You are playing with fire Keith. Quit it.'

“You're the one who brought us in here so why don't you fix this little mess? It would be a shame if more paperwork was added to your pathetic little busywork due to a mishaps within the void.”

'You idiot.'

Over

Awesome! I'm excited to see where things lead. I'm going to have the Palladinos scattered around so if any of you guys need a direction to go feel free to interact with them once I get a post up.

Over

“Dead. Yet again.” A woman voice whispered as AJ looked around trying to find the source of the sound. “If you can't even get the basics down how do you think you will ever survive when you join Innocence much less the rest of your life?” The woman's voice continued as a chill ran down AJ's back. It was cold out.

Continuing to look around, the young man noticed a faint figure to his left but the darkness made it hard to see. With only one thing in his perimeter he could see, AJ rushed towards the figure but before he reached it, it vanished. The only remnants of the being was a wisp of smoke that quickly dissipated. His feet and fingers felt numb and the rest of his body felt chilled. He could see his breath in the cold even with the limited lighting.

"Was all this effort in saving you from normality that man and his family tainted you with worth it? Did I waste my time raising you? Maybe Dante was right?"

Focusing on the sound of the voice, AJ tried to locate the source but as always, her voice was crafted in a way that it always engulfed him during their training sessions and without a clear voice. There would be no escape from her. "No...He's wrong..." AJ responded quietly as fear resinated in his voice. "Y-you're wrong..."

"Then prove it to me that you are worth my time." The woman said as the figure returned along with reinforcement.

~.~

“Ava?” Keith muttered in confusion as he looked at where he last saw his partner. However he wasn't there and off to the side he saw the all too familiar woman he said his farewells to earlier that morning. The anger he held about the bomb going off faded away as he took a step towards the woman. “No, this can't be right. You can't be here on the ship.” She was supposed to be back at headquarters or whisked away on another mission unless reinforcements were called. She still wouldn't have been dressed in the silk robe she had on that morning. Most of all she wouldn't be as quiet as she was after the quarrel the two had earlier.

The woman turn around and start to walk away and trying to close the gap between the two Keith took a few steps towards Ava. "No. Don't leave." Seeing that Ava wasn't going to stop Keith ran after her. "I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry about whatever stupid thing you think I did. Alright?" Although the lack of sincerity was present he hoped that he could win over the lady with an apology or at least get her to talk to him. But it wasn't working and the woman was heading right towards the edge of the ship. Was she going to jump?

~.~

"...Ap..Apa...Apate," Dolos hestitantly muttered as his fingers pointed towards the ocean, or more so what appeared to be surfacing. "Is that a...mother of Davy Jones....its a...a fucking KRAKEN!" The boy couldn't believe it himself and despite his trembling knees he was grinning ear to ear. The Queen Anne lived for the thrill of life and what greater thrill could live offer than witnessing...nay battling the beast of the sea.

The creature continued to slowly emerge, its size towering over the ship as its tentacles began to coil around it. The entire scene was as if something out of a fairy tale and Dolos was struck in awe, this was his moment to carve his name on the tides, the ocean itself. Since the Bloodlines' inception, the Queen Anne had always been obsessed in taming the oceans and what greater symbolisims of conquest than defeating the beast of mythology.

Time for hestitation had passed, with a snap of his fingers the metal on the ship began to liquify and slowly transmute into a harpoon, that he now clenched in his hands. The boy couldn't help but laugh hysterically as he gazed into the Abyss that was the Kraken's eye.

"I will tame you and with you the ocean and then the world!" The boy screamed as the sky darkened and thunder roared from above. With those brave words spoken, the boy hurled the harpoon, lightning enveloping it, towards one of the tentacles that had crept on board.

---xx-----xx---

"I am so confused right now," Rena thoguht as she blinked while looking up towards the commotion. The Chrono had wandered off from her partner only to find herself in a situation a little more bizzare than A.M.R.O's Blood Draped Angel getting sea sick.

What she saw was the Queen Anne heir stripping off his clothes while looking at the empty ocean and frantically hurling a fishing rod all the while laughing maniacally.

"How am I the weird one...." The child contemplated before stepping away.

---xx-----xx---

"Damn girl!" Keith exclaimed as he dodged one of her high heels being thrown at him as she started to laugh. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The man said as he approached Ava. "Sure, I understand your need for being pissy at me but throwing your shoe at me and acting like a lunatic doesn't solve anything. Let's talk it out, okay. No weird silent treatment or acting like a psycho, alright." Keith said as he tried to close the gap between them for an embrace.

~.~

"What a splendid job dear. Just make sure my weapons are just as pristine as this dress. A matriarch must look her best if she is going to be visiting the other bloodlines." Apate said as she did a slight twirl to admire her newly handcrafted dress that was made just for this occasion.

"Oh, and please make sure Dolos stays...occupied during all of this. I don't want brother dearest getting in the way of my first meeting as the matriarch." Apate said with a chuckle as she sauntered down the hallway. She could hear the yells of her brother off in the distance but with it mufffled she paid no heed to it. There were more important matters to focus on.

But before she could make it to the end of the hallway she felt a tug which was followed by a loud tear. Turning around she saw one of the young brats look right at her in an dazed expression. Matriarch or not, she wasn't going to let one of the bloodline brats get away with destroying her dress on her special day."You just reached the end of my patience kiddo. You best be ready for the hell that I am going to relea... wait a moment!" Apate yelled, the anger replaced by confusion as the kid ran off in an erratic pattern as he flailed his arms or swayed back and forth every so often. "Did you get a little too much to drink or something? I don't think mommy and daddy will be happy with your decisions." The girl snickered as she tried to catch up with the kid which little did she know was AJ.

"Don't...Stop this, please." The kid pleaded quietly as he contined to stumble forwards.

"Stop what? Me telling your parents?" Apate asked as she grabbed the kid's shoulder to turn him around and figure out which bloodline he was from. However she was met with a surprise when the boy bit her hand.

"Get off me. GET THE FUCK OFF YOU SHIT FUCKING DUMBASS! GET OFF ME!!!" Apate yelled at the boy as she tried to pry him off her hand but was met with no success. The grip he had was strong even compared to an adult. She could feel the bones in her hand start to give from the pressue it was under as the sound of her bones being broken coinsided with a new wave of pain. Prying wouldn't work so it appeared that a new approach would be needed unless she wanted to lose her hand.

---------Xx----------xX--------

"Songs will be sung of this day, the day I kill a kraken!" Dolos declared heroically, his palm thrusting out towards the illusionary beast and dousing it a shower of steam. Amidst his highentened excitment and obnoxious laughter the boy was clueless that he had just assualted the Asylum in front of him, albeit the hallucigins might have played a role as well.

"Fight me foul creature!" The boy provoked the imaginary monstrocity in front of him and madly dashed towards, what was actually, the Asylum known as Keith.

---------Xx----------xX--------

"I guess acting like a psycho it is." Keith muttered as a burst of steam engulfed him.This wasn't a normal response from Ava but given her mysterious entrance maybe there was something that was going on with her. However he was momentarily distracted by an overwhelming sense of fear intruding his thoughts. Something was wrong.

AJ, where are you? What's going on? Are you okay?
Even during the most heated arguments between the two there was never a moment he could think of when the two were on radio silence from each other besides when he started to get intimate with Ava or another lady. He needed to find AJ.

Come on Spock, you never let your emotions get in the way. You need to answer me.
Concern was creeping into his voice as he tried to communicate with his partner again but there was nothing but fear responding.

With nothing more than a taunt to fight and a mad dash towards him, Keith had just enough time to sidestep and avoind the attack given his distraction. "Not now, okay. Something is wrong with AJ. Feel free to beat me up or get your revenge later on but first we need to find him. I don't have time for this." Keith said knowing that even if there was a tiff going on between the two of them they would be able to set it aside just enough to solve this problem.

Damn it AJ. You need to answer me. I can't lose lose you. I can't lose another partner. Not again.
However seeing that Ava was preparing for another attack Keith could see that there would be no getting through to her at this time. He needed to solve this issue quickly. "Fine, I'll help you cool off." Keith said impatiently and with a quick flick of his hand Keith then quickly balled up his hand. The sand that scattered during the explosion gathered by the woman's legs and crept up as it wrapped around her and bound her legs and arms into place. "I know I'll get bitched at later for this but let's just say this is for your own good." Keith said as he picked up the woman and before tossing her onto one of the pool lounge chairs, gave her a kiss. He didn't like leaving her in this way but he needed to make sure she would stay out of the way while he looked for AJ.

"AJ! Where are you?" Keith yelled as he made his way back towards the last spot he saw his partner. Taking a glance back towards Ava he noticed that the woman was missing. "That's strange..."

Over

Awesome! I look forward to it.

Over

You will be missed. Hopefully we will be able to cross paths in the future in terms of roleplaying.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

-247

Over

Midnight Sun

“Who the hell are they?” Keith muttered as he looked at the man yelling at them as they approached the ship

“More of those friends you said I should get to know.” AJ said sarcastically as he hinted back to their earlier conversation before moving their conversation telepathically. 'The female looks familiar. I believe we shared a few classes together during my stay at Innocence but then again I don't keep track who all were my classmates back then. I think her name is Mia or May or something like that but this is the first time I came across the male. I would have remembered an idiot such as him' A slight smirk crept on AJ's face as he watched the young Chrono start to pull the ship down into the water. The brat might be annoying but seeing what she could accomplish he knew she rightfully held that position and if she were going to take down the bloodlines, that worked wonderfully for him.

'You better not be enjoying that too much. You are watching our mission sink and wouldn't that tarnish the record you are trying to keep in order?' Raising his eyebrows, Keith gave a glance towards his partner as he watched the Chrono and her partner start to work out a deal to stop her actions.

'So?'

'There are people on the ship. You might have something against your own family but what about the rest of them? Do you not care if they die too?'

'People die every day. Does it really matter if it's today by the hands of the Chrono or later on due to a messy war between the bloodlines?' There was a slight shrug from AJ as he and Keith made their way onto the ship.

'Do they really deserve it? Do the children and others deserve a death such as this? Crushed and drowned when it wasn't even their fault but a person of our own initiating this. Where's the justice in that?' The two made their way towards the far side of the room and between AJ's distaste towards the bloodlines and Keith not knowing any of them, the two stuck together and watched everyone mingling.

'At least it would be less messy this way. For once I would be able to keep my clothing clean during a mission with the lack of blood splattering everywhere or other contaminates.' AJ chimed in as he glared towards Dante. The man hasn't looked towards him yet but AJ knew that his presence would have been known. 'Politically too if you are worried about this whole justice thing.' AJ scoffed and rolled his eyes.

'Just keep your distaste towards the Bloodlines between us. Things are already going to be tense between the Asylums and the Bloodlines and we don't want to add your bitchiness to make things worse.'

'I'm here to do my job. As long as they know their place we won't have an issue but you better not have any issues using force if it comes down to it. Even the children shouldn't be trusted when it comes to bloodlines. They are not like normal brats so you better not go soft on them like you did with that one brat four months ago'

'Are you still trying to bring that up? Seriously, you need to le-' Before Keith could finish his remark the notice of the bomb present was sent out and giving a slight nod towards his partner, the two headed out.

'Understood.' AJ said to the others

'We will head to the top deck to search for one. Keep us updated on anything you learn from these bombs.' Keith added. “It's go time.” There was a bit of excitement in Keith's voice as they worked their way towards the door.


'Shut up. We don't want to attract anyone's attention'.

'If they have any sort of ability to observe outside their self centered little bubbles I think that might be too late.' Keith mentioned with a shrug as the two walked down a hallway towards the stairs.

'Hmm?'

'When I was on the force you wouldn't send most of your security out just to make rounds during some sort of charity event or gatherings of the people of wealth or power. There is power in numbers and just our presence would keep many situations contained. Unless there was a situation brewing I doubt this would change in a situation where we are babysitting the bloodlines even if the two that are staying is a Chrono and her partner. Sure, those two might keep the bloodlines distracted if the bloodlines don't keep each other busy but I'm quite certain that our absence will be noted by at least a few.'

'Well let's hope the feuds are messy enough that they will stay occupied until things are settled.'

Apate and Dolos

"Nope nope, he ain't stealing my soul", Dolos thought as his face lay buried in his palms. In the world of rogues the Asylums were the subject of many tales of varying interpretation, some thought them emissaries of justice where as others considered them demonic entities. Often alchemists would grow up with Asylums being the boogyman of their childhood, for Dolos this was a little literal. The Queen Anne heir had strongly convinced himself that Asylums were actually soul devouring monsters disguised as humans.

"Dolos." Apate said in a hushed whisper, the voice coming from behind her brother. The sound of concern, if not fear was present in Apate voice which was unusual for the girl.

"I told you not to look at him, my dear sister your soul...your poor soul!" Dolos replied, his voice muffled by the trembling palms that covered his face still. "You maybe suffering endlessly, but I swear I will uphold the duties of the Patriarch well once our father meets his demise!" Dolos continued on, his fingers splitting so that he may take a peek at what fate decreed for his sister.

"Are you sure?" The face of Angel met the boy's gaze he peeked out. A malicious smirk crept onto the face as he lowered his spectacles to reveal the man's eyes. Not only was the iris matching the color of his vest, the sclera and pupil were blood red as he started deeply at the boy. As the smirk grew wider it was obvious that his teeth were not human teeth but something meant for more harm given the jagged features. "How will you become the next Patriarch if this is your last voyage out on the waters?"

“What the mother fu-“ With that fragmented sentence, Dolos found himself losing his sense of balance and tumbling down. To say he was merely surprised by Angel’s sudden appearance would be an understatement, Dolos found himself in a state of panic. His own eyes slowly widened as he watched the Lost Number lower his silver spectacles revealing a set of crimson irises. “Shit… too late!” The boy thought, his reflexes betraying him and in a haphazard attempt to lift his arms to protect him from Angel’s soul devouring gaze, he found himself tipping backwards and crashing head first onto the floor. It would only be after a few minutes that the heir would regain consciousness.

“Wooow. Such a brave guy.” Angel said sarcastically with a chuckle, his voice slowly growing higher in pitch as the seconds ticked by. “And here I thought you might have a chance at being the next Patriarch if something were to happen to me brother dearest.” The figure said as it crouched down towards Dolos. It didn't take long before the illusion Apate set up for her brother started to dissipate and the girl was back to her former appearance. “You make this too easy." The girl mumbled as she searched his pockets for anything easy to steal and settled on a few smoke bombs and a knife he had and pocketed it for herself. As she did so she could hear annoying voice of Antonia off in the distance mentioning her and her brother's name

"Oh great, the brat is heading back." Apate sighed as she gave her brother a shake. "Quit your snoozing brother dearest. We have some company approaching."

"I won't go down without a fight!" Dolos suddenly screamed, awakened from a nightmarish slumber, his palms stretched forward towards the direction of Apate and the children. In mere seconds a sudden burst of air pressure appeared to form and shoot out towards the lot, dousing them in steam and shredding parts of their clothing.

"Where am I, what is going on, why do you all look like that?" Dolos barraged them with questions as his eyes darted about for any signs of imminent danger. Amusingly however what irked the boy even more was the state of their dressing, particularly his sisters'. "Have ye no shame sister, there are better ways to attract the males," the boy admonished Apate while nursing the bruise on his head

"Are you sure? I've heard that males are more visu-" Apate started to say before remembering her new audience. Although the children of the other bloodlines were fun to pester, teaching the young kids about unholy acts and thoughts especially with one of the Palladinos present had the potential of repercussions of having annoying mothers hounding down on them. "Don't act like it was my fault brother dearest. You are the one who thought he was attacking imaginary monsters and blasted us instead."

"This was your doing wasn't it," Dolos accused his sister as he gently massaged his forehead before continuing her scolding. "Aren't you supposed to be next in line, maybe focus on being responsible rather than playing pranks on your brother, especially when he was so worried about having your soul devoured by a monster." Despite his words, his tone revealed disappointment at the realization that his sister's soul was not being shredded and tortured for all eternity. Back to second place the boy thought as he snapped his fingers at the loss of an ideal opportunity.

"Now what fun would it be if I was a boring stiff like one of them?" Apate snickered as she gestured towards the patriarchs and other adults. "Do you want me to act more like boring old Irene? Sometimes it's a wonder that I'm actually the same age as the royal babysitter." She continued as she took a glance towards Antonia to gauge her reaction. Although Apate knew that the young girl was the mischievous one out of the bunch, she could see that her loyalties were not affected as Antonia almost blurted out a defense for her sister but held off at the last moment. It was a shame. She was hoping that the young Palladino could be a way to gain some control over the family or cause a bit of mischief within the family. Maybe with a bit more work and influence with the girl she could accomplish that. "I don't think you could last even a day with me if I was a bore."

"Aye, you have a point there dear sister. You would be quite the bore if you weren't the occasional nuisance." Dolos nodded as he agreed with his sister, a grin on his face as he watched her discreetly irk the Pallidinios. In fact it is their mischievous nature that gained the Queen Anne siblings their notorious fame, despite being teenagers the kids have caused more than a couple of problems for other Bloodlines.

"Sister have you noticed we are missing a few of our esteemed Asylum friends?" The boy suddenly inquired as his eyes scanned the room for discrepancy, his curiosity being peeked at observing certain Asylums discreetly disappearing. "Why don't we follow those two?" Dolos whispered as he gestured towards the Asylums, AJ and Keith.

"Hmm, that is quite interesting. I wonder what sort of fun they are trying to hide from us all." Apate said, nodding in agreement to her brother's plan. "It looks like your friends are coming to join you kiddo. It might be best if you stay here." Apate said giving a slight nod towards the two young Kains making their way towards them. Ruffling the young girl's hair as she passed Antonia, Apate left the girl to follow the two Asylums before she could make an objection. "I wonder what they are up to brother dearest."

"I suppose we will just have to find out," Dolos replied as a fiendish grin spread across his face. From observing the general direction of their movement it seemed the Asylums were planning to go to the upper deck. "I suggest we beat them there, hide and wait to see what they are up to." The brother spoke, scheming as he and his sister began to take an alternate route.

Midnight Sun

'Are you certain that this is where we should look?' AJ sighed as they continued searching the upper deck. 'We've already looked at half this deck and we've found nothing.' They were wasting time. He wasn't sure how long they had until the bomb would go off and instead of using this time to defuse it they were busy wasting time looking in the wrong area.

“Just a bit more.” Keith said as the two made their way towards the miniature golf course. 'If you were more cautious and didn't let Poe get destroyed during our last mission the search would have gone more smoothly.' “But no, you had to be an idiot and now it's stuck with Cams until he fixes it.” The man scoffed aloud as he searched around and in the decorations as AJ continued down the course. That was one thing that bothered Keith. Although they were able to get their work done in the end, the cohesion he had back on the force with is old partner was missing with AJ. He and his partner were closer connected and were more in sync even without the telepathic link. Dan wouldn't have questioned his judgement as AJ continually has done.

"Oh, so it's now my fault." AJ mumbled, turning back long enough to glare at his partner before he continued his search. 'If you followed the plan as we discussed there would be no need for me to intervene but instead you decide to do whatever the hell you feel like doing which led us to the mess in the first place.'

"But my plan worked, didn't it? I wasn't running blindly without an idea brewing in my head. You got that AJ?" Turning around towards his partner, the younger man was out of sight and he was about to call out for him before he noticed that man was crouched down besides one of the decorations next to the 18th hole.

"We found it." AJ said as he sat up and looked at Keith. The tensions between the two immediately dissipated as both focused on that bomb. Although bickering was common between the two, neither allowed their disagreements get in the way of their work which was something AJ was glad about. He was a pain to deal with and AJ would have much preferred being an unlinked that working with this man as he planned and was preparing for during his time at Innocence but at least he got the job done. "Did you pull up any information up about it on the TASER?"

"Working on it." Keith said as he worked on searching AMRO's database. Bombs were neither one's forte but at least they had a resource to depend on.

"Can we move it? Let's not waste any time and just get it off the ship." AJ muttered as he took a glance around them. He thought he heard someone off in the distance but when he looked there was nothing to be seen. 'We might have company so we need to get this figured out ASAP.'

"I'm not sure what sort of sensors and shit this thing is hooked up to. If we move it, it might go off but the whole bomb is encased to keep it protected from the elements so the wiring that we need to access is going to be a pain. If we try to open it and it's pressurized..."

"Boom." AJ said as he looked towards his partner.

"Unfortunately." Keith said as he closed up the pen and shoved it back into a pocket. 'Covering it and moving it off the ship might be the best option.' With a nod of agreement from his partner, Keith used the sand that was part of the golf course to encase the bomb. "Part one down." Keith muttered as he slowly lifted the bomb, making sure to keep it leveled.

"Okay, it's high enough to get over the railing. All you need to do now is move it straight off." AJ said guiding his partner. As the direction changed a small tick was heard and Keith stopped moving the bomb. "Keith, did you hear tha-"

Before AJ could get the chance to get a barrier up the bomb went off. Sand covered the two of them and a gaseous substance engulfed them.

"Shit." Keith yelled out in frustration as he turned around and looked at his partner.

Over

Antonia Palladinos

“Hey! I think that's him!” A young girl chatted excitedly to her sister as she tried to pull the older girl towards the nearby window she had been looking out of for the longest time as Irene and her parents kept busy with adult conversation. “Don't do you think so Rosella? He looks exactly how Sonia described our cousin to be.” The young girl said as she looked out the window as she watched the Asylums started to get closer but Rosella wouldn't budge.

“Shush Antonia, father is speaking.” Rosella said in a harsh tone before shaking her sister off her arm and turning back to the conversation her father was having like an obedient child.

“Humph.” The young girl sighed as she crossed her arms and looked around. She didn't understand why daddy liked to talk to the Legendes and the Laveaus. The lady seems mean and if the rumors of the Legendes were true she didn't understand why he would waste time with someone like them. It didn't help that they were boooring too. At least the Queen Anne's kids were fun and didn't drone on and on.

Taking a glance around to see if she could find the duo, a smile crept on her face as she saw that the two appeared to be waiting for the Asylums. Maybe the duo of deceit would be her ticket to see AJ.

“Mama, can I go say hi to Dollos and Apate?”

“Take Rosella with you and stay out of trouble.” Francesca said giving her youngest daughter a warning look as she held one of Luca's hand. “And I mean it Antonia.” The matriarch said before walking alongside the toddler towards the table Lei Gong was sitting at.

“Why do I always end up your babysitter.” Rosella said with a sigh as the two made their way past the different groups of people.

“Because Daddy wouldn't ever let Irene leave the conversation for something like this. She is too important, unlike us.” Antonia said with a slight snort as she took a quick glance toward the eldest sister who was standing besides their father.

“We are just seeing the two troublemakers right? You do remember we are not allowed to even talk to AJ or his mother. Father would get mad at you.” Rosella said speeding up to catch up with her sister who was now starting to skip. “You promised to behave since we are in the company of the other bloodlines.”

“Who cares.” Antonia said with a shrug. “It's not like you are going to be a part of the family soon anyways. You're going be shipped off just like Sonia.”

Apate Queen Anne
“And ruin all the fun by being a good little girl?” Apate said with a snicker in response to her brother's remark. “You misjudge me if you thought that eyesore could have stopped me. I hope at least this time the Asylums we meet will be a tad bit more fun because the last one was such a bore. Maybe if we are lucky there might be a few eye candies in the bunch too.” Apate said with a devious smirk as she waited for the Asylums to get closer to get a better view of who all would be joining them. “I just hope you polished up your skills this time around brother dearest. Let's not be too sloppy.”

Hearing the voices of children start to quickly grow, Apate turned around and saw the two Palladino munchkins head towards the duo. “Aww cute. Look who decided to play with the big kids this time around brother dearest.”

“Hi Apate and Dollos!” Antonia said with a cheerful smile as she approached the two older heirs. “It's been awhile since I saw the two of you. How are you guys? Are you waiting for the Asylums too?”

Dante Palladino
“After all these years I would have thought you would have came up with an ingenious tactic on how to pester me but here you are yet again going straight to the religion.” Taking in no appearance of an offense, the Patriarch gave nothing more than a slight chuckle towards Clair's prodding. “It is unfortunate to see the decline of your family over the years as the ideologies of the south taint your bloodline. Let's just hope you haven't fallen into all the stereotypes of your homelands and made your bloodline too pure.”

“It would explain their ignorance and lack of tactics.” Irene chimed in, emulating a similar reaction Dante had towards Clair before Willem waded into the small gathering to try and simmer down the tension.

“Yes, let's hold off on this squabble for another time perhaps.” Dante commented, entertaining the man's idea of peace knowing how futile such a promise could be given who all was on the ship. “but seeing who all is here I doubt the peace will last for long especially with all the recent rumors circulating around among the different families. I find it quite peculiar that the attendance rate of this meeting exceeds the ones in the past.”