RoflsMazoy

Royal Rumble!

Vanishers 5

The screeches below were mirrored by screeches above. It would seem the horde was beginning to act on all floors, as if finally realizing the threat the students inside posed. The effectiveness of such a movement were up for debate, however.

There were strange sounds ringing out on the seventh floor. A sort of whoosh, mixed with a vmmmm from King's laser sword. Light saber or laser sword? Alto didn't think the imps cared too much, they were too busy getting cut in half by it, although maybe the thought had run through at least one of their minds. Truthfully there wasn't much for Alto to do right now.

Indeed, their small group had a very good composition. Alto would be the one rushing behind enemies while King engaged them from the front. Clara would provide back-up from the rear, and shore up any openings with her minions. But these were just imps. Each member of the party could slaughter them all.

When there's negligible risk, overwhelming force is the most efficient strategy. Alto knew this, and it shouldn't bother him at all, except...

"Huh, this sure ain't a cat." King said, lifting up a charred goblin leg.

Alto couldn't quite wrap his head around the people here. They were currently sifting through one of the rooms on the seventh floor. They knew the locations of the students on this floor, but a cat would be harder to pin down. King had decided to check every room for any traces of the cat, since he'd have to bring back something regardless of whether it was dead or alive. Clara looked on the both of them with vague disinterest.

How strange it was that he felt so utterly normal around these two. Well, he'd seen Clara coming... and King wasn't actually that out of place now that he thought about it. Still, there were certainly more productive things to think about.

"If my conjecture is right, this isn't just a typical Haunting." Clara said.

Alto had thought that also. A Haunting typically occurred when a few stranded imps banded together for survival. They'd gather ghosts to hopefully catch the attention of a higher Demon to open a portal back to the Otherworld. This amount of imps and ghosts would for sure have attracted enough attention by now. Sure, imps were a dime a dozen, but if you gathered a hundred dimes, you'd notice the pile of coins even though it only has the same worth as a $10 bill.

Clara was not giving any orders or specific suggestions to Yuuto. The student Committee were a group if independents in the end. First and foremost, her duty as the Student Committee leader was to embrace their independence and use it in a productive manner.

Clara already noticed that King was hiding something. If she had to take a guess, his clairvoyance was telling him something, but it wouldn't matter if they knew of it now or later. King had a certain 'flow' to him that was hard to read. If she followed it, she got a glimpse into what he saw, but just that, a glimpse.

"I suppose we'll find out by the time we reach the top floor." She said, going out as if to continue the search.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@rawkhawk64@Bartimaeus

Royal Rumble!

Vanishers 4

Alto's phone bleeped as he ascended the stairs. A quick message from the driver, two more students had been handed to him.

King...

It was difficult to guess what his objective was, but as long as he was helping them resolve the situation quickly, his help was welcome. He assumed the two students were from the fifth floor which he had just passed. A cursory inspection had found no additional students. It had however found many imps, clearly slain by King's hand, but still more had been slain by someone else. Someone he knew the hallmarks of very well.

He rounded the steps and a very familiar face was there to meet him.

"Ah, greetings, Child of Light." Clara said.

"Likewise, Clara Deimos Erdrigan." He replied.

There was no reason to greet Clara Deimos Erdrigan any way other than Amicably. Despite their reputation as cheaters and her clear position as the mastermind behind Mephsito's School for the Wickedly Inclined, there had never been any true evidence of wrongdoing. No, it would be more accurate to say it was clearly because she was the mastermind that there was no evidence.

"What exactly is your business here at this time of night?" Alto asked.

"Surely such a question should be posed from my lips," She replied curtly. "You have far less reason to be here than I."

They stood across from each other, neither one speaking.

Alto would be surprised if she didn't know what he was doing here. The evidence was fairly clear, unless King was fast enough there was no way she hadn't seen at least one of the missing students. In fact, King wouldn't be the type to interfere with her, if she had done something to them. He would be the exact type to bring them down disregarding anything else.

"8 Students are missing from our school." He finally said. "They are here, and I've been tasked with retrieving them."

He only said the basics of the situation which Clara would most likely know. None of the details, which wouldn't have helped anyway.

"Hmm, is that so?" She replied. He saw a flicker of a smile pass her lips. Any normal person would think little of it, but Alto could almost see the gears turning in her head. It wasn't as if they'd started suddenly, but there was a tiny stutter which had allowed him to gauge the flow. They had been turning for a while now, but it seems she had gotten a new idea.

"Then perhaps I shall assist you."

He froze for a second. Such a thing had been within his calculations, but not his expectations. He had been caught off guard but he couldn't show it.

"Well of course I have my own objective," She continued, "But we are in a position of mutual benefit. Helping you will eventually help me meet my own objective."

He didn't know if hiding meant anything under that gaze. Those warm words of comraderie were just as calculated as his own. However, before he could respond, King crashed through a nearby window and rolled, end over end, until he reached their position.

He landed out on one knee, arms flared out to his side, cape fluttering down behind him.

"Have you guys seen a black cat with an orange collar running around here?" He asked.

@rawkhawk64

Royal Rumble!

Royal Rumble 1, conclusion

As the beam came down, there was one final flash as Alto entered God Speed Flash yet again. Three times in a row wasn't very easy. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but he didn't let it show. Their little skirmish was over now, but it felt as if it was just a taste of what was to come. Hopefully it wouldn't come too soon. He shook his head. It would be clear soon enough.

Despite the unexpected nature of the night, he had been expecting the past to catch up with him some day. He was strong enough to face it now, but who could say what lay in the future? It seemed he needed to set his sights forward, now more than ever.

---

The room Brutus entered was empty again. The window was open and the curtain was billowing in the wind. Suddenly, a message appeared on Brutus' phone.

Alto's got a car downstairs. If you find anyone knocked out, bring 'em down.

King

King, wherever he really was always seemed to have impeccable timing. It seemed true for almost everyone, enemy and ally.

"So, why is it that you are here before me?" Clara asked.

In front of her stood a very familiar gaudily clad figure with a grin on his face.

"I was looking for a missing cat," King replied innocently.

"That doesn't look like a missing cat." Clara replied, looking at the body draped over King's shoulder.

"And that sure as hell doesn't look like a savory activity." He said, referring to the worm currently stretching out from Clara's finger to enter the other unconscious student's ear.

"...Granted." Clara said, getting up on her feet. "Still, to seek me out like this, you must have a reason."

"I wasn't looking for you, just this guy over here." King said, walking over and taking the other unconscious student over his other shoulder.

"Aren't you siding with them?"

"That worm of yours isn't going to be found unless you want them to be found, right? Well, I could do something about it if I felt the need to, but I want you both to owe me a little."

Some words came to mind, she didn't remember who had said them, but they were significant none the less. "If you can't be medicine or poison, then all you are is water." She would have thought that the Vigilantes would have been as such. So many 'neutral' parties she had witnessed failed to be either, and simply became nothing. The Vigilantes however, had yet to become truly one or the other, like many others of their type. But their leader King, felt as if he could make them become anything.

"I'm headed off for a bit, I can tell them I saw you, but it's not as if you'll be staying here for too long, is it?"

"No, I don't think I will be."

King waved, or about as close as you could really get with bodies draped over both shoulders, and flew out the window.

"Let's continue, Yuuto." Clara said with a sigh. The ninja was hidden, but it was likely such a thing didn't really mean anything against King. "We have some more targets to pursue."
@rawkhawk64@Gentlemanvaultboy@Dezuel@Bartimaeus@Letter Bee@Crowvette@Scarifar

Royal Rumble!

The monster... is here.

It would seem the past had a way of catching up when you least expected, but perhaps it was just as much for the people involved as it was for him. It had been long ago, he had beaten the monster back with his blade. He appeared again now, but under very different circumstances. He was on a side now, and he was fighting as an ally to Vittorio.

An enemy, but Alto would've liked to know to what extent. He clearly wasn't eager to see Alto again, and under normal circumstances he probably would be avoiding him, but for now he was another combatant to fight.

He activated God Speed Flash as the rain came down, sliding under it before it could reach with a blinding flash of light. He appeared at Gilliam's side and swung as the last vestiges of God Speed wore off.

@Dezuel @Bartimaeus @Gentlemanvaultboy @Letter Bee @Scarifar

Royal Rumble!

Royal Rumble

Alto felt no responsibility for Vittorio Twinveil. The deaths of his family and friends were something he could not have prevented, by a true enemy who would not have been stopped by anything. However, he had to take responsibility for the lives of the people in this room. Besides, he'd been awarded the first shot anyway.

Perhaps Vittorio's plan would have worked if Alto was a fool. It was his policy to always err on the side of caution, and while in some scenarios it wasn't possible to do such a thing, but there was a way here.

"Prepare yourself Vittorio Twinveil," Alto said. "This will not go as you wished."

He used his third ability God Speed Flash. His body turned to light for a split second, and for yet another split second he could move almost at the speed of light. Most thought it was a teleportation ability, and to some extent it was mostly for moving position, but it was capable of much more than that.

Before Alto moved however, he threw his sword. The flash from entering God Speed would hide the throw. During this state, Alto's thoughts moved at lightspeed just as he did. He saw the sword pass straight through Vittorio as he began moving. Across the lobby, past Vittorio, finally ending up next to Alexander.

"I assume you had a plan for this?" He said, creating another blade of light in his hand. "Enact it. I will give as much support as I'm able to."
@Letter Bee @Dezuel @Gentlemanvaultboy

Royal Rumble!

Vanishers 3

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) for Lise, the situation was too serious for Alto to let himself show a reaction. He wordlessly shrugged off his blazer and passed it off to her without so much as a second look. Perhaps if the fate of 7 more students and even more students he'd personally sent into danger weren't in direct questioning right about now, he'd have allowed the time for a better reaction.

A small orb of light appeared in his open palm and formed into a blade.

"How many enemies?" He asked Lise.

@Crowvette

Royal Rumble!

Midnight Tournament, Round 4

A new cascade of cheering signaled the end of the current round of the tournament. 16 18 fighters reduced to 8. Not many were so brazen to just step in like Masami and Andras were, so the rest of the fighters had advanced the normal way.

"Alriiiight people! Round 2 is starting in 2 minutes! Take a drink, get a snack, and bunch up for the next round!" The MC announced. It looked as if there was some breathing room now, although for a couple of the fighters they didn't bother with much of a break. They just stood in the ring waiting for the next opponent.

The brackets had pictures pasted of the fighters pasted on, except for Masami and Andras of course. Their next opponent's name was Aegus Reister.

(Looks like this

It didn't seem like he'd taken many hits. None the worse for wear after his first round.
@rawkhawk64@Bartimaeus@Letter Bee

Royal Rumble!

"There was a time for emotions, and it was as unnecessary then as it is now. Do you ask me to feel responsible for someone I didn't know? For events I could not have controlled?" Alto said.

Alto was under the impression a police officer of all people would know when to set aside emotion.

"It was no simple murder, but neither was it a complex one either," Alto began. "Of course there were more conjectures to be drawn afterward. But none of them have significance or relevance."

This wasn't a simple murder, and but it wasn't complex. There was only one real conclusion, but there were too many unknowns. This was no locked room murder in an isolated castle in a storm. Of the many hypotheses one could make, many would be less likely than another, but none of them were more likely than the other.

"Judging by your statements on 'effectiveness'... I would say you would know more about these attacks than I would." Alto said suggestively. "We have said time and time again. St. Laurel's Academy bears his name only. I, as Student Council President, can attest to this with absolute certainty. That the attacker was one of our enemies is up for question. There are none of them who would act in such a manner in broad daylight, nor none of them who would have the open willingness to do such a thing."

"Now if we're finished, I have much more immediate matters to attend to."
@Letter Bee@Scarifar

---

"Assistance? I don't think such a thing is necessary," Clara said.

She had confidence in her Student Committee, but even if they lost it wouldn't hinder her plans so much.

"Act at your own discretion. There are enemies here, but they don't need to be yours or mine."
@rawkhawk64

Royal Rumble!

"...Then you would do well to read my witness report." Alto said, glancing over his shoulder.

Alto was almost perplexed by such questioning from Alexander. Of course, he had been questioned as a witness a little after the murders had occurred. He was 'close' to several of the victims, although his definition of close most likely differed from the others. His report had been as thorough as he'd judged a witness account would need to be. Any elements of the attack witnessed: No. Conjecture on the part of the killer: No certain ideas, many possibilities. Any possible reason for the attack: No certain ideas, many possibilities.

It was vague in summary. However, his conjectures had been fairly detailed. However, it was noted by many people that Alto had not been affected by the deaths as much as anyone else. That's why Alto wasn't exactly perplexed. In fact, he had almost been waiting for someone to ask such a thing, but he had other matters to deal with at this point in time.

"There is nothing else I could say. If you of all people have not had made any progress in such an investigation, how would I know any more?" He asked.

@Letter Bee@Scarifar

Royal Rumble!

Secret Messages

A black crow, a red shoe box, and a puzzle cube. What did all these have in common? Messages from Mephisto. Something a very select few were aware of, objects nearby which would normally have escaped notice, marked by red lightning. Messages for certain people in certain places. Just as it was for Kūgekino Yuuto.

A simple missive, Watch her in my absence. From a man behind bars, a simple, straightforward request. The reward? Well, anything.

It was interesting to watch the reactions of the people who were told it by that man. There was such an air of confidence about him that it made you think he could really find anything in the world to give it to you. It felt like it wasn't whether he could or not, but whether he would or not. There had not been many people willing to test such a thing, however.

The reward was as such each time.

There was only one person who could be the target for this message, his daughter, Clara Deimos Erdrigan. After all, she was the driving force behind his arrest. It could be anything but frivolous. She was plotting something, perhaps. But whether that was in Mephisto's concern was not something to care about.

@rawkhawk64