The 42nd Gecko

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

A Park

---

A wise man once said, "Something something, a thing that's moving stays moving unless something something" or something like that. Thus, while Da-Xia's motorcycle abruptly stopped (not being enchanted), Da-Xia was still moving forward. With only one hand on her bike, she didn't quite have the gripping strength to stop herself from flying forward off her bike.

And thus, for the second time in less than 24 hours, Da-Xia was embattled in fierce melee with a tree, though significantly less gracefully than last time. Her lance had flown free of her hand imbedding straight into its trunk, while the top half of her body had been stuck into a tangled set of branches and greenery. Her only visible part, her legs, kicked and struggled to no avail.

"Alas, foul fate has beset me! A tricksy demon must have ensorcelled my loyal steed! Can anyone- oh dear!" Da-Xia managed to plead for help for a few seconds, before the tree started to fall, dealt a mortal blow by Da-Xia's mighty lance. Creaking and cracking it broke and fell with a mighty thud, Da-Xia's legs shocked straight for the moment of impact before slumping. It seemed The Knight Errant was down for the count.

Tower of Fable

Caprice's first instinct was to simply slam the door shut in the snake's faces. And so she did. Of course, the vast writhing mass of so many powerful snakes would not long be hindered by such a paltry slab of wood, and they quickly burst through to make their escape or attack as the case may be.

Cartwheeling to the side, Caprice launched pies in both directions, both as a delaying action to slow the slithering pursuers, and to bust through a nearby window for Caprice to nimbly leap out of, sans glass based lacerations.

Summoning one of her signature licorice whip ropes around a gargoyle, she swung around, back towards the building, but shifting horizontally to come back inside a different hall than she left. Launching a very large oversized pie through a new window as she careened back, she landed on top of the thrown pie and used it as a sliding coaster to slowly arrest her momentum.

Landing on her feet just as it came to a stop, Caprice took the shortest moment to dust herself off, bits of sugar, creme, and other confectionery falling off at her magic's command. "Mmm, the sliding platform trick is quite a clever idea for mobility. I shall have to thank Kanbaru for that."

She was hopeful that her maneuver had lost any snakes still pursuing her, but that was ultimately irrelevant, as her next action was to open the door next to her, which if she had judged the distance to the end of the theater room correctly, must be the cast entrance to the Theater room. She still had some teammates to rescue. Or at least as far as she knew, as she hadn't been there to witness the latest Serei cards used.

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

A Park

---

"Yes! That is point of the joke, motorcycle is not stealthy!" Da-Xia smiles and nods at Kaze, apparently quite pleased she had 'succeeded' at telling joke.

"Hmmm... How to get civilians away from the scene as fast as possible... Aha!" Da-Xia ponders for a moment, before apparently coming up with an idea. She gunned her engines and flung herself wildly at the nearest band of civilians, waving her lance.

"I am crazy foreigner on motorbike with lance! I am going to kill you all! MWAHAHAA!" Da-Xia proceeded to chase off the civilians from the scene, by pretending to ride them down with her motorcycle, encouraging them to flee with melodrama and near misses.

As she passed back and forth maintaining her perimeter, she was able to yell a few words of encouragement to the team as she passed nearby with her wild riding.

"Pretending to be bad guy is fun!"
"But do not worry, Da-Xia is only pretending."
"Though I understand if you doubt me, Da-Xia very good actor."
"Da-Xia played a moose once in a school play!"

Between her sporadic dialogue, only her engines, mad cackling, and the terrified screams of civilians could be heard. It probably wouldn't be that long until the police were called again.

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

A Park

---

"So... We are to walk around here and look for strange sights? Well. Hopefully whatever devil thing there is as good at stealth as me." Da-Xia putted slowly onto the scene onboard her motorcycle. She came to a stop besides the others.

Da-Xia certainly looked a bit out of place in the park. In a most positive outlook, perhaps she would distract people away from other things? Still, she seemed a bit out of her element where searching, thinking, or anything but direct chivalrous assault was concerned. At least she seemed mildly cognizant of that.

"Oh! And I found out what the black rocks were. Or at least what the nice demons at the bar told me." She suddenly exclaims as she realizes she may have valuable intel. She lets the info out as a burbling stream all running together as soon as or even before she thinks about "It seems like they're the seeds or egg or something of a new demon. A new demon that's so strong, that before it's even born, it's capable of having an Envoy demon person who seems really strong, and also it can call all demons to it or something. And the sentiment seems to be that because I set the warehouse on fire, it's going to be hostile to the DHA and potentially humanity in general when it manifests. Sorry about that."

"But worry not, for if it decides to bear its fangs at humanity, I shall stand fast against it!" Da-Xia dramatically raises her lance to the heavens.

Tower of Fable

Caprice held to the rear of the battle for now, hiding behind the doorframe rather than busting into the room. There were enough people throwing attacks and such around that she didn't want to get in the way and cause trouble. In the heat of battle, who knew where the flour would end up if she started baking up a storm? However, perhaps there was a tool she could use a little more precisely. One she had not yet tried to use in battle. She for the first time, called upon her soul weapon to aid her in conflict.

Of course, summoning cards was of limited direct attacking potential, as she had not yet infused them with the ability to create deadly papercuts, but perhaps they could still be a distraction. She summoned her cards directly around the snake's eyes. Of course, if it thrashed about, it would easily send them flying, but with nothing better to do, Caprice could easily just focus on unsummoning and resummoning them over and over to bother the snake as it moved.

Tower of Fable

"I'll be perfectly honest with you, Thomas, I kinda zoned out for a minute there. I wasn't paying any attention to where they went." Caprice shrugged, not having any advice. But as he took off once again, Caprice was close behind.

Perhaps too close behind, as Thomas abruptly spun while raising his glaive. Caprice bent backwards while falling to one knee, sliding forward like a figure skater finishing a performance, with a side of deadly limbo as she passed under the glaive.

"Mmm, there was noise certainly. I think it's likely someone found yet another of the tasteless monsters in this place. That boy with terrible work ethic has been the closest to match the castle's aesthetics so far." Caprice slowly rose back straight, as though she had been enjoying a big yawn rather than a close shave with death. "It's enough to make me almost wish for the animate gravestones. Ah, but I digress, if you wish to rush to the rescue of whoever has roused this latest beast, I shall accompany you."

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

Devil's Hangout

---

"Oooh, is that anime reference? I think I have been meaning to watch the one that is from." Da-Xia noted Hanako's choice of hand slapping techniques, leaning down lower onto the bar with terrible posture.

"A matter of gluttony? Hmm. Perhaps you are right. And thank you for the offer, but I just came from a noodle joint. I didn't know dinner would be provided, perhaps next time." She seemed to give Shika's idea some thought, but didn't have any novel contributions to keep the conversation thread going.

She was just about to drink her still on fire drink, when her eyes opened wide at the sight of the person sitting on the couch. "Mmm, don't know who Beniha is? Mmm. Would advise you find out. She is one of the more serious Demon Hunter types. You'd want to be careful, lest any unfortunate misunderstandings happen." She lowered the drink, incredulous. But then she looked more closely. "Ah, but apologies, I am ignorant as well, Envoy. What is the Hand of Manos?"

"Singing landmines, how dastardly!" Da-Xia slammed her drink against the table, apparently getting quite worked up about such an underhanded method. "Those are war crimes! One should face their foes head on in straight head to head honorable combat, not hide behind indiscriminate traps!"

In her incensed and potentially inebriated state, it seemed she missed Limen's reference in turn.

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

Devil's Hangout

---

"Hum. It does seem to be a bar." Da-Xia seemed quite surprised it actually was a bar. She had only thrown that as an outrageous outlier possibility. "Devil and Devil Hunter alike seem to share their preferred hangout spots." She paused after entering, glancing in each direction to take stock of the situation.

"Ah! I do quite well, thank you very much, young master!" Da-Xia answered Rufus' greeting a with a cordial nod. She seemed to treat the 'ageless youths' as actual youths though by her word choice. "Mmm, I don't think I have any need to enter a bargain for more power yet. I seem to do alright for myself so far. Would be a bit anti-climactic to do it right now instead of like, when desperately clinging to life or needing to save family or something." She gives perhaps a little more serious thought to the idea of becoming a devil feeder than normal. She caught the slid drink and without pausing a beat, pulled out a small flask to pour a little on top, followed by a lighter to set her newly enhanced drink aflame. It seemed her taste for fire didn't only cover battle aesthetics, but also literal taste.

She was just about to drink her still on fire drink, when her eyes opened wide at the sight of the person sitting on the couch. "Beniha?" She lowered the drink, incredulous. But then she looked more closely. "Ah, no, too happy to be Beniha. Sorry for confusion, you have similar fashion."

"Humaneaters... Anonymous?" Da-Xia did not seem entirely convinced. "This seems a bit far fetched. The human flesh dependency is not something that can be avoided. Worked around, but not avoided." Her eyes examined Shika suspiciously.

"On the other hand, luring song thingie seemed to lure two demons who seem to be nice, so I guess it makes sense! Hello, I am Da-Xia, Knight-Errant and Devil-Hunter." She introduced herself to them after seeming to convince herself, standing tall with a hand across her chest. Then, she flourished a deck of cards, one half brightly colored and the other dark but still with a variety of tones. "Anyone for a Shadow Game of Uno?" She asked cheerfully. Apparently it was her custom to play uno variants in bars.

The Devil Hunter Agency

Da-Xia Chen

Expensive Noodle Shop

---

"Ah? Just some blood would do? Apologies, I did not realize. Blood I have already shed has little use to me. I would happy to be your friend, though I hope you can understand if trust comes slow." Da-Xia herself had a few idle wounds about her from the battle with the treant. One did not simply ram into an angry demon tree on a motorcycle and come out completely unscathed.

"MmmMMMmmm-HAAAUUGHK" At the mention of the music luring the two in a direction, Da-Xia's eyes went wide and she inhaled sharply. Which was a dangerous thing to do while drinking the broth of one's noodles.

"I!" Da-Xia managed to get a single syllable out before resuming coughing. "would love" Her voice was as enthusiastic as she could make it, which with her current lack of air was a tiny wispy voice squeaking its way between the coughs. "to join you on this queeeeeeest!" She just barely got out the last syllable with significant effort before she resumed coughing.

After one last major fit, she seemed to finally get most of it out of her system, though her eyes were watering and she was still a little short of breath. "That is, I would gladly stand by your side in this venture. To investigate the unknown and make sure the dark corners of the world are safe for all is my duty as a knight. A siren's song that lures demons, I shiver to think of what vile force might plot to gather all devils to itself." She raised a strong fist at the center of the table. The fearless Da-Xia didn't seem to think anything of requesting backup or resting up first. Besides, it seemed the Japanese DHA Branch already had its own methods to surveil her at any time.

After pondering it for a few moments, she appended one last afterthought, tapping her lips with a finger.. "Unless it's just an advertisement for a devil bar. I suppose it could be that."

Da-Xia finished her own mean quickly, having been nearly done with her own prodigious speed. Presuming the other two were ready, Da-Xia would set off with the pair on her motorcycle again! To the local gas station. BUT THEN! They would head to the source of the mysterious music.

Tower of Fable

Caprice decided not to head off towards Victoire's room, not yet at least, instead taking up position behind Thomas. This one seemed to at least mean well, and it'd be a shame if his head got chomped off by some irate candelabra or something. Who knows what they might face in this place?

So when Thomas decided to advance a few steps before turning around, Caprice was behind him, idly shuffling cards. Thomas and Garou were new faces, little more than their surface appearances yet upon them. Though Thomas' did have brighter lighting while Garou's was dim and of low contrast.

There was quite some debate by some over whether to steal stuff or not, but Caprice's distaste for petty theft was already clear from her behavior in the last level. Even when 'crime' was 'legal', she saw no need to weigh herself down with material treasures.