xodus — Roleplayer Guild

~MASS COLLAB~
~PANIC AT THE DISCO MALL~

@FallenReaper
@Rtron
@Konan375
@Voodoo

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Pallidino Manor

Olivia's mouth opened and closed without sound after Angel corrected her like a child. It was bad enough having a slip of the tongue, but being corrected in front of a group of people was as irritating as it was embarrassing. Her face had turned a slight shade of red. While Angel took control of the discussion, Olivia crossed her arms and half-pouted, half-glared at the Asylum's back. "I knew that," she muttered under her breath. 

She tore her eyes away from Angel as she heard chuckling. "I'm glad you're finding amusement in this," she whispered, irritated, turning her face to the source of the chuckles, Lawrence. 

"What can I say? You look like a pouting child." Lawrence whispered back to her, a smirk on his face. Olivia turned her glare on him for a moment before lightening up and giving a small chuckle of her own. She didn't need to listen to Angel explain to the other about Ouroboros, she had already been there with Lawrence a few times since she had been able to go on hunts.

When the topic of clothing was broached, Olivia's eyes lit up and she turned her head towards Angel, giving him one last smoldering glare behind his back before looking at his partner.

Olivia frowned.

The girl looked so young. She looked too young to even be going on missions. Sure, Olivia had noticed this earlier, but now she had her attention on the girl, she wondered how such a young looking person ended up here.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a hand on her shoulder. Staring is rude. Olivia turned to look at Lawrence. It was strange for him to use their link while in a situation where whispers would work just fine. 

Be careful. Ante Mortem is not a team to take lightly, even if we do both work for A.M.R.O.. Rin more so

Olivia raised an eyebrow at Lawrence. She had heard the whispers about Ante Mortem, but she had usually paid them no mind. She couldn't really judge people until she met them. Whispers and horror stories were just those, whispers and horror stories. 

Noted. Olivia followed everyone outside and took in the sights again before turning to the girl. "So, where are we off to?"

Rena merely blinked once she realized she is the one being asked the question and after a some muttering a few words under her breath and nodding her head as if understanding instructions, she bounced to her feet with all the zeal credited to the hyper Chrono. 

"Big brother says he wants you all to look like 'appealing human beings'," as soon as Rena finished she appeared to nod to herself yet again before continuing. "Big brother says he may be asking a little much, so just look appealing." As the Chrono spoke she danced towards the Asylum, Olivia. Rena's mismatched eyes, sparkling sapphires and emeralds, staring at the Asylum, scrutinizing her appearance. "You would look adorable in pink!" The girl suddenly clasped her hands as if already deciding on what to make the woman wear.    

Olivia nodded affirmatively. "Damn right I would, but pink is difficult to pull off without looking like some life-sized Barbie doll." Olivia grimaced at the thought. "It's going to be nice to have someone with an opinion helping me find some good clothes. Unlike some people." Olivia shot a playful glare at Lawrence. "Look at him! Everywhere he goes, nothing but camo."

Lawrence noticed Olivia's glare and raised his eyebrow at her before shrugging and making a show of pulling out a Rubik's cube to fiddle with, which drew a minor cringe from Olivia. She turned to Rena. "Let's get going. After all, we have somewhere to be, right?" Olivia seemed to be in a hurry to leave Lawrence behind.

Cade stared after Samad, his questions left unanswered or even noticed it seemed. 

"I'm sure you could make anything look good." Maeve purred, winking at Olivia. Kiara merely rolled her eyes, sighing. 

"I...uh..." For a moment, Olivia was caught off guard, her face turning red. However, the embarrassment gave way to giggles. Lawrence approached Maeve, looking between her and Oliva. "I think you broke her."

"Does anyone know a good shopping mall?" Rena twirled so that her eyes could scan all the remaining individuals until resting on Maeve. A mischievous smile slowly appeared to spread across her face, a smug sort of smile. "Oooh Maeve, remember our deal? I made big brother sit in the bus and now you will wear a nice flowery frock!" 

Maeve smiled, eyes roving over Olivia's body. "I'm sure I c-" She suddenly winced, hearing Rena speak, and sighed ruefully. She knew she shouldn't have made that deal. Kiara smirked at her then, made her way over to Cade. Nudging him. "Come on, we've got clothes to buy. Tell me about your partnership along the way."

Feeling the nudge, Cade's spell broke and his head snapped into Kiara's direction. Blinking he then nodded, "Ah, sure. What do you want to know exactly?"

Luciana, having been engrossed with her phone, furiously typing away, suddenly broke her silence with a sudden muffled laugh. While she hadn't worked with Maeve before, she had seen the woman around Innocence and knew well enough that flowery anything was not in her wheelhouse. Currently she herself was in nothing complicated, sleeveless tank top and sweatpants but ironically, did know where they could find some stand-out clothes. The high-end clothes might even get Rena to overlook the lack of flowery frocks.

"There's actually a really good mall about 4, 5 blocks from here. We can get some great clothes there," she said with a quick glance at Maeve.

Maeve raised an eyebrow at Luciana. "You'd better watch yourself, gorgeous. I might just recruit you in helping me try on those 'flowery frocks'. They allow more than one to a changing room after all." Her eyes quickly looked Luciana up and down, before she smiled impishly and walked on. 

Luciana puffed up, like an animal being challenged. "You can try," she shot back, fire in her gaze and a curl to her lips to match Maeve's.

Kiara's groan of dismay was audible for all to hear.

The Chrono merely nodded her approval to Luciana though something seemed quite different, this was not the jovial child who was gleefully concocting fashion advice for the rest. What stood in front of the Asylums was a stoic remnant of the latter. Her hetro-symmetrical eyes bore no expression, just two empty jewels staring everywhere and staring nowhere. Her face too was but an expressionless mask and her body language was a kin to a mannequin, unmoving and unnerving. For those who knew anything about Ante Mortem and their oddities, this was one of them. The Chrono who had two distinct and polar opposite identities. This was Rin.

"You may proceed to our destination," the Chrono spoke in words that could chill you to the bone. There was no tone in her voice, the entire deadpan sentence was said in a monotone and spoken as if royalty. 

Maeve looked back at the Chrono. "Hello there Rin. Nice to see you. Would you happen to know if Rena is going to come back in time for the shopping spree? 

Rin acknowledged Maeve by a mere tilt of her head, "possibly, she is shrewed when it comes to collecting a debt." The Chrono spoke regally after which the Banshee appeared to cease existing for her and the child walked out of the Pallidino manner, though it would be more apt to call it a graceful glide, as if a spirit drifting out.

Well that's creepy as hell. thought Luciana as she followed the crazy Chrono, her thumbs tapping away at another text. She may walk with an air of royalty but it'd be hard to keep that up without knowing where to go. "C'mon, this way," she said as she made a right, "What exactly should we be looking to get for tonight?"

 "I'm not sure, I've never actually been there or knew about it. If I knew what type of atmosphere it was then I would be able guess what type of attire we would need," Cade said as he moved his medical bag to a more comfortable position and continued to walk with the rest. 

_________________________________________________________________________
To The Mall

A short time later, after nearly getting lost among the wounding streets and canals, they arrived at the mall Luciana had shown.  

Luciana had stayed within eyeshot of Rena or Rin or whatever name she decided she wanted. The young Chrono made her uncomfortable. She felt like the only one who considered the powerful girl's instability as a cause for concern but at least the bubbly one was super cute. If anything was gonna happen, she'd be the first one to jump into cover. During the walk over, she had made sure to keep the group together, a bit like a Shepard dog as she herded some of the more wander-y folks like Cade. At the very least, he responded to her. She could see that there were other unpaired agents among them, but maybe it was a victim complex that made Luciana feel excluded. She shrugged it off with a flare of petty anger. She texted vigorously and sent it off.

Rin made sure she was at least an arm's length away from the others, she did hate to be in the presence of filth and there was just so much of it in the world. The Chrono mechanically gazed up at the mall, it wasn't as much a mall as a large and somewhat sophisticated clothing store. Hopefully, the Chrono thought, that she should be able to make these lumbering fools look presentable. A good gown and a nice suit can make even the most unruly of fools look appealing and that was the objective. But that wasn't her greatest concern, it wouldn't have mattered to Rin if the Asylums showed up naked to Ourosboros, the real issue was that they had been followed. 

"What are you doing?" The Chrono spoke, almost muttering to herself as she tilted her head to the side as if addressing someone next to her.

"Dressing them is my job, you go to sleep!" The Chrono replied in a far more cheerful tone while tiling her head to the other side. 

"Don't be impuden-" 

"My turn," and with that Rena became the dominating personality, her expression which had been drastically changing back and forth were now consistent, a smile and a look of excitement on her face as the child skipped inside the mall, making sure she stays close to the others. 

"Sorry. Keeping her busy is a handful." Kiara smiled apologetically at Cade, glancing distastefully at all the clothes around them. "I hate formal wear." She muttered briefly to herself, turning her attention back to Cade. "To answer your question from earlier, why don't we start with how long you've been bonded? You certainly don't act like it's been very long."

 "About less than six months and I was the only one compatible for him since his last partner died. I feel like he resents me, but Samad is difficult to read. Do other Asylums have that trouble?" Cade's eyes glanced over to Kiara's direction.   

Maeve, kept silent only by Kiara's glares and watchfulness the walk over to the mall, sidled over to where Luciana was as Kiara began to talk with Cade. "Was that a request earlier, or a challenge? I'm fine with both. Pretty girls with fire in their eyes have always been a weak point for me."

Luciana had been one of the first in and seemed to know the lay of the land. Still unsure of what attire they were supposed to be getting into, she thought it safest to try to find an outfit that could be versatile. Nothing too flashy, nothing with cheap material and simple enough where accessories could accentuate the piece and bring it up to whatever level it needed to be. When Maeve walked up to her, she had a small number of dresses picked out and in hand. Luciana eyed her with suspicion on approach, a cold gaze that contrasted with the liveliness in her earlier outburst. At the compliment, her eyes narrowed and it was almost visible the moment she bit her tongue on a venomous reply.

"Would your partner appreciate that question?" Luciana asked teasingly, maybe mockingly, with a glance around Maeve's shoulder at her partner conversing with Cade. She knew the woman was strong but with her jacket (assuming clothing similar to Maeve's appearance section) and jeans, it was difficult to see how fit she was. In contrast, Luciana's physical ability was obvious with well-defined muscles along her exposed arms and while Maeve was a couple inches taller than her, she seemed to puff up to meet her. While the words and body indicated a thorny pride, the eyes, the windows they always are, betrayed an unsure curiosity. She was not going to be baited into making a fool of herself as had happened too many times before.

Olivia had stayed quiet during the journey to the store. The change in personalities from Rena to Rin had perturbed her. She and Lawrence had stayed near the back of the group. It wasn't until they reached the store that she noticed Lawrence was muttering under his breath. She looked over to him. His eyes were half closed and he had his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. "Wh-" She was cut off as Lawrence spoke through the telepathic link.

Quiet! The others may or may not have noticed, but we are being followed. Have been for a while. Lawrence looked Olivia in the eye. This is mission, remember, and it seems we have someone trying to hunt us.

A tingle ran up Olivia's spine and the corners of her lips tugged into a smile. But we're the hunters. She said back to him. Ok. Let's make them think they were unnoticed. That'll give me time to set a trap.

Lawrence nodded  Think of this as a learning experience. Never let your guard down on a mission. With that, Olivia and Lawrence walked into the store. Olivia walked up to Rena and spoke up in a cheerful voice. 

"So, I believe you were going to help me find something to wear." Olivia pulled out a stack of post-it notes and a pen.

Rena clasped her hands together in excitement, almost as if just remember she was supposed to help dress up Olivia as well as Maeve. "Yes, hurry hurry!" The Chrono chirped while grabbing Lawrence and Olivia by their hands and tugging them away towards the clothing section. 

By the looks of the place it was certainly quite elite, all the clothing were upto fashion and the material was exquisite. It didn't take long for Rena's gaze to fixate on crimson silk gown. (i.pinimg.com/736x/76/94/c6/7694c6a398… ) 

"What about that one?" She pointed while trotting towards a mannequin display that showed off the gown. "Maeve would like that on you," the little one jeered, almost snickering as she trotted off once more to find a suitable suit for Lawrence. 

Maeve smirked. She was enjoying having a beautiful, fiery woman to flirt with. Even if the flirtations were being received with alternating fire and ice. "She wouldn't, but you wouldn't be able to tell her. If you tried, I'd just kiss you silent." She tilted her head, as if in thought. "Admittedly, that would probably only make the fire I saw earlier spark into a blazing inferno, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think you look gorgeous when you've got that look in your eyes." She winked, then glanced down at the dresses in Luciana's arms, pursing her lips. 

"Those two would look best." She pointed at a white dress and a warm gold dress. "Depending on if you want to make your mesmerizing eyes darker or sparkle."

Luciana began to thaw at the barrage of compliments. Even if they were not genuine, it was the words themselves that made Luciana feel good. The affirmation of what she already knew, the acknowledgement that she was right in her self-image. It was certainly petty but as an Unlinked you take what you can get, even if it was laid on strong. Though the eyes thing was something she had only heard once upon a time. It made her break out into a soft smile. 

"You've got a good eye. Now let's hope that cr-, err...young one is picks something flattering for you. If not, I'm sure we can ruin the dress on the sly," she said in hushed tone, looking around to make sure the Chrono wasn't nearby. 

Kiara shrugged, not surprised. Asylums who had been together for less than a year never got along well. Add in the fact that Samad was most likely hard to get along with at the best of times, they were an experiment, and one of them had just lost his partner, she was almost surprised that one of them hadn't died yet. 

"It seems like most who have spent your time together do, and some who have been together even longer. Maeve and I personally have never had that problem. When we bonded we shared everything. Nothing was held back. I know every thought, feeling, memory she's ever had, and vice versa. It's hard to hate someone when you understand them as they understand themselves." She suddenly frowned, eyes glancing to the side for a few moments. "Something I don't understand though, is why you put up with Samad so much." She moved, glancing at the clothes, and then turned to face Cade once more. "I understand that he's lost a partner, and that is the worst imaginable thing an Asylum can go through, but being an, as Maeve puts it, 'complete asshole' doesn't help." She crossed her arms. 

 "I'm use to healing wounds, but mental ones have always been difficult. Every medical professional knows this. I don't really see how telling him off can fix things. If Samad had a choice, he wouldn't bring me on missions," Cade admitted openly. His tone was calm and defeated slightly. It was hard to understand the man when he refused to share his pain with the world and even worse when their connection was more broken then their partnership. 

He sighed, "I can't bring myself to blame him because it's not quite the same for us as it is for you. I've been able to share a single coherent thought with Samad, even when it was accepted."

A shadow arrow, hidden from view by Cade's body, pointed down on Kiara's forehead. Across her arms in white lettering were the words We're being followed. Be prepared for an attack.  When she was sure that Cade had seen the message, the words and arrow disappeared like dust in the wind. She sent the same message to Maeve. The only sign her partner heard was a subtle shift in her stance, ready to go from flirting to fighting in a moment.

It had been over half an hour since the Asylums entered the local shop, later the jovial half of Reri would look back and laugh at how quickly it all turned to panic and chaos. It wouldn't be callousness for Rena is incapable of such a thing, but mirth in the unpredictability of life. In the end did that not make everything much more interesting? 

In a matter of minutes after the initial half an hour, several individuals appeared to enter the mall. Their appearance was deliberately random, no one came in together or in bulk so as to avoid suspicion. In the first minute, two entered who positioned themselves near the windows. In the next three minutes another two entered who stood near the entrance. Finally in the last minute around three more entered, each slowly covering all sides off the mall. 

All of this occurred while Rena still appeared to be making her decision on which clothing would suit Olivia the best. She had already decided on what Maeve will wear, a short pink gown with a red bow for a belt and a fashionable Victorian stylized bonnet. 

Before Rena could however settle on the matter, one of the intruders had apparently wandered in their location. Unlike the other destinations, the area where Asylum and the Chrono were present was relatively secluded with only three of them present.

"Both of you stand where you are, move and you die!" The man roared and at the same moment the others present had revealed themselves, sending the entire shop into an upheaval of screams which died down fairly quickly after the bystanders began hearing gun shots. It was clear hostages have been taken. 

In that brief moment Reri's personalities switched to Rin, the cold and calculative Chrono instantly opened a telepathic channel to all Asylums present. "This is a code 21-C. Public confrontation is to be avoided. Disengage open hostility and avoid aggravation of enemy alchemists. Alchemy is not to be exposed, witnesses are to be eliminated upon failure of primary precaution." Even telepathically Rin's coldness and apathetic nature flowed. It was clear the Chrono would not hesitate to dispatch every witness present upon the failure of the 'primary precaution'.

"Suggested course of action: Primary task, the passive handling of witnesses. Non-lethal. Secondary task: Subterfuge and disarming of hostiles. Use of alchemy, restricted, only covert use. Use of weaponry, denied till the pacification of bystanders. Permission granted for lethal hand to hand combat. Begin." It took the Chrono a flat second to send the entire communication and by the time the relatively large man placed a hand on her shoulders, her personality had reverted to Rena. 

"Where is my mommy, please don't hurt me mister!" The Chrono whimpered as she turned to face the intimidating assassin or whatever this fellow was. The pure innocent expression and fear-filled eyes were enough to have the man let his guard down just enough to scratch his head and wonder what should be done. Clearly shooting a harmless child was not the task he was given.

In that brief moment of hesitation and self-doubt, Rena switched over to Rin. The alchemist only had enough time to widen his eyes at the child's sudden change of expression. From the teary eyed harmless infant the girl had become a callous and soulless doll bringing death in the form of a jab to the neck. It all appeared to happen in one fluid motion, Rin pivoted forward with her arm thrusting forward, her fingers striking the man's throat and destroying his wind-pipe. The rest was just gargles and a man crumpling to the floor.

"Ha-ha fooled you!" The Chrono tilted her head to the right and spoke in the voice of Rena. Her tone ecstatic at winning their game and being such a good actor.

"A mere insect," Rin replied after tilting her own head to the left, as if whispering in the ear of her second-half. "Your antics were hardly needed." She continued coldly, her eyes staring at the corpse and though her expression remained calm her eyes showed revulsion, as if staring at a dead worm. 

"But did you see his expression when you stabbed his throat!" Rena spoke, while tilting her head the other way. "Lets do that again, you try this time Olivia!" 

"Sure..." Olivia was usettled by the conversation her fellow Asylum had with herself. Now wasn't the time to be at unease, though, and with a shake of her head, Olivia got herself into the mindset of a hunter. A smile crossed her lips and she beckoned to Rena to follow. Ever since she had entered the store, Olivia had been using her sticky notes to stick dormant sigils out of sight. All over the store, sigils laid hidden. One on the inside of a dress she looked at, one under the hat of a mannequin. 

Her traps had been set, now all she needed was to find some prey.

After some searching she found one. The man was standing over two hostages with his gun leveled at them and was throwing glances in their general direction. They hadn't been noticed yet, so Olivia assumed he was waiting on the guy Rin killed. As she looked at the man, a plan formed in her mind. First, she'd need to get him away from the hostages, and what better way than have him chase after a weaker looking hostage who wasn't staying still. 

While she watched the man, Olivia moved her hand towards her hairline and made several small cuts on her forehead above her left eye with her nails. As blood started running down her face and into her eye, she roughed her hair up. Once she felt ready, she flashed Rena a smile and gave a small terrified sounding scream and ran out from cover.

The man jerked his head in Olivia's direction, but before he could swing his gun around, she was already out of sight. He cursed and turned towards the two on the ground. "Stay put!' he shouted at them and when he got terrified nods from them, he went hurrying after the injured girl.

He caught sight of her turning down an aisle and chased after her, but when he rounded the corner, she was nowhere to be found. Even the blood trail had stopped. He walked down the aisle slowly, gripping his gun tightly. After he took his next step, something went wrong. He lost feeling in his entire body halfway through his step. There was a cracking sound that followed. Just as quickly as the loss of feeling came, it disappeared, and pain shot through his ankle. 

As the man looked down at the ankle he broke in disbelief, Olivia struck. She planted a foot in the back of the man's knee of his now mangled foot and pushed off, using it to both raise herself higher and knock the man to his knees. In the same movement, she wrapped an arm around the man's chin, pulled up and twisted. 

A series of pops and cracks could be heard and the man twitched. His hands, which were trying to dislodge the arm, fell to his sides limply. Olivia let go, and the man fell to the floor, seemingly lifeless. 

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(Cade and Kiara - Rest Rooms)

Kiara, having drug Cade into a nearby bathroom the second gunshots went off, pushing him to the side of the door. "If anyone comes through, deal with them." Her eyes got a faraway look as shadows darted off of her. They slithered on the ground and up the walls, almost unnoticeable, giving her an idea of the situation. She telepathically broadcasted it to all the Asylums. At least, those that would let her talk to them mentally.

"Two covering the entrance. Two covering the windows. Two wandering through the store. Reri and Olivia have eliminated one.  Maeve, Luciana, you've got one going to check the dressing rooms. Maeve, I'm sending you pictures of them so you can deal with him accordingly." She stopped broadcasting, looking over at Cade. "The second is approaching the bathrooms. We'll have to deal with him." 

Cade felt his back lightly smack the tile when Kiara pushed him to the side of the door. The action had taken him aback and surprised the younger asylum, his eyes widened in reaction. As she explained, he nodded his understanding and wordlessly reaching into his bag. He inserted a sebon between each finger then hugged the side of the doorway in a ready position. 

Unlike Samad, who thrived on physical strength, Cade lacked such talent and he knew it. So he had to be more creative in his approach to things. Each tip was dowsed in a non-lethal sedative that when it pentrated the skin would slow and eventually comatose the subject for several hours. 

His breath held in his throat. Seconds ticked by dangerously slow as the man's hand pushed the door open and his gun muzzle tip peered into the restroom. First one he spotted was Kiara. His mouth opened, ready to order her out, until suddenly the door smashed into his face. Without giving the man much of a chance to recover, Cade inserted a needle into the exposed throat side and sent a sharp surge of electrical energy into the nerves. 

The man jerked and twitched then crumbled immediately into an unconscious heap. Meanwhile, Cade felt a dizziness swirl into his attention.  His arm snapped and extended toward the wall for support. 

 "That was a bad idea..." Cade replied then continued. 

 "We need to either knock out the hostages or evacuate them. The first task might be easier if I find a janitor closet. I honestly don't think we can get everyone out without someone getting hurt. Where's the nearest closet, Kiara?"

"Don't over extend yourself. You're little better an Unlinked as is." Kiara chided gently, looking at the man on the ground. She pulled his collar down, rolling her eyes. "Omerta. Great. We've got these stupid mercenaries to deal with." Her eyes got the faraway look again, and she nodded. "Leave the bathroom, take a left, your second right, and it'll be the first door on your left. It'll be unlocked."

Cade frowned. He had heard of Unlink and ARMO's policy over them, neither were considered very pleasant. Many Asylums viewed them as something to be treated with caution and never fully trusted, though Cade couldn't understand why. Ignoring his ignorance, the blond Asylum adjusted his glasses again while he listened to Kiara's directions. He chose to overlook her statement since he knew she was trying to be nicer than Samad would've been and right nevertheless. 

 "Alright. Can you keep their attention on you? I need to slip out quickly and quietly before they come to investigate the source."

Kiara nodded, more shadows spreading from her. They watched as Cade made his way through the mall, distracting the hostage takers as they came close to discovering Cade during his trip. 

When Kiara did her thing, he carefully slipped out and into the small path leading to the closet. Nearly getting lost about twice, he managed to enter the room and shut the door behind him. Searching through the chemicals, Cade recalled his lessons from AMRO then began to formulate a air born gas. 

In moments... There was a loud hissing sound before Cade busted open the door and coughing, a rag pressed to his nose and mouth. 

[i][color=7CCD7C] 'Everyone better hold your breath! There's gas in the air.'[/i][/color] Cade's telepathy shouted to each of his team, though he wasn't sure they were all listening.  
_________________________________________________________________________

(Maeve & Luciana - Changing Rooms)

Maeve, having gloomily moved over to the changing rooms with her new dress and Luciana, suddenly perked up and grinned. This was much more exciting than getting dresses and flirting with women. Her excited, slightly bloodthirsty, eyes glanced at Luciana. "You're going to be upset with me beautiful." She suddenly lunged forward, dragging them both into the changing room and closing the door. 

Luciana went from relaxed, if a bit reserved, to alarmed in no time flat. Gunshots and screaming rang out within the mall, and not soon after Maeve lunged at her and took them both into a dressing room. As Maeve went for a kiss to complete the act (despite already being in the dressing room), Luciana reacted with a mix of reflex and shock by head-butting Maeve in the forehead, successfully dazing herself. "Wha-, what?" she started as she started to regain her bearings and dropping to a whisper, "Not the time! The hell! I'm..I'm... uh, forget it." 

Luciana briefly whipped out her phone and typed a message and sent it off. Within the claustrophobic changing room it wouldn't be hard to look at her screen. -Gunshots @ mall, radio now- She took a look around to see what they had to work with besides dressed and their fists and succeeded in finding nothing but an a grate overhead, possibly an air duct?

Maeve, her head snapping back as she was head-butted, winked and grinned at Luciana. "Had to try. Been thinking of kissing you since we first met." She was met with an incredulous look and the beginnings of a stink eye. She turned to the door, contacting Kiara. "Alright, tell me what the situation is."

Maeve looked over at Luciana, eyebrow raising for a moment. "Who're you texting, sweetheart? We can handle this ourselves. But first we'll have to disguise ourselves." She held out a hand to the other Asylum. “Take my hand so you can see what form to shift into so we can fool him then beat the shit out of him. I'm going to need enough access to your mind to share images. It won't hurt." She smiled at Luciana. "I promise."

"I don't think a disguise is gonna help if they're gonna attack anyone," she said as she firmly grasped Maeve's hand and receive an image of one of their assailants. "Huh, never mind, that'll probably work for a moment..." Noticing the smugness radiating off of Maeve like heat on a desert road, Luciana continued, "...before they notice there's no gun." 

Maeve's grin broadened. "Well, we'll just have to get a gun then won't we?"  She winked, before looking speculatively at Luciana. "You know, for the sake of fooling them to get the advantage, we should probably look like we were messing around in here. You know, again purely for the sake of getting an advantage, bras off, tossed clothing, smeared lipsst-." She started, hands behind her back all-too-innocently, looking expectantly at the other Asylum before she was rudely interrupted with a raised finger against her lips, squelching the words before they could leave her mouth. Luciana was frowning, and whispered softly, "Footsteps."

Maeve smiled, cracking her neck. "Showtime." She waved a hand over her face and body, muttering "Folaigh mo chuid." Her body rippled and changed, replacing her original form with one of the men holding the store hostage. She grinned then stepped out of the changing room while Luciana got out of view of the doorway.

Rounding on the other man, she lifted her hands dramatically. "What the hell are you doing here? This is my sector."

The man looked confused, walking closer with his gun lowered. "No, we went over th-" Maeve leaned forward and yanked the barrel of the gun towards her(and thus the open changing room behind her, tripping the man and using his momentum to throw him into the room with Luciana. "Kill him, quickly." She checked the gun, tsking. "Cheap."

As the man fell into the changing room, Luciana was on him like a snake. Getting onto his back to keep him pinned to the ground, her arms slithered to the front with one hand covering the mouth and the other arm constricting around his neck, pulling upward to have gravity help with the process. There was a struggle from the man as her arm tightened its grip but in time, his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went slack. Luciana was quick to act, taking one of the dresses in hand and beginning to make a flowing sewing motion with the other. The dress unraveled into threads and started to reform into a rope. It wasn't exactly lead to gold but the principle was similar. Using all but one dress to increase the amount of rope, she performed several fluid, dance-like movements as the rope animated and hogtied the man. With more sewing motions, the last dress unraveled into ribbons which were then stuffed into the man's mouth to keep him silent. 

With her work done she looked over at Maeve, "He'll be more useful alive. Bodies don't narc."

Maeve shrugged. "Already got one. I suppose we could kill one and make the other talk." She strode over to the hogtied man and pulled down his collar, curling her lip. "Omerta. Gods damned mercenaries." She stood, hefting her gun. "Come on gorgeous. Put on your disguise so we can kill the rest of them with our alchemy before they realize we're not their friends."

_________________________________________________________________________
-After the gas-

By the time Olivia had coyly crumpled the alchemist in front of her, a strange gas began to slowly spread across the mall and any bystander that could take a whiff of it instantly succumbed to a spell of drowsiness. The Chrono was aware that now the situation had changed, the witnesses had been dealt with and now it was a no holds bar. 

Rena gave the Asylum in front of her a pat on the back with an approving smile. "That was so awesome!" A.M.R.O's little princess praised Olivia, even giving her a pat, though she had to pull the woman down to do so.  "Now I need to go and beat up some baddies, big brother will get worried if I take too long." With that she cheerfully skipped away towards the direction of the upheaval. It was clear some of the gunmen had started using alchemy as well.

Once the gunshots had started and hostages were taken, Lawrence took cover behind a pillar. He had eyes on the men covering the doors and windows. While weapon use was denied until the hostages were taken care of, that didn't stop Lawrence from assembling his rifle.

He took the hollow tubes out of his backpack and laid them out on the floor in front of him. He chose a few select tubes and put the rest back into the backpack. He ran his hand across the tubes and the metal reacted to his touch, morphing into parts. By the time he had the gun assembled, Cade's warning came about. 

After affixing a piece of fabric torn from one of the nearby suits to his face, Lawrence watched the hostages. Once he was certain they were out, he took aim and started muttering under his breath. The air around him shimmered as a bubble formed to prevent sound from escaping his location. The air around the doors and windows shimmered as well, to prevent noise from reaching the street. As soon as that happened, the heads of the hostage takers snapped in his direction. 

He didn't shoot. Not yet. He watched for the first one to notice him. None of them had yet, but they were scanning the general area where the alchemy came from.

Then he was noticed. 

One of the men brought his gun up to bear on Lawrence and turned his head to shout to the others, but all that escaped the man's lips was a wet cough as a bullet punched through his chest. As the man dropped, Lawrence took cover again as the other men started shooting in his general direction.

Whereas Maeve was a bit more a direct, in-your-face kind of gal, marching toward the rest of the mercenaries with gun in hand, Luciana held back. She followed and let Maeve take the vanguard. As gas swept through the area, the two of them held their breath. The sounds of panic and whimpering from hostages died down immediately as they fell into a slumber. There was an eerie moment as Maeve and Luciana's footsteps went unaccompanied. It seemed as if the store itself held its breath until a gunshot rang out, followed by a storm of gunfire.

Maeve broke out into a sprint toward the noise, and was first to come upon the scene. With Lawrence pinned down by gunfire, one of the three remaining mercenaries began performing a pulling motion, attempting to drag away Lawrence's cover. "What's all this?!", Maeve shouted in the fallen merc's voice. One of the mercs, reloading, looked over at her with glowing eyes and started to respond before alarm spread on his face. He had pierced the veil and Maeve was quick to turn and shoot wildly at the man, causing him to fall into cover. "Hank's not Hank!", he tried shouting over the din. Drowned out by gunfire, it was hard to tell who could have heard the warning. With a sonorous chant, Maeve dashed forward with unnatural speed to find the man fumbling with his gun in a panic. She was right in saying the tools were cheap. It was jammed. With a gleeful grin that wouldn't be amiss on a street Alchemist, she proceeded to dive onto the man, pummeling him to a bloody pulp (kill him or leave him alive or change this up entirely if you'd like. Didn't really wanna put any Alchemy in your character's mouth that's too flashy)

Luciana played a more subtle game. Avoiding taking the same disguise as Maeve and opting instead to just keep her own form. She followed in the Asylum's shadow, staying hidden among racks of clothing. Reaching into her handbag, she grabbed a small case and took the time to gently jab herself in the eyes as she inserted a pair of what seemed like contacts. Blinking away the discomfort, she started to move her arms stiffly. Like a puppet on strings, her movements were jerky as she sat down in her hiding place amongst the clothes and mannequins. Translucent strings started to emerge from her hands and fingers, snaking out from her flesh and dancing in the air like grass in the breeze. Some strands entered her hand bag and attached themselves to some small metal baubles within. These trinkets started to float out from her bag, up into the air and out toward the carnage ahead. Other strings went ahead and attached themselves to a nearby mannequin which slowly and twitchily took its first step as material from nearby was pulled in. 

As Maeve was finishing up with her poor victim, little bits of metal seemed to float lazily toward the ceiling like cottonballs in the summer. "Two enemies left, gunman to Maeve's 7 and Lawrence's 11, I've got the alchemist." sounded Luciana's voice in each of her allies' minds. As the gunfire stopped for a moment as the gunman reloaded, a strange clicking sound at a running pace could be heard. Looking over at the alchemist that had previously been attempting to tear away at Lawrence's cover, one would see the man being ran down by a mannequin covered in gruesome spikes made of tile, stone, and metal. He tried to fight and may have won if he had not made the assumption that his assailant was a fellow alchemist. After successfully tearing off the being's arm and leg and being suprised by mannequin's continued movement, pulled along by strings that slowly faded into view the closer it got, the mannequin was upon him, tearing and gouging and pummeling the man until the threat was no more.

"You were having fun without me!" Rena pouted as she stared at the Asylums engaging the remaining assassins, or whatever they were. Their motives hadn't quite been made clear, though finding motives was grunt work. 

"They are at least moderetly efficient in their task," Rin replied with her head tilting side ways, the Chrono's expressions turning to steel, stoic and cold. 

"Damn you bastards, this is not what we were paid for!" The last remnant of these would-be goons roared as he valiantly charged towards the Chrono, thinking she would be easy picking. 

"Avert your eyes, filth," Rin replied without even bothering to stare at the insect crawling his way towards her, acknowledging an insect would only demean you yourself. She merely brushed her palm aside, deflecting an orb of fire while simultaneously crushing the man where he stood. The gravity around the insect densening to such a degree that even after being pinned on the ground he continued to be crushed until the frame of his skeleton succumbed to the pressure, flattening in a pool of blood and splintered bones. 

"Pick your choice of clothing and leave," Rin commanded in her usual callous demeanor while walking out of the mall. Though before leaving she did sternly hand Maeve a bag and a look that silently said, 'you will wear what is in this'.

As she stopped outside the Chrono could clearly see a well defined perimeter being set up, barricading the mall. The fire department had been positioned, along with various police men. Though to a trained eye this was all a farce, the real power were certain individuals present at key locations, each wearing a simple civilian outfit. These men were 'Keepers', the humans employed by A.M.R.O and the one's responsible for cleaning up the mess left behind by Asylums. 

One of the apparent civilians briefly gazed at the approaching chrono and merely nodded, his fist touching chest in a form of a salute. 

"All media is blocked, a cover up story is already in place and damage control will begin swiftly," the civilian gave his report after which he merely faded into the remaining clutter of firefighters and policemen. 

"Time to head to Ourosboros, the den of filth"
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