[System]
Age: 15

Element: Light

Appearance:

Personality: Often found staring at windows, focused on how the light is moved and changed by the imperfections in the glass, Zeke is politely referred to as distracted, more accurately referred to as ditzy and unaware. He's quite intelligent, but takes a moment to engage when people speak to him. People, to him, are just objects that reflect light, and so he tends to forget people might have something to say.

He wanders frequently, and has been found in all sorts of odd places. Due to Zeke's otherwise gentle and innocent nature, he's usually left to his own devices. When you do manage to catch his attention, you find an enthusiastic and kind boy who wants to be friends with everyone.

Despite all this, he has a terrible fear of the dark. He dislikes earth elementalists and their basement training grounds, though is fascinated with gems. He likes other elements though, especially water and fire for how they change and make light respectively.

History: Zeke is the son of an electrical engineer father and a earth elementalist mother. He was a bit of a handful ever since he learned to walk, and his parents would often find him sitting by ponds or staring at devices his father was fixing. Though a happy child, his mother worried about his lack of social skills and interest in making friends.

It was one of her fellow teachers who helped her understand Zeke. She found they could bond over jewelery, and she was the one who bought him his first camera. He was enrolled in the academy in the hopes that he'd find some children his own age that could understand him and gain some real friends.

Equipment: A digital camera equipped with a flash and old-fashioned viewfinder. It's his most treasured possession, and he is most often seen taking photos with it, even of things other people might find boring.

[User]
Dia

---

Dia took a deep breath. She'd finally found the Gym, after dozens of wrong turns. But would he be there? Was she wrong?

Was she crazy?

With a gentle push, she opened the door. Her eyes meet the sight of molten metal, of a scorched floor, of the sun shining brightly through a window...

Her heart caught in her throat. He'd been here. She was sure of it. Worry. Fear. Hope. They all clashed inside her chest, fighting for dominance.

Confusion. Worry.  Anger.

It didn't look like it had gone well.

A deep breath, frost appearing in front of her as she exhaled.

 Control.

She had to be strong for him. Else the Void, the bubbling fear, everything would consume her.

Her eyes found him, far to the side. Bleeding. Injured?

 Rage.
Excitement.
Joy.
Fear.

Dia ran towards him, leaving frozen footsteps in her wake.

"Felix..." she breathed, dropping beside him. The everlasting cold poured from her in waves as her emotions bounced around. Without waiting for a response, for him to notice her, she leaned in and kissed him gently, carefully, cautiously.

So many questions. But no words to form them. All she had was her touch, and she could only hope it was enough to portray all the emotions, all the questions, all the words she couldn't say.

The anger at whoever left him in this state began to boil.

[Assistant]
Zeke gradually became aware of Viola's music changing, and somehow it seemed more appropriate for the wide open park they were now in. His parents had brought him here the day before school started, and he knew there was an ice cream trailer by the fountain. He looked over and spotted it, tugging at Viola's hand so that she followed him, and her music followed her.

The person at the ice cream stand was tall. Or was it that Zeke was short? An older kid who had a funny hat that looked like an upside-down boat folded from cardboard. "Viola," Zeke stretched the word until it was a tune of its own. "What kind do you like? I like the chocolate ones, with the nuts." He pointed with his free hand at the sign on the front of the cart, slightly in shade from the red-and-blue umbrella above.

As always though, his attention wandered. The fountain in the park reminded him of the splash from yesterday, and he thought about how he got a rainbow from the spray. Then he looked at the people sitting on benches near the fountain and how the shadows were almost directly underneath them. After a few minutes of intense calculation, Zeke came back to himself and tugged on Viola's hand again. He knew what sort of photo he wanted to take of her.

Stygian

[User]
Catherine nodded, ""Although I've been using the human body as an analogy, in many ways, our elemental powers are more closely tied to our sense of self than even our physical bodies are. The most powerful elementals don't let their environment force them to change who they are fundamentally. On the other hand, they are conscious enough to choose improvement over stagnation and will opt to change themselves, but knowingly, and without being forced." Catherine sighed, she knew she'd have to bring it up sooner or later, so she might as well get it out of the way. "Take note of what happens in the next few moments. Remember and burn the experience into your mind. I am about to say something that will most likely make you lose control. You will experience a strong knee-jerk reaction due to pressures that society has placed on you. Your sense of self will be tested, and you will be extremely uncomfortable with your current state. Learn to let go. learn to not care about these sorts of things. Understand? Ready? Your skirt is ripped up and your panties are showing."

---

Tears welled in ShiZhen's eyes as a natural reaction to the discomfort of having inhaled water. She stilled coughed reflexively, despite the fact the the headmaster had already extracted all the water from her lungs. She wanted to cry, she wanted to ask him why everything had to be so hard. Her body shook from the sobs she stifled. Sobs induced by her feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness, by her shame of simply being herself. But she held it back, and tried to calm down, slowing her breathing. She thought about what the headmaster was saying, and hadn't thought about water apologizing. "I-I was nervous. I was afraid nothing would happen, that I'd be a disappointment...I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I try to listen but I don't hear anything."

[Assistant]
Algorithm
Kanako listened to Catherine's explanation just as intently as before. When she said to prepare herself and to burn what would happen next in her mind, she became nervous. What was going to happen? She was going to say something that would make her lose control. What could that be? She wouldn't lose control, no matter what happened.

"Your skirt is ripped up and your panties are showing."

Like a comical scene from an anime, Kanako's face slowly turned red as she froze in place. She looked down and saw that her skirt was nowhere to be found. Just to be sure, she patted her butt, finding that she was touching her pantyhose and the panties underneath directly.

It was true.

She had no idea how it could be true but it was true for sure.

C-calm down, Kanako, c-calm down... T-take a deep breath... D-don't scream... N-no one else is here... T-there's only Catherine and she's a woman, not a man... Come on Kanako... calm down!!!

Kanako began taking her deep breaths. Slowly but surely however, her breath became shorter and shorter, and eventually, she buried her face inside her palms, sobbing, mumbling, "Uuu, this is so embarrassing... I-I'm so sorry, Miss..."

[User]
Ice cream! "Viola! What kind do you like?" What kind does she like? She'd never thought of that. Where she came from, there was only one ice cream, made out of milk fresh from the cows in the farms. But here, the sign in front of the cart had about a dozen of them. She wondered if they have farms too around here, if the ice cream and its dozen of taste was made here or if it came from somewhere-

The ice cream attendant snapped his fingers. "Hey, kid? Are you gonna buy something?" His voice was more joking than unkind. He looked at Lyra, then at Zeke, and then he grinned. "Skipping class to be out with your boyfriend, eh? Man I shouldda done that when I was your age."

Unfortunately, Lyra's brain filtered through half of what he was saying. "Huh? Oh, sorry! We'll have the chocolate nuts one, and the," vanilla? But might as well get something new, "mint one?"

The ice cream seller rolled his eye. He took scoops of each flavour and set them on their cones. "Here you go, that'll be- oh, thank you." Lyra already had the money for it out of her pocket. He took it and handed the two ice creams, one brown dotted with more brown and another that's a light blue. "Enjoy. Oh, and nice music, there."

"Huh? Oh." The violin was still playing, all by itself. Was he listening? Did he not think it was strange that a violin was playing on its own? Back home people would definitely freak out if they see one. She supposed things are different here, so close to the academy. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Zeke was tugging at her hand. "Yes? Oh, and here's your ice cream." She handed the chocolate one with Zeke, then looked at his eyes. "Hmm, did you find something nice to photograph?"

[Assistant] "It's fine," Catherine said, smiling sympathetically, "We're both ladies here." Catherine made to go in for a hug, hoping that Kanako would accept. Catherine wondered if she had been cruel to not point it out earlier, or for using it as a way to test Kanako's ability to remain calm. Taking off her jacket, Catherine offered it to Kanako, "Here, you can wrap this around your hips to cover yourself."

[User]
Zeke took his ice cream, absently taking her hand and winding their fingers together. The same motion bumped her shoulder lightly, but he hardly noticed. How could he explain? He had found something nice to photograph, but it somehow seemed rude that he just took her photo. It had to be right. Something that wasn't just her, but was all of how she looked. He chewed on the nuts, taking Viola and sitting on a bench facing the fountain with her. "I want to take a photo of you," he said, looking at her eyes. "You on the fountain with your violin and smiling when the sun shining on you," He blurted, then stuffed his mouth with ice cream.

After a moment of brain freeze, Zeke swallowed. "Um... I have something called prosopagnosia," he explained, "So I don't know what you look like. I have to photograph people I want to remember, because then I can look at the photo and compare what they look like. Or I remember something about the person I'm talking to, like your eyes or your song." He poked a finger at the air, with the rest still holding his ice cream. It left a dot in the air of the exact, rich blue her eyes were. "That's Viola's blue," he said. "Your blue eyes." Zeke looked away, suddenly unable to look at her anymore.

He could keep looking at her, of course. Her face was a fascinating collection of shapes, shades and colours, but it somehow seemed wrong to stare at her no matter how much he wanted to. "So I want to photo you playing on the fountain side when we're finished with the ice cream, if that's okay," Zeke mumbled. He looked down at their hands together and then at her shoes and his, and trailed the patterns in the paving around the plaza. "It's okay if it isn't okay," He added, spotting a wet patch on the side of the fountain but the glistening stone failing to attract his attention more than the girl next to him he was trying not to look at.

Stygian


[System]
Gender - Female
Rank - Warrior
Clan - Boulderclan
Appearance -
Personality - Often, is a quiet and observant type of cat, although she can appear withdrawn. Introverted, but will love being in the company of good friends. She doesn't view Oakclan with hostility, rather, neutrality. Kind of a worrier. You could say that she is a worrier warrior. (sorry)
Relationships (Family/Mate/Crush) - Burrpelt (Brother)
History - She and her brother were born as barncats. They grew up spoiled on the fat mice that bred in the warm of the barn until their parents were caught in a cat trap and taken away, never to be seen again, by animal control when the barn changed hands. Screefoot and her littermate fled to look for a new barn, and never found one. They wandered and killed whatever they could (difficult at first, for the wild mice turned out to be smarter than barn mice) until they stumbled upon the newly-forming clans. Her brother, not wanting to struggle for survival in a harsh mountainous environment, opted to join Oakclan. She is unaware of his deputy status.
Other -

Name - Burrpelt
Gender - Tom
Rank - Deputy?
Clan - Oakclan
Appearance -
Personality - More of a thinker than a fighter, he can hunt and give orders but fears the day he might have to fight Boulderclan- especially because that is the clan of his sister. As a result, he advocates for peace as much as he can without sounding like a suck-up or a coward. He will not hesitate to defend himself and his new clan, however. Likes a good chat.
Relationships (Family/Mate/Crush) - Screefoot (sister)
History - See Screefoot
Other -

Name - Cinnamon
Gender - Female
Rank - None
Clan - None (will join OakClan)
Appearance -
Personality - Always likes to point out the bright side of a bad situation. Although she is not very good at fighting, she's overprotective of those she feels close to- something that could easily get her killed. She also assumes the best of everyone, another potentially harmful trait.
Relationships - Leaf (friend)
History - Cinnamon was born the runt of the litter in the middle of a dirty city. Despite constant teasing by her littermates she loved her family, but was separated from them when a dog attacked the abandoned shed where they lived. Although she wanted to go back to them and check for survivors, by the time she'd managed to lose the dog chasing her, she was hopelessly lost. She wandered off into the country and met Leaf, quickly becoming friends and glad to have someone to survive with.
Other - is a cat.

[User]
Amberleaf's pelt warmed and he took the praise with a gracious nod. "Thank you. All I want is to help BoulderClan succeed, and I am sure it will under your skilled leadership," he mewed. The deputy fell into step behind the pretty calico she-cat as she walked towards the fresh-kill pile. Amberleaf eyed it and the cats in the camp, trying to judge whether hunting or border patrols could be sent out. He knew it would take some time for things such as patrols to be so organized every day, since most cats' instinct would be to make their own schedule and go out as they see fit. But their first responsibility was to their Clan now, and everyone—Amberleaf included—would have to learn to live a different way.

"There is nothing to report on the border with OakClan. The scents have been laid and unchanged, and I saw no cat. I don't think OakClan will try to contest territories yet, but we must always be on the lookout," he reported to Boulderstar. Then, voicing his thoughts, he asked, "Should I send out some hunting patrols this morning? I was thinking of sending a small group to the western edge of our territory to check on the scent markers there. We may have more to worry about from aggressive rogues than OakClan cats. But if we see strange cats, we should try to recruit them first if possible," he added.

[Assistant]
Boulderstar grabbed a mouse with her teeth and walked away from the fresh-kill pile to not stand in the way for others. The beautiful cat lay down and began to eat as her deputy told her about the borders.

She then looked up at the concerned cat. "I agree that we have more to fear from rogues at the moment than the other clan. There are cats out there who believe living in a clan is bad and some of those would definitely try to hurt the clans and try to make them go away. We cannot crumble now, that would make many cats second guess the idea. Our clan has to be a solid wall to outsiders. As for hunting, I'll see if any of the mentors will head out with their apprentices. First and foremost I want our younger cats to learn. I will go with you to the western edge of our territory to check the borders and maybe we can even hunt a little on our way back. If we see other cats we should definitely try to get them into our clan, but always be on the paws for intrigues. We don't know what will happen with the whole clan idea, but I am faithful."

The female cat took a moment to let her words sink in. Then she continued.
"The Oakclan will most likely have the same problems as us at the moment. Trying to get everything in a order and build up patrols. make a hunting schedule, get together apprentices with their mentors, and so on. So we should be safe for now. But as I always say: Never close both eyes, it will give you a claw in the back." Boulderstar smiled slightly. "We should get some patrols scheduled for safety though. You can help me get that done. Also we should slowly get a schedule for the hunting or we will end up having too much food the one day and none at all the other. It has to be clear that every cat has to work for all in the clan, that includes some duties."

The female looked at the male and asked: "If that's all, I would like to build up a hunting team for today. That's if my wise deputy agrees, of course." She smiled jokingly, but yet serious. The opinion of Amberleaf meant a lot to her. She was new to being a leader, new to being the head of a whole group of cats. And she was glad she had someone that pure hearted and wise by her side to always remind her of things she might have forgotten and who would always support her during decisions. She was not a weak cat though. If she would disagree with her deputy, she would meow so. After all these cats - all the kittens, the warriors, the old and the learning ones - they leaned on her to lead them. And she would.

[User]
"80, Finished the pointless jumping!" Came the exhausted cry. It was loud enough to scare any nearby prey and wake up the sleeping Sharpthorn who yawned and calmly came down the tree. "Pointless?" he asked Eelpaw when they were face to face. The apprentice flinched and his gaze wandered elsewhere as to avoid the subject but Sharpthorn didn't move, his silence demanding a response.

"I didn't mean pointless like pointless I was trying to say that uh," he managed to quickly mumble as he thought of how to avoid punishment. "That I don't know what use it has so it's like an expression, I'm not saying I do the jumping for nothing," he tried. Luckily Sharpthorn was too tired to scold him and was kind of proud of his progress in training so instead he just turned his back and slowly started making his way towards the camp. "I really hope you love Ash because that's where you'll spend most of your time if you ever question my methods again," he responded. "Oh and just so you know I'm preparing you for your assessment, how in the world did you plan to leap onto a falcon's back with those wimpy jumps you came to the clan with? Pick up your prey and head back towards the camp, if I get there before you Ash may receive his quality time with you after all," Sharpthorn added as he kept walking away, leaving an opened mouthed Eelpaw behind.

"A Falcon!?" Eelpaw exclaimed in shock. "Have you lost your mind? Usual assessments are marking borders and hunting mice! Why do you have to be so demanding and different?" he cried in frustration but as usual his mentor simply ignored his protests and proceeded to get one of the hares he had hunted earlier. Eelpaw sighed and began running, quickly getting all the mice he had hunted and hurrying towards the camp.

He got there moments before his mentor who was clearly overbooked as the large tom was dragging his two hares and what looked like three owlets. "Um Sharpthorn… Where did you get those?" a puzzled Eelpaw asked as Sharpthorn carried the fresh-kill. "A monster killed their mother on the thunderpath close to where I hid one of the hares, took me a while but I found the nest on my way here," he meowed as he handed one of the small owls to his apprentice. "We sure are lucky prey is so abundant these days," Eelpaw smiled as he took the dead owlet by a talon. In total they had three mice, three owlets, and two hares. Plenty of food for the clan.

"It is not luck, our ancestors are smiling upon our new ways and rewarding us," the experienced hunter lectured Eelpaw as the two made their way to the fresh-kill pile and added their kills to the large mountain. "Oh yes the ancestor thing, sorry," the apprentice meowed. "You should be thanking them each time you take a life, in fact everyone should do it but for now it seems I'm the only one. Now get something small to eat and go to sleep, unless the leader tasks you with anything we are done for today," Sharpthorn ordered.

As Eelpaw made his way towards the apprentice den, Sharpthorn went straight towards the great tree that served as den to Oakstar, greeting Nightmist who by the looks of it had just gotten up. His leader was conversing with Burrpelt.  "The most important thing right now is to make sure the clan is unified. Or at least appears that way. Perhaps I should lead the patrol? Or simply be a part of it. It would be nice to go out of camp for a little bit,""I'll go if you need an extra paw," Sharpthorn joined the smaller yet older cats, greeting with respect. "Sorry for interrupting but I was just coming to report in. We had another great training session and I believe Eelpaw is ready to become a warrior," he informed before turning towards Burrpelt "Was that you hunting I scented earlier when we were training?" he asked as to see whether his nose was as sharp as his claws. He then returned his gaze towards his leader, "It would be an honor for me to accompany you two in the patrol," he added.

The two cats he was addressing were made for their jobs: leading, causing pride and comfort, qualities Sharpthorn would never possess but unlike them he was born and grew up in the valley; a place where before the winter a kit had to learn to kill before walking and to hunt before talking. He could go shoulder to shoulder with most cats when fighting, and hunting in those woods had been most of his life. He was a born fighter and hunter who only stroke fear into any enemy but would gladly put those self-made skills he honed constantly (and now taught Eelpaw) and his imposing presence to use for the clan life Oakstar offered and every single cat who had joined him. He was the Oak hammer, and he would let the leader's paw wield him as he pleased as long as it benefitted the clan.

@CLIW

[Assistant]
Screefoot closed her eyes for a moment to steel herself against the younger cat's irritability. It was not a good thing for her, to wake up and immediately go speak to the second-most irascible cat in all of BoulderClan (the first being Roseclaw), and she knew that as a mentor she was going to have to resist losing her temper with Harepaw. If she did, the consequences could be permanent. So, for now, all that showed her annoyance was a twitch of the end of her tail as she opened her eyes. To further calm herself before she spoke she lifted her paw and licked it a couple of times.

Briefly her eyes followed Amberleaf as he crossed the camp and headed for the leader's den. He had glanced in their direction at Harepaw's outburst, and she'd had the faintest glimmer of hope that whatever important business he had to discuss with Boulderstar, the deputy might put that on hold to help her get Harepaw into shape.

He did not.

"Listen," said Screefoot gently. "I know that it's a lot to get used to, this new Clan life––but I've been given a responsibility to teach you, and you have been given a responsibility to learn. If you don't want to take lessons from me, fine, I understand, but in that case you are going to have to join me on the next hunting patrol so you can at least practice your skills. Does that sound like a good compromise?" she asked, bracing herself for more venomous words.

–––

"I would be honored if you led the patrol," answered Burrpelt. Secretly, he was relieved that he wouldn't be required to lead the patrol, for he was tired from his hunting. He appreciated Oakstar's demeanor, felt that he was a worthy leader indeed, and decided quietly that if he were ever to become the next leader of OakClan, this was the cat to model his leadership from.

He swiveled his ears toward Sharpthorn at the large cat's approach. The old part of him, the part that was still in the mode of searching for the next barn, made Burrpelt tense at the warrior's size and involuntarily think, He could easily kill me. Quickly he shook these thoughts away. He was an ally, a valuable one, and deserved his trust. When he asked if he had scented him while training his apprentice, Burrpelt nodded. "That was me," he confirmed, faintly surprised––he'd thought he was the only one to wake early to leave camp.

"I would be happy if you would join us," he added, but didn't definitively say yes or no; that was Oakstar's job. One thing was certain: in the unlikely event that there would be conflict at the border, Sharpthorn would be a valuable and intimidating addition to their patrol.


[System]
Age: 23

Race: Oni

Appearance: That one took a while...
Standing at about 6' tall, Masaru's build still only somehow manages to show a fraction of the power that he's able to put out. While not training his body or taking the occasional small drink, he usually dons a red haori over his upper body. He generally retains the shorts, though. He's not quite stocky, but not quite lean, either. What he IS, though, is well-built. When in 'demon mode', Masaru gains a pair of black horns, about an inch in height, that protrude from the top of his head, and his skin turns a shade of red that his race is most known for. During the colder months, steam may also become visible upon and during activation, though to no extreme extent.

Personality: While it would be apt to call Masaru a bit of a musclehead, that term doesn't quite do him justice. While he DOES love to train and fight, those terms do not define him as a whole. While he may be incredibly hotblooded at times and jump into action at the drop of a hat, he is also a generally jovial guy who can relax just as well as he can work. The influx of humans around the time he was born also led to him picking a few more tricks on the side. While he is honest and loyal and generally doesn't like being tricked (or tricking others, for that matter), he's not unwilling to outwit an opponent in the style of a famous Hamon user if it comes down to it. Honestly, though, at the end of the day he really just wants a good fight.
Given the nature of oni and his upbringing, Masaru also has a tendency to make random small talk if he's bored out of his mind. He also loves tests of strength, but he's not a complete idiot and won't go into something that is clearly out to get him. That isn't to say, though, that he isn't curious at times...

Abilities: As an oni, Masaru has strength that transcends that of most humans, and is able to do things that seem absurd to most (for example, punching boulders into rubble). He also has an increased regenerative capability, but depending on the wound(s) and his condition this may diminish over time. There's also that classic oni alcohol tolerance, but with a lack of alcohol that's not going to be relevant any time soon. As an oni, he also has what he calls 'demon mode' (though the name varies among the race as a whole); when active, Masaru seems to grow a pair of horns from his head and his skin seems to tinge itself a shade of red and become increasingly heated the longer it remains active. During this time, Masaru has increased strength and agility, at the cost of a 'cooldown period' during which his stamina and strength are reduced. He does retain his sanity during this time, though, at the very least.
Outside of that, Masaru is also well-versed in having to fight in hand-to-hand combat, often matching a few of the more experienced fighters blow-for-blow (though he also loses, more often than not). He has also dabbled slightly in the ways of blacksmithing, though he grew tired of it in about a half a year or so. At the very least, he knows the bare basics of the craft, but cannot forge anything particularly noteworthy.

Salvaged Item: A pair of steel knuckles, rounded off at the ends.

History: Masaru comes from a long line of oni, who have themselves had a pretty love/hate relationship with humans... And well, pretty much every race they come into contact with. Though born in the era of peace, the young oni never really found any 'peace' at home. An influx of people from all over the continent began to mingle about every which way, tinging Masaru's ideals with a sense of wonder and creativity. He was still raised in classic oni fashion, though; alcohol, brawls, and healthy competition made up a good chunk of his childhood, and even as a child he could match the strength of a fully grown human. This strength was honed further as the concept of 'training regimens' became spread throughout the town he was born in, and so he began to build his strength.
His efforts came to fruition one day when he entered the most prestigious annual fighting tournament of Shoushu at age 22. Seen as the 'dark horse' of the tournament, Masaru came in fifth place by the end of it all, which was notable considering how many of his opponents were more experienced than he. This prowess at his age was what caused him to be chosen to be among the representatives of his nation, a fact that he has since held with honor in his heart... Regardless of the circumstances he now finds himself in.

Nation of Origin: Shoushu, a land of both men and oni.

Nation Lore: As mentioned prior, humans and oni did not have... The best of relationships. Or the worst, actually. Shoushu, as a whole, is fairly mountainous, which leads to a strange bit of convenience for both sides; the humans, more often than not, lived on the arable land down below, while the oni staked their claim in the mountains above. Humans were often fearful of the strength of the oni, who always lived so close that it probably wouldn't take more than a day to make a trip up and down any specific mountain from its base. This, of course, led to war.
Fighting was... On and off. On some occasions, the humans would win and take some land, while on others, the oni would win and push the humans back. It was, in the strangest sense, a perpetual stalemate.
This was before any of the other nations came into play, though. Once humans began to travel throughout the land, they found others like themselves, and so they traded. They gained technology, arms, and most importantly: magic. From then on, the tides of war slowly shifted in favor of the humans, who were rapidly descending upon the oni and methodically taking them out. Unwilling to go down without a fight, though, the oni sent out envoys to seek help from other races; it wasn't long after until both sides of the nation were involved in the political turmoil that had consumed the continent.
When every other nation fell to peace, the residents of Shoushu had to uneasily lay down their arms. Animosity remained high, however, until the king of Tawken forcefully intervened (citing it to be 'within the nation's best interests') and assigned a group of advisors to each side to attempt to broker a peace deal from which everyone benefitted.
As things turned out, the oni were absolutely AMAZING at brewing alcohol, on par with that of the dwarves (the two races still compete every so often) and found friends in the ogres and orcs (who also turned out to love strength). Because of these quick-forming alliances, the humans of the nation had little choice but to accept one of the most valuable economic resources there. From then on, the relationship between the two races began to defrost (though once again with a bit of force thanks to the efforts of the king of Tawken) and we are left with what we have today.
As a nation, Shoushu is well known for their metalworking and alcohol production, which often puts them in competition with the dwarves, who take pride in their work just as much as the oni do in theirs. Every other race loves the competition, though, because it means higher quality products and cheaper prices. What sets them apart is the metal that they use, though; while dwarves have access to and can make outstanding works with mythril and oricalcum that can pierce the strongest defenses, the oni have access to what they call 'star steel' (which is not, in fact, found in meteorites as people so often claim it to be). Rather than the ultimate offensive metal, it would be more apt to call it the ultimate defensive metal; when the armor of the oni meets the weaponry of the dwarves, only the skill of the smiths and the strength of the wielders can determine the outcome. 'Star steel' has the ability to mitigate even the strongest of blows otherwise, though it is still prone to the regular faults of the designs of the armor itself.

Other: Actually couldn't care less about alcohol, but admits it is occasionally enjoyable. Prefers to eat a balanced diet if possible.

[User]
Thanox nodded as the kitsune introduced herself and stuck out her hand towards him. It was a strange gesture that he hadn't seen until he left his homeland and traveled through other settlements, but he understood that it was used as a sign of friendship. He extended one of his upper arms and grasped her hand, slowly moving it up and down as he had seen others do. It seemed to please her and she walked off with the box, asking if his people used four swords. He was actually glad that someone was interested in his people, and in their fighting styles. At first he had not guessed that she was a warrior, but looking now she did seem to carry herself like a fighter would.

"Yes, there are some of our warriors who use four swords, although it is difficult to master so not many do so. The ones that do are usually elites and are either tasked with guarding the queen or are given important missions during war." Thanox explained as they exited the ship. It was nice to have someone to talk to, normally he enjoyed being alone but being completely cut off from his people was not as easy as he first thought.

While Yukine walked back into the ship, Thanox noticed another of the survivors, Turk, had managed to catch a few fish and seemed to be enjoying one now. "Food will be important, but so will water." Thanox said as he turned to ocean. He didn't like it, back home water was rare and valuable, and it saved lives, but this water was abundant and yet was not safe to drink. It was almost funny in a strange way.

He shook his head as he walked back into the remains of the ship. A few others had already moved farther inland, so hopefully they had found something, and if not they could always search again tomorrow. For now they still needed to finish checking the ship, although they seemed to have covered most of it already. He ignored the others as they seemed concerned with a snake, he knew they could handle it so he moved farther into the ship.

[Assistant]
"... Er..."

A snake? Irial didn't know anything about snakes, unless they were the spectral, summoned sort. She took a step back, raising her staff, but it seemed it was already being handled. Good. She didn't want to try and determine if it was poisonous or anything like that. She had no interest in doing anything of that sort. Her attention moved back to the wreck... and then to... a human girl? Yes, a girl who had been on board the ship... one who looked rather worse for wear. Jeez, why hadn't she made herself more noticeable before? She looked green in the face, blubbering and ill... she could have said something, seriously.

With a sigh, the small elf girl approached, frowning deeply.

"It would probably be best if you stopped squirming around," she said, "That can't make you feel any better. Er..."

Healing wasn't the small girl's specialty. However, she could guess at the fact that the larger girl should probably not be on her feet, and rather should be sitting in the shade until she recovered. After all, though Irial wouldn't admit it, seeing someone looking like that was rather concerning. She didn't want the other girl to get sick.

[User]
Masaru glanced at the kitsune girl and the garuda went off to go handle the snake without him, a decision that he much preferred to the alternative of 'throw punches and hope the snake sucks at dodging'. Nodding his head as he moved aside for those two, the oni nodded his head and headed out to check the final supply count. For the most part, aside from that crate of hardtack (assuming it still HAD any left inside), there was wheat, soybeans, rice, and barley, as stated earlier... And that gem thing that elf girl was hoarding to herself. Granted, he never really got magic, but if it helped her, well, all the better.

Turk's return with a bit of fish brought a smile to his face; his survival in and of itself was a miracle, considering that he could catch fish as he did. Every little bit of food helped, after all.

"Alright, alright, this is good. Liking how things are turning out; not everything's gone, so we've got a fighting chance!" he shouted, psyching himself up before noticing the elf girl walking over to and talking to what seemed to be... A pile of boards?
...
No, wait. It was moving. Someone under it?

Curious, Masaru strode over to see what the cause was, only to find that it was a human girl who had also managed to survive. Kneeling down, Masaru saw the color of her face and her expression and shook his head. No way she was getting up in that condition.

"'scuse me a moment," he said, moving past the elf and casually tossing the boards on top of the young woman towards the sand before picking her up like a piece of luggage. Though she only seemed to be a bit shorter than him, his abnormal strength made the task of moving her... Quite simple.

"Okay... Well, you're not getting any better if you stay on the shore like a piece of driftwood, so let's bring you somewhere a bit drier. Like the edge of the beach. Maybe that'll get whatever's buggin' ya out of your system."

With a smile, the oni casually carried her closer inland before placing her down like a doll, upper body upright and leaning against a tree.

"You okay there? Need some water or something?" he asked, slapping her face lightly a few times to check for consciousness before realizing another problem in front of them.

Right. Fresh water. They needed that. Quite badly, actually.
Shit.


[System]
"No matter how hard you try, you will never be good enough for at least one person. That's why you stop trying." - Ariella Reese Taraman
||Personal Info||
Nick-Names: Ari, Ella, Elle, Reesey
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Focal

Appearance:

||Relationships||
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Relationship Status: Nonexistent
Partner:Nope
Family: Martin Taraman, Lower Level Councilman (Father); Penelope Taraman, Lower Level Councilwoman (Mother)
Other: N/A
||Background||
Personality:
One of Ariella's biggest pet peeves is when they relate her back to the stereotypical "dumb blonde". Ariella is quite intelligent and she shows it often. She is quite gifted in math and science, two subjects that a lot of people do not relate to being with girls. She definitely does not flaunt her intelligence, but people can see that it shines through her. She is a fast learner and seems to be able to adapt to any situation that is thrown her way, whether it be emotional or physical.

Even though Ariella is quite smart, growing up with the friends she had, she is very much a party girl. If there is ever a party going on, she is at it, even if she is tired or drained from training. She is not afraid to shake what she's got and show off her body to everyone. She seems to have no shame whatsoever, but this can make her reckless. She is smart, book wise, but she does not have a ton of common sense, especially when it comes to guys and partying.

Ariella is a self-proclaimed badass, and, though people don't want to admit it, she pretty much is. She has a hard shell on her and doesn't make friends easily. She is a very impatient person and can't stand when people test her. She is quite competitive and doesn't follow orders very well. She prefers to give orders and be a leader, which is one of the reasons she was top in her class. She has a short temper but tends to keep other emotions bottled up inside of her and has yet to let any of them out.

Skills:
Ariella was top in her class, ranking first out of the twenty new Recruits. Her best class was Weaponry, and she is excellent with almost every weapon, minus a sword. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well, and she can identify almost any Anomalous on sight. She is a fairly fast runner, a skilled gymnast, and an excellent swimmer. She has a beautiful singing voice and is very adept with music.

Biography:
Ariella grew up in the direct center of Focal, where most of everything happened. It is where the Council Center is, and the Guard Tower, or Castle as they called it, was only a fifteen minute walk from her home. Both of her parents were lower level Council members and she went to the best private school in the city, going from a young age. The private school she went to went from kindergarten all the way up until twelfth grade. She met loads of her friends there, and she was happy. At least for the first little bit.

As she got older, she began noticing that her friends wanted to stay over at her place more often. Whenever they went out, she was always stuck with the bill or always had to pay for movie tickets or anything that came their way. They always asked her for money and finally, after one of her friends asked her pay off a thousand dollar fine, she realized that her friends were only with her for her money. She immediately cut ties with all of her friends, dropping all connections with them, and became very much a lone wolf. She would still see them at school, but she would avoid them at all costs. This happened when she was a tenth grader in her private school.

After her incident with her friends, she tried to find some way to prove that she was not just a girl who was known for her parents' money. That's when she came across becoming a Guard. She trained and worked as hard as she could for the next few years, becoming the top student in her class, and finally, her twelfth year in school, her parents came home with a guest to tell her that she was finally to become a Guard, heading into the Recruiting process behind one of the oldest at what they considered to be a Year Four student, the latest one could become a Guard.

She went and lived in Castle, as all the Recruits did. The memory of her friends relying on her so heavily drove her to make herself become the best. Whenever they had a day off, she would be in training anyways. She became the top Recruit in her class and she chose that, after her tours, she would go and train the next batch of Recruits, working alongside her favorite teacher, Sky Carlson. She is now heading out to become a Guard and she is ready to prove to the world that she is not a bimbo with loads of money.
||Weapons||
Weapons of Choice: 76th Grande Pistol, and a BeTrek Automatic
Weapon Image:

||Supernatural Abilities||
Type of Anomalous: Mental Anomalous
Anomalous Powers:
* Telekinesis-This is her main power. She has the ability to pick up objects and move objects around her with just her mind. The larger the item, however, the much bigger strain on her mind.
* Teleportation- It is quite similar to the telekinesis, but she has to be able to see where she is going or have been to the area before if she wants to be able to teleport to it.
* Illusionist- She has the ability to change her appearance and make herself look like someone else. She has to have met the person before or seen them on the street to be able to do it.

||Other||
Other: None
Theme Song: "Confident" by Demi Lovato

[User]
Ariella TaramanThe Outlands

"Shit, fucking damn!" Ariella swore loudly, scrambling to grab her gun again. She raised it, firing off two shots at the Scorpo Anomalous that stood over Noah's dizzied body. The force knocked it back, slamming it leathally against a nearby tree. Ariella stared in shock, not moving for two moments before scrabbling over to Noah, gently touching his side. The needle had been the size of a normal knife. There was a long gash in his side.

Panic filling her stomach and throat, she pressed her hands to it, getting pressure on it. She took deep breaths and said, "You'll be okay. You'll be fine." Keeping one hand pressed to it, she flipped out the communicator and pressed the button. The screen immediately lit up and she saw two dots on it, moving toward a red X, which is what she was assuming was her location. She flipped it shut and said, "There's someone coming. Don't worry." She was worrying, though, because those dots had been fairly far off. Any Anomalous could come at any time...

There was a rustling nearby again, and she immediately drew her gun again, taking her hand off Noah's side. She whipped around, her eyes wild. This was nothing like the simulations. In the simulations, the worst anyone got was a twisted ankle or a sprained wrist. This had blood and poison and actual pain. Her hands shook immensely, and she whipped around, looking for the intruder nearby. Those two dots were too far off to be here now. She turned rapidly, almost firing off her gun by accident.

She looked back over at Noah and froze. He was still, not dead as she could see his chest rising and falling, but there was an eerie purplish-blue glow around him. She could hear quiet murmuring and she raised her pistol, looking around near him. Slowly, a young woman, barely younger or older than Ariella, began to appear before her. Ariella was so amazed that she slowly lowered her pistol. The woman, her eyes shut and concentrating, was the one murmuring and she had her hands in the purplish-blue glow around Noah.

Remembering what lies out here and this woman is obviously different, Ariella jumped back into action and raised her pistol. "Who are you?! Stop!" The woman ignored her. Instead, she opened her eyes and sat back on her heels, looking down at Noah. Ariella looked down as well, and saw that Noah looked a little more... peaceful. She looked back up and saw that the woman was now standing. She looked down at Noah for another brief second, looked at Ariella, winked, and suddenly disappeared.

Ariella stared at where the woman had disappeared. Was it just her imagination or had that actually happened? Blinking slowly, she gently touched Noah's arm, and found that he was less tense than he had been before. Taking a deep, shaking breath, she sat back down, keeping her pistol out for protection, until the Guards arrived.

[Assistant]
NoahThe Outlands -- The Hospital

Noah's vision was spinning, his hearing was muted, and he felt abandoned by his senses. He heard Ari tell him something, watched her shoot something, another person was there and then she was not. He couldn't tell if he was hallucinating anymore. But he did know that when Ari was putting pressure on his wound, he felt warmer. His pain felt as if it was subsiding, he tried to stand and then he awoke face down in the dirt, Ari cursing above him not to try something like that again. He tried once more and failed again. Then once again, against Ari's pleases he kept trying until he could not.

He awoke several times, being carried back by Sky and Ari, Cru watching their six. What a joke, their first mission, he was a liability to all of their safeties. To the safeties to everyone he swore to protect. Cru said something to Sky, who then patted Noah's back, Ari kept her warm palm on his wound. He apologized to her, for bleeding on her guard outfit. There was nothingness and then there was the Outlands, nothingness and then the gate. He saw the gate clearly, but he couldn't tell if it was his gate. Was he dying? Were these the holy gates, is that why they were shut?

He awoke once more, tubes were coming out of his body a nurse silently overlooking him as a farmer does his crops. Ari, asleep by his bedside. Dried blood all over her hands. At first he attempted to sit up, correct himself but the nurse stopped him, putting a steady hand on his toned chest and easily pushing him gently back onto the bed. He didn't currently have the strength to leave. Though, the nurse informed him the toxins would where off sooner rather than later, no permanent damage other than some scarring. He laid back down into the bed, his chest rising and falling, sweat beading down his forehead.

"Ari?" He said hoarsely through a severely dried throat. He turned to look at his partner, she was beautiful when she was sleeping. "Is it just me, or is this exactly as bad as you imagined it being when you were a recruit?" Noah said forcing a laugh out of his battered lungs. He coughed a couple times afterwards as the sound filled the hospital walls, rebounding right back into his ears. He laid back down, staring at the ceiling and took her hand gently in his own, giving it a small squeeze. "Thanks." He said quietly letting go of her hand and giving her a brief glance out of the corner of his eye. "You don't have to stay, I'll be back up soon, go get a good sleep."

Noah, used to sleeping in hospitals, immediately got into a comfortable position and shut his eyes. What would his parents think of him now? Almost achieving such great things, being a member of the guard, paired with a girl like Ari. Torn down from such a graceful position, only to be caught by the first anomalous he encountered on the first patrol he was ever asked to go on. He'd be the ass end of every joke every guard told for the next decade. He found himself dreading getting released from the hospital and yet… For whatever reason Noah couldn't tell, he was grinning ear to ear.

[User]
Ariella TaramanThe Infirmary
The night was long after the chopper flew Ariella, Cru, Sky, and the unconscious Noah back to Castle. Cru and Sky were getting told off by Nau at the moment for leaving them by themselves and Ariella was sitting next to Noah's infirmary bed, tapping her thumbs together in between her legs. If she would have been faster... Letting out a sigh, she sat back in the chair, gripping the armrests. Tilting her head to the side, she looked curiously over at Noah, who was fast asleep in the bed.

There was a soft knock at the door and Ariella looked up to see Cru and Sky both standing there. She nodded to them and Cru stated, "You should probably get some rest upstairs..." His voice was soft.

"I'm fine."

"Ariella..."

"I said I'm fine. I'm not leaving him," she snapped. Sky shook his head and backed out of the doorway, while Cru stayed a moment longer before disappearing as well. She sighed, leaning her head back in her chair. She shut her eyes for what she thought was going to be for a brief moment before she realized she was sound asleep.

She awoke to Noah's voice, telling her to go upstairs and sleep. But after she opened her eyes, she saw that he was still asleep, a smile gracing his face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she saw one of his nurses. "Go, child. We'll take good care of him." She nodded and stood up, gently tracing her fingertips over the back of his arm before heading to the elevator. She made it up to her room, walked in, sat down on the bed, and was immediately out.


[System]
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Vigilante Database>Centerville>Currently Active>Hotshot

Hotshot
Birth Name: Believed to be Richard Chang. Have yet to be validated.
Other alias: The Backburner, The Human Heater
Age: Believed to be 28 years old.
Gender: Believed to be male.
Notable affiliations: None that is known of at the moment.

Appearance: Hotshot is primarily known for his iconic yellow overall costume which spans the entire length of his body except for his hands, feet and head. While the dominating color of his costume is yellow, it has notable black and orange trims that run across the edges of his costume (Where his gloves, boots and headgear end). He also wears what appears to be costume heavy-duty gloves, boots and headgear. The make of his costume has yet to be identified but it is notable for being able to conduct heat that Hotshot produces naturally. Hotshot's face is completely concealed by his headgear. A large orange visor goes across the area where his eyes would be to provide vision.

Power(s): Heat manipulation. Hotshot is known to primary emit a field of heat around themselves which, at the most, is believe to extend an area of about five inches (12 centimeters) before dissipating. Hotshot uses this close-proximity "heat aura" by engaging in close hand to hand combat with their opponents. At this moment, the heat radiating from Hotshot incapacitates their foes by either direct contact or by gradual exposure to high temperature.

Hotshot has also been observed to use what can only be described as a heat blast. It is theorized that Hotshot can concentrate high temperatures towards specific points of their body and release the stored energy into a focused beam. This beam was observed to have a maximum temperature of 1500 degrees Celsius (2732 degrees Fahrenheit). However it is observed that Hotshot takes a considerable amount of time to focus and release the energy needed for a beam.

History: (Warning! This section has yet to be approved by moderators because of inconsistencies, unconfirmed details, eligible writing and/or etc. If you wish to help add to or improve this article, contact user Wheelerman23, the author of this page.)

Richard Chang was born in St. Jude's Hospital in June 23, 1994. Richard was born to the couple Spencer and Martha Chang. Martha passed during childbirth because of complications. Spencer Chang was forced to raise his son alone, refusing to remarry for personal reasons. Richard grew up without incident after. He developed an affiliation for sports at an early age according to later interviews with his father.

Later in life, Richard would receive full scholarship at the University of St. George for his notable American football skills. He enrolled for a Bachelor of Marine Sciences. He was notable in his batch for his athletic abilities, being voted the Most Valuable Player by his home team in 2011. He graduated with honors four years later.
In March 2, 2014, Richard was involved in the Mayflower Mall incident where a group of armed, superpowered criminals seized the malls and the people inside as hostages. One of the assailants, known by his alias as "Monsoon", had placed a firearm to Richard's head and used Richard as a Human shield. However seconds into the encounter, Monsoon had began to move in an erratic manner. Closer observation of bystander image shot during the confrontation would suggest Monsoon had blisters forming on his skin. Richard tackled Monsoon back into the mall property after which a large explosion was observed. Authorities who rushed to the site of the incident found neither evidence of Monsoon or Richard remaining. Authorities claim that Richard was deceased however his father, Spencer Chang, is adamant that he is still alive.

(The following information has been verified by multiple sources and has been approved by moderators.)

The first confirmed known activity of Hotshot was during the a conflict between superhuman criminal Commodore and law enforcement. While Commodore was engaging several police officers, an unknown individual at the time lept towards the assailant and made contact by pressing their hand against the back of Commodore's head. Commodore was observed to be flail his arms wildly at yet unknown individual at the time. However after a few minutes of struggling, Commodore was seen stumbling to the ground completely exhausted with a large red mark on the back of his head. The individual explained that Commodore would be in need to immediate rehydration but is otherwise unscaved. The figure left the scene before he could be questioned by authorities.

The individual that engaged Commodore was wearing the same yellow with black and orange trim that would become iconic of the superhero popularly named Hotshot. Hotshot is known to primarily engage superhuman criminals and only rarely non-superhuman threats. Attempts to question Hotshot has been met with silence. Current whereabouts of Hotshot is also unknown.

Alliance: Hero. Hotshot works for a NGO foundation that provides heroes daily necessities, lodging and additional payment if they are under their employment. This organization, known as the Global Defense Initiative Foundation, operates discreetly and avoids the attention of the public. Hotshot, who is indeed Richard Chang, has been employed by the GDIF ever since his reported demise at the hands of Monsoon.

[User]
Creep Bros
Location: At Kinko's straight flippin' copies

Soft footfalls lead away from the door. Raker waited until he was sure the coast was clear before he slithered out of the room. He'd fixed it back to make it look as though no one had been inside. He pulled the door shut behind him, gaining him the attention of the janitor as he vacuumed. The two exchanged brief glances.

"Hey what are you-," The man didn't finished his sentence before he cut himself off, his brows scrunching in confusion. The masked man walked right by him while he stood there, trying to remember what it was he was going to say. By the time the janitor recollected his thoughts, the Raker was long gone.

As Mindraker approached his new destination, his cohort was already waiting for him. The plain, black plastic of his mask stared blankly at him from under the black hood. Mask was crouching down in the shadows of an alley, hidden among the trash bags and discarded furniture. Mindraker approached and gave him a silent nod, and the man stood to follow him.

The two silently slunk through the dark, heading down an adjacent alley that lead into the better lit street. They stuck to the shadows, like two rats out of the sewer. Finally, they reached their destination. A...Kinko's? A strange front for villainy, that was for sure.

The office store was closed by now, the doors firmly locked. But that didn't stop Black Mask from teleporting them inside. They stood outside the glass doors, then in a blink of an eye and a bust of black smoke, they were on the other side of the glass. Raker slipped the files out of his hoodie and went to start up a copy machine while Black Mask glanced around for security cameras and/or guards.

The sound of several pages being copied and printed filled the shop as the two began to meander around, waiting for the machine to finish. Fresh ink and the smell of slightly mildewed carpet wafted through the air. Once Black Mask was certain that they were in the clear, he let his guard down to peruse the magazine rack that stood near the check out. He picked up one of the glossy gossip books and began to flip through the pages, offered only meager entertainment at best. $12.99? Who bought this shit?

[Assistant]
Douglas SongBest 8 Motel
Tea, fresh tea, brewed in a cheaply made and all too bland white plastic and glass little coffeepot. It was sort of a disappointment, but it was the best there was at the moment; wasn't as though he had a teapot and a stove, let alone fireplace and a steel kettle, but he did at least have boiling water and somewhere to drink it. It also helped that he had the tea itself, considering it was a luxury on a non-existent budget. In fact, all of his situation the lone man at the edge of the tiny bed was thankful for, even if it was ten years out of date and all off-white and equally garish honey oak furniture.

Pouring a cup carefully now, the pair of hands then garnished it with the bag itself, setting it aside after to steep. This was the morning routine, the ritual, tea first before all other things, though the entire "morning" matter was debatable. Rather whatever time he awoke this story played out just as it did in the same room in the same manner. It did not deviate, it did not change. The time of day certainly did, but paying the few bills that existed required a flexible schedule. After all, being paid by relieving petty criminals of their cash? Not all too efficient work. Sure, it was theft all its own, but maybe they would reconsider their decisions, perhaps better than a prison sentence would have offered.

Song did not really think too deep into the matter, instead only looking to the rising steam of the cup and where it sat upon the tabletop. Had his attention been allowed to drift, his mind to wander, he might not have noticed the face of the coffeepot itself being slightly off center. Still, not so much as shifting or interrupting his thought of no thought, a hand of his reached out to straighten little machine out; so subtle an adjustment that returned it to its rightful place.

"There." He said, speaking to no one but himself, nodding in approval.

It at last freed him to do as his work demanded of him, rather his moral compass. It was work itself, perhaps "good" work, perhaps not. What it was at this point was whatever it was, good and bad. However, there was no sense in staring down the steeping tea anymore now that he had resolved the issue and cleared his mind of its inner debates. In short order he dressed himself, having only devoted enough time to wash his face, give a brush of the teeth, and throw a jacket over the familiar white sweatshirt before he returned to the tea and sat down.

Between drinking it, sitting there at the edge of the bed, he emptied his mind. No room for anger, above all other things. That was the difficult one, especially knowing that in short order he would be on and out into the night, with the sole purpose of finding something constructive to do with it. It was tempting to find other means to say the least, the few intrusive thoughts he had, but they were all impulsive to him; Song wasn't just a "boy" anymore who could live that life. At least now he truly understood better, at the very least more lucidly, given the tea had come to replace alcohol. But the last cup had always been the most difficult.

Until he was out on the night, the sound of the door clicking shut behind him...

[User]
Agent 021, alias "Hotshot".
Location: Centerville South Expressway
Time: 19:22
Responding to disturbance by meta-Human identified as "Mindraker".

---

"That's not Mindraker." Richard Chang said as he was placing his gloves over his hands. The van he was riding swerved to the left, forcing him to grab a metal rod welded to the roof of this van to keep his balance.

"Any information you would like to share with us?" A voice came over the intercom. From a speaker set on the front wall of the van separating Chang and a field agent from the driver and a security personnel.

"The man… or whatever that guy is… doesn't just climb the fence of a Naval base. He sneaks around it. He hitches on a ship and hides there until it docks at the base. Don't you find it suspicious that he was seen taking the front entrance?" Chang responded with another question.

"Several witnesses have reported an individual of his likeness. Our remote observational drones have took images that confirm their visual reports." Chang sighed. He placed on his other glove before answering back. "We're talking about a guy who mind controls people. Who's to say we're not chasing some kind of mirage or something?"

"In any which case your orders are to investigate the disruption and apprehend any individual operating that vehicle. Is that understood?" Chang's superior asked. He nodded his head and answered with a stiff "Yes sir". The last piece of equipment Chang had to place on was his headgear. He always hated wearing it. The feeling of being smother because of its tight design. He felt the smooth hydro-plastic polymer touch his lips, nose, ears and the rest of his exposed tissues. Even after god knows how many times he wore it, it still felt uncomfortable.

The field agent in front of Chang held thermographic camera directed at him. "Field test Mr. Chang. Whenever you're ready." She said. The camera picked up the gradual change of temperature from Chang. He and the area around him spiked up in temperature. Not enough to cause any damage but it was clearly visible on the camera. The field agent held up her thumb and Chang reverted back to his normal body temperature. "Agent 021 is ready for service." She spoke. "Affirmative." The speaker system answered back. "Good hunting Hotshot."

The van came to a halt by the side of the highway. Hotshot and the field agent unloaded device and placed it on the side of the road. "10 minutes till ETA." The security officer inside the van yelled. Hotshot nodded. He took a deep breathe in and waited for the car to get within sight. Nine minutes later, he saw the vehicle speeding towards their direction. Hotshot ordered his team to get ready. Hotshot was using the heat from his body to partially melt the asphalt on the road behind the spike strip. He hoped the flat tires would sink into the road.
And then it came. The spike strip popped on mark. It extended just in time to catch the vehicle's front tires. Then it shredded the back. The front wheels sunk into the partially melted asphalt sending the vehicle into a somersault. The car crashed on its back. This was not part of Hotshot's plan. "Get paramedics on my location as soon as possible." Hotshot ordered through his mike embedded into his headgear. He then rushed towards the smoking wreck.


[System]
Murphy

32

Female

FBI Counterterrorism Division, Information Specialist

Defender > Attacker

In layman's terms, Desiree is a hacker. Give her just enough time and she'll almost always deliver. It shouldn't hurt to mention that she's a hell of a sharpshooter and has some knowledge in the art of Krav Maga.

Desiree carries an M-4 Carbine, a Glock as her sidearm, a multi-function tool, and her most important weapon: her laptop.

Desiree is a rather complicated character. She is impulsive, yet a meticulous planner. Such contradiction can be explained by the fact that she has OCD-like tendencies, and absolutely hates it when things don't go her way, thus sometimes displaying various degrees of outbursts. She could be described as having a "light switch" personality more often than not, therefore she's either ready to paint the town red, or drinking herself to near death in the couch of her single bedroom apartment home. Desiree can be social if the opportunity presents itself, but she's more of the loner type, a characteristic she hates because it confirms the stereotype that computer nerds are losers who have no friends.

Desiree was born and raised in a small town in Australia. Her mother died during childbirth due to unforeseen circumstances, and that led her to be raised by a single father who had barely any idea as to what to do with a newborn. Eventually, Desiree's father found his groove and helped her grow into the woman she is today. She attended private school up until the age of 10, when her father accepted a job offer in New York and they both moved there.
Even though Desiree had a large number of friends back in Australia, the move halfway across the world devastated her. In the blink of an eye, the young girl was living in a completely unfamiliar place, that which was hundreds of thousands time bigger than her small and quiet hometown. Such drastic change was overwhelming for the girl, and whenever her father was out working late nights, Desiree found comfort in the one thing she considered a true friend: her computer.
School was never an issue for Desiree. She always received good marks in all her classes and was even granted a couple of scholarships to a local university in the city. By that time, the young girl was more than skilled with a computer, and could very easily do just about any possible task one could come up with. Despite her lobby—or rather, lifestyle—Desiree pursued an education in Biology. To any stranger on the street it may seem somewhat unlikely, but she was actually very interested in working within the medical field, something that down the line, would never be achieved.
It was just before graduation that Desiree saw an advertisement for employment opportunities within the FBI. Desiree had seen plenty of cop movies to intrigue her enough to apply, and every time she cleared another hurdle in the application process, she surprised not only her father, but herself as well. After just over a year of going through the hiring process, Desiree was eventually accepted into the academy.
About a decade into her federal career, that which had thus far been filled with awards and recognition (unbeknownst to the public, of course) Desiree was contacted by a woman using codename Six who wanted to invite her to join her organization. The first thing Desiree did was confirm veracity, and soon thereafter she accepted. Because a decade's worth of training shouldn't just be thrown down the drain, Desiree was further offered another deal to act as a liaison between the FBI and Team Rainbow.
Additional training within Team Rainbow followed as her skills kept improving not only in the battlefield, but behind a computer as well. She was eventually dubbed "Murphy" because despite her marksmanship, Desiree had her fair share of clumsy moments, that which led others to bring up the topic of Murphy's Law. But despite that minor (and hilarious) setback, Desiree has more than settled with her routine despite the fact that the nature of her new job both excite and scare the living hell out of her.

[User]
Her short stature of 5'3 was ideal for Desiree to stand towards the back of their formation to remain invisible. She always preferred it that way as she wouldn't likely get called out for one reason or the other. But Tourè's speech was rather short, ending abruptly with a smart-ass comment. She cracked a smile, thinking to herself that she might just enjoy it there.

Desiree was the first one to break rank and hurry off to the G.M.D. Department after they were dismissed. Once there, she noticed Edwards was looking somewhat nervous. That wouldn't have been a red flag had he not been in a leadership position, but Desiree dismissed the thought and figured he was just dealing with some personal issues. She was the first one to approach him as the others were still making their way there.

"Desiree Monroe, Murphy, USA, member of the FBI Counter-terrorism Division." She stripped herself of her weapons as she spoke, unslinging her M-4 to place on the table between the two of them, then unholstering her sidearm to do the same. Desiree then felt around for her multi-function tool, smirking when she found it and placed in on the table as well. "Just in case," she shrugged, then reached around for her backpack to take out her laptop. "And this is where all the magic happens," she added, pushing the laptop to the center of the table. "You can have one of your IT guys check it out, or if you know these machines as well as I do, then it's all yours."

[Assistant]
Daniel was still cradling his rifle while getting his marching orders, to take his gear down to a drop point and have it check. He hoped they knew his tech wasn't allowed to be toyed with, GST didn't share there toys with anyone no matter the reason. He turned and stepped off to drop his equipment, more than anything he wanted a bunk he'd he was jet lagged and tired. He'd gone from his house at Fort Bragg to the airport then straight into a an overnight flight.

It had sucked, his transfer meant yet again his daughter was staying with his sister while he was off on a business trip. He hated lying to Katie he wanted to stay home and be a parent but being a soldier changed that, while this might not have been his usual gig he was going to do best he could. Finally arriving at the G.M.D. He laid his rifle on the table, speaking opening as he pulled off his sunglasses. "Daniel Matthews, Spectre, USA, special transfer." He added, knowing he wasn't allowed to talk about his work because it had never happened for all they were allowed to know he was mercenary.

"Don't touch the sights, just dialed them in before I left." He warned the clerk, before laying his sidearm on the table, next retrieving his drone. "Be careful with the little guy, he's worth more than I make in a year." He grinned setting the hover drone down on the table. Next he got out his eye piece and cross comm, laying it down on the table. "Whole thing is classified so no pictures. He next laid down the magnetic's sensors he had with him as well, before turning looking at the others who were there.

He decided to just move to the far wall and check his phone, maybe call his daughter and let her know daddy was okay. He sighed and just unlocked it staring at a photo of the two of them sitting on the porch swing, it was hard to believe she was four years old now. He wondered then smiled putting his shades back on and looking at the box of smoke's in ammo pouch thinking about having one.

[User]
---

---

 Frankie eyed the first person to take to the table. She was roughly his age, as he could tell, with a fair appearance. Indeed one of the more unusual of operators, especially when she placed down a laptop under her specialised equipment. It came as a slight shock, not knowing what to expect out of this. However, he was heavily briefed by Thatcher about who most of these Operators were. It would only make sense if she, this American lady, were to fit under the role of the Hacker. It was quite an odd and large device for such missions that were ahead.

 He lifted his head towards her, slowly picking her laptop up and turning it from side to side. Amongst the American-grade weaponry, it was definitely something remarkable. His eyes switched between her and the laptop a few times, before he eventually managed to smile a little bit. It had been the first time he'd smiled for a while, in the previous week, but he'd found this amusing; however, not in a mocking way...

"Glad to meet you, Monroe...Good to see a variety in equipment here, including this...Laptop? Y'know...Kind of odd having one of these here. You sure you haven't tried scaling the size of it down?" He opened the lid, checking all the buttons and wiring with a dumbed-down addition to IQ's tool. It was pretty neat and tidy, compared to the work she'd be training for here in Rainbow. To her last comment, he smiled to himself, chuckling lightly in his highland tone. "IT Department...Oh I wish I had someone else to lend me a hand. I only became an official Operator for a few months, and I've been in this organisation since it started...But, uh...Just come 'ere when you need it, and if you need any tweaks or fixes, I'll be on duty."

 Frankie knew that the discovery of him being an Operator may come as a shock or surprise to any of these new individuals. He didn't seem or look the part from first glance, but his ability within his gear was quite a different sight. That would have to be something for them to witness themselves in the future, but until then, he was left with only potential judgements. He knew that he wasn't even a match for Harold. Harold's experience and aggression was far higher and more intense than the sly approach Frankie usually gave.

 Another operator stood forward before he had the chance to dismiss the pleasant Operator. He was a more smartened up figure, hair nicely styled well compared to the rougher look of Frankie's black hair. He had a blunter tone, placing his equipment down and warning Frankie to keep his hands off of any harmful approaches to his machines. This was what frustrated Frankie, in the past and the present. These people, trained to go into military situations, bringing expensive toys right into the heart of combat and danger, and yet they are reluctant to allow Frankie, qualified in handling them, to monitor and study their structure. It was a kick in the teeth if he knew one...

 Frankie simply nodded at first. He knew what this person was, to some extent. He knew that Frankie had not earned the status to know of this man's origination, but could clearly tell who he was out of the group based on what little detail they received. Another organisation, most likely, much like Fourth Echelon and their tie ins with Frankie (Whom others were not likely to know about, due to the connections he had, similar to Daniel and the Ghosts). And Frankie could respect this, the secrecy. They did not need to know too much about one another, and it would be a luxury if they did. They were here for the same reason, hopefully, unless the transfer was against his own will. Either way, any man with any weapon that was effective with it would prove useful in the field.

"Right...Got it, no touchy touchy until I fully understand its structure. Which I can do, if you gave me time...Anyway...First impressions of the Headquarters? The countryside? The operators here?"

[Assistant]
Harold pushed himself up and walked over to the lady with the Australian accent. She had called herself a yank, but so had Eliza Cohen, and she had been Isralie. Offering a hand out to her, a neutral expression on his face, he gave her a proper looking over-once up, once down. "Hello there. I'm... Well, I'm Harold Fischer. I was operator for a while but you won't find me on any of the files, that's for sure." A sly smile crossed his face, one hand rubbing the slight amount of stubble that he had gained off-duty. He needed to start shaving again he realised, although that was a slight non-sequitur.

"They never gave me a codename, or at least they didn't until they had to." He indicated towards the modified shield, which even from here it was clear that it was not normal, a slanted angle allowing the force to be concentrated along one single line, weakening the surface before he properly burst in. "I'll be the one covering your ass. Krieg."

He wondered what the gal would be a specialist in. Most of the recruits in Six originally had been mechanical and electrical engineers- it was what made them as powerful as they did, most of them were experts having actually invented their gadgets. Unless the laptop had something under the hood, likely, she might not be that special.

He dismissed that thought. They were all in Six after all.

[User]
Daniel nodded to Frankie. "Yeah... It's pretty out here, I got a chopper ride in from the airport. It's pretty different to Fort Bragg." He added, obviously comfortable discussing home. "Sorry if I came little overprotective of my gear, it's just usually we gotta tell every clerk on base the rules with it. The 'toys' we use in my line of work are about as top end as it gets." He explained, skirting the subject of who he actually worked completely as usually.

"I am surprised with it all, I'm right out of the military myself so this is a hell of lot nicer than we usually get." He yawned loudly. "Of course, I've been awake now... Twenty or so hours, much as I like an all nighter, I can't wait to find my bunk." He added looking at Frankie, the guy seemed nice so he figured he might as talk for awhile. "As for the operator, I like the diversity but I look at this stuff and I have to wonder why they sent a sniper... I mean I'm also a drone and comm's specialist, though I suppose I have done a lot of anti-terrorist work in the past." He relaxed looking at his pack of smokes, thinking about one. "Oh, and you got a sat phone anywhere around here? I wanna call my sister and daughter, let them know I got here safe and sound." He added without much else to say.

[Assistant]
"Harold, nice to meet you," she replied, looking up at the man while gripping his hand with a firm handshake, "I'm Desiree Monroe, also known as Murphy." She eyed his shield, and for a brief moment, she pictured Fischer bursting through barricades and large crowds, sending people flying in various directions. The thought was entertaining, but she refrained from making a comment in that regard. On the job, she was always a professional first, jokester second, at least until she got to know her teammates and was comfortable enough around them to let her guard down.

"I used to be FBI, although my gear is nowhere near as impressive as what they portray on TV," she smiled, knowing that sooner or later he would inquire about her laptop. "But I seldom engage in offensive tactics as I'm more of a computer nerd. Don't get me wrong, I'm a hell of a shot, but I can get you eyes and ears on the enemy upon command, regardless of their location."

Desiree always felt she needed to defend her skills because one: she was a woman and two: she sat in front of a computer for a living. Put the two together and you've got a rather self-conscious agent who at times questions her own work.


[System]
Age: 15

Gender: Female

Appearance:
Maria uses a wheelchair to feign the appearance of a paraplegic. She uses her magic to move the wheelchair around.

Personality: Maria casts an outward appearance of a cheery, kind girl, always smiling while talking in a bubbly voice. However, beneath this social mask lies a mind broken by years of abuse into a dark and ruthless girl, her empathy withered away and her trust in other people hard to come by, devolving into paranoia when she is stressed. She has a fear of inferiority, and combats this by being driven by her lust for power, her ambition being her escape from the creeping despair that silently clutches her heart.
While she keeps a sociable appearance about herself, in truth she doesn't have a lot of friends, and keeps her relationships with other people strictly as business.
However, she has started to grow fond of her maid Fantine, and won't tolerate any cases of her mistreatment.

Bio: Maria was thrown into an orphanage before she could even remember the faces of her parents, who died shortly after her birth. She was brutally beaten and abused at a regular pace by the personnel there. However, before she was driven to an abyss of despair, she met a boy by the name of Klaus there, who promised to protect her and get them out of the orphanage. In time, she developed feelings for the boy.
One night they attempted an escape, but were about to be caught when Maria met an Incubator. Seeing that Klaus was caught, she made her wish and the two of them escaped successfully.
Later, Klaus was caught by an anti-MG mob and tortured to death due to his connections to Magical Girls after following Maria. Maria found out about this, and became determined to rule the world and take revenge on the people who took Klaus away from him, by any means possible.
Over the following years, Maria managed to worm her way to the position of a lieutenant in the Aurora City Authority through her persuasion skills, guile and political maneuvers, even resorting to underhanded tactics such as backstabbing and using torture to squeeze valuable secrets out of any hapless victim she managed to capture alive. Of course, she doesn't plan on stopping there, either...

Her domain includes the territory of a magical girl named Eponine, who has requested her home to be placed under Maria's, and by extension, Aurora's protection and rule and that her sister is given a place of refuge in Maria's HQ. In return, Maria demanded Eponine to swear fealty to her, and that Fantine will serve as her personal maid.

Allegiance: Aurora City Authority

Theme: A Stranger I Remain

Skills: Maria could be said to have a silver tongue, for she is very convincing and manipulative with her words, sprouting seeds of doubt and despair in any heart she can pierce with her angelic voice. She also has a profound knowledge of politics and tactics, and specializes in psychological warfare.

Weapons: Maria keeps a small dagger under her dress as a paranoid measure, though due to her status as a Magical Girl, rarely uses it.

Other: Maria loves sweet things such as cakes and cookies, and spends a lot of her free time snacking on them.

Magical Girl Appearance:
Maria keeps her eye-design and creepy demeanour while as a Magical Girl. Her costume also has more shades of dark-green and black.

Wish: "I wish to move Klaus away from his fate."

Weapons: A scythe with an intricate, flowery design going from the hilt all the way to the blade's end. Can be manipulated to change the position of the blade, making for a surprisingly adaptive weapon despite its unwieldiness.

Powers: Telekinesis. Maria may use her magic to control the movement of any object or person in her line of sight, including herself. For example, she can fly through the air, throw and draw distant targets and even freeze people in place. However, she needs to have one of her hands unoccupied and spread open for her to cast the magic from her palm and her fingers for multitasking and subtle movements, making her unable to use this power if her hands are unusable or occupied. Breaking her focus also results in the spell's canceling.
She may also perform a Force Choke-like spell on normal humans which Magical Girls are immune to.

[User]
Eponine certainly had set herself up for a difficult task, with no leads to go on besides those she had already reported to Maria. There were methods she could follow if she wanted, such as staking out Witches Barriers and waiting for a magical girl to arrive, but that would be time consuming, and there was no guarantee that the person she was looking for would ever show up at all.

But that would have to wait for a moment as her phone rang, caller id revealing who it was. It would be Adrian, one of the higher ranking people in the militia she had created to help her fight Witches. It was a group that undeniably took losses, but he had been one of the better ones at surviving it all, and if he was calling, then it had to be important.

That was revealed soon enough to her, once she had answered the phone. "Hey boss, remember that effigy thing with the grief seed people've been talking about? Well, some rogue magical girl decided to bust through one of the checkpoints into the city a little while ago. Thought you might want to know."

---

The Shadow Compact were not the easiest group to find, as Chloe would be able to attest to as she made her way through Aurora. They worked underground, were deeply suspicious of magical girls or collaborators, and took precautions accordingly. Then again, as someone who had managed to work herself into a partnership with that organization, she would know as much, and have planned accordingly to deal with it, especially when moving on to a new area.

Her knowledge would guide her along in her search for Compact assistance, directing her away from downtown and towards the rougher areas, the places that had missed out on the economic development present, and were home to crime, poverty, and dirty dealings. The places that one would usually find the Mafia, and where government control was weakest.

That wasn't to say that they Compact didn't operate in nicer parts of Aurora, because they did, but it would be easier to find a safe house in one of the less important (from the perspective of the government) neighborhoods. But for someone like her, ferreting out a safehouse shouldn't be that hard.

[Assistant]
Maria changed once again into something darker and brooding as she started to speak. "Indeed. We become nothing but screams of despair in the air, to be violently taken and then thrown away by those with purpose, scattered to the winds and consumed by strangers. To live without hope is to accept all the pain you have endured as having been for naught, to throw away any semblance of human will and to welcome complete oblivion."

Maria realized what she was saying and reverted back to her 15-year-old self. "Oh, I was starting to talk silly stuff. Never mind that, Fantine. I'll be at the study now, so don't disturb unless it's something important."

She turned her wheelchair around and headed for the study. It was a room with shelves packed to the brim with books of all sorts of topics and genres. However, she rarely read them; her main use for the room was in the green laptop she had sitting on a small table at the center of the room. Once she closed the room, she began to work on the various sheets and profiles she had already open on it, from small things such as grief seed farming charts to bigger files like intelligence she has collected on the city and the areas outside it. With nothing else to do, she continued working on it, managing and scheming with no set difference.

[User]
"Track her, but keep a safe distance," Eponine ordered, "We want this one...alive. And unharmed, as much as possible." Eponine hopped in the jeep that had taken her here and ordered the soldier to drive her to the checkpoint. Speaking to the survivors, Eponine was able to glean a general idea of what this rogue looked like, as well as her magical weapon. What was troubling, but nonetheless expected due to the need to conserve magic, was the fact that the rogue seemed not to have revealed what her magical ability was. Apparently the rogue had also been shot in the leg, if she didn't use magic to heal the wound, she should be hobbling at a slower pace, but if she did use magic, she might be more desperate to find a grief seed. Eponine asked if the trail was still hot. She wiped blood from her mouth with her forearm, noticing that, once again, she had bitten the inside of her mouth without noticing.

"Understood, Lady Maria," Fantine replied, letting Maria head off to her library. However, Maria's words made Fantine worry more about Eponine, so she quickly dried the tears that had started welling up at the corners of her eyes. Certain that she was no longer visibly sad, she headed down to the kitchen to help out with chores.

[Assistant]
Chloe had spent as little time as possible patching up her leg. Without any convenient cloth on hand, and lacking the desire to tear up a good shirt or skirt for something like this, she had needed to take a quick 'peek' inside some stranger's home, where she managed to find a few bandages. Hopefully the delay wouldn't cost her much time, but at least she wouldn't be bleeding out everywhere. The tradeoff for her magical powers was a body that was close to being indestructable, but the body couldn't move without blood, and if she bled all over the streets and rooftops she might as well be leaving a trail of bread crumbs.

After taking care of herself and dodging through the streets of the inner city, she found what she was looking for. One of the few safehouses of the Shadow Compact that she had been in contact with before. She was no stranger to the poverty-stricken areas of Aurora, having grown up in such areas since birth, and hiding herself away in dirty rat-holes like this since forming her contract. Not only were they good places to hide away from the prying eyes of the government, but the despair here was strong, which made it a great place to hunt for witches.

Few people here were happy to see her, but she was able to get the medical attention she needed from a street doctor who had been hiding away here. Nothing else was particularly important to her, and she was a long shot from caring about the opinions of any other urchins here.

"Haah, what a pain in the ass. You think you guys would be a little more grateful. I might just be taking the heat off your doorstep so you can do your own little things, whatever they are. I keep telling you, we both have the same goal, don't we?"

[User]
By the time Eponine arrived at the checkpoint in question, she would find most of the affair over, medics taking care of the injured men while a clean up crew dealt with the property damage. Of that there was very little this time, though that was not always the case in these sorts of things. Given what the apparent intent was, it wasn't unreasonable though.

She'd find Adrian there already, a tall man with black hair and more than his share of battle scars, a former mercenary that had joined up with her. He was of a particular breed, but that made him very good at what he did. "Hey Boss," he said with a nod, glancing over to the men getting treated currently, pitying them just a bit for what they had suffered. "Everything was all settled by the time I got here. You can talk to them if you want, but at this point we don't have any leads. They're looking, but given that it was a magical girl, there isn't much hope for picking up her trail."

He shrugged, a hand resting on the pistol strapped to his waist. "Still, none of the other checkpoints have reported seeing her, so odds are that she's still in this section of the city, unless she happens to have some kind of illusion magic." It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

---

There were currently two men present in the safehouse that Chloe had found herself at, one the doctor who had patched hr up, and the other one of the men who worked with the Compact, and someone decently important, in terms of this local cell. Luckily, the doctor had had it easy given the nature of his patient, and it hadn't taken much work to deal with the wounds she had received. Now she could spend the time to heal up, if she so wanted.

The safehouse was a bit small, more cozy than anything, and it was certainly well stocked with food, weapons, medical supplies, and the like. From the outside it would look like a place to be avoided, but inside it wasn't too bad. Then again, given its purpose that probably wasn't a surprise.

The contact, Oscar, a pretty average fellow who preferred to look that way, with close cropped brown hair and casual garb to match, sighed as he watched Chloe from his position, leaning against a counter top. "Yeah yeah, so you say. And you had the code words, and the name drops to get in here. But we didn't survive this long simply on blind faith." He watched her with thinly veiled distrust, not that he'd have much of a chance if she actually tried to do anything. It was a reminder that not even her nominal allies trusted her all that much. "SO what's your plan now that you're here? They're going to be looking for you."

---

The knowledge of all the plans Maria had was generally well confined, as was to be expected from someone like her. While there might have been rumors, there was no solid proof to accompany them, and as long as that remained the case it seemed that she would be allowed to make her plots in peace and security. Certainly rumors were not enough to act on, at least under the current ruler of Aurora. In the past that might have been another matter, but that was not the present moment.

For some time she would be undisturbed, until a voice spoke to her in her head, a familiar tone that she may have viewed with some disdain, yet that also served a valuable purpose, here and elsewhere. Hello Maria Goethe, Kyubey said as he emerged from around a corner as if by magic itself, which it was in all likelihood. You appear to be well.

[Assistant]
"Have this area placed on lock-down, no one leaves or enters without my permission, and have her physical description circulated to each checkpoint. And if anyone sees her, they are to attempt to inform her that I wish to parley with her."

While Adrian went about fulfilling her orders, Eponine gathered three more of her best. When Adrian returned, Eponine said, "Adrian, we're going on a manhunt."

[User]
"Kyubey, how nice to see you," Maria responded as she turned around to greet the white creature with her trademark cuteness. "Why yes, I am most fine as you can see. Now, what brings you to my humble abode?"

In truth, Maria didn't actually care about the creature's purpose behind his visit, but decided to enjoy a bit of small talk while she had the chance, since Kyubey tends to leave magical girls alone after the contract, only appearing to dispose of grief seeds. While she does appreciate the gifts that his kind have given to her, she also knows their true nature, and, given her mood, would have no qualms with making his small head explode with her magic, since she is also aware of their apparent immortality.