[System]
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Appearance: Lance is a bit on the lanky side, he stands at about 5 feet 10 inches
Hometown: Echo

Personality: Lance at first glance seems active. His eyes are always roaming and he's always moving in some way, whether it be snapping his fingers to an unheard beat, bouncing his feet, or roaming back and forth. He's a rather hopeful individual, always looking on the bright side of things. He enjoys trying in everything to his fullest ability and encouraging others to do the same.

Relic Description A oversized coin about the size of his palm, held about his neck on a chain. It appears to be made of platinum and is engraved with the likeness of Byakko on one side and Seiryu on the other.

Starting Natrelmon: Kaiguard (15) Mythin(5)
Starting Spell Schools: Invocation(I) : Stonewarding (III)

History: Growing up in Echo Lance's family never had much money to spare. Since misery loves company Lance had plenty of opportunity to see people worse than him. To cope with his own families troubles he became something of a penny pincher, scrounging coins and making the most of the money he could get his hands on. To further this end learned how to make make potions and sell them for a profit. Of course he wasn't exclusively selfish, he would use what he could to help those he saw as most in need as best he could. Normally he wouldn't consider doing the rites, but with an incentive in place that's all the excuse he needs. Plus he can visit different cities, get different potion making materials, and gain a more global view of how he can make profit, and help people.

Gifts: Veritas(Lie detector)
Professions: Merchant Herbalist
Noteworthy Skills: Good with money and numbers, Whistling, Optimism

[User]
Lance Tourmill

Lance headed back into the city having just finished an expedition outside for various purposes. It had gotten rather late and Lance for some reason found himself feeling un-nerved by something. The strange howling was a noise that was unfamiliar to Lance, something rather surprising considering he'd grown up in this city. Futhermore as Lance headed back into the city he found remarkable, un-natural, Nautrelomon at every corner. Yata-Garasus. Or at least, that's what he assumed they were, and his PDA confirmed this. Lance found it fascinating that they didn't even seem to mind being stared at. The combination of three legs and eyes, with blood rust plumage and that malicious peak combined to make a visage that only enhanced the disturbing sensation that had been present all night. Lance was far from the only one that noticed and far from the only trainer on the streets. It seemed people were getting into battles and fights left and right. Lance slipped into a side alley and made his way through the city without attracting much notice, as he was rather familiar with it.

For some reason he felt a nagging little pull and he followed it cautiously, not so sure it was a good idea considering the circumstances but too curious to say no. Lance found himself viewing a fountain, upon which an old man sat. More notably, there was a swarm of those Yata-Garasu around him, seemingly at his beck and call. He was babbling something about, ancient magic? Between the birds and the preaching Lance couldn't say he wasn't interested, and the same seemed true for others here. "Yo, Your staff is in your hands already, you don't need to keep looking for it." Lance said as he approached, not sure if the old man was playing him for a fool or really just not all there. "That magic sounds pretty interesting, also, are these Yata-Garasu up for capture or is that a no go?" Lance asked nonchalantly, pretty much ignoring the other, slightly more angry dude also talking to the geezer.

[Assistant]
@The 42nd Gecko @Raijinslayer @Innue @Payldue

Kiyo, like the others, had been drawn towards the square by the strange pall of magic that had weaved itself over Toran. Though less outwardly aggressive than the other trainers, Kiyo had channeled the strange energy that she felt into the pursuit of knowledge. She had used her family's name in a manner akin to--but not quite--a battering ram to get into the Library in the dead of night when sleep would not come, and had spent the past six or so hours comparing the information within those tomes to the portable records of her family's library on her PDA. When she arrived in the square she looked positively haggard and thoroughly frazzled, but the main look on her face was still overwhelming dispassion rather than outright frustration or frenetic energy.

She stood by Selim, acknowledging his presence with a bow, as she continued to delve into a tome held open with her left hand. Mythrael lounged near her, seemingly unaffected by the various goings-on, though her and Kiyo were mentally dissecting much of their findings over the night. Her own natural telepathy, inquisitive magical nature, and mastery over a strange and esoteric magic had enabled her to bond very closely with her Mythrael even in the short period of time they'd known one another. They still had a way to go, but the species were generally of human or above level intelligence, and it was more like Kiyo had made a friend than captured a magical creature to serve her--the level of autonomy she offered the Mythrael even after a few days was considerably more than most were willing to.

Kiyo found herself remarkably curious as to precisely what the Old Man was offering. Magic had existed before the Four--anyone with access to the Archmages' library could tell you that--but anything beyond that was fuzzy. Many of the ancient accounts were... apocryphal at best, and Kiyo had never known which bits of it to take as gossip and exagguration and which bits of it were deeply rooted in truth. For that reason alone, she stepped forward past the swarm of Yata-Garasu and waited for more exposition.

The Strange Old Man seemed not to actually respond to any of the inquiries levied at him by the assorted crowd of trainers, instead repeating his spiel about being able to teach the trainers ancient magic. Once a sizeable enough crowd had gathered, however, the Yata-Garasu seemed to flock in a circle around the old man. The birds were clearly preventing anybody from leaving, offering hisses and squawks at anyone who attempted--such as Süne. If he did not get the picture and stay comfortably within the circle, they would very clearly not hesitate to attack him and it seemed unlikely that he would survive the barrage that the incredibly powerful creatures could bombard him with.

"The Four have lied to you! The Magic of eld still exists, unaffected by the imposition of the Void, and I can teach you... I will teach you, Akasha be damned! If you wish to learn... you need only stay close to me. If you do not desire the power to unlock your magical potential, then I will not force you to stay... but an ill omen will fall upon you! Those who refuse true power shall be consumed by those brave enough to take it!"

The Old Man seemed to have hit a patch of lucidity, contrasting his earlier babbling and madness, and was drawing a small symbol onto the ground with his staff, and those learned in the finer points of the magical arts would be able to tell that he was drawing upon a kind of magic they had never experienced. It was wild and chaotic, rushing through them and into the ground below them. After only a second or so, a streak of crimson and violent energy leaped up from the ground with a blinding flash, and suddenly the entire square seemed to have been engulfed by a dome of earth. The Old Man continued to mutter and perform odd movements with his staff, and the Yata-Garasu began to caw out a cacophonous shriek in unison with the Old Man's actions. Very soon the vibration within the dome was a tangible, physical thing that was gripping their skulls with a rising pressure until there was a 'pop' and all of a sudden it was all gone, as were all except three of the Yata-Garasu, who remained perched on the Old Man's staff.

The earthen dome crumbled away, and each of the trainers found themselves in a clearing in a forest. It still seemed to be Toran, from the ambient temperature and weather conditions, but the lot of them had just been transported in a way that seemed to not be possible by any known metric of magic. This would, at least, confirm that the Old Man's claims of knowing ancient and powerful magic were certainly not false.

"Those who wish to learn, follow me into the cave." The Old Man stated, gesturing with his staff towards a yawning portal of stone on the northern edge of the clearing.

"The others... You may wait here until the choice has been made. Then you will be allowed to leave."

And with that, he began to walk into the cave, waiting for the other trainers to make their choices.

[User] Guess they weren't up for capture then. The Old Man seemed to completely ignore everyone here, though the birds that had been before hanging docilely around were now flying around a frenzied cyclone. Lance eyed them warily, he wasn't sure his odds would be too good if they actually decided to attack considering how many of them there were. Lance looked back at the Old Man to see him sketching something. That 'something' released a flash of light that made Lance cover his eyes, along with a increasing force like he was flying upwards. A moment later the sensation vanished, and as Lance opened his eyes, he realized his old surroundings had as well. This was either some sort of illusion or teleportation magic, either of which were beyond Lance's scope of understanding, but well within his scope of interest. The decision before him seemed simple enough. He had no interest in waiting around and he had an avid interest in learning just what this Old Man was selling. So Lance simply began following him into the cave.


[System]
Race: Cat girl - Beast Folk
Class: Warrior Mage

Blessings:
 Immortality - She doesn't age.
 Partial vampirism - can drink blood and draw power from it.

Inventory:
Magic vault bag - has the storing capacity of 1x3 meters chest.
Many random trinkets
Gold and gems.
Amazon clothing.

Necromantic bone scepter – boosts dark magic.
Vampire necromantic robe – boosts dark magic.

Adventurer's clothes - sturdy set of comfortable clothes, suitable for every adventurer.

[User]
Naisha let out a happy smile as she cuddled into the arms while the redhead was carrying her away from the temple. The dark atmosphere of the place was getting to her and being brought away from it was truly a pleasant feeling.

 When Alex carried her up on the horse and started riding away from the temple, Naisha let out a sigh of relieve as a stream of black blood was running down the edge of her mouth. She had finally managed to overpower the chimera poison in her. She didn't expect to do it this fast, but considering she burned most of her energy in doing it, she was lucky to succeed. Also the chimera poison clashed with the poison she drained from Karette earlier that was still in her body.

 With that done, she wiped the black blood from her face with her hand and looked longingly at Alex's neck… Nai couldn't help herself anymore. She could feel her lover's pulse and hear the blood flowing in her veins." I'm sorry Alex… I cannot hold it anymore." She whispered as she hugged the bigger woman as strong as she can at the moment and gently bit the redhead's neck. Alex's blood was so tasty~ so Naisha drank it with great pleasure. The sensation was incredibly satisfying.

 After she had a fair bit of blood from Alex, Naisha snapped back to her into reality and quickly released her tight hold on the amazon and looked up. A certain slight fear in her eyes could be read as she was afraid that what she did might have made Alex feel uncomfortable or straight out angry." I'm sorry…" She muttered with very weak voice and her cat ears adding to her dejected expression.

[Assistant]
The red blinked a little as she felt Naisha shift in her embrace, glancing down at her lover curiously as Naisha whispered a apology. Returning deep blue eyes blinking a bit more as they gazed at the part vampire. "Mhm?" she questioned before gasping a bit and giving a soft yip in surprise as she felt childhood friend sink her fangs into the amazon's neck. Feeling the smaller body embrace her, sinking closer to the taller woman in order to get better access to the exposed throat, Alex blinked a little as she felt a stinging pain yet it wasn't too bad. After a few heartbeats of the initial pain, it almost felt nice. She even had to bite her bottom lip to cease a moan to escaping her lips. Although, she did start to feel a bit tired as she felt quite a bit of her blood being drained from her. Naisha really did push herself.

Despite this, Alex didn't try to pull away or push her friend off, allowing Naisha to have as much as she needed. When Naisha got her fill and seemed to snap out of it, the black haired woman backed off and gazed up at the taller woman with a slight fear. Alex blinked as she gazed at her apologizing lover, feeling her living flesh on her face flush a bit. Raising a hand to clamp against the bite on her neck as she looked at Naisha. "Don't make that face. You can get away with murder with that face." Alex said in minor embarrassment as she glanced away but cleared her throat and gave a smile. Gently moving her hand away from her neck and to under Naisha's chin to raise it a little and give the feline a pick peck on the lips.

"Hey. It's alright. You're free to feed from me anytime. Rather it be me then some random person. And it's not so bad." Alex tried to reassure, moving her hand to one of the adorable cat ears and gently rubbing it between two fingers.

[User]
"Really?" Naisha asked carefully when Alex stated she could drink her blood when the cat girl needed to. It was a really nice statement that brought a smile on the catgirl's lips. In the past she was used to not really be into drinking blood due the demon pact, but since that was now gone, the thirst was back… or at least at times. Being basically alive now, meant she had her own blood and didn't need to drink it unless the situation demands it like… let's say she burned most her magic and blood to deal with a poison or something.

 The fur on Nai's tail suddenly spiked as she felt the fingers of her lover on her ear. Why were those ears so bloody sensitive! A moan a escaped her mouth as she hugged Alex tightly once again. This was kind of good indeed… being treated like this. Nai enjoyed it when Alex was taking control of the situation.

 "Alex… please… don't … not now…" Nai pleaded to her lover. She was tired and also supposed that the death knight was also quite tired considering the amount of blood she drew out of her.

 Ohh how she wished they had a teleportation, but Nai's teleportation was bound to her dark magic which was now gone. She knew there were teleportation with arcane magic, but did not know it. That said she realized something… if they couldn't teleport, they could at least move even faster.

 Having some of her magic restored now, she concentrated and threw speed boosting spells over both horses. Suddenly the speed increased drastically." I think we will make it back on time…shall we take turns controlling the horses again?"

[Assistant]
Nodding a little in reply to Naisha's words, Alex smiled softly. "Of course it's alright. Try not to drain me dry though so my body can at least create more for you." she grinned a little before the blush on her face deepened at her lover's reaction to the rubbing of the feline ear. Although Naisha pleaded for the red head to stop, her body language almost seemed to disagree. Clinging closer and letting out sounds of pleasure. It was really adorable and it just made want to do more, spoil her little kitten but Naisha was right. They were both tired and needed a bit of rest. Maybe she could tease her another time. She had to fight a deeper blush at the thought and she just shook her head and leaned down, giving a soft chuckle as she kissed Naisha's ear.

"Sorry Nai, couldn't help it. You're just really cute." Alex hummed, blinking a little as their speed increased before yawning at the question. "Yeah that would be a good idea. Don't really want to slow down. I'll take first watch, so get some rest Nai." she said softly. Giving a affectionate kiss to her lovers forehead. She had to wonder when exactly she got this sappy, but she supposed with Naisha she's always been a bit soft and sappy. Guess she was just feeling more comfortable with the idea of upgrading from friends to lovers.

[User]
"Don't worry I suppose…" Naisha replied with a cute smile." Since I'm alive now it will only be for special occasions that demand it… or if you demand it…" She said and looked down, blushing up to her ears for she did notice that Alex seemed to enjoy it. She had learned when she became vampire back then that people seemed to enjoy being 'snacked' on by a vampire. That said… it was also quite pleasurable for the vampire as well.

 "Alright… I will change your later…" Nai said with a yawn and cuddled into her lover as they rode. As the cat girl fell asleep she started purring. She felt safe and comfortable, cuddled into Alex like that.

 --------------------------------------------------------------
 A room at an unknown location

 Krieli'nas sat quietly on a chair, watching through the window. It's been a good few days since she had to return to the witch tower and she was glad that was over with. As expected they(she) beat the paladins and now she had to return to her queen. Still the nagging feeling that something went wrong didn't leave her. Something had happened with Karette and she knew it." Guard, how are the preparations going?" She asked and a beautiful woman with long flowing and glowing hair showed on the doorstep." Nearly ready, we will depart in a few hours." Was the response to which the witch only nodded. " Please be safe for a little while longer…" She whispered, prying for the amazon queen.

---------------------------------------------------------------

 "Alex, we are almost there!" Naisha exclaimed, seeing the tree line in the distance. She could see the forest of the amazons ahead. It took about half the time to return that it took them to get to that temple. Those speed enchantments were incredibly useful! By now Naisha had recuperated enough of her strength that she was riding her own horse and that sped things even more!

 But there was a problem… ahead of them was a line of soldiers!" Those bastards just don't give up!" She exclaimed in anger." We will charge right through them! Boost-triple- Lighting rain!" She shouted as her magic erupted and a rain of lighting fell from the skies, turning into charcoal the soldiers in their path, creating quite the big opening that was covered in charred remains like tiles.

 "OPEN THE GATES! WE HAVE RETURNED!" Naisha shouted in her unusually loud for such a small woman voice when they neared the gate of the village.

[Assistant]
Alex blushed deeply, brushing her lips against Naisha's ear. "....I might take you up on that offer." she whispered. It really did feel oddly good, it was quite weird really. Was it just a vampire drug thing or was Alex really just a masochist? Either way, the thought still made her face hot. Still, Alex couldn't help but smile as her lover curled up against her, purring cutely and peacefully.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Awe finally." Alex sighed in relief before perking up at the site of soldiers and gave a irritated growl. Really?! [color=red]"God damnit! Don't these assholes ever learn?!" The red head spat irritably as she unsheathed her demon sword, but used her other hand to hold Naisha and the reigns closely while slashing any soldier that dared to try and stop them. While Naisha cleared a path with her magic while the Amazons guarding the gate and defending by using arrows and spears from the wall started opening the giant gates for the two.

After riding inside, Alex glanced back to see the gates slam shut, the soldiers cursing loudly and shouting.

"Lady Naisha and Lady Alana! Thank the Mothers you have returned!" Alana shouted as she came out to meet them, utter relief and joy on the elf's face.

Alex dismounted, helping Naisha down and looked to the elf, face twisting in both concern and annoyance. "Have those bastards been here the entire time? And how's the Queen?" she asked.

The elf sighed and slowly nodded as she glanced toward the gates. "Yes. They seem to be trying to defeat the Amazons while Lady Krieli'nas is away and Queen Karette is too ill to fight. Our walls are strong though and the Amazons by themselves are still not easy to defeat even without Queen Karette. Queen Karette.... she's been hanging in there, but she's been feeling worse by the minute." she said softly.

-----

Within the Queen's chambers, the ill Queen layed in her bed of furs, gasping a bit and beads of sweat dripping from her tan skin. Crimson hair sticking to her face as she struggled to breathe and her body writhed slightly in pain. ".... Kri..." she whispered out the witch's name. She was feeling a bit delirious, and her thoughts could just focus on her lover. Even if she wasn't here, the thought of her was comforting. Amalthea was beside, the elf's gentle hands over the large amazon, hands glowing with a holy light as she continually used her healing magic. Her frail body shook a bit, obviously struggling from keeping this magic up.

[User]
"We got the chimera blood!" Naisha shouted as she quickly began pulling Alex with her towards Karette's chambers." It's effective against the demonic poison the queen is suffering from! I confirmed it while we were returning!" Nai stated urging Alex to pull out the bottle of chimera blood. The situation outside was indeed serious, but if Karette fell it was going to turn times worse.

 "My queen!" Naisha exclaimed by pure instinct without even realizing it when they entered the room. Almathea was trying her best, but her skills were simply not enough it seemed. Seems like Nai and Alex returned just in time. A little bit later and Karette probably wouldn't survive it. Taking the blood from Alex, Naisha threw herself on her knees by the amazon queen." Almathea, rest now, I will take it from here." Nai said with a smile, her magic surging up with dangerous speed." Sage of the boundless seas!" She muttered, unleashing her transformation as all fluids around the area began to bow to Nai's rule.

 Using her magic she took the blood from the bottle and made it hover over the queen's body." This is going to hurt… Just don't give up!" Nai pleaded before taking control of the chimera blood. The dark crimson fluid hovered in the air above Karette for a moment, before it dispersed into countless tiny drops and then those began sinking into Karette through her skin. It was a painful process and that was just the beginning." HOLD HER DOWN! SHE MUST NOT MOVE!" Naisha shouted, calling to every amazon in the area to help in this. Karette may have been queen and incredible warrior, but there were things even someone like her wouldn't endure without moving. This was basically equal to have your body pierced by countless needless at the same time without regard of it a nerve was on the way.

 One the chimera blood was completely into her body, Nai was going to use her magic to have it move through the entire body, every blood vessel, every tissue until the demon poison was dispersed. This was going to be a long day work!" It will take time… Alex… protect the walls while I do this…" Nai managed to say.

 -------------------------------------------

 "We are ready to depart. The whole squad is aboard and the engine room gives us green light." A woman seemingly in her twenties with glowing red hair in beautiful armor said to Krieli'nas. Put in a room like this, the two women looked strangely similar as if they were sisters." We will arrive in about a day." The witch nodded as she felt a slight tremor under her feet. Through the window of the room she was in, it could be seen they were elevating high into the air." I'm having a bad feeling… I know something went wrong, but there is some kind of darkness blocking my senses. In my condition I cannot overcome that barrier. Please, send advance party…" The witch pleaded to the younger girl who only returned a smile." It shall be done right away! Go tell the rest of the Crimson Wing to prepare!" She said to another woman in armor who went to fulfill her order right away." Yes, captain!"


[System]
Age: 34 years old
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Affiliation: Currently Independent, Previous Unknown

Picture/Appearance:
With dark hair and green eyes, there are few notable features about his face aside, of course, from the numerous scars and evidence of past injuries. He is usually seen wearing jeans, a rough shirt, a worn-down fedora and a Seattle Police Department SWAT riot vest, though it's been remarked that the red bandana tied to his shoulder seems a little out-of-place for someone so practical.

The man walks through the wasteland with a positive attitude wholly unsuited to one who has seen such violence. Instead, he's usually got a smile on his face, sunglasses on his eyes, and a joke on the tip of his tongue.

Backstory:
Known for his positive attitude and easy-going manner, Hudson has been a welcome sight in the past five years, especially in the BC Wasteland, and those who know him quite like the man. However, not many can quite pin down where the man came from, and when exactly it was that he arrived, though most seem to recall that it was about 2270 or so. He has been a regular staple in and out of Gastown ever since, though he's often gone for days, even weeks at a time, always coming back with unique salvage to trade.

Hudson's history, however, isn't something he likes to discuss very much. He doesn't like to talk about the numerous scars on his arms and back, and certainly not strange brand on the back of his right shoulder, that of a bull with an "X" burned over it. Several who have been insistent about such things have been given clear, no-nonsense warnings from behind the muzzle of Hudson's 12.7mm pistol, Fiona. As of yet, she hasn't had to provide a stronger argument than simply a glare.

Still, Hudson has formed a kinship with the people of the Vancouver Wasteland, and seems especially willing to do whatever is necessary to keep others from harm. He acts with swift justice against any who would try to plunder or pillage at the expense of others, and is especially perturbed by any who try to inflict their will upon others, letting Fiona back up his arguments when his personal charm can't quite seem to get the job done.

But despite his overall "righteous" demeanor, surely one with Hudson's fighting skills had to come from somewhere. And surely a man so determined to cause a ruckus can't avoid notice forever.

[User]
Soon the guns died down, anyone or anything within their targeting path had either ran to safety or had been vaporised into ash. Suddenly everyone with a radio through the wasteland had their channels automatically changed to the Enclave Station.

Greetings citizens of Canada! For too long have we been silent, for too long have people believed us to be dead, scattered and hiding under rocks!

But I, President Thomas F. Irons am pleased to tell you good people that the Enclave is back! Oh yes. Like a phoenix we have risen from the ashes of America to save not just America, not just Canada, but the World!

That's right good people. For too long have we been separate, believing that countries should fend for themselves, that our problems are greater than there's. But they're not! All of us were devastated by atomic fire, all of us have had loved ones lost. That stops today!

Today we regain our humanity! We the Enclave have developed a new cure, one that will help us all, generations of mutant will be eradicated, set our bodies back to the purity that they were before the War! Citizens of Canada, we invite you to join the Enclave in our mission to restore the world!

This is President Thomas F. Irons, not of America, not of Canada but the President of the New World Order, Signing off.

As the broadcasts stops, everyone's radio disconnects from the Enclave channel.

[Assistant] Taking a handful of shots at the raiders and Enclave soldiers had helped thin the crowd a bit, but the fight was still going strong. As Abram watched through the scope of his rifle, he noted some movement further down the line of sight. Spotting someone darting through the trees, he tried to focus in on them, but to no avail. Instead, he sent a few more shots into the raiders and soldiers. That's when the rumbling started from the base. Massive turrets arose from the ground, tracking and lining up with everyone nearby, charging up for their shots. Abram was already in the motion of ducking down, when a body came hurtling at him and tackled him to the ground, with a familiar voice shouting at him to get down. As the two tumbled down, the area Abram had been lying in was suddenly ripped to shreds with turret fire. When the guns eventually died down, Abram looked up at the face of one Garrett Hudson, a former partner and enemy he had worked with in the past. "Well, shit Hudson...at least buy a guy some dinner first." Abram grumbled, rolling out from underneath him, but still keeping low enough to avoid being spotted by the gun turrets. "How about we get out of here, then you tell me just what the hell's going on, eh?" He said, sneaking carefully through the brush, away from the Enclave's newest HQ.

[User]
Somewhere over the skies of Vancouver

The unmistakable sound of rotor blades scrapped the sky. There, battling through the harsh upper winds of Canada was an Enclave Vertibird, clearly heading down south. However, something was off about it. While it was up against harsh conditions, Enclave pilots knew how to fly in these environments, but the Vertibird was all over the place. That's when it began to nosedive directly into the snow below.
There was a faint explosion that was muffled by the wind.

At the crash site was a much more devastating sight. For a moment it had seemed that the personnel inside had survived, looking over the crash site, it wasn't until you saw their blood soaked faces that one could tell something was amiss.

Their armour pieces which had fallen of revealed flesh that continued to peel from the bone and a groaning from the troops was constant. However, these were unlike anything seen before. Not even ghouls acted like this... this was something new.

[Assistant]
Normally, Hudson would be making jokes, but when automatic fire was shredding everything just molecules over his head, his ability to snark was significantly reduced. Instead, his focus was just on making himself, and by extension, Abram, sink as completely into the frozen Earth as possible. He silently cursed himself for even getting into this kind of predicament.

Five hundred caps really isn't worth all this, is it?

Just as suddenly as it began, the turrets wound down. The mechanical whirring slowed, and finally there was mostly silence across the valley. It took a moment for Hudson to realize that he probably wasn't going to die here, and so he risked a look, peering out over the berm.

The guns had moved back into a stationary position, and it looked like the coast was finally clear.

Hudson's impromptu mattress groaned.

"Well shit, Hudson..." The ghoul grumbled, pushing the merc off of himself and rolling out of the non-unimpressive indentation they'd made in the dirt. "At least buy a guy some dinner first."

"Come on Abram," Hudson grinned, pulling up to a crouch and picking up his rifle. "I thought you ghouls liked rough foreplay."

They both glanced about, making sure not to be spotted, and Abrams took the lead, making his way further up above the valley, staying in the brush.

"So what are you doing here?" Asked Hudson in a hushed tone. The ghoul turned back, a bit of chiding in his voice.

"How about we get out of here, then you tell me just what the hell's going on, eh?"

Hudson nodded.

The two continued further, eventually making their way out of what they assumed was the facility's attack range, before finally standing up. Hudson placed his pack and rifle on the ground and stretched his back, swearing he could hear a snap or two as a couple of his vertebrae clicked themselves back into place.

"You know, you're not a comfortable body pillow," said Hudson, twisting his torso and rolling his neck. In doing so, he glanced at his pack.

Right through the transmitter was a shiny silvered slag hole, evidence of a plasma round which had blasted clean through it.

Damn it!

He turned to Abram.

"So, I'll be honest - I don't know what's going on down there. I'm here on Imperial freelance, only. They wanted some southland scouts at five-hundred caps for a two-week contract. Whoever these magic pop-up facility assholes are, I'm sure the Tinsui would pay even more to know they're here, but..."

He indicated the slagged transmitter.

"But with the transmitter busted, the closest Imperial scouting station is about fifty miles north of here."

Hudson turned back to Abram.

"Did you get the same job? Or are you on the Coalition for this one?"

[User]
Abram led Hudson away from the compound as best as he could, his worn sidearm from his service in the Army drawn and aimed at every possible alcove for enemy positions along the way. As they crept, Abram thought to himself Wonder what the odds are on meeting Hudson all the way out here? If I was a betting man, it'd probably be a quite a pretty penny. When they finally reached a seemingly safe position, they both stood from their crouched positions, Abram grunting slightly as his ancient bones readjusted.

"You know, you're not a comfortable body pillow." He heard Hudson grumble, and replied with a quick "You're no Tempur-Pedic yourself.." as he rubbed and massaged one of his shoulders. Abram also noted Hudson glancing over his transmitter, and saw the plasma hole. Hudson then told him about the assignment he had gotten from the Imperials, asking him if he was on the same job, or if the Coalition had sent him.

Abram looked to Hudson and said "Actually, I was out hunting when I noticed those guys come storming through the forest, scared all the game away. So I followed 'em, and lo and behold they're the Enclave. If you aren't aware, the Enclave is some kooked-up army group convinced they can" Abram gives a snarl and some sarcastic airquotes, "'rebuild America' by killing anyone irradiated or mutated, which includes basically anyone not born in a vault. I had a spat with 'em back in 2242 down in California. Some tribal kid blew up their base out in the water, and so the locals got together and kicked the rest of them out of their base on the coast. A pretty decent-sized handful of 'em got away, so it's no big surprise they're back..." He took this time to pull out a cigarette and light it, sucking on it a bit before speaking again.

"Anyway, if they're here, and you're working for the Imperials in this area, they'll wanna know. We should get to that scouting station as soon as we can. We'll have to camp out once it gets dark though, but we should be far enough out that the Enclave won't see us."

[Assistant]
Deep within the base, Davis had moved up into the secondary labs, scientists and technicians were already hard at work getting it up to a fully operational state. Davis panned for the power button and activated it.

Soon the lights revealed the true potential of the lab. In the centre laid a holographic schematic table that brushed through different prototypes including a new Mk.3 'Ultimate' Power Armour. However, on the walls was a more… ghastly sight.

Test subjects encased within Vita-Pods labelled Alpha-001 through-009. These were some form of new FEV super solider program that had been set during the Great War. But was supposed to have been shut down due to ethical reasons.

In front of Davis was the 'Overlord' terminal. This oversaw every section of research throughout the base and where he inserted the new canister of Irons's own FEV and began the replication process.

[User]
Abram explained who this "Enclave" was, and though Hudson smirked at the locals kicking their asses out of California, the idea of yet another group crowding their way into the wasteland with guns and power armor ticked all the wrong boxes for him.

The Enclave - Great. Another "kill-everybody-and-smile-at-you-for-the-honor-of-it" circus. Thought I'd left that shit behind.

Hudson had never much liked dealing with the "big dogs" of the wastes. The Brotherhood, NCR, the Khans - They were all the same to him. Bullies who took what they wanted, when they wanted, and damn whoever decided to get in the way. He'd fought for his freedom before, and he'd do it again. He wasn't about to let some group pop in with their plasma rifles and force their way into Vancouver. Even if he had to blow their little magic base down there back into its own crater all by his lonesome.

He sighed - his own bluster wasn't going to take care of this. He'd need help, and when it came to dealing with big guns, you needed big guns of your own.

While it'd taken a little time to earn their trust, Hudson was actually rather chummy with the Tinsui these days. He'd become one of their go-to scouts, especially down in the southern borders, and the fact that the ISD knew him by name for his various tech deliveries surely meant he was "part of the team," didn't it?

Noticing the cigarette in Abram's mouth, he almost asked for one just to calm his nerves. Not that he'd ever actually smoked before, but he'd heard that was what the things were for, right?

"Anyway," said Abram, taking another drag. "If they're here, and you're working for the Imperials in the area, they'll want to know."

"True enough," replied Hudson. "And I want to get paid." Abram nodded.

"We should get to that scouting station as soon as we can."

"It'll be a trip, but not too bad. Probably four days. Not sure if there's going to be much hunting along the way."

Seeming to consider this, Abram breathed some smoke out into the wind. After a moment, he seemed to make his decision.

"We'll have to camp out once it gets dark, though..." He glanced back at the path the two had just come from, and Hudson followed his eyes.

"But we should be far enough out that the Enclave won't see us."

Hudson agreed, picking up his pack, but keeping the damaged transmitter. Salvage was salvage, after all.

"So much for getting my hands on a plasma rifle," he sighed and chuckled, picking up his rifle. "Alright. Let's get moving while there's still light out."


[System]
Age: 14
Gender: Female (Can pass for ambiguous when in her normal state)
Appearance:

Personality: Yume is calm and logical to an extent that may seem cold to others. However, when it is in her ability to be kind and benevolent, she is without hesitation. She is especially caring towards inexperienced magical girls, and wishes no real harm upon anyone. Yume is sorrowful about the eventual fate of magical girls, but has no doubt that it is unavoidable and dismisses any decision made for the sake of passion. She is somewhat a hypocrite, for when someone who she cares for is threatened, she protects them fiercely.
Bio: Yume had an easier life than most magical girls. An only child of two well-off and loving parents, there wasn't much she would sell her soul for. This changed, however, after her mother was discovered to have Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, a rare genetic disorder that slowly and painfully killed her. The day after her mother's funeral, a then eleven year old Yume was offered a contract in exchange for a single wish. Without hesitation, she accepted a destiny fighting witches in exchange for her mother's life. Had she been older and wiser, she would have realized that bringing her mother back from the dead would not reverse her condition. Yume soon saw the suffering she had inflicted on her mother, who was once again doomed to die in constant agony, and ended her mother's life with the blade of her own axe. She was forced to cut down her own father as well, after he went insane from the grief of losing his wife for a second time. Yume became a full time witch hunter after this, and serves every whim of the incubators. She has accepted the balance of despair and hope as a needed force to maintain the universe, and bases many of her actions on what will support it.
Allegiance: Yume is loyal to the will of the incubators, but will form allegiances with other magical girls when necessary, and occasionally will take on an "apprentice" of sorts.
Skills: Yume is incredibly skilled with her axe as a result of her years of experience. While she is not very physically strong, she is very fast and agile, and is a strategic thinker. When trying to be charming, Yume can be exceedingly persuasive.
Weapons: As a magical girl, Yume rarely uses "normal" weapons, but carries a few switchblades for the sake of caution.
Other: Yume has an intense dislike for men, especially adults. She also considers herself a vigilante, and will slay evil humans as well as witches.

Magical Girl Section:

Magical Girl Appearance:

Wish: "I wish for my mother to come back to life."
Weapons:

Yume's main weapon is a large and ornate battle axe, which is chrome in color. Her weapon stems from her idea that destruction is necessary for advance and construction, much in the way that a tree must be chopped down with an axe for a house to be built. She can also summon small throwing axes to use as deadly projectiles.
Powers: Because of the way her wish brought back the dead, Yume uses Life Magic. However, she cannot bring people back to life completely healed. Her abilities allow her to only bring back the recent dead, and they can only reverse the effect of the killing blow, so any long term damage, such as cancer, would be unaffected.

[User]
Halfway through her second wad of chewing tobacco, Violetta looked up and glanced around. She narrowed her eyes, and if she could've flexed her ears like a dog she would've. Something had gone crash, some distance away. In an infinitely large place of trees, the sound of glass and stone was definately an anomaly. She spat, and the black gob flew down and away into the sky, following a branch. That was new. Had that been there before? Violetta turned, trying to guess where the thing had came from. She picked herself up, and pocketed the wad of chewables, before leaping from tree to tree like she was trying to kick them down, like a manic pinball going for the highest score, all in an attempt not to fall into the abyss. It worked, and she'd covered some decent ground before she'd reached the end of the treeline. There was a building there, a brick chimney place with one conspicuous window that had been smashed open. She perched on the windowsil, and looked inside.

It was her. The black bitc- The Hellhound of Aurora. The lady didn't seem to want to trust her anymore, (Not without reason, Violetta's conscious added) so she'd apparantly decided to send her pet hamster to control her. She fumed, internally, and kicked aside some of the glass still in the sil. Her shadow was blocking the light into the place. With any luck, she'd look menacing and intimidating and not as pissed off as she felt. She opened her mouth, and began talking.

"Oi." She began. That seemed suitably dismissive." This is a Valkyrie operation. If you want something, go wait outside and we'll get to you when we can."

[Assistant] Yume took a few steps back, slightly put off by this girl's behavior. "Well, Chloe, I don't necessarily believe in 'destiny'." she shrugged. "Although my previous experiences with other magi have given me some doubt." a slight smile appeared on her lips. "What about you, miss? Do you believe yourself, or are you just playing with me?" Her fingers twitched, ready to defend against a possible attack. Chloe didn't seem threatening at the moment, but Yume had to be prepared for anything.

[User]
"I understand, my Lady," Fantine said and bowed slightly as Maria left.

book of bad juju

Eponine looked up at Violetta, and spoke, in a dry, robotic tone that sounded almost as monotonous and boring as an end-user license agreement, "I hope my presence is not taken as insult. My Lady merely lost contact with one of her operatives namely you; and as is common procedure, sent someone to investigate, namely myself. Though now that your safety has been determined, and you have also expressed confidence in completing the mission on your own, I do not wish to leave the barrier as I would personally rather not have to go through that inverted forest again, so if it's all the same to you, I will aid you in taking down this witch, which I believe is the fastest way to get us both out of this labyrinth. You can keep the grief seed, I will simply report to my Lady that you are well and in process of completing your mission." Eponine stood back up, having almost completely healed, though she did pop her neck in an unsettling manner.

[Assistant]
Violetta jumped down onto the ceiling, and glared at the other girl while the bi- the Hellhound launched into her prepared shtick about what she was sent to do. She listened with half an ear, not even deigning to give the girl her full attention. The edges of the rooms were covered with work posters, half obscured with the darkness. The only real light in the room had been the hole in the window she'd freed up, filling the room with a single beam which little clouds of dust danced and made little words in the clouds. She tried to read one, but it vanished and changed as soon as she made sense of it. Witch logic. A little pop brought her attention back to the girl blending in to the darkness. She stifled a grin, trying to stop the joke about not being able to see her in the dark, and tried to keep a straight face while she briefed her.

"Well, fine. Just so long as you don't try to stab me in the back. Oh, and just so you know, there's a magical girl in the labyrinth the boss wants dead. Try to take her down, silent-like, if you can. Blonde, purple dress. Should stick out like a sore thumb around these parts."

[User]
book of bad juju@Stern Algorithm@TrixyTrix

The wait that had gone by unbidden was now over, and all those currently inside the Witches Barrier would soon notice as Familiars began to appear. They were drawn to the magical energy given off by the various girls when they were in their current form, though returning to simple human would act as a disguise. But at the same time though, it would obviously make them less able o defend themselves if they were to be attacked.

White snow bunnies hopped along, almost cute if it weren't for the razor fangs and glowing red eyes. Their form seemed uncertain though, shifting and shimmering in the light, making it difficult to tell exactly where they were in this whole mess of white and ice, though not impossible by any means.

So they arrived, hopping along the ceiling and moving towards the three girls that had dared to intrude, even if one of them was directly responsible for the formation of the Witch in the first place. The time to talk was over. If they wanted to survive this experience, they would have to fight. And even now, the Witch had yet to enter into her full glory.

[Assistant]
"Another magical girl?" Eponine asked. "I was not informed of this. My Lady said that this was simply a recon mission. Did my Lady specifically order this magical girl destroyed, or is this a result of your own judgment? Did she pose a threat to you, or is she perhaps connected to the location of interest in some way?"

A rabbit familiar leapt at Eponine, who flourished her hammer and loudly pounded the familiar into a bloody pulp in the ceiling. She turned to Violetta, "Also, I don't do 'silent-like'."

[User]
Algorithm

Was that a joke? It was so hard to tell, in the darkness. Violetta blinked, unsure of what exactly to say. Then her brain came up with something good.

"She attacked an officer of Aurora City Authority." she began, gesturing vaguely to her hip. There was nothing there, between all the waiting, but it got a point across. "Assault on an officer of the ACA, Resisting Arrest, Conspiracy to Commit Criminal acts, Unauthorized Invocation of Witches..." She went on, the capital letters slotting easily into place. They had a magic all of their own. They could make you believe what you thought was wrong. She counted on her fingers, trying to sell the lie. "Attempting to deceive an ACA agent in the Execution of their Duties- these aren't petty crimes. We cannot allow such things to be done against the Lady's name, entendido?"

[Assistant] Eponine did not mean her question accusatorily, she merely wished to resolve the information discrepancy. "Understood. Such a criminal should be brought down at once." Eponine sighed, she'd had enough dealing with rogues for one day. "Were you able to ascertain her affiliation, if any? You also mentioned Unauthorized Invocation, so she was responsible for this witch?" Eponine asked this just to connect the pieces, though to someone who was lying, it may have come off as if she were questioning the validity of the statement. The rabbit familiars kept coming, so Eponine assumed her default formation as frontline tank, using her powerful melee and defensive magic to stave off enemies, while allowing Violetta to do ranged area control.

[User]
Chloe pursed her lips, looking up in the sky with her hands in her pockets. "Destiny, huh..." It was a question she had to think about, and that made her anxious. After everything that had happened today, she had out herself in a valuable, if dangerous, position. Was that destiny? Or luck?

"Nah, I suppose you're right. Destiny's just made up." The only acceptable conclusion was that Chloe reached her position through skill, intuition and hard work. Everything else was just passing the buck.

"So, that brings us back to my original question. I dunno who you are, and that's dangerous. Haven't even told me your name yet, and that's just rude. I feel like you're just jerking me around. I don't like that much. Been jerked around enough today. And now I'm tired and frustrated. Need a stress relief." Chloe's sentences got shorter and more terse as she continued speaking, and her muscles tensed in her arms. It wasn't visible, but she was gripping the brass knuckles in her pockets tightly, squeezing them like a stress ball as she worked herself up. She wasn't even that angry at this stranger, but something inside her had shifted gears, putting her in 'fight mode.'

"You've admitted that you're a magi, so that means you won't die if I hit you, right? Right?"

With a dull flash, she pulled her hands out of her pockets, her brass knuckles turning into her signature giant magical fists, and her headphones shined with a dull light that signified their transformation as well as she changed fully into magical girl form. With her huge hands, she pointed a finger at the girl in front of her.

"I'm nice enough to wait for you to transform today, so consider yourself lucky. In exchange, if I beat you, you're gonna tell me who you are... or else I'll kill you."

[Assistant]
Algorithm

The shifty white blob things were pouring into the building, and the conversation was cut short by the Hellhound turning and pounding a rabbit into so much veal mince. Good thing, too, because Violetta had already drawn her weapon in order to teach the annoyingly curious girl a lesson. Her little pre-act of anger was hidden in all the rush, and presumably the other girl had just assumed she'd pulled it out to fight. And all the better, because now there was a whole bunch of punching bags to take her anger out on. Humans were boring to kill. They screamed, and ran away at the slightest little burn, and the smell always made her hungry. Even witches rarely did more then sit still and throw stuff. She grinned, the fire dancing behind her eyes already, glancing around the room, and taking stock of sightlines.

Screw ranged combat.

She took a pose like a sprinter at a marathon, and charged. She went at a cluster of the things, staying low, her arms cradling her weapon of choice as it spewed out a spray of hellfire to her right. For a moment, it caught the shaft of light, turning the globules into a greasy oil-slick rainbow in the sky, before the pilot light stole the greens and blues, leaving only the red greasy fire. Violetta slid across the inverted ceiling, knocking out a cluster of the hideous things without even slowing down. That was important. You slowed down and you died. She hit the wall, and bounced off it, repeating her maneuver from earlier.

[User]
Yume merely shrugged and transformed, a long white and pink dress flowing from her chest down to the hem and replacing her regular clothes. She summoned her main axe and propped the handle on her shoulder before speaking. "Very well then. If you want a fight, than a fight you shall have." She let her eyelids drop into a lazy, carefree position that matched her smile. "You could have just asked for my name, you know. But since you seem insistent on this outcome, I'll save that for later."

"'Nice enough', what a joke."


[System]
Age: 19
Exp Points: 0
From Year: 2013
Home Land: New York City

Appearance:

Personality: To those who know her, Abby's name is synonymous with sarcasm. Whether she's having a casual picnic or attending a funeral, a snarky comment is almost always at the tip of her tongue. Unfortunately, the dark humor that might be endearing in some is just the opposite for Abby - her cynicism runs deep, and those who get too close are painted a picture of bleakest despair. The depression Abby has struggled with for so long has seeped into her very soul, tainting it.

The rare few who dare get even closer despite the darkness, however, learn that there's more to Abby than her cold exterior suggests. Harsh judgments are intermingled with daydreams, fancies too embarrassing to speak that one would scarcely expect from such a bitter girl. Despite everything, a spark of hope still gleams within the darkness, a stubborn flame that will not be extinguished. Darkness clashing with fading light - that old, familiar story plays out anew in Abby's mind. Whether the ending will be happy or not is anyone's guess - Abby certainly isn't expecting much.

Biography: A strict but loving mother and a father who saw his daughter as the most precious of jewels - those were the parents Abby barely ever became acquainted with. When Abby was only four years old, the pair of them died in a plane crash, leaving her to fend for herself in a cold world warmed only by a dying fire. The grandmother she was left with was sickly, not prepared to take care of a child. Within a few years she, too, had succumbed to the abyss. After a brief stint in a glorified orphanage, Abby was passed on to a foster family. By then, it was too late. The impenetrable wall designed to protect her from loss had already taken hold.

Before she knew it, high school had come and gone, and Abby had learned only that friends were fickle and lovers more so. Her grades - indicative of superficial understanding of meaningless topics - were good, however, so her foster parents urged her to go to college, and lacking any real ambition, Abby succumbed to their nagging. Before long, she had moved to a fairly prestigious university, living apart from her makeshift family for the first time since falling into their custody.

That was when things started going sour. Without anyone to make her stick to her work, Abby found herself unable to focus on her studies. Instead, she explored her newfound freedom, and before long, she was pushing at its boundaries. At first, she only pulled small pranks - sneak her roommate's possessions into other rooms and the like - but, soon, she became bored with such mild mischief. She turned to thievery. A few wallets here, a tacky necklace there - and then she went too far. She started taking cell phones just to read through the text messages on them - and a few of them had their locations tracked. In what seemed like a flash, not only was she in trouble with the school, but facing criminal charges and the scorn of her foster parents, the only people she thought she could trust to be on her side.

Then... she was reprieved. Everything vanished before she was due to appear in court, replaced by an odd city that looked like it had been plucked out of a sci-fi movie. A new world... and new limits to test.

Powers:

[User]
The world changed in a whirlwind of cotton and silk. Drab clothing that middle class parents could scarcely let their daughter indulge in - all of it was gone, along with that ugly gray sweatsuit. After what must have been an hour of trying on skirts, blouses, and whatever else tickled her fancy, Abby found herself standing in front of a tall mirror, admiring the frilly, dark dress that covered her from shoulders to knees. It was so pretty, complimented her dark hair, yet also surprisingly comfortable. Low-heeled Mary Janes and long, dark socks completed her outfit.

Slowly, her lips curved upward. How long had it last been since she'd genuinely smiled?

"And no matter what I do, injuries will always heal?" asked Abby, turning toward the saleswoman - Carol was her name - who had greeted her upon her arrival. The woman beamed and nodded in response to her question.

"That's right, dearie! Here, nothing is going to hurt you. There's nothing to run from, so you can wear whatever you want!"

Abby put a finger to her mouth thoughtfully, inspecting a longer skirt hanging from a rack. Although Carol's upbeat, squeaky voice made Abby want to press her hands against her ears, she had begrudgingly become a little bit fond of the woman. That would have irritated her if she weren't so absorbed in choosing an outfit.

The gentle chiming of a bell announced the entrance of another customer. Abby glanced upward distractedly, taking in the little girl with curly brown hair before returning to her task. But, as she peered downward at the skirt, examining every inch of it, a pair of bare feet stopped next to her.

Clearly, the child didn't know not to talk to strangers.

"Hi, Adam said you would be a good friend or something about complimenting each other, um. You have nice hair. Would you mind to much if i stuck around with you?"

Abby's first question was 'Who the hell is Adam?', but she didn't ask it aloud. Why on earth would some random kid want to follow her around? Abby was about to tell the kid to go away when she looked over the girl's shoulder, scanned the store for parents.

Nothing.

Abby's hand twitched. She opened her mouth, then closed it again without speaking a word. A little girl all on her own. Why was that tugging on her heart strings so much?

Compassion was a sham. In this world - in any world - you couldn't trust anyone but yourself to watch your back. So what took Abby off guard more than anything was her own response.

"I'm not a nice person, but I guess you can hang around, if you want."

What was she saying? She didn't even know the girl's name!

"Who are you, anyway?" she asked, reluctant to take back her initially response. Damn it - was this new world affecting not just the needs of her body, but her very personality?

[Assistant]
As Grey left the store, he began randomly down the street. He wasn't hungry and wasn't scared of going hungry. He thought about where he might need to sleep tonight, but there was to much to explore before that. He weaved his way through the streets, in his comfy new clothes. He wasn't feeling any pains or tiredness from walking so much either. It was amazing just walking for so long. He awed at the blocks of streets as they changed times and places in the world. He had traveled quite a bit in his time and knew of several different cultures. He guessed that each block was a different culture, and that some of the cultures were from different times as well.

He was beginning to get bored of even this place. It was quite amazing, but nothing was happening. It was too perfect for his tastes. He wanted to understand it more. How did it become this way? Where was this actually at? Why did everyone just go along with everything? What would happen if someone tried something bad? He figured he wouldn't test the last one. He knew of one man who tried to make a utopian village, and basically slaughtered half the village that disagreed with him, while he had his way with the resources and some of the people of the village. This place didn't seem like any of that, but he was curious about a lot of what was going on.

He continued to wander through all of the people and sights looking for someone who seemed more important than a commoner or merchant. No one was really impressing him, that was until he saw another man. He was wearing the same gray clothes he was wearing earlier. He also had some sort of blue man leading him somewhere. He had never seen a blue man before and maybe he was important. He was a few blocks away, but Grey took off running towards the two. He caught up after several blocks, and wasn't quite sure what to say for a greeting, but he needed to do something if he wanted to figure out anything. The man looked like he was a little spanish, but very mixed or something. He was much paler than the spaniards he knew as well. He tried talking to him anyways.

"Hey, it looks like you're new here. I'm new as well, but I already changed my clothes. Do you have any idea what's going on, and who is that you're following?" He pointed to Adam, not knowing anything about him.

[User]
Ricardo was struggling between a sense of wonder and a sense of panic. This world seemed 'too good to be true' as the old saying goes. His original guess of this being a dream was becoming less and less likely; this was far to vivid and consistent. He was now sifting through other possibilities, still shuffling behind the small holographic man.

Lost in thought, Ricardo was caught by surprise when a masculine looking man in comfortable street clothes ran up to him. Ricardo stopped to listen to what the man had to say, while Adam had already turned around, halfway lifting a hand towards the man in anticipation.

As the man spoke, Adam's hand lowered. The man seemed just as clueless as Ricardo. There was no need to distrust him. Ricardo replied honestly, "Hi. Yeah, I'm new here too. As for who I am following, this is Adam. He's a some sort of artificial intelligence hologram. Apparently, anytime you need a little navigating help, he will appear. As for what's going on... that's a good question." Ricardo then turned to Adam, "What is going on Adam?"

"You have both arrived here today, and I am currently taking you to find new clothing."

"No Adam, what I mean to ask is, 'where is here?'.

"Please elaborate your question further."

"What is this city? What's it's name? Where is it in relation to my home?"

"This city is a city. It does not have an official name; inhabitants call it many different names. I'm afraid I am unable to answer your third question."

Ricardo was surprised by how much this Adam character was giving away. He could hardly believe that it didn't strike him before to ask the all knowing computer program. But his last response was disturbing, "Wait, what? Why can't you answer my question?" Ricardo was starting to feel slightly rude, talking to the hologram rather than the man that approached him directly. But if this guy was new as well, Ricardo was sure that these questions were also on his mind.

"I have no knowledge of anything outside this city."

"Then you don't know where I am from or how I got here?"

"I do know where you are from. I do not know how you got here."

"But you just said that you have no knowledge of anything outside this city. Then how do you know where I am from?"

"I have knowledge of everything inside this city; you are inside this city. Therefore, I know everything that you know."

Ricardo hesitated before asking his next question. "Can you read my mind?"

"I scanned your mind upon your arrival. I can do an update scan if I see the need. Currently I see no need."

Ricardo turned away from the hologram, almost in disgust. He would make it a point to interrogate the little guy later, but for now, he was through with questions. Looking back to the man that approached him, Ricardo apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you. My name is Ricardo. What's yours?"

[Assistant]
3
Cammila beamed with joy, even if the lady though of herself as not nice. Adam had said she'd be a good friend, and even though Adam was a foot tall he was still an adult. "I'm sure you're nicer than you think. " Cammila said cheerily before becoming distract by a ring.

It was resting on a maniquin's finger. She took it of and slipped it onto her thumb, before examining it fully. It was golden in color but not weight with a masterwork pattern carved directly into the material. A rough transparent green stone was fixed in the center.

Returning to her new friend Cammila remembered that she had been asked a question. "Oh and my names Cammila, Cammila Thebe Ocaris. What's your name?" She asked, smiling again to enfisize her delight at the girls presence.

[User]
Grey was quite shocked at what he was hearing from the little blue man named Adam. Evidently he was an artificer intelligent hollow gram. Grey wasn't sure what to make of that other than a smart creator of empty weight? Ricardo began to ask Adam questions, but the answers weren't very helpful. All he was able to take from the interrogation, was that Adam knew everything, but wasn't telling anything.

He was still in shock at the blue man when Ricardo introduced himself. After a moment longer of staring, he looked back at Ricardo and introduced himself as well. "I'm Greyken Rest, but you can call me Grey. I don't know why, but I don't like Adam." Grey turned his attention to Adam and decided to try a question. "So this mind scan, does that mean you know all of my thoughts? How big is this world? What do people do here?"

[Assistant]
Abby cocked an eyebrow as Cammila revealed her full name. It was an odd name - certainly not one that sounded like it came from her world. "I'm Abby," she said, not bothering with a last name. "Are you from this place?"

As the younger girl played with a fancy looking ring, Abby turned her attention to jewelry, as well. The store had a wide variety of the stuff available, some of which looked like something she might buy an a department store, and other pieces that featured a more archaic design. A pendant shaped like a sword hung at the end of one silvery necklace, its hilt adorned with a tiny amethyst. Abby tried it on, looking in the mirror. Light gleamed off the small gemstone, sharply contrasting her dark clothing. Abby pocketed it.

"I wonder what other shops are around here," she said, choosing a few other pieces of jewelry. She frowned at the little girl who seemed so pleased to be shadowing her. Would the child stay once she saw Abby's true nature - her desire to test the boundaries no matter what situation she found herself in? In this world, stealing was pointless, because everything was free... but surely there would be other rules to break. Clearly, she wasn't the only visitor in this world - what would happen if she tried to sow confusion among the others, to make them believe the entity that brought them here was up to something malevolent? A sly smile crossed Abby's face at the notion; the results could be hilarious!


[System]
Age: 19

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Weapon: The DAPS-A4E5, the Damascus Armored Power Suit-4th Alteration, 5th Enhancement, also known as Damascus, is a sealed suit of powered armor. Damascus is split into four different sections, the "Head", "Body", "Eyes" and "Fists". The "Head" is the technology featured in the helmet, featuring advanced technology, including a Heads Up Display, Infared/NightVision modes, and internal life support systems allowing for operation in extreme environments for roughly 10 minutes.
The "Body" has servos enhancing speed and strength. This section also covers the armor and composition of the suit. First on is the bodysuit, which regulates temperature and insulates the user from harmful gasses or liquids, as well as basic protection. Then is the soft armor, which is a mixture of metal plating and carbon nanotube armor, and also contains the systems for the speed/strength servos. To top it all off is the hard armor, which is composite armor plating. Multiple layers of different types of armors sandwiched together to form one plate. Ineko is currently testing and improving this composite armor to be more effective against different types of attack.
The "Fists" segment of the suit refers to his gauntlets. The gauntlets contain modified conduits that convert the suits power into light. Ineko had intended to modify these conduits to allow him to shoot lasers, but he botched it, and somehow the lasers that he was supposed to make were not lasers and behaved like lightning, instead of actual lasers. Happy with the surprise result, he kept it and named it Photonic Lightning. This is his only mid-ranged attack, and he has no long range attacks.
The "Eyes" section refers to the six small droneson his back. These drones will be launched into the air where they will hover around and survey the combat area. Data from the drones will be sent to Damascus to provide extra situational awareness, and other intel. Drones may also be sent out on scouting tasks. They have hologram emitters, allowing them to scout, then display an accurate map of the area for the entire team to see.

Specialty: Close Quarters Combat, "Tank", intelligence gathering, Scout

Semblance: The Language of The Machines. Ineko can speak to anything mechanical or technological. Stuff like phones, laptops, drones, vending machines, anything mechanical, technological or robotic. However, the complexity of the object is important, the complexity is directly proportional to its intellect. For example, a pair of scissors would be like trying to communicate to an ant. A drone, sufficiently advanced, would be capable of speech, and as a result be able to hold a conversation with Ineko.

Personality: Ineko is an incredibly positive and optimistic person, with a simplistic mindset. Overall Ineko is a kind soul, but he takes personal offence when someone or something is treated how it isn't supposed to be treated. He's humble, knowing that there's always something to learn, and often downplays his abilities in combat, science and engineering. At first he may seem a little strange, talking to himself in a strange language, but he's probably greeting the various street lamps or something.

Color: Mint Green

Emblem: Emblem
Appearance:
A rather short person of Asian decent, standing at 5'1 with the build of a Shaolin monk, however despite his height, it is unwise to underestimate him. He is unexpectedly strong and swift, even without Damascus. He carries himself well, standing and walking upright, and is unafraid to look people in the eyes. Ineko himself has black, unkept short hair, which usually grows straight. His face is more oval in shape, and his nose is a little wide. The most striking thing about his face is that his entire lower jaw has been replaced with a robotic replacement. The cybernetics extends downwards to his throat. The cybernetics are painted black and gunmetal grey, and are usually spotless, Ineko taking extra care to keep it clean. When he speaks, his mouth doesn't move, instead a speaker called the vox speaks for him. For those unaccustomed to it, it will probably be somewhat strange.
When out of Damascus, he always wears some of the undersuit, so that he would have at least very basic protection. He usually wears baggy sweat pants, with the pant legs rolled up, a shirt and hoodie, with the sleeves rolled up, topped off with a patterned scarf to help hide his neck and jaw. On his face, he wears a pair of square metal framed glasses over his dark brown eyes.
Typically the sweats are black and his hoodies have a mint green stripe going down from the right shoulder to the end of the sleeve. When the weather is cold, he sticks to his style, but adding a pair of basketball shorts underneath the sweats, and perhaps a jacket over his hoodie. Despite having pockets, he carries around a small monopack, which contains a couple of things, such as his notebooks, pens, water, but also a toolkit, and a pair prototype nanotech contact lenses which gives him very basic HUD capabilities.

[User] "Sure thing, Professor!" Sepia replied cheerfully, and with that, she turned and sprinted in the direction of where she'd been told that her locker would be. The sound of angry yelling reached her from the way she'd come, and for once she was glad to have arrived unprepared. Although, the last part didn't seem so bad. Growing up in a lodge in the middle of a large forest had allowed her to become remarkably fast and endurant through "roughing it" and training as much as possible. True, she wasn't very strong in the way that meant lifting or stopping heavy things, but she was pretty sure that an obstacle course wouldn't be too difficult. Arriving at her locker, Sepia quickly grabbed a plain pair of black shorts and a brown tank top with a pink paw print on it. After changing into both these and replacing her high heels with a pair of sneakers, she made her way back to practice where she did as Professor Vanhomrigh said and got in line.

[Assistant]
Robert listened to Ms. Vanhomrigh respectfully, he knew people like her and he knew that there would be consequences if she thought for a moment that she wasn't being given the respect she deserved. Priscilla's tardiness soon confirmed that. He wasn't really sure how to respond to the teacher's comment about her reason for tardiness. Object and point out that he had not only been there on time, but that they hadn't kissed yet. Just keep quiet and not try to provoke Ms. Vanhomrigh's ire. Or maybe volunteer to go with Priscilla. There were two lines, meaning that they probably would have everyone go two by two. Robert chose the latter.

He strode over to the front of the other and got himself ready, shooting Priscilla a thumbs-up to let her know he was cheering her on. The signal to start was given, and Robert took off. He jumped over the first obstacle, then approached the pull-up bar. He jumped up and grabbed it, but slid off almost immediately. He tried again, hung on for about three seconds, then fell face first on the ground. Good thing he didn't have his glasses or visor on, it wouldn't have been good to have broken them this early in the school year. He got back up and tried a third time, saying out loud, "Third time's the charm." Finally, he got his leg over it and rolled off successfully, sprinting to the next obstacle.

Robert made it through the next few obstacles easily enough. When he made it to the balancing beams though, he lost his footing and landed on his junk. He began to slide off the beam, holding back any cries of pain, when he wrapped his arms and legs around the wooden log. Robert got himself upright again and continued on with the course. Every obstacle afterwards was not really noteworthy, except the winces of pain with every time he lifted his legs. When he approached the second pull up bar, he groaned and pretty much went through the exact same thing he did with the first one. Finally, he reached the last obstacle, the ropeclimb. Robert made it about halfway up before losing his grip and falling. Of course it wasn't that easy for Robert, he just had to get his leg tied up in the rope and dangle there for several seconds before falling on his head. He tried again, this time making it to the top and back down with no problems.

Robert approached Ms. Iderson and Ms. Vanhomrigh after walking off the course. "Ta-da. Ms. Iderson, Ms. Vanom... Vin... Ma'am, how'd I do?" he asked, still rubbing his crotch as if doing so would somehow alleviate the pain. "Please don't be over five minutes. Please don't be over five minutes. Please don't be over five minutes," he silently pleaded.

[User]
Professor Pavel Vorosky - 5th Period, Survival

Pavel watched as the students began to come in, again, offering each of them a seat and some food. Most declined the food, but no matter, more for him. Once Ineko came into the room and sat down, Pavel's eyed lit up. "Ah! You remind me much of the Exoskeletons in the Zone. A shame I never got to wear one." He said, "Exoskeletons could take bullet after bullet, it was unbelievable, but radiation and anomalies..." He continued, "I once came across a mangled mess of flesh, bone and metal. Poor man must have stumbled into a Vortex. Imagine that, an entire person, and 15 kilograms of metal and machinery compressed into something the size of a small wheel." Pavel said, adding emphasis by estimating the size of the mess with his hands.

Pavel quickly looked at his watch, "It's about time comrades." He pointed out a broken window, "One meter out is a teleport. We will all be jumping through that in a second." He explained, getting up and handing out large industrial metal screws to each student. "Now, do what I do, in ten second intervals. Understand? You, Exoskeleton boy, wait ten seconds after I jump through, then jump. The person after, wait ten seconds, then go. Yes?" He explained, rather quickly, getting in position. He fitted a gas mask onto his face, picked up one of the old assault rifles laying around, and strapped a tactical vest onto himself. "If anyone does not want to do this, quit this school now. If you cannot jump into the unknown, you are better off making bread for those who can." He said before sprinting towards the window, halfway there, throwing the metal screw through it. One meter away from the window, something flashed brightly, everyone hearing a strange wub sound, the screw was gone. A second later, Professor Vorosky leapt up, and through the window. A flash, a wub and he was gone.

In an instant, he landed on grass. He rolled out of the way for the next person. He stood up afterwords, patting himself down and looked around. It was a familiar place, a large river in the middle of a forested area, where he was, a clearing. In the clearing, there were painted rocks lying around, several green painted rocks laid out in a line. Logs were strewn about the clearing, offering seats. Campfire linings were also around, with charred wood in them. He stretched, waiting for his students.

Back in the classroom, a piece of paper detailing the instructions on how to get to where the rest of the class had gone lay on the ground in plain sight. Students not perceptive enough to find the classroom, or the paper, were out of luck, and would miss the first day of this class.

Ineko Irandi - 5th Period, Survival

Professor Vorosky's story was a little strange, some terms went over his head, but he understood the moral of the story, Ineko thought at least. There were some threats out there that armor could not protect against. Then the professor looked at his watch, and handed him a large metal screw. He gave instructions, then leapt out the window, and then disappeared in a flash of light. Ineko's jaw dropped. What?
He paused for a second, then remembered his instructions. Ten seconds. Two seconds had already passed, and Ineko scrambled up from his seat and got in the same position the Professor did. He did exactly as he did, running, tossing the screw, then out the window.

Ineko closed his eyes as he leapt through. He felt an impact, then opened his eyes. Dirt? Grass? He heard running water. Ineko looked around and saw essentially what was a campsite. He then understood what the ten seconds were for, and got out of the way of the landing zone. Ineko was speechless. How did we get here?


[System]
Age: 16
 Gender: Female
 Appearance: don't look at me
 Personality: Tokiko does not like you. Tokiko does not want to be your friend. You're irritating her, go away!
... you're still here? Heh, someone probably paid you to follow her around and make a nuisance of yourself. How much? She'll pay you double to screw off and go bother someone else.
... what do you mean, you weren't paid? You're actually interested in her personality? Creep. There's no way someone like you could ever understand her. You should keep to mingling with the other sheep. Having an airhead like you around would only slow her down.
 Skills: She's book-smart, one of those people who sails through high school with zero effort, who can solve any problem almost intuitively.
 Brief Backstory: Tokiko came from a well-to-do family, and turned out to be fairly smart as well, so it wasn't like she had much to worry about. She just had to get good grades, go to a good university, get a good job, and everything would be okay. It wouldn't even be hard.
There was only one problem: everything was so boring.
School: too easy. Parents: disconnected. Peers: an irritation. Adults: sheep. The world: a grey and dying place. Reality: uninteresting. Tokiko had every opportunity she could have asked for, but nothing seemed to catch her eye, to light any kind of fire within her soul. Pushing day by day through an existence that held no meaning for her, she began to wonder if she'd be better off just dying and getting it over with already. Before she could, however, a certain someone appeared before her.
Maybe there was something fun in this grey world, after all...

 Magical Girl Appearance: KNEEL, PEONS!
 Concept: the Mad Scientist
 Archetype: Frankenstein's Monster
 Abilities:
- Malefic Mechanical Mastery: Tokiko's magic isn't the kind that can be used for direct offense. Rather, she channels it through devices, creating insane machines which shape her magic into various effects. By touching almost any man-made appliance or device, she can rapidly dismantle and reassemble it into an upgraded form with vastly superior capabilities. She can further enhance her creations by combining multiple devices into one, or turning machines into components that can be added to existing creations.
- Loudest Lunatic Laughter: Her evil laugh lets her temporarily increase her magical output, supercharging one of her creations and pushing them past their limits. This can allow for extremely powerful effects, but risks damaging or destroying the affected device depending on how far she tries to enhance it.
- Monstrous Magical Minion: Her Archetype, Frankenstein's Monster, is the ultimate creation: an artificial living creature. Though the Monster lacks proper magic of her own, she's immensely strong, extremely agile, and completely obedient to Tokiko. As an Archetype, the Monster is almost impossible to kill, and while sufficient damage can incapacitate her, she can always be repaired with enough time and resources. The Monster possesses intelligence on par with a human, but she's a bit of a goofball and pretty gullible, which makes her easy to trick despite her high combat power. She also relies on Tokiko's magic to remain animate, and if she gets too far away from her master she'll start to get tired and eventually fall asleep.

[User]
She'd really created the barrier, just like that! Hah! Hikari couldn't help but feel proud of herself, she'd felt as if she'd done something really cool! Not that she'd necessarily admit to how cool something so simple felt, though. Any magical girl would be able to do this, so wouldn't it look silly to brag about it? No, she had to accept it as something normal that she was able to do! So she simply held the barrier fast...

Even as Tokiko asserted she was going to keep going. Indeed, the monstergirl that was her archetype immediately started hammering down blow after blow on her barrier. It didn't take a genius to realize that it wasn't going to last forever, but Hikari had no idea how long it actually could last. Tokiko had mentioned something about melee-type magical girls having stronger barriers than ranged-type, right? So that meant she could push it a little longer...

But it still wasn't much time before she could see the cracks starting to spread out from the impact point of each fist! She needed to find some sort of path out, the cracks were spiderwebbing through the structure of her barrier the longer the attack went on, like it was made of glass!

But before she could come to any kind of conclusion, her barrier shattered.

The force was suddenly imparted to Hikari's body, lifting her off her feet with a yelp of surprise. But this... but this actually worked in her favor, didn't it!? It got her away from the attack without actually hitting her!

... Certainly, the landing was a bit less ceremonious then she had liked, Hikari landing and rolling on her side, but the red-headed magical girl managed to get to her feet and raise her hammer swiftly!

---

The shades, silent even as they were destroyed, seemed to number at least in the forties as they swarmed the magical girls. After some of their number were killed, however, they seemed to develop a wariness, keeping their distance and waiting for a better opening as opposed to running in all at once. There were a few conclusions that could be made about the sudden appearance of so many smaller shades, chief among them being that the destruction of the largest one had drawn them here. Shades fed off of negative energy, after all, which meant that even a shade being destroyed would cause the shades around it to grow stronger.

This did mean that, if a single shade was left alive in this swarm, it would have been able to feed on the negative energy of all of its fellows and become much more powerful. Thankfully, it seemed as if these were rather weak shades, so the final shade would not be completely overwhelming.

But perhaps it would be best to try and wipe them out all at once.

"My my, I suppose that's somewhat impressive," commented Kagami, shrugging her shoulders as she observed the other two girls' battle, "Somewhat. Continue your show."

@Ammokkx

---

Chise nodded, seeming to be satisfied with that answer. After a few moments, the black-haired little girl spoke again.

"We wanted to know a little bit more about her," she said, "It's for a school project that I'm doing with Hina-chan."

"School project?" asked Hina, looking bewildered for a moment, as if she'd just now heard about this. However, after a few moments a look of realization dawned on the girl's face, and she nodded immediately, "Oh yeah! That project!"

She grinned widely.

"It's a school project!" she declared cheerfully, almost as if she had been the first one to announce it in the first place.

Chise sighed.

"... Yes, that one."

Before she could try and continue on a more normal path of conversation, however, Hina was suddenly investigating Hanako's hair.

"... Your hair is super pretty!" declared the girl, brightly, "It's like that girl from that one manga Hisa-nee likes!"

Daze

[Assistant]
That telling pause spoke volumes in place of what she said. She was able to deduce that, given Fuyuko's nervousness upon the approaching topic, neither one of them wanted her to know exactly what this social group was about. If they didn't want her to know for sure then it was most likely involved in the Hex Night.

"I see." Her expression remained the same as she continued along. Though it remained unspoken she was no less aware of the reality of their relationship. Regardless of how they felt about each other one was just an obstacle before the other. Sooner or later someone's dream would have to come to an end so that the other may push forward on this constant struggle to make their heart's desire a reality. A cruel means to an end.

"Have you met any others here? Besides us?"

Sophia simply shook her head.

"Besides those who I witnessed in the aforementioned conflict earlier I have met no one else." She softly sighed as she looked up at the dimming of the evening twilight while she rolled along on the sidewalk. It was a lonesome road to walk, one she was well familiar with. She had never connected too well with the magical girls of Britain due to her juxtaposition against the values of happiness and light that most all magical girls uphold. She fought from the shadows. She wielded darkness. She was filled with sadness.

She was the perfect magnet for shades.

And it had not slipped past her notice that the daylight was starting to fade. As a magical girl it was no less her duty to protect humanity from the influence of shades and she knew that they'd come for her and her family before the night was done. No matter what her wish might grant or how she could not risk leading those closest to her to harm as a result of her pursuit. It may very well not matter should she succeed but she knew that the possibility of failure was very real. Even as powerless before her ultimate fate as she was it behooved her to ensure that whatever fate befell her had as little backlash on her family as she could realistically prevent.

"The hour grows late. I suspect the task of keeping shades in check falls upon you no less than I." Sophia looked out down the road, the first of a number of streets that led down to hotel room her family was staying at. A moment of inspiration suddenly struck her despite her expression remaining a blank canvas.

"Perhaps we could exchange phone numbers in case you wish to speak further at a later date." She produced her phone and quickly thumbed her way to her contacts page.

"That is, should you desire to speak with myself again." She didn't wish to pressure Fuyuko or her sister into offering anything up that she was not comfortable with relinquishing. With that said she awaited Fuyuko's answer, ready to accept whichever choice Fuyuko makes.

---

[User]
✫✫ Nico ✫✫

---

"Hyah!"

Nico sliced through another one of the shades with ease, causing the remaining ones in the pack to grow slightly stronger as the ensuing mist spread among them. The annoying part was that this was additive; the power absorbed by one gets spread among the rest again once it was defeated, alongside its own base power. Sure, two weak things buffing each-other wasn't that much of a problem in isolation, but anything in excess causes unwanted trouble. Even now that the shades were down to about half from when Himeko and Nico started whailing on them they hadn't gotten too troubling, but once it was down to one or two left standing...

"Hey, purple!" Nico shouted over at Kagami. "Care to actually do your job? If one of these breaks from the pack and hurts a civilian, I'm holding you accountable, y'know!"

Honestly, chewing out the arrogant magical girl probably wasn't the smartest idea. All it served to do was take Nico's focus away from the fight, and the fighting itself is just about the best part of the job. Heck, maybe she didn't even want Kagami to help. The more Nico can chew through, the better! One of the shades thought he saw an opening through the kibbling and launched at Nico, who took notice and conjured up a small barrier to block its attack. The shade harmlessly bounced off and recoiled back, leaving an opening for Nico to cleave right through. Meanwhile, Himeko's flames caught another that attempted to jump on Nico while she was busy dealing with one of the hounds.

"Thanks, foxy!" Nico cheered. The struck-down shades evaporated, leaving a small dozen still hiding among the woods. "Not too long now..." Nico muttered to herself as she launched herself forward for another attack on the shades.

[Assistant]
Hanako

She hadn't been paying the best of attention before this, but something about their attitude was... off. Why would a school project require them to be investigating a shrine maiden and... why would you forget that's why you were here if that was the entire reason that you had come to find out about them in the first place?

Though now she was distracted by Hanako's hair for some reason... "It's not that pretty, it's kind of messy really... um..."

Hanako stood up to her full height, trying to look older and more mature... with not all that much success, "What sort of school project needs you to talk to the local shrine maiden...?"

---

Nanako

There was the ringing of metal on metal as the tail met the club, and a considerable amount of grumbling as the oni-themed girl blocked the magical energy; stamping hard enough to make a chunk of ground rise up in front of her--and almost as soon as it was done blocking, the debris was kicked forwards towards Sonya at high speed.

"Stop running away! You're the one who started this," the girl complained, this time actually giving some warning--and some idea of how she got behind Sonya in the first place--as she landed beside the other magical girl, club swinging. The debris had blocked the take-off but... she had to be jumping.

Jumping very well, in fact.

[User]
Hikari was blown back and crash-landed, but quickly recovered, rising to her feet with her weapon at the ready—

"Game over."

—and then something blew past her with an almighty CRACK, a blinding flash of electricity briefly crossing her vision. Behind her, a section of wall was almost blasted apart as white-hot lightning scorched its surface.

Meanwhile, several meters in front of her, Honami Tokiko lowered her Tesla Cannon, shaking her head.

"If I'd been aiming for you, that could have been bad, don't you think?" The concrete was still smouldering where the blast had struck, fragments of debris scattered about the point of impact. Even if it hadn't been intended to actually hit Hikari, that power was real.

"Your barrier was strong enough, and you even recovered well after it broke." The mad scientist's eyes narrowed. "But that's not enough. All you did when Eve kept coming at you was hunker down, and that gave me plenty of time to prepare a follow-up attack for the moment your barrier broke. Knowing the limits of your own defenses isn't just about 'knowing how many hits you can block,' but also 'knowing that you can't win just by playing defense.' If you let yourself be predictable, you'll get driven into a trap. And then..." She gestured at where her Tesla Cannon had struck the wall, illustrating her point.

"So let's try offense! Time to test out that hammer!" Tokiko grinned, her voice suddenly turning cheerful. She pointed at her own archetype. "Eve-chan here is really tough, so you can hit her as hard as you want."

"EHHHH?!" The monstergirl's eyes went wide, her expression suddenly fearful. "Wah!"

"What? No! Don't be such a wimp!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Okay, fine." Tokiko looked back towards Hikari. "Uh, maybe hold back a little bit when you hit her..."