Hazel
—-

```"It can be so boring here, cant it?"```

*Wandering idly through the back-alley of twilight town would be a teenager with a struggle bat held across his shoulder. His expression is blank- A clear sign of boredom. The struggle season hasnt started yet, and hes spending what break he has from school doing nothing- practically whittling away the days. Of course, he has a few friends to spend time with, but still, daily life is bland. He speaks to himself, quietly.*

*"..Should i go to the beach?"* *He ponders for a moment,* *"Nah.. Too expensive. I wouldnt have enough to buy anything."*

*Once more, he resumes his calm stroll, occasionally glancing up to the sky, the light shrouded ever so slightly by the tall brick houses.*
Rachel
``Mei is walking casually with her sports bag, her hair in the usual ponytail and drinking some water. Her training had just finished and she was pretty exhausted.``

"Ugh I gotta get home and shower I CANNOT be walking around like this..."

``She said sighing wiping some sweat off her forehead as she walked into the back alley. Her mind scattered and not focused she proceeded to walk into a wall with an audible thud being heard``
Hazel
*Ranoa himself had taken a short rest to sit on one of the nearby boxes- likely someones junk, before hearing the "Thunk" Of the girl hitting a wall, grabbing his attention. An audible snicker could be heard shortly after.*

*"Someone's going to have a bruise soon." He says, audibly in a sarcastic tone.*

*He didnt really expect someone to come through this way during this time of day, but its a welcome suprise.*
Rachel
``She looks over to Ranoa before she got a huge shock that someone was in this alley and her face turned bright red``

"Agh! Oh.. I just totally embarrassed myself..."

``She said slapping her face some couple times in embarrassment, to which her sports bag proceeded to fall on the ground``

"Why can i never focus.."

``Her sentence sounded more like an exhaustive sigh than actual words``
Carlos
*A teen with their red hair in a ponytail entered the alley last, wiping the sweat from their brow.*

"Whew!" *They said, looking around and noticing the girl who sounded exhausted more than the boy at first.*

"Oh, hey!" *They exclaimed, pulling a water bottle out of his pocket and handing it over to the girl.* "Ya look like ya need some water, miss."

*All the while, there was a masculine voice screaming at Ez from inside their backpack to let him out and stop helping people, dammit! Ez didn't seem to notice, however.*
Betty
~~sorry about the lack of an avatar; I'll have to add one later. Also, do you want Raimei and Ranoa to be able to hear Wrathful Dragon as well?~~
Rachel
``Mei was rubbing the pain out of her head after she walked into the wall before acknowledging Ez``

"Oh, Thanks!"

``Even though she was still exhausted she made an effort to not be a jerk or in a bad mood since she didnt want to make peoples day worse well whatevs``

"Oh i almost forgot to introduce myself!! I'm Raimei but most people just call me Mei"

``Mei was very polite due to the fact that she never met these 2 people before, but they seemed to be her age so why not make some new friends?``
Betty
~~((he isn't; he's sealed inside their gauntlets and can only psychically communicate with Ez- wait, i just answered my own question, didn't i? XD))~~
Hazel
*Upon being greeted, he simply gives the two a friendly wave. Its definitely a way to spice up the day, having two strangers appear from seemingly nowhere. Its not uncommon though, since this alley is used frequently.*

*He felt the need to introduce himself in response, and so he did.*

*"Ranoa. Nice to meet you two."*

*He leaned back onto the nearby wall as if a chair-* *"Wouldnt happen to have seen anuthing interesting lately, would you? Its beeh pretty boring."*

*Ever the thrill seeker. Asking random people this.*
Rachel
``She looked back at Ranoa, now sipping the water ez had given her, drinking both her water bottle and the water ez gave them for max hydration``

"Nice to meet you too!!"

``At ranoas question she thought for a little while about the stuff that has been going on in her life``

"Not much outta the ordinary, at least for me. My baseball team recently won a mock championship though!!"

``She said excitedly, with star in her eyes. Shes been basically doing 2 things during her summer break, baseball or magic training.``
Carlos
"Sweet!" *Ez exclaimed to Raimei.* "I haven't had such luck of something interesting happening to *Me,* Unfortunately. I'm just having a normal day of going home after keeping The Heart Cafe in business." *They then sighed in boredom.*
Hazel
*He raises an interested eyebrow at their stories, listening intently with a few nods.*

*"I see. Im a bit annoyed that its not struggle season yet. The championships are such a good way to get paid."*

*He ponders for a moment after saying this, then continuing.*

*"Any weird rumors, then?"*

*Its true that twilight town is strange, especially to someone who doesnt know the truth of the worlds. One who understands nothing.*
Carlos
"I've heard rumors of stores around Heart Cafe being closed due to some black, insect-like creatures invading them," *They said, leaning back on the wall and putting their hands behind their head.* "But, like, that's a pretty crazy rumor, soooooooooooooooooooooooo-"
Rachel
"Black insects? The only black insects that come to mind are like ants or beetles and ive never heard them managing to infect multiple stores.. Very odd.."

``she said finally done with both the water bottles``

"Oh that was tewww goodddd"

``She said letting a loud sigh after drinking basically 2 liters of water in one sitting``
Hazel
*He lets out an interested noise, the rumor having piqued his interest a bit.*

*"Hm. Must be some big bugs if theyre causing shops to close down."*

*Yeah, big bugs.*

*"Might investigate sometime, if its bad enough to close down stores."*

*Hes confident, but doesnt expect the 'bugs' to be living darkness. Who would?*
Carlos
"Yeah, *I told you* It was *Crazy."* *Ez said, chuckling a bit as they watched Raimei finish both of the water bottles with a smile.* "You're welcome, by the way."
Rachel
"Ah right, thanks for the water again!"

``She said before noticing Ranoas suggestion``

"Hey if none of you have anything to do for later why dont we all check out those weird bug thingies that they mentioned, they gotta be something like undiscovered if they make shops close down or something like that!"

``She said gleefully with a spark in her eyes``

"And dont worry if anything happens I'll protect you guys, I know magic!"

``She exclaimed with a kind of smug expression, she was hoping to be able to atleast tell people that she knows magic and that time has come``
Hazel
*"Magic, huh?"* *He seems a bit suprised- the girl doesnt seem like the type to be competent, but who knows. She could suprise him.*

*"I dont see why not, honestly. Maybe we'd get paid for dealing with it."*
Rachel
"Yeah! I'm training in thunder magic cuz its really cool!"

``She said, suddenly remembering something``

"Oh yeah and i also have this key thing, at least i think its a key or at least shaped like a key. I summoned it once but im not sure how to consistently get it to appear... It looks kinda like a sword too-"
Hazel
*"A giant key, huh? Maybe you could unlock someones house if they forget theirs."*

*He's assuming its giant, anyways. Especially if it looks like a sword. He doesnt really know much about the heart shenanigans such as keyblades, only really knowing about magic and the like.*
Rachel
"Hmm maybee, but first i'd have to even figure out how to get it again, last time i had it i woke up from a nightmare were i was falling in like a black void and when i woke up i had it in my hand.."

``She said, lowkey even doubting herself because it just doesnt really feel like its a real thing that could happen``

"Well whatever its probably nothing too important i guess.."
Hazel
*He shrugs, using his hands to push himself off the box he was sitting on, grabbing the struggle bat he was carrying it and putting it on his shoulder once more.*

*"So lets say there are these big bugs- and the rumors are true- Why not hit them with some thunder, and ill hit them while theyre dealing with electricity?"*
Rachel
"Yeah- i was mostly planning on either just throwing them out or if theyre really HUGE shocking them till they run away, your plan works too though!"

``She said with a relaxed smile as she was just kinda chilling yk like shes just a silly gal..``

"Well either way i still dont get how bugs can make entire stores close unless its like a health code violation.. I dont think anyone ever closed a store because of like a centipede getting in"
Carlos
"I've been *Told* They're *Much* Bigger than normal, everyday bugs..."

*They trailed off as they started to think, then got out their gauntlets out of their already unzipped backpack.*

"Well, you'll probably need some *Speedy muscle* During the fight; y'know, just in case," Ez said as they put the gauntlets on and started playfully punching the air with a big grin. "I guess that's where *I'll* Come in handy!"