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Penelope, Gunther, Link, and Raki Hanikap jumped at seeing Link and Rohns. "Eek, izzat wolfydog! Gettim away!" in his panic, his voice shifted to a rural accent that matched the rest of the villagers. At Link's comment on his lack of training, his mouth soured. "So's I heard. It bit Lord Gaston on the leg! A right little terror is what it is." When the mercenary asked about accompanying them, he sighed and slumped. "Well, so long as ya-you keep that thing from biting me, then you can come along." The man kept sending nervous glances over his shoulder at Rohns, but stopped once he reached the left-side door. Turning away from the wolf, he opened the door and bowed low with a clumsy flourish. "This here is the kitchen! Where food's made. And drink. And more food. Oh, and there's a lavatory in the back." He scratched his cheek. The kitchen was both smaller and less lavish than the parlor. The floor was cobblestone instead of wood. Sunlight poured in from the windows and blended with the hearth's warm glow to gild the room in red and gold. Copper kettles nudged sides with earthenware bowls on tables of polished walnut. From soot-blackened rafters hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, and nets of various vegetables that gave off fragrant aromas. There was a door in the corner. Presumably, it led to the lavatory. Another door was against the right wall in the back. A woman with her hair tied up in a bonnet was deftly cutting onions. She gave the group a wide-eyed look before ducking her head. "That's Dille," Hanikap dismissed. "She's the kitchen help. Doesn't talk much." He stood there awkwardly for a second before coughing. "Yeah, guess the tour's not that interesting." — Alois, Edrick, and Citron a.k.a. "Team Country" After ascending the staircase, it was clear that both sets led to the same location—a large, square loft clean of dust. Large wooden pillars burst through the floor and crossed with the rafters above to form a gable over the middle of the attic. Large windows let in the dying sunlight, bouncing off stacks of crates to cast lumpy, elongated shadows against the angled walls. Wooden chests lined the sides, their metal bands gleaming gold. A few beds stood in the center, their pristine white sheets smelling faintly of lavender. But there were neither people nor doors to explore further. The only way out was back down the stairs. — Tsetseg At Tsetseg's words, the girls finally extricated themselves from Cora's leg. Their wide green eyes widened further when they met the Locrisian's. The bun girl pointed up at her rudely. "Yer the archer! You hit cuzzy Phai!" "Awcha," the braided girl echoed. "Ehehe, that was just because we attacked first," Phai laughed nervously, peeking out from behind her two companions. "Hello, Mara," she smiled at the girl with the bun. "Nara," she addressed the girl in braids. "It's cuzzy Phai!" Mara pointed at Phai next. "Fa." "Yeah, it's me," Phai waved them off before they could run at her. "Can you two see if Acantha is inside?" But the girls were not listening. Instead, they had turned their attention to Tsetseg. "Hey, hey, what wazzat about rock burns and bandits?" "Wazza twibe?" "And where's big armor guy? He played wiv us! Does that mean yer gonna play wiv us too?" "Pwease." Nara held up her arms. "Oh yeah! You two were there too! Why did you follow us to the river?!" the younger militia girl demanded. But instead of answering, the girls stuck their tongues out at her and hid behind Cora. "Cuzzy Phai's not as fun as before now that she's older." "No fun." "Ehhh?! Not as fun? I'm plenty fun!" Phai looked genuinely indignant at that statement. OOC

She rose to the dim glow of an early morning, protected under streaking shades and yet perceptive of that dramatic threshold between what is out there and in here, like the demimonde she lived astride. Her memorious flickering returned to the ironically forgotten state of continuity we often take for granted, and she recalled sharing her night and body with, and who shared this bed with her now, as one of many she served whose living was realized by crimes against the person, whose living was done like the glow which put her sleeping mind back together, and from whose absence suffocating shadows would have emerged in many other minds. She left him without bothering him. In her waking befuddlement, she moved to his kitchen to start the kettle for black tea and gather her scattered accessories, like those crucial hairpins that bound a separate person together, and do the everyday morning routine. Looking and finding the latest newspaper, she reclines on her patron’s couch for a while and reads through the weather forecasts for knowledge of the right directions to take paths during the day, obituaries for her peers, friends, and acquaintances, and happenings in the arts and artistic institutions of the fourth district, finding nothing extraordinary. After a while of this, she leaves his home. Closing the door and assuming a borderline tightrope shuffle of a gait, she set on her method with a silent indication like hunger. She performs her blistering toil over a short hour, and finds her brothel near closing hours, going inside to change out of her “professional” outfit into casual wear. Cleaning her makeup off, she buries her lustrous brocade in her closet, and springs out. How light her new steps are! She frolics with blank levity along the sidewalk to her next destination, unconscious of the distant sun but equally galvanized by its warmth, and follows her path concisely to her theatre she works at, only greeting other reactively. She finds her princely outfit, belonging to her favorite role, and basks in its low sheen, them wears it and her saber. She meets a horseman she employed out in the front of the theatre who brought her beloved Braichmor, and bows shallowly to thank him, continuing, “Truly, thank you, my fair sir. I pray your journey here was safe, and your return sped by God, and if there be one way you have been offended unto, or you be with me grieved, let you complain here before me, and I shall amend you under my power!” Her enthusiasm was untouched by his reticent responses and farewell, and she mounted her dogged Braichmor after her horseman’s disappearance into the horizon yonder. Braichmor is signaled to move at a working trot, a gait the selenite destrier could hold for days under her command. He met Zephyr’s lowest sighs with every step, and never touched the dirt below so that his hooves shone and his coat glimmered platinum, and all his master commanded of him, he had done perfectly, from highest to lowest, such that t canters and gallops felt as smooth to her as the winds in which his extremities were couched. Admiring his translucent mantle, she checks her pouch for her money, pieces of fruit and a compass she retrieves, all three for her truest aim from this morning, and adjusts Braichmor northward, for her to remain ever available in her contradictory errantry until she reaches her end. Retaining the 340th degree angle on her compass and returning it to its pouch, they moves out in that direction and proceed, helping people along the way with an assortment of difficulties and errors like the many minor crimes ubiquitous in the 4th district, to help with vending machines, to providing transportation for the needy. Tremendous tremors miles away roar and she commands Braichmor to the location with a gallop, her final path arcing leftward when it was originally straight. Shattered glass was strewn about, people were being rushed to medical care, and the tired Gaia slumped wherever allowed compensation. Her aim became the immediate aid of anyone disabled by the disaster but unattended to, with fabulous and unfathomable equestrian acrobatics. Her penultimate encounter had her pick petrified civilians before yawning landslides to safety, whose wellbeing she would thank God for as was usual, and whose safety was the singular true crystal of gratitude. Hours of this in, she had found herself in the 6th district, further in than she initially intended to go, near but not at the disaster site. Corpses and desolation, immolated and obliterated architecture like miniature deserts spangled the grey vault of the city, and more people and debris swerved violently between and into each other like raindrops in a tempest. She saw the Samsara Tower monster in the distance but had no reaction to it besides the smaller golems she found attacking the defenseless nearby her, who she decided to deter first thing. While she saw others doing their part to pacify this chaos by their own destruction in kind, she used the speed afforded her by her partner to cut various creatures off and heavily drive her saber through their thinnest points where it was possible, or use the breadth of their limbs as platforms for Braichmor’s weight and strength where it was not, this giving her an opportunity to carry the occasional person and scout for a path out distant from the combat which she carries them to with the faith her allies’ strikes be guided to where they need to go and nowhere else.

"...No mother. I will be home eventually, I have tasks to take care of today. I know." Elita let out a tiny sigh as she shook her head slightly, the constant hovering was more than a bit annoying, but she couldn't really push her mother away that much. In the end, she knew better than anyone that it was coming from a place of concern. She could feel the unending drip of worry from the other end of the phone, she never had to worry when her mother was lying... To her. She tapped her foot against the ground, the fact she was taking a phone call on a train would normally be a social faux pas, but considering the fact that the train was mostly empty, she wasn't too worried about that. Her mother was still saying something about the rest of the day, how Elita absolutely had to be home before- There were importa-... "Yes mother, I know. Please, let me just take care of this. I will call you if something comes up." She promptly hung up on the call, not willing to hear anymore about the very fancy desserts that her mother had prepared for the next big event. She had a little bit of time before the train entered the station... Then there were sounds. Elita took a moment to fumble in her purse, quickly popping an small pill into her mouth as she felt the rush of emotion around her. People fearing for their lives. Mass panic. Much closer, concern, worry, indecision. Elita forced herself to stand up right as the train entered the station, rushing to the door as she glanced back at the rest of the compartment. There weren't many people, but... She glanced over them, imagining her own emotions drifting over the car, "Stay calm, there's something going on above ground... Stay below on the station platform." She gave them a soft smile, the sense of concern was dulling a bit as she turned her head from the others and rushed up the steps from the station. The sight wasn't pretty. People were rushing away from what appeared to be the capital of the city. Which had grown arms and legs and was currently rampaging and causing mass destruction, which certainly wasn't a good look for Mr. Stratford. She took a few steps into the street, watching as people began to assemble and defend civilians. The whirlwind of anger, confusion and fear all mixed together was definitely going to give her a headache later. As she examined the situation, she turned towards the tower, which was slowly turning to face one of the people trying to take it on, and her eyes suddenly shot shut as she gripped at her head. Terror-Life-Now. Elita stumbled forward as she suppressed the feeling of dread in her system, taking a deep breath. "...Something is feeling abnormal amounts of fear." Her eyes fluttered open as she glanced up at the towering figure, her focus on it as the panicked emotion emitting from it caught her attention over everything else. "Someone is terrified. This isn't a normal fear, whoever it is... They're in immense danger inside of the tower." She took a few steps forward as she looked at some of the others who were starting to gather. They were preparing to defend, attack, whatever the case was... It didn't matter to her. She turned to look towards the tower again, the whirlwind of panic wasn't right though. It wasn't just coming from the tower, it was feeding into those animated monsters. Her hand rose up as she took a slow breath, her own emotions suddenly lashing towards the animated vehicles suddenly, "Be calm." She focused herself as she imagined her own emotions rushing forward, surrounding the link between the tower and the animated creatures in front of her... And they dropped to the ground, no longer moving, as she took a deep breath. She turned her head towards the others gathering, a stern look on her face, "...I can neutralize the smaller ones. I don't know if they will stay down. In order to stop the rampage..." She glanced to the tower, "I need to get inside. If I can calm whatever is causing this, perhaps we can stop any more senseless destruction. Do any of you have any ideas on how we can get inside?" It didn't matter that she didn't know any of these people showing up, many of them clearly had abilities far beyond a normal person. Right now, Elita needed any help she could get if she wanted to try and calm this storm.

OOC - CHARACTER VAULT Megalopolis 1st District, 11:59 AM, 01/01/2100 An otherwise unassuming young woman, seemingly in her mid-twenties, stood near the edge of the roof of a building deep in the city’s heart, taking in the view. After a few seconds, she directed her attention down to a small device in her hand, and brushing the tip of her finger against its side brought up the holographic screen. A few swipes, and the typing of a short and to the point message later, and she turned it back off, dropping it into her purse. She knew she wouldn’t receive a reply to the message for a few hours. She stared pensively at the city that she grew up in, only taking a break for a split second to glance at the old-fashioned wristwatch on her arm. With a deep breath, she turned on her heel, and made her way to the door so she could make her way back down to the ground. Though a tear fell down her face, she refused to look out upon the streets as the dust clouds spread and the carnage began. Scoundrel Megalopolis 6th District, 12:31 PM The magtrain was arriving ever-so-slightly late, which was an unusual occurrence considering how tightly monitored and computerized it all was. In fact, it had been automated to the point that a significant disaster could be rolling through the city, and the train would continue on nonetheless. It always left and arrived on time, and this efficiency was valued by the people of Megalopolis, no matter how many limbs were chopped off by the automatic doors in the process. Designed in the ninth, built in the third, based in the sixth, to go everywhere else still. However, none of these calculations could hold true if there were something increasing the wind resistance of the craft, no matter how slightly. Atop the passenger car stood Leo Nolastnamegiven, the Fount of Destruction. With a bit of forceful coaxing, he managed to pull the tip of his aluminum baseball bat, as well as the soles of his sneakers, out of the glove-tight indentations they resided in within the metal roof. He hopped off the edge of the train, plummeting some 20 meters to the ground below, where he landed in a pulse of hot pink that left a small crater in the pavement. ”Welcome home.” Anyone who heard him speaking to himself would perhaps be somewhat misled, as a vagrant like Leo didn’t really have any sort of conclusive home, but as he tended to end each day in a different one than he started, the mess of rail lines and streets that formed the sixth district was a common denominator in many of his travels. Leo made his way down the street with a spring in his step. He couldn’t quite place it, but he knew today was going to be an extra-splendid day. Grabbing a loaded hot dog from the hand of a random bystander who had just purchased it, he tapped his heels together twice, and the rubber soles of his sneaker glowed pink for a split second before the energy was released, launching him up and away from any consequences for his casual theft, landing safely atop a double-decker bus that was navigating the streets perhaps a little more quickly than was safe, as was tradition in the sixth district. This hustle and bustle was Leo’s favorite part, as the entire area refused to stay still for but a second of the day. Sitting atop the bus with crossed legs, Leo rested his bat upon his lap as he took a bite from his pilfered meal. It was pretty good, for such an opportunistic instance of take-out! ”Now then…” Leo spoke to himself between bites, wondering silently who the hell orders a hot dog with tabasco sauce, ”I could find some kind of public monument to knock down, this extra-ancient place has tons of that shit. Or…” tossing aside the hot dog onto a poster with the mayor’s likeness that the bus passed, he brought his hand to his chin, finding himself excited by the potential today had for revelry, ”I could head over to the tenth. Those big old stained glass windows have potential, for sure. And it might even piss off someone with some real passions. It’s a lot more fun breaking shit with friends. Ha!” Of course, in a city with as many moving parts as Megalopolis, planning one’s day is notoriously difficult. As much destruction as the Fount of Such could be planning, more still would find him soon enough. It happened as the bus he sat upon was crossing an intersection, and honestly he would have seen it coming if he had bothered listening at all. But nonetheless, his only warning was seeing it in his peripheral vision, an incredibly massive object tearing its way through the wide main street of the district. Before he had a chance to even turn his head, it made impact, launching the bus into the air. Leo grabbed his bat instinctively, and with a burst of his Explosive impact, launched himself up into the air off of it before it hit the ground again, tumbling about like a toy kicked by an angry child. It was then that he looked up at what had very nearly killed him. SAMSARA TITAN Leo had a habit of staying out of the first district, since he knew his brand of creativity was extra-prohibited there, but even he could recognize Megalopolis’s capitol. It looked more like something that would fit in a fantasy book than the year 2100, but Leo supposed it fit considering how the people of the city worshiped that Fount of Tossers Stratford like he was a king. And now, that throne was tearing the city apart, having found a way to come to life and charging right through the thick of it, with what appeared to be an army of animated architecture charging with it at its feet. Cars, statues, holophone booths, all had sprouted legs of twisted metal and concrete and were hell-bent on carving a path through this city. Honestly, Leo couldn’t help but admire it. But even more so, he felt that typical itch. The desire that drove him forward, breaking him out of his past and propelling him into his future. Megalopolis’s number one landmark is delivering itself right to my doorstep. I can’t just ignore the call of destiny. A motorcycle that more closely resembled a scurrying lizard by this point charged toward Leo, dipping back and forth like a predator trying to confuse its prey. But Leo was no prey. His eyes lit up as he stomped his right foot forward into the ground, forming a web of cracks in the pavement, radiating away from him, grabbing hold of his bat with both hands. Leo clenched his teeth, and his knuckles turned white as the motorcycle pounced at him. ”PISS OFF! Leo swung, and his bat met metal with a ping that was instantly drowned out by the FWOOOM of his Explosive Impact, a blinding pink light filling the street as the cycle was launched up through the air, impacting the enormous monstrosity in what Leo could only assume was the face. Following through with his swing, Leo now held the bat in only one hand, pointing it up to point at the titanic beast. Leo knew that whatever was in there wouldn’t have a chance at hearing his next words, but he didn’t care. ”HEY CUNT, DON’T THINK YOU ARE GETTING A DAMN STEP PAST ME, BECAUSE I AM BRINGING YOUR TOWER DOWN TO RUBBLE!” OP:OMEGA RHYTHM - UPLIFT SPICE OOC:

"Which one you gentlemen want, the big guy or its friends?" Both Jeremy and Ibuz took notice at the young woman who made an appearance near them. By the pressure that was felt...that and the quite obvious tally marks on her face...four from what Jeremy could count...this woman was a Fount, more accurately Number 4. "Honestly, while I'm fairly certain Ibuz here can attempt to take care of the big guy..." "You know how it is, m'boy, phenomenal cosmic power is what we Djinn possess!" Ibuz let out a hearty laugh. "...and an ego to match..." he muttered, before returning his attention to the young woman. "In any case, our priority is to help the rest evacuate from this rampaging kaiju wannabe." Jeremy paused, adjusting his glasses as he looked towards the 'friends' as the woman put it. "That said, we'll most likely be taking it's friends...attempt to mitigate the already large amount of damage..." He moved his right hand, pointing his thumb in the direction of Leo. "...namely from that fella over there. But if we can at least be rid of the minions and mitigate the destruction going on while also helping the others evacuate..." Ibuz crossed his arms, nodding. "A simple strategy. Take out the pawns...THEN deal with the king." "Exactly." Jeremy nodded, shifting his stance and began to move forward, heading in the direction of a few of the vehicle creatures. "By the way, Jeremy Shelby, pleasure to meet you!" He held up his left hand, showing the imprint of "92" being in his palm as he waved towards the woman. "Feel free to join in and help evacuate people if you feel inclined to!" Arabian Wind Turning his attention back towards a motorcycle that seemed to take it's turn and began to head directly towards him and Djinn beside him. Jeremy exhaled slowly, moving his hands slowly around him as currents of air began to circle around him. "Windswept Blast!" he declared, thrusting his arms forward as a strong current of wind began to push the motorcycle back and even upwards in something resembling a mini-cyclone. "Ibuz!" "As you wish, master!" Ibuz smirked, now taking the mini-cyclone and grabbing the bottom of it like it was a completely solid object, now twirling the mini-cyclone in the air and proceeded to launch the motorcycle creature in the direction of a few other creatures in quite the manner. The motorcycle crashed into it's allies and made it seem like it was being used as a bowling ball. "And I'd call that a strike." "Seems that way." Jeremy nodded, making his way towards a few civilians taking cover nearby. "It's definitely not safe here...get to the station and stay low. I'll get you over there...Ibuz, we're going to need you to play interference for us." "Once again, your wish is my command!" Ibuz laughed, throwing balls of concentrated wind in the direction of the creatures, while Jeremy escorted the civilians to safety.

To be honest, it was all a bit strange to Citron, the whole thing, as they stood there. There was almost a growing sense of distaste for the veritable mansion every minute she stood there, fingers awkwardly tapping at the side of her sling as she gripped at her arm. The locked doors had been annoying enough that she didn’t even question Alois as he had raised his axe, or the slight disappointment she felt as he explained they would rely on that only as a plan B. She was only able to really place her disappointment as they rounded the corner to see more stairs. She was just about to comment on her annoyance in fact, when Alois had mentioned something that beat around what she was thinking exactly. She only ever actually paused in climbing the stairs, as Edrick mentioned that maybe they should wait to check the doors first. In response to this, though words came to her mind, she really only gave a shrug and pointed to Alois as she once again began climbing the blasted stairs, and his axe; he had made a pretty good point about the noise it was liable to make, after all, and she wasn’t really sure how to argue one way or another. They’d get where they were going eventually, after all. It was only as she was greeted with… Well, more stairs, that she finally dislodged the words that had been in her throat since before Alois had spoken the first time. “...This is all just a bit excessive, isn’t it?” She murmured, voice practically resigned to their fate as she passed the pausing Alois, choosing the path of stairs on her left. Left was best, after all. However, there was no real way to prepare herself for what was following the stairs, as everything about it felt… Off. Decidedly wrong, for what she had expected, as there was no grand fourth and a half floor, but rather a dustless… Attic. In the stories she had read, at least from her grandpa, attics and storage rooms like these used by nobles were messy things. Dusty, with excessive wealth or material objects hoarded like the very status they held. So to find this square loft without a speck of dust, and the most prominent feature being a few wooden pillars and… A few beds in the center of the room, she was a bit perturbed. “That’s… Not right,” she’d frown, taking a few steps forwards. “This is where I would assume he would have guests stay,” she gestured at the beds, cocking her head to the side, before turning around with a faint look of worry on her face. “So, where’s Catriona?” She asked, glancing between her companions, a tired edge taking to her voice. “...No, that’s a stupid question, don't answer it,” she groaned, before looking directly to Alois. "I don't suppose you're ready to kick down a couple of doors that aren't already open, are you?"

So I finally, after 84 years or whatever, made it to the second part of this game. The second part is a lot shorter than the first part since you don't have two entire months to make at least one friend. This opened up the Tag Survivor pack which gave me some absolute bangers like United We Stand, every LV monster that existed at the time, Snatch Steal, Ancient Gears. Raigeki Break, a bunch of weird Battle Phase fuckery cards, Final Countdown, and fuckin' Yu-Jo Friendship. So right now I am in the middle of completing part 2 once for each of the main characters. The balancing they did here is... interesting. Like for example, Zane can OTK a bitch from out of nowhere but his deck is built in a way where if you can counter his Fusion, maybe counter a second one, then he's a sitting duck. Duelists with much weaker decks, like Syrus and Alexis with whatever the fuck garbage they got, are supplemented with a ton of goodstuff backrow (as well as occasional hogshit cards like fucking Malfunction which I will complain about Syrus having even though it just won me 5 medals for countering a Solemn Judgment). But with the way I'm tackling the characters, as well as having such a long wait between entries, I may or may not get to that before I die of old age. Tagforce 1 #38: Matthew I could've ran with a joke likening this character that we used to know on YCM, but there's like 5 of them. How would I be able to choose the Optimal Matthew? There are simply too many Matthews. Anyway, Matthew is a character who is always with Craig (Cliff in the mornings, Volcano in the afternoon), because, you know, they're friends. That's what friends do, or so I heard. Matthew will give a tip to players about the importance of deck-thinning, specifically with the card Jar of Greed. He is one of the many duelists who do not follow their own advice, but in Matthew's case it's because he doesn't think that deck-thinning is even that important. It's better than the stock tips that we get from a lot of the other duelists. Matthew is the foil to Craig's character. Where Craig is a brash, struggling tryhard who can only make it to Ra Yellow, Matthew is relaxed and chill. He's constantly spacing out, not paying attention, and still manages to make it to Obelisk Blue. It isn't explained whether he is in Obelisk Blue because of a rich family or if he's just that good, but it fits the foil better if it's the latter, so you know what, it is the latter. And to better fit the foil to Craig, I don't think he says your name even once. Overall as a character, he's kinda boring, but his strength is in his being a foil to Craig. As adversarial and determined as Craig is, Matthew is RIGHT THERE to one-up him by doing absolutely nothing. Matthew runs a Final Attack Orders beatdown deck, its simplicity and brain-off playstyle fitting his character very well. Doesn't search the regular Goblins with RotA. He runs a 42-card deck while bashing on the concept of deck-thinning. This deck aims to overwhelm the opponent with high-ATK monsters. Final Attack Orders not only covers his monsters' big weakness by forcing them back into Attack Position, but it also prevents you from blocking him by playing monsters in Defense Position. Almost all of his monsters are the same exact thing, the only exceptions being Chainsaw Insect and GMG. Chainsaw Insect can attack without Final Attack Orders, but the card draw means that you have to be careful not to turn this into an advantage machine for your opponent. Great Maju Garzett is in a weird position where it's basically two monsters in one card; you could just Normal Summon another monster and get the same damage as Tribute Summoning this. One thing that you can do, but Matthew doesn't, is to make a bad attack with a Goblin, then tribute the Defense-Positioned Goblin for GMG so it doesn't just get killed the next turn. But at the same time, there are only so few monsters like Goblin Attack Force. He is running triple Giant Orc and Toon Goblins, so using GMG as extra copies of his best monsters seems like a decent deal. Gaia Power is a meh ATK booster here. 2800-ATK Goblins and 2900 Chainsaw Insects are definitely way tougher than the base 2300-2400 ATK ones, but a lot of the time this card is just there. The neat thing about Mage Power is that it boosts both ATK and DEF. You could use this to boost one of your monster's stats so high that it's totally fine for it to get shifted to Defense Position. The problem is that even with a ton of backrow, this pretty much only works on the Elite Goblins, and Matthew is more than content to throw this card onto whatever monster he has. Matthew tries to do the thing Hide does where he pays a bit of LP to make a suped up monster with Megamorph, but since he doesn't commit as much to this combo it hardly ever pays off for him. It's great if he's behind though. A 4600-ATK monster you can just Normal Summon is nothing to sneer at, plus them going into Defense after attacking partially counters the drawback of Megamorph. But yeah, this card makes more sense for Hide than it does for Matthew. It's kinda eh here. Nobleman of Crossout takes out a monster so that he can hit you directly for 2300 damage. It makes it harder for you to simply put a monster down and deter him from attacking if he doesn't draw FAO (that does not stand for Ford Art Online, trust me). Even if he does have it, it still can be used to counter Flip/floaty effects and provide a bit extra damage. I like Shrink here a lot. It guarantees that he wins most possible combats. If you were planning to make a comeback by somehow getting a stronger monster than him, then this card stops you hard. Sakuretsu also does, but I think Shrink is actually better here for the extra damage. Cyber Jar is a card that I suggest for a lot of decks, but there is no deck that benefits from it as much as this one. Tossing an entire OTK's worth of ATK onto the board from your deck, drawing into FAO or other backrow, this card is just so incredibly good here that it's worth the symmetrical effect. To make room for this, as well as to try to get to 40 cards, I'd take out the Gaia Powers and either Megamoroh or Mage Power. I'm not too sure which should stay, but I'm leaning more towards Mage Power atm. There's also the issue of him relying so heavily on FAO that without it he's just kinda there. There are a few extra cards to address this, but I'm not too sure what to take out to make room for them. So instead, I'll make an entirely new deck: With triple Labyrinth of Nightmare and Zero Gravity, you're much more free to attack if you are unable to pull FAO. With these cards, you could also turn this into a Clown Control deck, which I did. In this game if you attack a face-down Crass Clown with FAO up, it'll switch to Attack Position and use its effect immediately in the middle of the battle. If you bounce the attacking monster, it just straight-up cancels the attack. Also today I learned that the translated name for Crass Clown is Murder Circus. I thought it would be Evil Clown or something but no it's way more metal than that. Dream Clown is even more effective here. If you play Zero Gravity with FAO up (and sometimes you don't even need it), then Dream Clown just kills a bitch pretty much whenever you need it to. With FAO you can even use multiple Zero Gravities so that a single clown can kill multiple monsters. It's wild. I added D.D. Warrior Lady and Exiled Force because Goblin Attack Force and Dream Clown are already searchable by RotA. With them, the clowns, and strong beaters, monsters are not an issue at all for this deck. Backrow however kinda is. Probably should run some Dust Tornadoes or something, idk. Matthew gets a 7.5/10 from me. He makes an excellent foil to Craig, his deck fits him like a glove, and he's pretty competent. The only thing keeping him down is that he's a bit boring on the surface.

“Okaa-san!” Kaede cheerfully adjusted the large straw hat that sat over her violet hair as she ran across the street towards her mother, a small woman with hair a slightly darker shade than Kaede’s own, pulled into a small ponytail at the back of her head. Kaede held up her hands, grinning as she held up two calendars, one of which was labeled '12 Months of the Megalopolis Seas' and another that depicted 'The Wonders of Egypt.' “I got one for Oto-san too! I know he likes the ocean!” Kamegawa Midori smiled at this. “Thank you Kaede. Another Egypt one, though? You really are fully invested in that-” She stopped, looking around before lowering her voice to whisper “that little project of yours, aren’t you?” Her head bobbed up and down excitedly. “Mm-hmm! This one has Karnak in it, I think! It was a part of Thebes!” “I thought Thebes was one of the Greek ones?” “It’s both!” She let out a mischievous cackle. “They BOTH had one!” Midori shook her head as she started walking back towards the terminal. “I’m surprised you didn’t find ones you liked while we were in the fifth district,” she commented as she shifted the several bags of groceries she was holding. “Only the best!” Kaede dove in and grabbed two of the bags from her mother’s burden, slinging them over her shoulders. “Oh, Okaa-san, are you okay? Did you trip?” Her mother had faltered, stumbling to a stop as she looked up, perturbed. “Did… Did you feel that, Kaede?” “Eh?” Kaede looked around cluelessly, but it didn’t take long for the small girl to feel the ground juddering beneath her feet. “Wait, yeah, I do… What is it?” The screams reached them then. Thousands of screams of fear as a shadow appeared between the infrastructure of the trains. A great, looming presence that was at once recognizable. And moving. Kaede and her mother went white as they stared up at the great moving structure as it lumbered straight towards them. “Kaede! Run!” Her mother dropped the groceries, turning to shepherd Kaede away from the approaching tide of architecture, the girl stumbling to keep moving as she kept looking over her shoulder in horror. She tripped over a curb, falling to the ground. She looked up to see her mother stumbling, looking back towards her as she paused in her run towards an intersection. Thus not seeing the car that was now hurtling towards her. “Okaa-san!” A flash of rainbow light as Kaede reached into her pocket, a spray of rainbow runes flaring in front of her as the scroll of the Library of Alexandria rolled out before her. She selected a rune upon it, gabbling out the ancient Egyptian phrase. The mailbox on the curb next to Kaede suddenly sprang forward, rattling back and forth as it trundled out into the street and slammed into the car. The car veered out of the way, narrowly missing Midori as it slammed into a ticket terminal, Midori stepping back away from it with surprise. “Okaa-san!” Kaede ran out to her mother, grabbing her in a hug as she started breathing hard, tears welling at the corner of her eyes. Her mother’s shaking hands cradled her head. “It’s okay, it’s okay… Thank you, Kaede.” Kaede realized she was still holding one half of the Library in one hand, the rainbow runes hanging from it to the ground below. She looked around, biting her lip. “Okaa-san, I… I can use the Library, I can try and help us get away.” She sounded far more convinced than she felt, her heart thudding in her chest erratically. But what choice did she have? “Are you sure?” “Y… Yes. Let’s go, Okaa-san! We can go back the way it came, circle around behind it! We can get away!” Kaede seized her mother’s hand, turning and rushing off down the street, ready to yank the Library up to read from it at a second’s notice. Please, all the people who wrote this Library... Let what little I've got from you be enough for today! - - - - - - - The bus stop kiosk had been avoided the entire morning. The few who had ventured inside it had been sent running almost immediately, followed by angry, animal-like yowling. Only now as it was quite late in the day did somebody finally stir within. Kess squinted into the light of day as she leaned against the interior of the bus stop entrance. She ran a hand through her bright red hair, mangling it into something that resembled kempt. Her eyes had bags under them and were bloodshot, and the hand she held to her head to stave off her throbbing headache made her hangover evident to the naked eye. “Fuck am I? Sixth district? Christ.” She spat off to the side, scanning her eyes around the area to try and find a water fountain. “Last time I go to a party with Kirigaya. Kirigaya? Kirigaya!” She ducked around the bus stop, eyes narrowed in a glare as she searched for her companion. “Where the hell are ya, you stupid… Goddammit.” She kicked at the bus station’s base in anger. A long, trailing spark flicked off of her head, flashing in the daylight, and she pulled her foot back from the severely dented frame of the station. “Leavin’ me behind, you stupid dick?” She was shouting now, several pedestrians spooked away from the street. “Hell do you think I am? I hope you enjoy having working wrists, you jerkoff!” After a half hour that contained Kess finding water and angrily haggling with a food vendor that had eventually forked over three hotdogs, she was feeling much more like herself. She strolled through the streets of the northern Sixth district, finishing off the last hotdog as she looked down pensively at her phone. It was almost dead, and she had decided to use the last vestiges of its battery life to threaten Kirigaya’s various joints with grievous harm. It was the principle of the thing. “Happy friggin’ New Year to me, I guess,” she grumbled, scanning her eyes over a terminal board, trying to find something that was headed towards the Seventh district. Kess was cranky, and tired, and her head still hurt, so it took her a second to notice that there was a rumbling sound in the distance. But when a wave of lampposts and holophone booths started stampeding down the street, sending everyone scrambling around her, Kess began to take notice and turned to see the giant colossus rumbling towards her. Samsara Tower, large as life. “What the fuck…” she muttered, not processing at first what she was seeing. She was one of the few people at the board who wasn’t running away, and one of the holophone booths took advantage of that, scurrying towards her and trying to fall forward on top of her. “You’re fucking KIDDING ME,” she snarled, and with a jerk of the leg she sent the booth spiraling towards a nearby wall, impacting in a spray of glass and metal. Kess jumped forward, grabbing at one of the streetlights that had spontaneously gained movement and swinging it in a wide arc like a baseball bat, sparks leaking across her arms as she felt power surge through them. She squeezed the metal base so hard it crumpled like tinfoil in response to the lamppost’s struggling in her grip. “You goddamn stop it or I’ll shove you up that Tower’s ass!” she yelled at the somehow animate object. She tossed it up and over a nearby bridge, turning to look up at the bulk of Samsara Titan. “What the fuck have we here?” Her face twisted in a snarling, fierce grin as she started to slowly walk towards it. “No way in hell this ain’t a Fount… Let’s find out which one.” She left a spray of sparks behind as she broke out into a run, pavement cracking beneath her feet as she darted at far beyond human speed, pausing only long enough to bend her knees and leap up into the air, onto the roof of a train that had stopped on its track and running along it along its track, eyes fixed on the Titan. With Kess’ increased speed, it didn’t take her long to reach the block that the Titan had reached. Not that it could be called a block anymore. It resembled a battlefield more than anything else, and Kess splayed her eyes across a mess of moving bicycles and phone booths and cars and skittering motorcycles that all flocked around the feet of the Samsara Tower, an honest to god moving building. Kess let out one long, high whistle as she surveyed the scene. “Fuckin’ hell, this guy’s a goddamn terrorist or somethin’. Wonder if they’ll give me the key to the city when I knock it over.” A maudlin grin crossed her face as she backed up, bending down to take a runner’s pose as she set up her angle. “HEY YOU BIG GLORIFIED DMV, THE HELL YOU DOING?” She took off n a sprint, leaping from the rooftop she had scaled to fly through the air up towards the Titan. Almost as if it heard her, despite it not having ears, it slowly turned towards her, raising a hand. But Kess was smaller and faster, and she spun in midair as she flung her leg down in a brutal axe-kick towards the encroaching hand. She poured power into the leg and its speed rapidly increased, and leg met stone in a crash of rubble and debris. Kess winced as pain shot up through her leg, and she followed through with the kick, pushing off to fly past the titan once again. Her landing on the ledge of the billboard on the other side of her was rough, and she stumbled and thudded into the advertisement for a legal service, letting out a strangled gasp as she fell into an awkward sitting position on the billboard. Despite her awkward landing, a triumphant grin was plastered across her face. “Fuckin’ GOT YOU!” she shouted at the back of the Titan, which had paused as it held up the hand Kess had attacked. One of the fingers was nothing more than a dust-choked cloud, shattered into dozens of pieces. “You thought you could win cause you’re a goddamn BUILDING? I’m a goddamn wrecking crew!” Several pieces of masonry began to rise into the air. Kess’s boasts stopped as she saw the remnants of the finger begin to rush together, coalescing around the hand on a haze of concrete dust before the finger flexed upon the hand, reattached and whole once more. “God. FUCKING dammit!” She punched the billboard next to her, punching a hole in it like a toothpick through paper as several hexagon-shaped lines of light ran over her body. She used the hole to pull herself up, eyes on the Titan now with an appraising, critical look. With her free hand she pulled her phone from her pocket, flicking it open and hitting a contact before putting it up to her ear. All the while the Titan was slowly turning towards her. The line connected on the first ring. “What?” “The Samsara Tower’s sprouted legs. And arms. It’s in the Sixth District. Looks like it was headed towards you before it ran into me.” “Then stop it.” The no-nonsense female voice on the other end flippantly tossed that out to Kess before the dial tone blared in her ear. Kess yanked the phone away, glaring in maddened irritation at the screen. “Are you fucking for real?!” She yelled at it. “I tell you a building’s attacking the city and you hang up on me?! Are you SERIOUS?” She angrily started hammering in the call again, but the whooshing noise of a massive fist through the air forced her to drop the phone entirely, springing from the billboard as the titan’s fist cleanly sent it flying. Kess looked back over her shoulder to see her phone, visible for half a second, before it vanished into the dust of the collapsing building the billboard had been mounted on. “I swear to god,” she groused, as she landed atop the roof of a travel agency, grimacing as she looked up at the enormity of the Titan, fists raised, sparks flickering across her body.

Megalopolis 1st District: 5:40 AM "Tick tock..." Tempest stretched his arms out into the air as he dipped into an alleyway, hoping to avoid any prying eyes as he made his way through the 1st district. The fact of the matter was: He felt immensely unsafe being here. He obviously stood out, he didn't belong, but he needed to get away from District 12, and thanks to his poor planning, this was the best he could do at the moment. He could travel around the outskirts of the area, ducking into areas that seemed a bit safe to wait out anyone looking around... He would have to be extra careful as he skirted the outsides of that giant capitol building in the center, he didn't ever want to wind up on Stratford's radar. It was thankfully early enough to where there weren't many people he had to worry about dodging... But in the end, it was still hell on his nerves, being so close to what could likely be a very early death for him. He poked his head around the corner, taking a breath as he glanced from side to side... The sixth district seemed like a good bet. "Once I'm there, I can take a nap..." _ One of the things he appreciated most about the sixth district is that he rarely had to worry about anyone watching him. With the constant bustle of people coming and going, barely anyone had the time to register the fact that he had loitered about for a few hours now... And even if someone who did notice even cared, he would probably be gone by then. He'd just hitch a ride on a train when no one was watching. He let out a low sigh as he laid back on the bench he had taken over, it was out of the way enough that most people were getting seats closer to the trains, which meant he could just sit back and ponder life for a moment. What was he supposed to do at this point? Just keep scrounging for food when people aren't looking? Try and find a respectable job, even if it didn't cover everything, he could possibly find something... But there was still the issue of him not really having a solid place to stay. He sure as hell wasn't going back to district 13 without a good, good reason. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a zip lock bag with a few, assorted pieces of candy in it, fishing out a bit of chocolate to pop into his mouth as he watched people coming and going. Whether he had anything to do or not didn't matter, right now he had all the time in the world to rest a bit. After he'd caught a nap without being bothered too much, he wasn't sure he wanted to stay put. Eventually someone would probably get suspicious, a guard or an employee... Thud. Tempest jumped over the bench he was on, landing behind it as the shadows started to curl around him. He paused there, struggling to avoid breathing, before he slowly poked his head up over the back of it. It didn't seem like anyone else was reacting to it, but he swore there was a shaking. He stood up, noticing that a few eyes were glancing towards him now as he let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing at his neck gently. He took a step forward, turning to leave the station he had been camped out in to return above the ground. His eyes widened as he looked to the sky, the towering figure there was impossible to miss. His right hand clenched at his other wrist as he took a glance around, people were already starting to panic a bit, but he felt a rising dread in his throat as he recognized the castle. It was hard not to, but given that he had just passed by it earlier in the day... "What the... People, get out of here!" He screamed as he turned to the bystanders near him, "Get underground, in the station or something, don't stay here!" The tower may not have been facing him, but there was a rush of activity rushing towards the station all the same. Vehicles of all types were moving on their own, rushing around as people began to panic. Much further down, closer to the rush, there was a guy swinging a bat and screaming something incoherently at the tower, which Tempest had to admit was very tempting at the moment, but he didn't think it was going to help matters. He gulped for a moment, his hand gripping at his wrist again as he rushed forward, "Damn it, it's the middle of the day, there's only so much shadow to work with..." He was definitely starting to panic, but he brought his hand out at one of the charging vehicles, the mechanical monstrosity's own shadow latching around its legs as it tumbled over. There were others here now, they had reacted faster than he had, but he barely registered the strange hue of one of them before he called out, "I can't do jack to the Tower, but I can help cover you all with the smaller ones. If you need safety, call for Tempest and duck into shadows!" It wasn't much of an introduction, but it would have to do. He grabbed at the air again, this time focusing on the shadow from the tower itself. He wouldn't be able to stop it... But he could use it to slow down the smaller and hopefully weaker creations rushing from underneath it. Eventually, they would get free from the shadows he controlled... And he would just have to do it again and again. No pressure.

6th District, 12:00PM In the northern end of the 6th District, tucked away in a quaint little house, lived Kiyoko Nanashi. Not by herself, of course; she very distinctly lacked a source of income with which to take care of herself. No, she lived in the company of her loving grandparents! Akihito Arai and his beautiful wife, Manami Arai, both well into their 80s, retired, living a humble, but very pleasant later end of their lives. After leaving home to pursue her own faith, and explaining that she couldn't return to her parents due to the divide it had created between them, they welcomed her with open arms as if she were their own daughter. Or so the story went. "☻♣♫♦¶◘↓♠↕☺○♀♪○♫♦☺♫♦☻♣♀○♣▬♣☼♫♪↓¶◘♣↕♣☺♀○¶↓○↔►♣☺♂..." Once a day, every day, at noon. That was the rule Kiyoko had set out for herself with that particular spell. Technically, on someone like the Arais, it would last a fair bit longer, but Kiyoko didn't want to chance the spell breaking and them realizing that Kiyoko was not only not their granddaughter, but had been using the Necronomicon's powers to brainwash them into thinking she was for the last month. Convincing them to not seek out her parents - Akihito believed Kiyoko's father was his son - was the thinnest ice she'd ever walked when using the book. If Akihito went to confront his "son", she wasn't even sure what the outcome would be. She was very certain the Necronomicon's magic wouldn't affect their minds; their incredible faith in the kami would probably offer some sort of divine protection. Which just left what would happen when the old folks had two conflicting realities swimming around in their heads. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about that. She'd convinced them that it wasn't worth the trouble; that she knew this would happen once she turned her back on the kami, and was ready to accept the consequences. Then she had to convince them not to invite her parents over for Christmas last week, citing that putting her and them in the same building could only end in unnecessary drama and bitter family tensions, and that the Arais really didn't need that in their twilight years. It would have made her much happier to spend the holidays with a smaller group who she knew loved and accepted her no matter what she believed in, and doting grandparents they were, it was difficult to say no to such an innocent claim. Then New Year's came! Being old and all, Kiyoko's "grandparents" didn't stay up until midnight to welcome in the new century. Kiyoko had, but it was mostly to dig a bit deeper into the Necronomicon. She was starting to reach the limits of what she could read or pronounce with the limitations of a human's eyes and mouth. There was a lesser transformation spell a couple chapters back, but Kiyoko was trying to avoid using that if she could help it. The way she imagined it, no amount of memory alteration or brainwashing could cover up your grandkid growing new eyes or mouths. And that all brought her to right now. Once a day, every day, at noon. Renewing the brainwashing spell wasn't the only thing that happened at this time. Manami also made tea at this time of day, and Kiyoko was always all too happy to join her! Teatime with the Prophet Kiyoko closed the Necronomicon for now, tucking it under her arm as she left her room, and went downstairs. The tea was probably ready by now. Indeed, she could smell it as she stepped out the front door and onto the porch. It was an aroma as close to heavenly as she could think of in this world. At a table sat the old lady who lived here, and Kiyoko sat herself down across from her. There usually wasn't conversation to be had during teatime. It was a time to sit down, relax, and enjoy the taste and smell, one sip at a time. Then, as was often the case, only a brief moment of conversation was had once the cups had been emptied. "Do you have any plans today, Kiyoko?" "Yes, in fact. I was thinking of going over to the second district today, to do some studying in a natural environment, and to think over a dilemma I've been stuck in." "A dilemma? What's the matter?" "Oh, don't worry yourself about it, grandmother. It's just a personal problem. I'll have to work it out on my own." Getting up from her seat, Kiyoko further said "I'd better get going if I want to enjoy this beautiful day. I'll be back in time for dinner!" 12:31PM After taking care of some extra errands and chores that needed doing, Kiyoko was ready to head over to the gorgeous 2nd district. There was a long day ahead of poring over the pages, pondering her own problems, and probably some proselytizing. So it was that she made for the nearest train station. Only to then catch sight of something. Kiyoko had been to Samsara Tower once before. Key word: Once. As it turns out, Mayor Stratford was a very busy man, and in fact didn't have the time to hear the good word of the Outer Gods. And "I have the holy book" was not much of an argument either, when Kiyoko had tried to petition for a church dedicated to Them to be constructed in the 10th district. In retrospect, perhaps showing off the book and its capabilities was why she was kicked out? Well, that was their problem, not hers. What was her problem was Samsara Tower was now moving, and causing quite a bit of damage in the process. This was a problem for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the danger it could pose to her or to the cozy lifestyle she'd carefully constructed. And where there was a problem, Kiyoko needed to fix it. Wasting no time, Kiyoko pulled forth and opened the book, and hurried toward the commotion. When one imagined how to stop a rampaging behemoth of steel, glass, and concrete, "slap it" was probably not the first thing that came to mind. That was a weak mindset, reserved for those who only considered the arms and wings of this mortal planes, and didn't consider those creatures beyond conventional comprehension. "♥↕§‼◘!" Around the left hand of the titan, what looked like holes in the air itself opened, only for large inky tentacles to spring out, lashing out against the mobile tower with monstrous force. Those sermons and ruminations would have to wait. 13th District, 9:28AM 4 + 40 The 13th wasn't the nicest place, many would say. They were probably right. On top of everything else wrong with the place, it never stopped raining, ever. Sei had lived here for four years, and she had seen not so much as a single second where the sun broke through the blanket of clouds hovering over the district. It was the result of the Fount of Precipitation taking up residence in the area. Sei heard the rumors on her way to move in with the girl. That she was a stern tyrant, who had eaten a kami in a mad bid for power. That the wind and rain were hers to command, and she was merely biding her time. That when the time for her brutal conquest would come, those who dared to defy her would be plucked from the ground by ferocious winds and launched into the heavens, or struck by lightning, or even just frozen solid on the spot. Sei had to admit, the rumors were certainly interesting. But they were just that: Rumors. The reality... "Seiii, we've got a problem on our hands!" While the rumors about the cause of this perpetual weather were certainly fun, the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Some small part of Sei chose to believe Alice made it constantly rain on purpose, so that the only footwear she needed was rubber boots, to hide her being so helpless that the poor girl could barely tie her shoes on her own. With a reluctant sigh, Sei closed the book she'd been reading from the comfort of her bed. While she hadn't expected it to be every single day, she had to admit, it was very nice to lie down and read a nice book on a rainy day. Even if she had to help her fellow Fount with various inconveniences and errands along the way. Getting up from her bed and opening the door, Sei gave Alice a warm smile and asked "What's the problem?" Pointing at the nearest window, Alice said "It's raining even harder than it should! What's--" "I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Alice. We have this conversation every few months. You say it's raining more than usual, we go outside and measure it, and it's exactly the same every single time." "I'm serious!" "You say that every time, too." "..." "I've gotten so used to this that I can tell just by looking out the window. It's exactly the same. I promise. Was there anything else you needed?" "Hmmmm... oh! My college! There's a form we need to fill out for... something. And for some reason they won't let me fill it out online. Just between you and me, I'm starting to think they don't believe I really exist. Could I trouble you to run over there and get a copy for me? I'd do it myself, but..." In lieu of an explanation, Alice simply pointed back at the window again. "Yeah, I can do that." Though, if she was being honest, Sei would have appreciated this being brought to her attention at least an hour ago. Now it was going to be an all-day trip to and from the complete opposite side of Megalopolis. At least the time on the train would have given her ample time to keep reading that book. The plot was just starting to really kick into high gear, too! Holding a hand out toward Alice, Sei added "I'll have to eat while I'm out though, and it's gonna take all day to get there and back. I'm eating on your dollar in exchange, okay?" 6th District, 12:31PM Ordinarily, Sei didn't take the train. More often than not, her preferred form of transportation was her own two feet. With the powers of her pacts, she certainly didn't want for means of getting around herself, but for treks across the entirety of Megalopolis, such an undertaking would run her ragged. The train was slower, but vastly more efficient, and it also gave her some time to read her book. Plus, she was able to convince Alice to cover her food for the way there and back. Like the burger she'd picked up while she waited for a connecting train that brought her from the 11th over to the 6th. Then she had to catch a bus that would take her to the city's main university, get the form Alice needed, then go home. Simple, efficient plan. It was going to be, anyway. As the bus made its way through the district, she caught sight of something a few blocks down. She couldn't make out the whole thing, but that was clearly Samsara Tower. And it was moving. And carving quite the path of destruction as it did. We've gotta stop that, don't we? "Naturally." That's a rhetorical question. Of course we're stopping it! Byakko! Might of the Tiger Hopping off the bus she'd been riding thus far, Sei called upon the power of Byakko. She could feel strength surge through her body, which she used to crouch down, and leap from the ground, above the rooftops and toward the disaster. Rather than land straight at the scene, however, Sei landed on a rooftop a couple of blocks away; one belonging to a building that didn't have roof access. Sei had to put her bag somewhere, after all. It wouldn't do if the thing got ripped apart, since it had both her possessions and Alice's money in it. Once her bag was secured in a spot where nobody could get to it, she turned her attention immediately back to the matter at hand, getting a running start then leaping once more, toward the mobile tower. The plan was simple. Punch the thing square in its face. The problem was also simple. Sei had neglected to notice it had big hands, one of which rose up to swat her out of the air as she closed in on the tower. The impact sent her hurtling into another nearby building, and Sei very much did not want to fall from this height. Suzaku! As Sei fell, a pair of wings erupted from her back, catching her and allowing her to turn herself upward, then away from the action. She couldn't handle this alone, no way. Luckily, her Fount senses were tingling. From up here, she could see them. A handful of other Founts, and more kept gathering to the spot. Sei swooped down from her aerial location, landing safely enough away from the fray near a young man with a blue-skinned companion. He must have had some sort of pact, same as her. Except his patron was a bit more willing to show up in the flesh. And from down here, Sei could see the tower also wasn't alone. All other manner of vehicle and infrastructure was turned into horrid, living(?) things. "Which one you gentlemen want, the big guy or its friends?" she asked.

This wasn't the exact thing he was expecting to find today...not in the slightest...it was more like he was expecting a normal trip away from the store and home then just go back, but no. No such luck, especially for him. If he knew that earlier... EARLIER Jeremy Shelby stood at the terminal for the magtrain, casually sipping his morning mocha, earbud in one ear and his bag slung over his left shoulder. He had swung by the 6th District to pick up a few antique items from a couple near here that they were just really wanting to get rid of. Of course, he had no problem taking the items they gave him, after all he could just sell it once he cleaned them up. Taking a sip of his mocha, the rich taste of it gracing his lips and mouth...that was until he nearly choked on it after hearing something pop into his earbud. GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING MEGAOPOLIIIIIIIIIIIS! Coming to live from within the backpack of Megaopolis' very own Jeremy Shelby...straight from the lamp...it's the Djinn Round-Up!!! Jeremy groaned, still coughing up some of his mocha as he forcefully rustled his bag, making sure something in there definitely was rustling and being thrown about. "...you do this right when I'm enjoying the peace and quiet, Ibuz...why?" he groaned, before hearing the voice again in his earbud laughing. "To keep you on your toes, m'boy!" the voice belonging to Jeremy's Djinn companion, Ibuz, simply chuckled. "Besides, right now it just makes it seem like your having a conversation with someone on your device and not outright to a magical entity. Plus: it was a perfect opportunity to cause a bit of mischief today." "Been quiet all day..." he grumbled, taking the last few sips of his mocha before disposing of the cup afterwards. "Fairly certain Kaede doesn't have something like this going on with her Library of Alexandria..." "Aw, master, you've hurt my feelings...my insides and outsides as well with your words. But alas, that would be the case. Especially since the library isn't as sentient as I...once again, you were the lucky one." Jeremy rolled his eyes some, adjusting his glasses slightly as he approached the area to wait for the train. "Regardless, next time give me a warning before you do something like that, alright?" he simply asked, tapping his foot while waiting for the train. However, the train would come and it wouldn't stop...and the young man wouldn't be remaining there standing for it. His gaze shot up from looking at his watch and began to survey the area around them. The ground was shaking...it seemed like the feeling of steps being taken. "...Ibuz, I assume you feel that?" "The constant, massive shaking like that of footsteps? If that, then yes...unless that's just you jostling the bag." "You would like that to be the case, wouldn't you..." Jeremy admitted, before moving away from the train platform to look outside. That's when he saw it, plain as day...Samsara Tower...and it was...moving...like a giant kaiju. "...of course it's a kaiju...Japanese built city...makes sense as anything else." he sighed, before moving his bag off his shoulder and digging into it. Before long he pulled out an antique lamp, clipping it onto his belt loops on his pants for a bit. "Guess we'll be heading home later then, Ibuz..." "HAHAHAHAHA!!! Excellent m'boy! Let's see if we can minimize some causalities out there, shall we?" the voice now emanated from the lamp on his side. "Like we got a choice?" Jeremy backed away from the railing, before taking a running leap over the side. He proceeded to fall over the side, but his fall was soon slowed down to the point of a simple feather floating in the air until his feet touched the ground. There was already a large amount of damage being done...and from what he could see, some yahoo with a baseball bat was doing something to...well it was obvious that he was Fount with the power set he was displaying, but it was also obvious he was not caring in the slightest about the situation going on around him. "The hell is that guy thinking?" "Seems like he's...attempting to...oh! He just used that motorcycle as a baseball, intriguing. Seems like one interesting fellow..." Jeremy knocked on the side of the lamp and grumbled. "Now isn't the time for us to be dazzled by the nutjob with the bat...who seems to be doing more harm than good." he said, moving in the direction of where most of the damage was. "Ibuz, c'mon out and make yourself useful. We need to make sure there's not any casualties and make sure everyone takes cover..." he quickly rubbed the side of the antique lamp, before watching smoke and wind pour out from it... The Djinn made his debut beside his master with a firm nod. "Naturally, master. Would this be a wish you request?" "No...I didn't say the words...you aren't getting me like that again." Jeremy shot a small smirk towards the blue creature, before summoning up quite a bit of wind to blow away the dust and debris out of the way in order for them to make sure people were safe.